The Reagan Phenomenon by Murray N. Rothbard

This evisceration of = Reaganism=20 shows that the libertarian critique of modern American = conservatism=20 applies whether the subject is the Reagan or the Bush=20 administration. It was first published in Free = Life: The=20 Journal of the Libertarian Alliance, Vol. 4, No. 1, = undated=20 (1984?). ed.

The=20 presidency of Ronald Wilson Reagan has been a disaster for=20 libertarianism in the United States, and might yet prove to = be=20 catastrophic for the human race. Reagan came to power in = 1981 as the=20 chief political spokesman for the Conservative Movement, a = movement=20 which took its essential modern form in 1955, with = the=20 founding of National Review. Reagan has been the main = conservative politician since "The Speech," delivered over=20 nationwide TV during the 1964 Goldwater campaign, = established him as=20 the "Great Communicator" of the right wing.

The=20 Conservative Movement of modern times has had three basic, = and=20 mutually contradictory, tenets: (1) "Getting Big Government = Off Our=20 Backs" by rolling back statism and establishing a free = market=20 economy; (2) crushing civil liberties whenever crime, = "national=20 security," or "morality" are threatened, i.e. whenever civil = liberties become important; and (3) seeking an all-out = political and=20 military confrontation with "atheistic world Communism," in=20 particular its satanic headquarters in the Kremlin, up to = and=20 including a nuclear showdown.

It=20 is starkly evident that (2) and (3) are, at the very least,=20 inconsistent with (1). For one thing, how does one "Get Big=20 Government Off Our Economic Backs," while at the same time = spreading=20 "Big Government" into our bedrooms, and into our private = letters and=20 phone calls? How does one secure the right to free trade and = free=20 enterprise while outlawing pornography and all commerce with = the=20 Soviet bloc? And how does one preserve the right to personal = life=20 and property while engaging in the mass murder of civilians = required=20 by modern warfare? Whenever the Conservative Movement has = become=20 aware of such inconsistencies (e.g. over free trade with = sinners, or=20 foreign aid for our "allies," or ever-greater military = budgets), it=20 has opted unhesitatingly for (2) and (3) over (1). For=20 conservatives, the State as Theocrat and Moral Enforcer and = the=20 State as Mass Murderer have always taken precedence over the = feeble=20 goals of freedom and free markets.

In a=20 recent article ("The American Conservatives," Harper's=20 January 1984), the scholar John Lukacs takes note of = some of=20 these inner contradictions (Lukacs is an interesting and = unique=20 specimen: a Hungarian-American Trad anti-libertarian = traditionalist=20 =96 who is also pro-peace). Lukacs writes:

"The=20 conservatives argued against big government, yet they = favored the=20 most monstrous of government projects: laser warfare, = biological=20 warfare, nuclear super-bombs. They were against the police = state,=20 yet they were eager to extend the powers of the FBI and the = CIA.=20 They were against government regulation of "free" = enterprise, yet at=20 times they supported the government's shoring up or bailing = out of=20 large corporations."

For=20 almost thirty years now, the Conservative Movement has = flourished by=20 maintaining these contradictions. How have they been able to = do=20 this? One explanation is that they are dumb, and don't see = the=20 contradictions. Certainly, this fact plays a role. What = Lawrence=20 Dennis used to call the "dumbright" and Macaulay called the = "stupid=20 party" still exists in America. But, after all, not all=20 conservatives are dumb, and there are now a goodly = number of=20 right-wing scholars and intellectuals. No, much of the = explanation=20 is more sinister than sheer stupidity. Conservatives know = that the=20 avenge Americano, while scarcely an enthusiast for civil = liberties,=20 doesn't like the FBI (or still more, the Internal Revenue = Service)=20 snooping in his private papers, and doesn't like the idea of = government busily stamping out sin in his backyard. And = while the=20 average American cheered the U.S. invasion of Grenada to the = rafters, righteously enjoying the sight of the U.S. = clobbering a=20 tiny island devoid of even a regular army, he has quite a = different=20 view of getting bogged down in some hellhole in a perpetual = and=20 losing war, or in being incinerated in a nuclear=20 holocaust.

The=20 average American, in short, possesses that "complex of = vaunting and=20 fear" that Garet Garrett noted as the hallmark of citizens = of=20 Empire. On the one hand, emotional identification with = "your"=20 nation-State, and a desire for it to bully and dominate the = entire=20 world. On the other, hysterical panic at the machinations of = some=20 satanic Enemy or other, an Enemy who is monolithic, = omnicompetent=20 and malevolent, and who can only be faced down with = continuing shows=20 of force, the only thing which he can "understand." To the = extent=20 that he is non-interventionist, the American is interested = not in=20 justice, but in fear of stalemate, fear of loss of face, = fear of not=20 being able to show that his nation is the best and biggest = by=20 winning a relatively quick victory.

