Got a phone call from a friend of mine, who almost began the conversation by saying, “Don’t you dare say anything bad about President Reagan. He was a great man and a great president who should be praised at this time.”

I was only mildly offended. For that sort of tactless attack is what I expect from those “conservatives.” I would like to think that this Liberal is beyond that sort of black and white ideology. Reagan, as president, did some good things and some bad things— just like every U.S. President before and after him. Each of us are in the same balloon.

So, I don’t cast stones at the dead, nor at the living. I do, however, hurl my opinion and my perspective in hopes of helping. But strangely, this concept seems to be branded unpatriotic nowadays.

I was just reading Jim Burroway’s Eulogy on President Reagan, and like his conclusion:

So while I am saddened by his passing (as I would be for anybody who leaves behind a family who loves him), I am extremely ambivalent about his life. I don’t know how to separate Reagan (the man) from Reagan (the politician) from Reagan (the legacy).

This essay is now about to end rather inconclusively and probably unsatisfactorily for most people, but I cannot reduce Ronald Reagan to a one-dimensional cutout. Painting complex issues in stark black and white is the tactic of his successors, and is one that I am loathe to undertake.

One of Reagan’s most admirable traits was his ability to be friends with his political enemies. I mean, isn’t politics about finding the middle ground and the compromises and not about the current majority running over the rest?

My friend, Robbie, was lamenting about why we can’t talk politics or religion— two of the more important subjects in life:

Why don’t people talk about politics and religion? It is a common notion in our culture that we should stay away from these topics with friends, family, and at gatherings. And yet, these are two of the most important things that we should talk about. If we don’t talk about them, how are we going to learn about ourselves and others? How are we going to grow from what we believe now and not remain stagnant in our beliefs?

Obviously, the reason we’ve been taught this, is because it is easier to teach you to be quiet than to be tolerant of conflicting ideas and opinions. I agree with Robbie, and personally think our world would be far better off if we taught more tolerance and less small-talk about the weather.

“Yes, it has been raining here. How do you feel about that?”

My neighbor, surely has realized that I’m a bit more liberal than he is… Surely he has noticed the political chalk messages on the sidewalk I’ve been leaving for the school kids and the joggers. At a little barbeque party at our place, he mentioned parenthetically that he is supporting Bush. But since that comment was incidental to his main subject, he kept talking until I couldn’t find a way to segue to that.

So, I decided to ask him point blank, “Why do you feel Bush is a better choice?” Now, this wasn’t a bait, as I’m really curious, and I told him that. You see, just about everyone I know is liberal and not supporting Bush, but since I’m living in a “Swing State”, there must be others who do not think like me.

He essentially said that Bush represents a similarity of faith that he trusts, and that Bush has not shown otherwise. Basically, God is inspiring Bush to do the right thing.

Hrm.

My mother, who is also very religious, very conservative, and voted for Bush, has actually changed her tune. She feels that since Bush acted as “an aggressor” in starting a war, that we will not incur God’s blessing.

Double hrm.

I’d like to say that my neighbor and I bonded and came to a consensus and the world is better for it, but I certainly don’t hate him for his perspective or his views— even if I don’t agree with them. We are still good neighbors and we are both working on the land between our houses.

So, I suppose the legacy that I would hope that we could get from Reagan’s life, is the ability to shake hands on either side of the political fence. For I think discussion of this subject is not just important… it just might save us.

Update: I’m sorry, but someone sent me this cartoon, and thought it funny enough to put up here. Of course, it is cartoons like this that defeat my message. But hey, I can laugh at the liberal jokes!