Power Line notes something interesting about the long, exhausting lines of ordinary Americans who wish to pay last respects to Ronald Reagan.
The spontaneous outpouring of emotion on the occasion of President Reagan's death seems to me unprecedented for a former president in the modern era. In my lifetime, rightly or wrongly, I know that few noticed or cared when Dwight Eisenhower died in 1969, when Harry Truman died in 1972, when Lyndon Johnson died in 1973, or when Richard Nixon died in 1994.During his eight years in office, President Reagan was the subject of a relentless campaign of disinformation and defamation by the left all over the world as well as by every major media outlet in the United States. Nevertheless, we now see, the magnitude of his accomplishments somehow imprinted itself on the consciousness of the country at large, if not on the arbiters of reputation and enlightened opinion.
Then compare and contrast the depth and authenticity of America's response to that of the media elite, here and here.
Dan Rather and Tom Brokaw work for different networks but agree one thing — coverage of Ronald Reagan's death has been excessive, they say.Posted by Alan at June 10, 2004 05:19 PM"Even though everybody is respectful and wants to pay homage to the president, life does go on," Rather told the Philadelphia Inquirer.
"There is other news, like the reality of Iraq," said the "CBS Evening News" anchor. "It got very short shrift this weekend."