In=20 his magnificent blast against "The AngloSaxon," Mencken put = it=20 perceptively and hilariously four decades ago. Speaking of = the=20 "hereditary cowardice" of the Anglo-Saxon, Mencken = wrote:

"To=20 accuse so enterprising and successful a race of cowardice, = of=20 course, is to risk immediate derision; nevertheless, I = believe that=20 a fair-minded examination of its history will bear me out.=20 Nine-tenths of the great feats of derring-do that its = sucklings are=20 taught to venerate in school ... have been wholly lacking in = even=20 the most elementary gallantry. Consider, for example, the = events=20 attending the extension of the two great empires, English = and=20 American. Did either movement evoke any genuine courage and=20 resolution? The answer is plainly no. Both empires were = built up=20 primarily by swindling and butchering unarmed savages, and = after=20 that by robbing weak and friendless nations. [N]either exposed the = folks at=20 home to any serious danger of reprisal ... Moreover, neither = great=20 enterprise cost any appreciable amount of blood; neither = presented=20 grave and dreadful risks; neither exposed the conqueror to = the=20 slightest danger of being made the conquered. The British = won most=20 of their vast dominions without having to stand up in a = single=20 battle against a civilized and formidable foe, and the = Americanos=20 won their continent at the expense of a few dozen puerile = skirmishes=20 with savages.

"The=20 Mexican and Spanish Wars I pass over as perhaps too = obscenely=20 ungallant to be discussed at all; of the former, U.S. Grant, = who=20 fought in it, said that it was 'the most unjust war ever = waged by a=20 stronger against a weaker nation'. Who remembers that, = during the=20 Spanish War, the whole Atlantic Coast trembled in fear of = the=20 Spaniards' feeble fleet, that all New England had hysterics = every=20 time a strange coal-barge was sighted on the sky-line, that = the=20 safe-deposit boxes of Boston were emptied and their contents = transferred to Worcester, and that the Navy had to organize = a patrol=20 to save the coast towns from depopulation? Perhaps those = Reds,=20 atheists and pro-Germans remember it who also remember that = during=20 World War I the entire country went wild with fear of an = enemy who,=20 without the aid of divine intervention, obviously could not = strike=20 it a blow at all, and that the great moral victory was = gained at=20 last with the assistance of twenty-one allies and at odds of = eight=20 to one.

"The=20 case of World War II was even more striking. The two enemies = that=20 the United States tackled had been softened by years of a = hard=20 struggle with desperate foes, and those foes continued to = fight on.=20 Neither enemy could muster even a tenth of the materials = that the=20 American forces had the use of. And at the end both were = outnumbered=20 in men by odds truly enormous." (In A=20 Mencken Chrestomathy, New York: Knopf, 1949, pp.=20 173=96175)

Because of their = reluctance to=20 welcome huge American losses or to engage in a nuclear = showdown with=20 Russia, the average American has to be gulled by the = ideologues of=20 the Conservative Movement with the rhetoric of freedom and = of=20 "Getting Government Off Your Back." The true guiding message = of the=20 Conservative Movement was enunciated clearly in a public=20 anti-Communist rally years ago by the candid and fiery I. = Brent=20 Bozell: "To stamp out world Communism I would be willing to = destroy=20 the entire universe, even to the furthest star." It doesn't = take a=20 radical libertarian not to want to go the whole route, to = dance the=20 full dance, with Brent Bozell and the Conservative Movement, = the=20 theme of which is not "better dead than Red" but "better = you-and=20 you-and you dead than Red."

In a=20 drive for Power, often the first thing to suffer is candor, = and it=20 is no surprise that as the Conservatives became more = respectable and=20 edged toward victory, they dropped as embarrassing baggage = all those=20 elements who each, in their own way, were frank, principled = and=20 consistent: Bozell himself, the Birchers, the = Randians.

