AND THE GREATEST AMERICAN IN OUR HISTORY IS . . . A B MOVIE ACTOR?


Yep, capping on last weekend's inagural diatribe, the "merican People - or at least the drones and clones from AOL had theis way and spoke their peace, and batting leadoff for the American team is not The Father of our Country, or the Log Cabin Lawyer who saved the Union or the wizened publisher of "Poor Richard's Almanac." Nope, the greatest American according to "the people" is the guy who hawked 20 Mule Team Borax from behind the host's desk at "Death Valley Days."

Okay, yep, I've heard the story - so much so that I want to keep a pocket full of crackers and toss one to every parrot I hear saying it "he ended the Cold War" Really? About as much as Al Gore invented the internet. Reagan helped atrophy unions as a check on corporate power, he presided over massive expansion of the size of the Federal government and the national debt. Hundreds of Marines perished on his watch in Beirut - so the very next week we invaded Grenada. His people gave Hussein the gas which he used with our blessing in the 1980's - and the fact of which GW Bush used to fuel the fervor for war in 2002. He swore he'd never make deals with terrorists, only there was this thing of selling arms to fundamentalist Iran - the regime that had kidnapped and held 52 Americans hostage for over a year - secretly and funnelling the proceeds to the Nicaraguan contras.

Yes, he was a nice old guy. And he could read his lines on cue - he looked the part, sure. Much more so than today's version does. But labeling this guy as the greatest of the Great of this Nation is sycophantasia at its finest. It's like saying Buster Douglas - best Boxer in U.S. History. Sit down Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Jack Dempsey, Its BUSTER. Back to Remedial History you AOL-ers!!