This weekend, President Ronald Reagan celebrated his 100th birthday. But since he’s not alive anymore, former followers and supporters celebrated for him, with a party fit for a King.
Over the last few years, Regan’s name has been invoked by conservative politicians and Tea Party activists as the model President and great Republican. Now, the US media has jumped on board spending hours dishing out praise for the 40th President.Sunday, NBC’s Meet the Press broadcast directly from the Reagan Library, as several others did as well.“He stuck to his principles, he was authentic which is one of the reasons why he’s so admired and he knew when he needed to compromise,” said Correspondent Andrea Mitchell of President Reagan.Most networks traveled to California for the festivities and news anchors spoke about their fondest memories. One Fox anchor said Reagan’s words still “give her the chills."Former White House Chief of Staff under Reagan, James Baker, also appearing on Meet the Press, said, “He knew when to hold em, he knew when to fold em, he was a fine negotiator.He learned all that as the head of the Screen Actors Guild.”CNN’s John King asked Newt Gingrich, “Why is it in your view that everybody who’s a Republican, almost everybody, wants to be a Reagan Republican?”“Well he’s the most significant Republican since Abraham Lincoln,” Gingrich responded.It was clear what the US media didn’t want to discuss was his actual record.Under Reagan, the number of employees in the federal government grew from $2.8 million to $3 million. The national debt grew from $700 billion to $3 trillion during his time in office. And he may have lowered taxes but he also raised taxes after having lowered them. Still, Sarah Palin remembered him as a friend to the Real American.“President Reagan said you can’t be for big government, big taxes and big bureaucracy and still be for the little guy,” Palin remarked.