Deathfest: Day 4
You can count me among those who find the Week-Long Death Festival more appropriate for the expiration of a North Korean dictator than an American president. But as long as we're all still talking about Reagan, can I pipe up and say I never was one of those people who found his speeches "inspiring"? If the best thing Reagan ever did was to pardon Merle Haggard, the worst was to saddle us with Peggy Noonan.
Yes, I'm getting grumpy. At least I'm not as grumpy as Col. Qaddafy, who had this reaction to Reagan's death: "I express my deep regret because Reagan died before facing justice for his ugly crime that he committed in 1986 against the Libyan children." (Hey, if you lost an infant daughter to an American bomb, you might not like the fellow who ordered the raid either. Though when it comes to evading justice for your crimes against Libyans, Qaddafy's the expert.)
Update: Welcome, NRO readers. The comments section is open to your thoughts, as some of you have already discovered. Here's a few pointers:
1. When I said that all this overkill was not appropriate for the death of an American president, that applied to all American presidents. You might think it clever to suggest I'd feel better if this were Clinton's funeral, but you'll actually just look like an ass.
2. Nor is this a matter of being jealous or bitter. It's kind of silly to suggest, as one fellow did, that I'd feel otherwise if a "Libertarian known to exactly 2% of the population" were to die. When you write things like that, you reveal a lot about your own values, but you don't say much about mine.
3. Some of you seem intent on inferring my opinion of Reagan's presidency from this blog post. You'd do better to read the article on the topic I wrote earlier this week.
4. One reader wrote, "You would defend Janet Jackson in an ANSWER T-shirt dropping a turd into the mouths of the Dixie Chicks on national TV…but you can't change the channel for the Reagan ceremonies." If you insist on missing the point, try emulating this commenter and at least be funny about it.