Remembering Reagan

I am perplexed by the idolatry. Oh, heartfelt condolences to Nancy and family. But, I remember Ronald Reagan as a tall, gosh and gee whiz kind of guy who could read what was written for him pretty well and was single-mindedly focused on an agenda that destroyed social programs for the poor and saw almost 21,000 lives lost to AIDS in the six years before he actually took enough interest in what would become a pandemic to actually speak about it. And, he only spoke about it after his friend and fellow actor, Rock Hudson, died from the affects of AIDS. So this and thispretty well sum up some of the remembrances I have of Ronald Reagan which is why I am perplexed by the idolatry. It doesn't make sense. But, then, why anyone would become a Republican doesn't make sense to me either. Being a Conservative is one thing. I can understand someone wanting to hang that moniker around their neck. But, Republican? People become Republicans for strange reasons. I recall a song by John Prine, Grandpa Was a Carpenter in which one of the lines goes something like: "Grandpa voted for Eisenhower 'cause Lincoln won the war." Now, that's a good reason to become a Republican!