Digbama

Good bit from Digby on Obama's weird fixation on Reagan that's popped up of late. Clearly it's because he wants to do what Reagan did in attracting people across party lines, but it's resurrecting a lot of old, nonsensical myths that play right into Republican hands.

Of course, he's been doing a lot of that lately, hasn't he? Social Security, Medicare, UHC, all that "one America" stuff... it sounds good, but it ignores the fact that parties aren't going away.

And to draw the distinction between what Obama's actually doing and what his followers are claiming other people are saying he's doing, here's Digby's update:

I hate doing this on the wrong post, but it's necessary. To those Obama supporters who insist on making the strawman argument that I'm saying Obama will govern like Reagan, I suggest you read the post again.

I'm saying that he advanced the Reagan Myth, which was based upon conservative propaganda devised for the specific purpose of keeping the conservative movement viable even when it is out of power and restricting any possibility of advancing progressive programs. That's the whole point of the Reagan myth. I tried to point out that Democrats have been doing this, to their own disadvantage, for years now. Accepting the view that Reagan responded to the view that liberal excess and big government were ruining the country is a grave misreading. Reagan, and the conservative movement that nurtured him, created that view and its hellspawn have advanced it ever since.

Not much to add to that, honestly. It's a question of message, and what that says about both you and the country. Liberalism in American has already taken enough abuse without Obama piling on as well.