Enough already with Reagan!

Those who worship Ronald Reagan seem to have forgotten that he was not a particularly religious man. Like most wingnuts (and Reagan seems downright moderate compared to what passes for conservatism today), Reagan gave a lot of lip service to religion and tossed a lot of red meat to the Christofascist Zombie Brigade, but he was not a particularly religious man.

But a new book, nauseatingly titled Hand of Providence: The Strong and Quiet Faith of Ronald Reagan, would lead us to believe that just because one's children think that a seemingly unlikely recovery from an assassination attempt is the result of angels doesn't mean it is:

According to a WorldNetDaily review a new book, Hand of Providence: The Strong and Quiet Faith of Ronald Reagan, by Mary Beth Brown it appears that the next move is sainthood. The book claims that angels were sent by God twice to save Reagan’s life so that he could save his country. According to the report:

Reagan's children believe those mysterious nurses that helped pull their father through this life-threatening ordeal were angels.

"Patty believes they were angels, and so do I," said Michael Reagan, who wrote the foreword to "Hand of Providence."

A central tenet of mythmaking is to make assertions that cannot be disproved. While Carter was a devout Christian believer, Reagan was never considered anything more than what fundamentalists normally deride as merely religious. The book highlights two Reagan “fever-dreams” during an illness as a young man and after the assassination attempt in 1981 where Reagan confused his caregivers with angels. Sadly, Reagan was known for conflating his movie roles with real life experiences so it may be that his role in “Angels Wash Their Faces” with the Dead End Kids may have been literally true in his mind.

One of the more interesting aspects of Ronald Reagan's legacy is the split down the middle of his children. His daughter with Jane Wyman, the late Maureen and the adopted Michael, became staunch conservatives. Maureen was more of a mainstream Republican, while Michael has made a career in right wing Hate Radio spouting the kind of crap that makes guys like James Von Brunn decide to shoot a black security guard at the Holocaust museum. Reagan's children with Nancy fall on the other side of the spectrum, with Ronald Jr. hosting a surprisingly droll and entertaining show on Air America Radio, and Patti Davis, who was never known by her father's name and was estranged from her father for many years, has long supported liberal causes.

But when a Reagan-worshipper decides to write a book that elevates the guy who played The Gipper in a movie to deity status, the complexity of the Reagan childrens' relationship can be used to bolster a religio-political point, rather than a moment of reconcilation in coming together in the face of a family crisis.

It's hardly surprising that a book would ocme out now once again extolling the virtues of Ronald Reagan. Many people alive today don't even remember the man, and when you look at what conservatism has become -- hate delivered by the barrel of a gun -- it's hardly surprising that some would try to find their way back there.