Reagan’s State of the Union

Perhaps I should withhold comment on President Reagan’s latest State of the Union performance, as I turned it off after 20 minutes. I found it difficult to stomach his Dr. Feelgood platitudes, vacuous smile, contrived props and, most of all, the seeming adulation from both sides of the aisle.

Were the Democrats applauding out of conviction or merely politeness? Are they such hypocrites that they can welcome him with a standing ovation and clap at the “appropriate” places, knowing that the State of the Union has been battered, patched together and misrepresented during Reagan’s tenure? Do the deficit, the homeless, the Iran-Contra scandal, the war in Central America, the AIDS crisis count for nothing? Would that the Democrats had sat on their hands, delivering a message in decibels, that despite Reagan’s flip charm and assurances, they were just saying “no.”

JUDITH R. BIRNBERG

Sherman Oaks