A Smaller, But Different, Legacy
It is ironic that despite Reagan’s legacy, events surrounding him prompted people close to him to convert to liberal causes. The first, of course, was Jim and Sarah Brady becoming leaders in the gun control movement after Jim Brady was shot during the assassination attempt on Reagan.
The second is now spearheaded by Nancy Reagan herself. After seeing her husband waste away for so many years due to Alzheimer’s, she is urging full-fledged support for, and an end of political interference to, stem-cell research.
There is good here, of course, but also perhaps some doubt that there may be a certain selfishness in the turning of conservatives to worthy causes–the call only comes when one of their own is suffering. A lack of outward sympathy, perhaps, until the cause hits home so hard that it can no longer be ignored. Or perhaps not even then–Laura Bush’s father died from the disease, but she still rebuffs Nancy Reagan’s own hard-earned sympathy for those with the disease.
Wasn’t there a great cartoon by someone a year or so back that had a Republican with a banner that said “Pro-life! Protect innocent lives!”, but then on the back of his t-shirt it said “Except in the cases of stem cell research”…it just goes to show that when hit by personal tragedy, not even the Republicans are able to avoid logic and science. And hypocrisy.