Compassion and Consistency on the Left

Rudy Takala

Liberals have found a new hobby: belittling the dead. They find the term “Rest in Peace” objectionable.

Counterpunch.org published a piece by Phil Gasper called "Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004: Goodbye and Good Riddance."

"Ronald Reagan has finally died at age 93," Gasper wrote. "Predictably, politicians from both major parties have issued gushing tributes to this venal and vicious man, who was happy to slash workers' wages, see families thrown onto the street, support sadistic death squads and bomb other countries, if this was in the interests of the American ruling class."

Political cartoonist Ted Rall, when asked about a previous statement of his that Reagan was probably “turning crispy brown right about now," said, “Reagan was a public figure, and he was an idiot…. If there is a hell, this guy is in it."

Axisoflogic.com published a commentary by Greg Palast, who wrote: "You're not going to like this. You shouldn't speak ill of the dead. But in this case, someone's got to. Ronald Reagan was a conman. Reagan was a coward. Reagan was a killer."

The excuse for any incessant Reagan bashing that occurs was given by Ed Weathers, a writer for the Memphis Flyer:

"In the coming months, the Republican propaganda machine will shift into high gear. Their goal: to turn Ronald Reagan into a saint. Just watch. First will come the coffin in the Capitol rotunda. Then there will be a proposal to put Reagan’s face on the dollar coin. Next will come a demand that his statue appear on the Washington Mall. And at the Republican Convention in September – oh, just wait. The highlight of that week will be a long, elegiac video of Saint Ronald, with moving music, snippets of favorite speeches, and the voiceover of, say, Charlton Heston. When the video ends, there will be heard the rapturous cheers of the faithful. Then George W. Bush will try to ride Ronald Reagan’s coffin back into the White House.”

So the thought is that Reagan will become the Republicans’ Paul Wellstone. Wellstone, of course, was the Democrat senator from Minnesota who died in a plane crash shortly before the 2002 elections. His death was exploited by liberals who, in referencing the next election, screamed in iteration at his memorial: “For Paul!”

Leftists nationwide began invoking Wellstone’s name every time someone questioned why they should vote Democrat. The reasons were varied, though they all included the dead senator. Obviously -- it was at times alleged -- his death was the result of an insidious plot inspired by the White House. But what was worst was the fact that Bush’s lack of compassion and his mean-spiritedness caused “Paul” to die in sorrow. For “Paul’s” sake, we had to oppose Bush.

So the fear, apparently, is that conservatives will campaign like liberals. However, a recent poll conducted by conservative Website WorldNetDaily.com asked what the best tribute to Ronald Reagan would be. 19.93% of respondents said they would like to see the elimination of the Department of Education and other Cabinet agencies Reagan opposed, while 44.11% said they would like to see the Republican Party re-embrace his philosophy.

Apparently, the majority of conservatives would prefer a substantive remembrance to an ephemeral one.

Though vanquished from the national level, Wellstone’s death has not ceased being invocated in Minnesota. Minnesota conservatives are now putting “Wellstone died – Get over it!” bumper stickers on their vehicles. This “saddens” and “appalls” liberals. However, few conservatives have ever called Wellstone an “idiot,” a “conman” or a “killer.” Apparently, liberals can accuse conservatives of being racist, “venal,” death squad-supporting “idiots,” but conservatives cannot tell liberals to stop exploiting the dead two years after the fact. Also apparent, pre-emptive attacks are absolutely evil when done by Republicans, but they are perfectly alright when perpetrated by Democrats. Thus far, no one has attempted to utilize Reagan in gaining popularity. However, this has not deterred Democrats from immediately attacking him.

What is ironic is that these detractors are members of the self-proclaimed party of “compassion.” What they’ve proven is that their “compassion” applies only to people who agree with them, and only at the expense of others. They can be very “compassionate,” but only if one can qualify as being “compassionate” by giving tangible goods away to people one likes, and preferably only when they’re someone else’s tangible goods.

The attacks on Reagan have been detestable and heinous. At the least, they are petty. Calling a president an idiot is pathetic. If leftists merely wanted to debate conservatism, that would be fine; however, calling conservatives “cowards” and saying they’re going to hell does not constitute debate, much as they may think so. The left can dance on his grave now; but at this rate, that’s all they’ll be able to do for quite a while.