Some Reactions from the other end of the Spectrum...

...regarding Ronald Reagan's passing, in no particular order. Please note that they have all taken the high road.

Senator John Kerry (D-MA), presumptive Democratic candidate for President:

Ronald Reagan's love of country was infectious. Even when he was breaking Democrats' hearts, he did so with a smile and in the spirit of honest and open debate. Despite the disagreements, he lived by that noble ideal that at 5pm we weren't Democrats or Republicans, we were Americans and friends. President Reagan and Tip O'Neill fought hard and honorably on many issues, and sat down together to happily swap jokes and the stories of their lives. The differences were real, but because of the way President Reagan led, he taught us that there is a big difference between strong beliefs and bitter partisanship.

Opus 163, The Department of Louise:

The best response, whether or not you were a supporter of his politics, is to go here and donate to The Alzheimer's Association. Even a few dollars will be helpful.

Hear, hear. She also posted a poem here.

Jeralyn Merritt, TalkLeft:

Former President Ronald Reagan died today. May he rest in peace. To endure Alzheimers' for a decade is a cruel fate.

Former President William Jefferson Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), from the latter's official website:

Statement of Former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton on the Death of Former President Reagan

Hillary and I will always remember President Ronald Reagan for the way he personified the indomitable optimism of the American people, and for keeping America at the forefront of the fight for freedom for people everywhere. It is fitting that a piece of the Berlin Wall adorns the Ronald Reagan Building in Washington.

President Reagan demonstrated his strength and resolve after leaving office when he shared his struggle with Alzheimer’s Disease with the world. We will always remember his tremendous capacity to inspire and comfort us in times of tragedy, as he did after the loss of the space shuttle Challenger. Now he, too, has “slipped the surly bonds of Earth to touch the face of God,” and we can rest assured that, as joyous a place as Heaven is, his wit and sunny disposition are making it an even brighter place to be.

Hillary and I send our prayers to Nancy, their children and their many friends and family, as well as our gratitude for the life of a true American original.

Norbizness, Happy Furry Puppy Story Time With Norbizness:

Gotta give it up. Whether or not you agreed with his politics, and whether or not these quotes are real, attributed, or apocryphal, he was a pretty funny, self-deprecating guy (culled from around the Internet):

(snip of quotes)

And while we're at it, let's remember his widow and her continuing work to wrest life-saving science away from theocrats.

And then, of course, there's the liberal commenters (most of them, at least) over here in the appropriate thread at Tac's place. As Harley himself said,

Hard not to like a guy who loved his wife as much as Reagan did. And no, I would not have envisioned saying that twenty or so years go. Times change, we do, too. RIP.

You see? Some of us over here on this side of the spectrum do appreciate it when appropriate gestures are made. Our thanks and best wishes.

Moe

PS: Speaking of appropriate gestures, I have a couple for a few of the other sites (more accurately, their comments sections) that I clicked through in order to find these quotes, but they'll get no traffic boost from me (however minimal) in reward for the bitterness, bile and boorishness of their readers.

Comments

[rilkefan]

I hope when President Clinton passes away I won't find myself reading blogs from the opposite side of the spectrum and deciding who's taking an acceptable tack and who's being boorish.

Perhaps blogging isn't wise at this time - there's what strikes me as an unfortunate situation developing over at tacitus.org, where apparently it's appropriate to make grand claims about the deceased's accopmlishments but disagreements are sneered at - even saying "let's argue about this another day" gets one sneered at. Time to take my own advice.

[Moe Lane]

"I hope when President Clinton passes away I won't find myself reading blogs from the opposite side of the spectrum and deciding who's taking an acceptable tack and who's being boorish."

And I hope that when President Clinton - either the past or the future one - passes away people won't have to scout out Right-leaning websites that showed elementary respect in order to try and preemptively defuse people still angry at the ones that didn't. Was I supposed to go with my first impulse, then, and write something appropriately wrathful? - 'cuz I still can, you know. I just assumed that it wouldn't actually help matters any.

[rilkefan]

Moe, I highly respect the thought, but in my view the execution would have been better without "high road" and the "p.s."

Just for the record, when President Kerry passes away (will happen before President Clinton I or II, I suspect), as far as I'm concerned anyone on the right is free to say whatever they feel like about him without any reproach from me - doubly so for arguments about policy. Let the dead bury the dead.