Reagonomics

Every ideological = revolution=20 has to worry about selling out upon achieving Power, on = surrendering=20 principle to the lure of pragmatism, respectability, = Establishment=20 acclaim and the mushhead "vital centre" of the country's = polity. All=20 Reaganites liked to refer to their accession to power as a=20 "revolution." But in order for such a revolution to succeed = in its=20 goals it must be tough and vigilant, it must have = indoctrinated its=20 members =96 its "cadres" =96 in resisting the blandishments = of the=20 pragmatic. The Reagan Revolution, in contrast, sold out = before it=20 even began. The tip-off came at the Republican convention of = 1980=20 when Reagan surrendered to the Liberal Republican enemy = after having=20 defeated them decisively for the nomination. It was not just = making=20 the defeated George Bush Vice-President; that much of a = concession=20 to party unity is traditional in American politics and = usually means=20 little. For Reagan also summarily got rid of almost all of = his=20 hardcore ideological advisers, and let back in to run the = campaign,=20 and then his Administration, the very pragmatists and = Trilateral=20 Commission adherents he had previously fought strongly=20 against.

The=20 Reagan sell-out was the most thorough and complete on "Plank = One" =96=20 the free-market part =96 of the conservative triad. = Understandably:=20 since conservatives don't really care about the = free-market=20 as they care about compulsory morality and especially war = with=20 Communism. The sell-out on the free-market is massive and = enormous.=20 A quick rundown will suffice. Reaganomics, as enunciated by = Reagan=20 himself before the convention and by conservatives = generally,=20 promised the following program: a sharp cut in the federal = budget, a=20 drastic cut in income taxes, a balanced budget by 1984, = deregulation=20 of the economy, and return to a gold standard. Reagan has = managed to=20 convince both conservatives and liberals, and the American = public,=20 that he did accomplish the first and second points of this = list. For=20 a year or two, it was hardly possible to watch news on TV = without=20 watching some bozo wailing about how he and the rest of the = world=20 were about to come to an end because the federal Scrooge had = cut his=20 budget or his grant. Conservatives bought this myth because = they=20 wanted to see Reagan accomplish what he had said he would; = liberals=20 were happy to adopt it so that they could wail about how = Reagan was=20 causing untold misery and starvation by his drastic cuts. = Actually,=20 the budget was never cut; it has always skyrocketed under = Reagan.=20 Reagan is by far the biggest spender in American history. He = is also=20 the biggest taxer. Taxes were never cut. The piddling and, = much=20 publicized income tax cut was always, from the very = beginning, more=20 than compensated by the programmed Social Security tax = increases,=20 aided by "bracket creep," that sinister system by which the = federal=20 government prints more money, thereby causing inflation, and = also=20 thereby wafting everyone into a higher tax bracket, = whereupon the=20 government completes the one-two punch by taxing away a = greater=20 proportion of his income.

In=20 the early years of the Reagan Administration, I was accused = by some=20 conservative-libertarians of not "giving Reagan a chance," = and of=20 not looking at spending and taxation in real terms, or in = terms of=20 rates of growth, or in terms of percentage of the GNP. So = now Ronnie=20 has had his "chance" (as if I could have ever deprived him = of it!),=20 and he suffers in every conceivable department. No matter = how you=20 slice it, Reagan is a far worse spender and taxer than his=20 "big-spending" and much-reviled predecessor Jimmy = Carter.

Everyone knows about = the=20 deficits. Reagan's deficit is enormous, astronomical, = regardless how=20 you look at it, and it bids fair to becoming permanent. The = response=20 of conservative Republicans who had denounced evil deficits = all=20 their lives? To adopt the insouciant attitude of liberal=20 Keynesianism: who cares about the deficit anyway? Power = indeed tends=20 to corrupt.

The=20 gold standard was buried by an "impartial" Commission = stacked to the=20 gunwales by bitterly anti-gold Keynesians and Friedmanites. = As for=20 deregulation, it has never gotten anywhere, except for those = programs that the Carter Administration had already = launched:=20 deregulation of communications, airlines and trucking. Farm = price=20 supports are even worse than before, with the Reagan = Administration=20 "creativel_y coming up with the idea of the = government=20 giving the farmers back their own wheat and corn stored for = years=20 idly in warehouses, in return for the farmers agreeing to = cut their=20 acreage some more. Reagan, who obscenely calls himself the=20 intellectual disciple of Bastiat and Mises, has raised = tariffs and=20 imposed import quotas like mad, including forcing the = Japanese to=20 "voluntarily" cut their export of automobiles, imposing a = quota on=20 the import of clothespins (presumably vital for national = security),=20 and summarily raising the import tariff on heavy motorcycles = by=20 1000% in order to save the bacon of = Harley-Davidson.

Foreign aid, at the = expense of=20 the U.S. taxpayer, continues to abound anywhere and = everywhere,=20 subsidizing U.S. export firms and fastening the shackles of = various=20 foreign states (mostly dictators) on the backs of their = hapless=20 subjects. In addition, the ostentatiously anti-Communist = Reagan=20 Administration bails out the Polish government for the = benefit of=20 Chase Manhattan Bank and other bank-creditors, and helps to=20 reschedule such loans to keep propping up the heinous Polish = regime.

