RWR
I got to see good old Ronald Reagan this week. On Sunday he had two hours on PBS covering the early years. I was mildly interested in seeing the second half, especially the Iran Contra thing. On Monday evening I suffered through Antiques Roadshow and to my surprise it started up afterward. To be honest by the end of it I had had more than enough of Reagan. Sort of the same feeling I had by the time his two terms were over. No, I didn't get upset about any of it. I have noticed that such programs do tend to go out of their way to make Jimmy Carter look like a failure. He had sort of a different way of doing things and I thought he was a sensible sort, but he couldn't compete with Reagan. Apparently we prefer the rampant militarism at all costs, which has become fashionable again. It's just the way people do things -- everyone has to fight about stuff. So be it.

I've heard it postulated that the Cro-Magnons were thoughtful peacenicks that got wiped out by the more aggressive Homo Sapiens. I'm not an anthropologist, but I find that easy to believe. I further imagine that some of that DNA made it all the way to me, and that explains some of the reasons I feel displaced in the way that I do.

Speaking of ancient history, back in the Eighties we had something called "yuppies", remember them? They had lots of money (or pretended to) and drove cars called "Beemers" and got expensive haircuts. I had to work with a bunch of them. I was about the same age but was from a different planet altogether. As far as Reagan goes though, one thing that was quite striking in retrospect was the dynamic between him and the press. I think that the reporters nowadays have to tip-toe around like they might break something and make sure they don't piss anyone off. Ol' Reagan had to put up with them shouting tough questions all the time -- even when he was farting around with the Thanksgiving turkey! You don't see that anymore.