[EDG]

rilkefan, this is, I think, one of those happy situations where one (or more) bad apples doesn't spoil the barrel. I don't see any problem with Moe's post; he could just as easily have printed a selection of the worst and darkest posts out there and condemned them, and he didn't, and I think that in and of itself is worthy of praise. Did he "decide who's taking an acceptable tack and who's being boorish"? Of course he did. There's no such thing as an absolute standard in this case, and Moe's just doing the best he can.

Moe, thank you for taking the high road and not descending into wrathful condemnation.

Lots of us out here on the great wide Internet didn't like President Ronald Reagan's politics, or didn't like how he ran the country, or didn't like how he treated the office to which he was elected, or didn't like him personally. None of that matters today. A man - a former President of the United States, and a human being - died today. We should at least be able to set aside political and partisan differences for a day to honor and respect that.

[James Casey]

IMHO, there's always a reason to mourn the passing of any human being. I think I know at least one of the sites Moe mentions (re. their comments) and, though perhaps I would have ignored this rather than mention it, I completely agree with him.

[Jordan]

Moe's right, some of the posts & comments out there were truly vile. It may not be true anymore that politics stops at the waters edge, but it damn well ought to stop at the graveside. I would accord even my enemies with more respect than I've seen on some of the left-leaning blogs. A couple of the comments are burned into my heart even now, and I *despise* Reaganite policies.

At the same time, rilkefan has the right solution. The best solution to dealing with idiots is, let them continue being idiots. Don't try to quash other people's dialog. The beauty of free speech is just like the beauty of the free market - plenty of redundant self-correcting mechanisms.

[Robert McClelland]

Moe's right, some of the posts & comments out there were truly vile. It may not be true anymore that politics stops at the waters edge, but it damn well ought to stop at the graveside.

I've read a lot of the comments out there too (and my post on my site might qualify as the worst) and the thing you're missing is that it's not the "real" Reagan that is being pissed on but the "deified" Reagan that is nothing more than a creation of the rightwing. In making Reagan a symbol of the rightwing, they've set themselves up for exactly this sort of reaction that is likely to grow in the next few days.

[Editor's note - a perusal of the URL given by the author of this post has indicated that the sentiments found there were precisely the sort of material that sparked the original post. As stated above, I decline to give traffic to that sort of thing, so I have deleted the URL from the post. Please do not attempt to include your URL in future posts, Robert McClelland, as doing so will be judged a violation of the Posting Rules.]

[Jesurgislac]

In making Reagan a symbol of the rightwing, they've set themselves up for exactly this sort of reaction that is likely to grow in the next few days.

Agreed.

A man died who was loved by his children and by his wife: I utterly disagreed with his politics, and did not (and do not) respect him as a former President. But in respect for his family, I would not say such things publicly during the time of mourning. (Here, we're in private, right?)

Obituary and hagiography, however, are two entirely different fields. Obituary covers the good and the bad in a person's life, respectful but not worshipful. Hagiography... well, even the Catholic church used not to consider people for sainthood till they'd been at least 50 years dead.

Someone suggested on another blog that a perfect memorial for Ronald Reagan would be legislation to enable true stem cell research in honor of Reagan. I agree: the tragedy of Alzheimers in robbing people of the last years of their lives is something that anyone can sympathise with. I disliked Reagan and despised his politics, but I'd never have wished Alzheimers on him: not for his own sake, nor for his family's sake.

[rilkefan]

"Please do not attempt to include your URL in future posts, Robert McClelland, as doing so will be judged a violation of the Posting Rules."

Can _I_ link to Mr. McClelland's site? I'm tempted to, sight unseen. Actually, I'm tempted to cancel my DSL until next year at the earliest.

[Moe Lane]

"Can _I_ link to Mr. McClelland's site?"

I would advise you not to. I am fully aware that this is a site patronized by people with a wide variety of political views, many of which I do not agree with. I am also aware that some of those readers disagree with me in this specific case. I do not have an issue with this, provided that they show their disagreement in a reasonably civil manner (please see wilfred's and Jesurgislac's comments for examples of commentary that successfully achieve this).

But there are limits, and I do not and will not apologize for refusing to tolerate transgressions of them*. I will also not be amused by people ignoring those rare times when I officially Lower The Boom.

Shorter Moe Lane: Don't vex me.

Moe

*I will also note that the other three permanent bloggers of this site enjoy precisely the same right to do this as I do. They apparently choose not to exercise that right (I suspect out of delicacy), but they possess it none the less.

[Jesurgislac]

Reagan's Death by the Plaid Adder.

[Cameron]

And having seen Mr. McClelland's trolling on other sites, I would like to compliment Moe on showing far more patience and tolerance than I ever would.