Civil Liberties = and 'Social=20 Issues'

Since conservatives = are less=20 interested in the free market than they are in suppressing = civil=20 liberties, the Reagan Administration has been predictably = more=20 diligent in pursuing Point 2 than Point 1 on the = conservative=20 agenda. The libertarian view is that the government should = have no=20 right to pry into the lives of its citizens, while = government=20 officials have no right to conduct their machinations of = power in=20 secret, free from public knowledge. The Reagan = Administration has=20 pursued the diametrically opposite, conservative agenda. The = FBI and=20 CIA have been unleashed once again to do their dirty work, = and a law=20 has been passed so restrictive on freedom of the press that = the=20 publication of even publicly available documents = embarrassing to the=20 government may be considered illegal. Under Reaganite law, = the=20 press's publication of the Pentagon Papers would now be = illegal.=20 Reagan is now trying to push through an order imposing = lifetime=20 censorship on all government officials, so that they could = not,=20 after their return to private life, publish memoirs = embarrassing to=20 the Reagan regime. The ability of citizens to uncover files = on=20 themselves secretly collected by government snoops under the = Freedom=20 of Information Act has now been severely = restricted.

Of=20 particularly vital interest to libertarians, compulsory = draft=20 registration has been continued, and young resisters have = been=20 thrown into jail. The snooping and harassing powers of the = infamous=20 Internal Revenue Service have been strengthened, and tax = resisters=20 have been jailed. One tax resister, Gordon Kahl, having been = given a=20 sentence of five years' probation, broke probation by daring = to=20 attend a peaceful anti-tax meeting in North Dakota. For = daring to do=20 so, he was ambushed by a posse of heavily armed sheriffs and = deputies; Kabl resisted arrest for the high crime of = attending an=20 anti-tax gathering, and shot and killed several of the = ambushing=20 officers. Widely hunted, this dangerous citizen was finally = shot=20 down and burned to death by the polizei. Another victory for = freedom=20 had been achieved by the Reagan Administration.

Reagan has been just = as=20 concerned about the civil liberties of foreign residents as = about=20 citizens. He has tried hard to pass the Simpson-Mazzoli = bill, which=20 would crack down on undocumented aliens, and eventually = force every=20 worker to carry an identity card, so that employers would be = able to=20 distinguish between legal (good) and illegal (bad) workers. = The=20 Reagan Administration has been much tougher than Carter on = allowing=20 foreigners to enter or to remain in the Land of the Free. = One of the=20 abiding resentments against Fidel Castro, for example, is = that he=20 sent several thousand dissidents and other "criminals" to = the U.S.,=20 and the U.S. has been desperately trying to get Fidel to = take them=20 back. The latest Reagan atrocity is that he is now cracking = down on=20 applications of Polish immigrants and Solidarity members to = enter or=20 remain in the U.S. No less than 85 per cent of Polish = requests for=20 asylum in the U.S. have recently been rejected, and measures = are=20 underway to deport these opponents of the Stalinist = Jaruzelski=20 regime back to Poland. In a nice Orwellian touch appropriate = to=20 1984, Verne Jervis, chief spokesman for the U.S. Immigration = Service, announced that this rash of rejections of asylum = represents=20 "no policy change to be tougher." "No," he added, "we are = trying to=20 reduce the backlog by accelerated processing of the cases." = Indeed=20 ... It perhaps never entered the head of Mr. Jervis that = there is=20 another way of "accelerated processing": namely letting = these poor=20 bastards in and granting them asylum.

The=20 way Reagan has been handling the Polish Question is an apt = summary=20 of his general modus operandi: gobs and gobs of = impassioned=20 anti-Communist and especially anti-Soviet rhetoric; matched = by the=20 reality of bailing out the Polish Communist government in = tandem=20 with Wall Street banks; and keeping out and deporting back = out=20 Polish Solidarity members who would like the opportunity of = tasting=20 the freedom that we are always bleating about.

Despite this record = of success=20 from their point of view, conservatives have been unhappy = about=20 Reagan's pragmatism on "social" issues. He has been only = paying lip=20 service to their cherished goals of outlawing abortion and = putting=20 prayer back into the public schools. And while their other=20 objectives of stamping out pornography, prostitution and=20 homosexuality are state rather than federal matters, Reagan = has not=20 used his "bully pulpit" of the Presidency to take the lead = on these=20 items on their theocratic agenda.

