The Gipper's lackey

This morning, NPR reported yet another worn-out attempt by one individual in Congress to "honor" former president Ronald Reagan by renaming things in Washington, DC after him.

Enough. Enough I say. Stop the madness.

Reagan has an airport! He has his name on the largest federal office complex in the world! He has his presidential library! He has a commonly-quoted term in economics named after him! He has a nice corner at the Hilton on Florida Ave. NW where he was shot. Not to mention the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier. He probably has a hell of a lot of other things in this world that I don't care about. The street they are proposing to rename Ronald Reagan Boulevard is 16th Street. This street runs North-South through the very center of DC. You know how DC is kind of diamond-shaped? 16th Street is the road that bisects that diamond. Also, 16th Street is what makes the White House have the address 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (it's located at the intersection of 16th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue). Listen to the NPR story and you'll understand why changing the name of this street to RR Blvd. is a ludicrous idea and also disrespectful to the local people of Washington who should get to determine what their neighborhood streets are called.

Having worked for 4 years in an enormous building called "The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center", I feel I am qualified to rant a tad. Everyday I experienced Reagan. Everyday, people. You should have seen the place when he died last year - I haven't seen so many Reaganites moping around since the Iran-Contra hearings.

Despite my sourpuss attitude, I decided to sidestep my principles momentarilly to go down in history that fateful week: I signed one of the goodbye books that are kept at his library. I wrote something like, "I was a kid when you were voted in, so I grew up with you, and it's been an experience. Ms. E."

The above tirade does not mean I have no respect for the guy. He was a president we needed in the day and age of the time. Good and evil, remember? But I just don't want to see the great city L'Enfant planned be torn to shreds more than it already is by some lackey politico from Texas. I don't think Nancy would approve, either.

Rant over. Here's to the weekend. A Reagan-free one, at that!