Not quite so puzzling, is it? Reagan said things that some people REALLY liked and some people REALLY didn't like. He elicited a love-or-hate reaction more than most. I would say Reagan believed things that some people liked, and some people didn't, but I am concerned that you don't think he really believed what he said. We can, at least, agree that he said what he said. So when analyzing Reagan, the first hurdle is determining whether one's reaction is colored by one's reaction to the message, not just the messenger.
Take me, for example. Reagan said things that I wanted to hear, regardless of who said them. So I liked the message. And, I had no reason to distrust the messenger. I think if I'd been a resident of California, I might have felt differently about it, but I wasn't. So, my visceral reaction to Reagan is positive, rather than negative. I admit that when he was first elected, I thought he would be a bad president. After he became president, I thought he was a good one. That's probably colored by my political beliefs, which, no doubt, diverge widely from yours.
These men can't be judged by the same standards that we judge our husbands or our sons or our neighbors. My husband is a far better person, but he couldn't lead a country. |
