Church of Bush; What liberal infidels will never understand

The vibe at my next stop is different. None of the people at Kitty and Tom Harmon's bungalow are stupid.

One of new year's resolutions was to read one book a month for the entire year. After successfully proving that a book of two to three hundred pages could be read in approximately 15 to 20 days by reading Fast Food Nation, I began this quest with Noam Chomsky's Hegemony Or Survial. Other books I have read include another book on US foreign policy, a book on historical evidence for Jesus's life, and a look at US tax policy.

My latest, and first work of fiction, is The DaVinci Code. I think I'm gonna like this book; anything that could get religious fundamentalists in such an uproar has to be worth my time. The controversy stems from the book's plot being based on the premise that Jesus may have married and started a royal bloodline. This would put a serious dent in claims of his divinity, but IMHO, would not change the fact that he was a great teacher and a strong advocate for social and economic justice.

So what does all this have to do with Ronald Reagan's death?

Basically I see for many on the Right, that Reagan has become a kind of messiah. Much of the rhetoric of the "War On Terror" sounds similar to Reagan's escalation of the Cold War, which probably spawned at least the Taliban front of this "Next War". AM-Radio, the result of decision to repeal the Fairness Doctrine, provides a source of evangelists for Reagan's gospels.

And much like Christ, criticism or anything that puts his divinity into doubt is sure to be demonized. Of course, with most publishing houses being part of media conglomerates, it's likely that even with the current burgeoning trend in books critical of Bush and the "War On Terror", that truly critical looks at Reagan will be left to smaller companines like Seven Stories and Common Courage.

But we "heretics" must keep on, and a good place to start may be to get folks to think about the role Reagan may have played in setting the stage for this current "Next War"