Ronald Reagan

Monday, June 7, 2004

“A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions still tell me that’s true, but the facts and the evidence tell me it is not.” - Ronald Reagan on Iran-Contra

This is almost as good as the Rumsfeld Deflection… (“Did you take out the trash?” “Do I think the trash should be taken out? Yes. Is not taking out the trash morally reprehensible? Indeed.”)

So next time I foul something up, expect something along the lines of:

“You told me I took a crap in the sink again. My heart and best intentions tell me that’s not true, but the facts and the evidence tells me it is.”

While we must respect the life and death of a man, let’s not forget that Reagan was — by nearly any metric besides popularity — an awful president. And we should remember that when we fail to elect a qualified person to the highest office in our government, it doesn’t reflect nearly as badly on them as it does on us…