The Reagan Legacy
Wattenberg’s column suggests that there will be some evil-doers or ingrates who will use the Iran- contra scandal to “delegitimize the past six years of the Reagan Presidency.”
They won’t have to work very hard because there has been very little legitimate about the Reagan presidency.
His Administration has been awash in scandal (investigations of Anne McGill Burford, Michael Deaver, Raymond J. Donovan, Edwin Meese, to name a few .)
His only “accomplishments” have been to cut school lunches, allow polluters to dump toxic waste freely, enrich the rich at the expense of the middle class, create a population of homeless, and bankrupt the federal government.
He has also raised political rhetoric to a new level of deception. By playing fast and loose with the facts every day since he took office, Reagan has made lying respectable.
The only difference now is that Reagan’s own supporters have finally woke up to the fact that all he does is talk tall, while he stands small.
Wattenberg’s notion of how well we are perceived abroad is equally erroneous. Our European and moderate Arab allies are angry and disgusted by the Iran deception, while our Latin American neighbors have repeatedly voiced opposition to our Nicaragua policy.
The Reagan “legacy” is a morass at home and abroad. It will require some intelligent and honest leadership to get us out of this mess.
ROBERT SEIDENBERG
Los Angeles
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