Marie Cocco: Ronnie’s Legacy (Truthdig)

[marmar]

Ronnie’s Legacy

Posted on Mar 7, 2007
By Marie Cocco

WASHINGTON—The line was almost certain to give Ronald Reagan’s adoring audiences a reason to smile. “The nine most terrifying words in the English language,” Reagan would quip, “are: ‘I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.’ ”

He was, of course, entirely serious. No catchphrase better captures the conservative revolt against government that lifted Reagan to the White House and has come to dominate American politics for the better part of the past three decades.

Now the joke is on us.

A culture of contempt for government infects those who govern. It has shamed America and left the government itself in a shambles.

It is seen in the callous maltreatment of gravely wounded soldiers who’ve returned from Iraq. The scandal of Walter Reed Army Medical Center is compounded by a veterans’ healthcare system starved of funds needed to accommodate a new generation of the disabled and disfigured—a shortfall that has long been clear to those who use the system and who lobby for veterans, but not to those who blindly protect the Bush administration’s tax cuts above all else. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20070307_ronnies_legacy/

[Kat45]

1. I knew Marie in college.

Good article.