St. Ronnie And The Mulletheads

by digby

In anticipation of the big GOP Reagan fest today, I’ve donned my Flock of Seagulls t-shirt and rented Rambo to get into the mood. Yes, I’m old enough to remember Reagan. But I was out of the country as much as possible, so the Reagan years seem to me to be a vague pastiche of exotic beverages and very, very large shoulder pads. It was quite a long time ago, after all.

It’s somewhat telling that Republicans have to go back a quarter century to find idols they can sell considering they owned the congress for the past 12 years and the presidency for the past six, but there you have it. If they have to dredge up the past if I were them, I think they should turn to Ike. He really did help save the world and they even named a smashing jacket after him. He’s certainly as relevant as Reagan is to today’s issues.

I plan to watch the debate tonight as painful as it will surely be. I’d love it if Matthews would take the trivial tack as Williams did with the Dems last week, but I don’t expect it. One would think that if they can discuss Edwards’ haircuts and Joe Biden’s gaffes in a debate they could certainly ask about McCain’s temper tantrums. I doubt that they will even near the issue of ties to corrupt, rich businessmen as they did with Obama because well, the debate only lasts an hour and a half. (And I would think it’s important to hear about Romney’s underwear and Rudy’s ferret problem. These are character issues.)But Matthews probably won’t ask any of these questions. Republicans are serious, manly people and deserve to be treated with respect.

So, this will end up being a contest for best Ronald Reagan imitator, with Matthews no doubt feeding them straight lines. (It’s too bad Rich Little bombed so badly because his Ronnie impression is actually damned good — and I think he’d make a much better president than any of these guys.)If that sounds as stultifying to you as it does to me, perhaps you can liven it up with a rousing game of Conservative Failure Buzzword Bingo! It may be the only way to get through it.

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