Among many other things pointed out by Victor Davis Hanson is this:
Cato vs. Nero
I visited the Reagan ranch yesterday—for the first time. In my 20s and 30s I remember the media mantra about the ex-governor’s getaway: Reagan’s wealthy cronies had supposedly secretly bought him in a sweet-heart-deal a Hearst Castle-like estate where he looked down at hoi polloi below and did photo-ops chopping wood. I half expected “the ranch” to be comparable to Oprah’s nearby estate.
But I was struck by the array of simple farm tools in the garage, the do-it-yourself trails and fences, the unadorned home of about 1700 sq. ft of rustic simplicity and ad-ons with basic old GE appliances, no insulation, wiring conduited onto the whitewashed walls, low ceilings, basic, unevenly settled tile floors. In terms of comfort or frills, the Western White House “ranch” was probably not comparable to “John’s room” inside the Edwards’ “Two Americas” estate, or the garage at one of John Kerry’s mansions, or Al Gore’s boathouse.
How odd that the supposed plutocratic Reagan lived like the proverbial Philemon and Baucis, while today’s populists—Gore, Kerry, Kennedy, Edwards, Rev. Wright, etc., fill in the blanks—seek to emulate Nero’s Golden House.
I’ve been there, too. Along with my wife and Matt when Matt and I were giving a talk on Caucus of Corruption for the YAF. The ranch is a slice of heaven and there is no wonder, once you’re there, why the Reagan’s bought the place – isolated as it is, and even more so when purchased in the mid-70’s. Immediately upon arriving, the strongest urge one gets is a desire to never, ever leave. But it was the house which most astounded – and what struck me as most moving was, actually, Reagan’s tool bench…precisely like the tool bench of millions of middle class do-it-yourselfers. The only thing at the ranch which lets you know that Ronald Reagan was President of the United States is his Secret Service ball cap and the presidential seal emblazoned on the lawnmower.
In that house and at the ranch I understood, finally and completely, why we loved Ronald Reagan – why the left and the MSM could never break the bonds: because he was one of us. While time has blurred the edges of leftist hate for Reagan, the fact remains that from his first entry to politics until his retirement from public life, the left kept up an endless drumbeat of hatred. Just as they, also, kept it up (and keep it up) about President Bush and, now, Sarah Palin.
You see, being one of the people is not a function of wealth – you can be poor, or rich or in between. It isn’t about birth. Its all about being one of the people – liberals don’t understand this. And I don’t think they ever will. But those in politics who are of the people will win and retain the loyalty of the people – and will always triumph over those who claim to speak for the people, rather than meeting them on the level.
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