Morning in America

Time magazine has a crying President Reagan on its cover of the current issue, for its cover story- "How The Right Went Wrong". The story is about lamenting the sad current state of the Republican party, the cover image indicating the editors' belief that the right went wrong after Reagan's two terms in office ended.

Greg Saunders has a few bones to pick with that assertion. As he notes, there is a talking point (now absorbed into their own conventional wisdom) that the problem is that Reagan conservatism was betrayed (read: not, in their opinion, that Reagan conservatism was the problem to begin with) and that they just need to return to those roots. Of course, the problem is that they are attempting to return to roots they don't actually exist. Buried in the Time article, he points out, is the inconvenient truth that even Reagan wasn't what the right calls a Reagan Republican. From the Time piece-

The principles that propelled the movement have either run their course, or run aground, or been abandoned by Reagan’s legatees. Government is not only bigger and more expensive than it was when George W. Bush took office, but its reach is also longer, thanks to the broad new powers it has claimed as necessary to protect the homeland. It’s true that Reagan didn’t live up to everything he promised: he campaigned on smaller government, fiscal discipline and religious values, while his presidency brought us a larger government and a soaring deficit. But Bush’s apostasies are more extravagant by just about any measure you pick.

Tearing down the ability of the federal government to serve the greater good (while increasing it in actual size and concentrating federal power in the hands of a select few); trickle-down, 'pull yourself up by the bootstraps' economics; deregulation; breaking down walls between church and state; taking political craftmanship to new heights; etc... All these modern aspects of conservative government began during the Reagan Revolution. Viva la revolucion! George W. Bush and the Republican congress didn't fail Reagan's legacy, he embraced Reaganism, but taken to its most extreme (and incompetent) level.

Their crime was exposing the folly of this worldview.

Accepting this would force the right to either look further back for conservative heroes (Eisenhower would be a good place to start) or start a new conservative movement over from scratch, casting aside the extremist elements that have taken control. That's a long-term committment. But they have neither the patience nor desire for that, so they're looking for the easy road back into power... by painting the recent GOP leaders as poseurs to Reagan's crown and hoping that by emphasizing this conservative heyday that exists in their fantasies (and by demonizing the Democratic party in debate terms circa 1972), it will be morning in America again come 2008.

The Democrats may well unintentionally aid them in this effort by nominating someone uninspiring and polarizing like Ms. Clinton, but I think only the party faithful are buying this narrative. As blogger Atrios once poetically said, you can't unshit the bed.

[UPDATE: This new editorial cartoon by Lloyd Dangle pretty much sums it up.]