George Will’s Diatribe Against Reagan

I used to believe Ronald Reagan when he said that he appointed James Watt to protect the environment. When he appointed Sandra Day O’Connor to the Supreme Court I thought it proved his longstanding support of women’s rights. I believed him when he blamed the 1981-82 recession on the previous Administration. When he said that trees caused more air pollution than automobiles I burned my apparently obsolete science texts. And when he said that there had always been two Vietnams I took out a pen and drew lines on all of my old world maps.

Now he says, “We wanted Daniloff freed with no deals . . . that’s why Nick Daniloff is back in the United States. Later, we swapped Zakharov, the spy, for two noted dissidents.” I’ve decided to stop listening to the man.

JONATHAN NAGLER

Pasadena