War

Since conservatives = are most=20 interested in the war-against-Communism and Russia plank of = their=20 platform, it is understandable though unfortunate that = Ronald Reagan=20 has given in least to pragmatism in the foreign policy = arena. One=20 problem is that the Republican "pragmatists" are not very = dovish.=20 Not only are the grand old Republican isolationists of the = pre-1955=20 era dead as a dodo, but there are not even any dovish = Establishment=20 realists of the Cyrus Vance or George Ball variety, = let alone=20 such Grand Old Men as George Kennan. The battle is between = the hawks=20 and the ultra-hawks. On the merely hawk side are the Vietnam = war=20 criminal Henry Kissinger and his many followers, war-mongers = who,=20 however, want to stop short at the brink of a nuclear = holocaust.=20 This evil "pragmatism" is scorned by the ultras, the = Kirkpatricks,=20 the Van Cleaves, the Aliens, the Pipeses, all they who want = to burn=20 out the universe to the furthest star.

At=20 the beginning of the Reagan Administration, I was trying to = explain=20 the foreign policy stance of the Administration to my = academic=20 colleagues, who are not familiar with any political = movements to the=20 right of John Kenneth Galbraith. "Look," I said, "you know = crazy Al=20 Haig" (then Secretary of State and Kissinger prot=E9g=E9). = "Yes," they=20 nodded, shuddering. "Well, fellas," I continued, "I hate to = say=20 this, but crazy 'I am in charge' Al is the last best hope = for=20 maintaining world peace."

For=20 the first two years of his Administration, not much was done = in=20 foreign policy, except of course engaging in mammoth = increases in=20 military spending so that the Russkis can be wiped out 30 = instead of=20 20 times over (or whatever). In another nice Orwellian = touch, Reagan=20 dubbed the latest U.S. missile of mass destruction "The = Peacemaker."=20 But for his first two years, Ronnie was concentrating on = domestic=20 policy, and on selling out totally to the Establishment = statists.=20 That mission accomplished, he has unfortunately turned his = attention=20 to foreign policy and the Russki threat, and the world had = better=20 hold on to its collective hat, at least until Ronnie is = hopefully=20 deposed in January 1985.

Because lately it's = been boom,=20 boom, boom and Lord knows where it will stop. Stung by a = Shiite=20 car-bombing of the U.S. military in Beirut, Ronnie = retaliated by=20 invading tiny little Grenada, a land of 100,000. As a friend = of mine=20 put it, "Ronnie was anxious to Win One for the Gipper, and = so he=20 picked a country he could =96 probably =96 beat." Even now, = U.S. forces,=20 supposedly in quickly for a week, are only getting out after = three=20 months, and 300 soldiers are remaining there permanently, = half of=20 them MP's armed to the teeth, but dubbed "non-combat" for = Orwellian=20 political purposes. The whole operation was marked by = egregious lies=20 beamed out by Reagan and his team, so much so that even = Margaret=20 Thatcher turned appalled dove for the occasion. The U.S. = officer in=20 charge has set up the dormant British Governor General, Sir = Paul=20 Scoon, as the little dictator of the island, and democracy, = it looks=20 like, will be a long time a-comin' to Grenada. The only = consolation=20 for the Grenadians is that, like the land in The Mouse that = Roared,=20 the U.S. will be pouring many millions of dollars into that = tight=20 little island for many years to come.

The=20 pragmatic hawks were all for the Grenadian invasion. What = the hell,=20 there was no danger to the U.S. in that. Lebanon is a bit of = a=20 stickier wicket, but even there Secretary of State Shultz, = scorned=20 by the conservative ultras as a dove, has been whooping it = up for=20 escalation. Unfortunately, not only the Republicans but the=20 Democrats =96 starting in the last two years of the Carter=20 Administration when the hawk Brzezinski won out over the = dove Vance=20 =96 have bought the DeBorchgrave-Sterling-Moss hogwash that = every=20 "terrorist" who bombs anything anywhere is controlled by a = mighty=20 chain that leads to Khomeini's Iran (who seems to have = overtaken=20 Colonel Khaddafy, the previous right-wing bogey man), and = somehow=20 through Khaddafy-Khomeini to the Satanic figures who sit in = the=20 Kremlin. As a result, in the fevered American mind, anyone = who seems=20 to be a "nut" and is also "anti-West" must be a tool of = Moscow. (It=20 would be instructive if U.S. hawks received some of the = treatment=20 that Khomeini metes out to Communists or their = fellow-travelers in=20 Iran.)

And=20 so the U.S. sends the Marines, like a bull in a china shop, = into=20 Lebanon, without knowing or caring about any of the dozens = of ethnic=20 and religious groups that have been there, and have been = hating and=20 battling each other (often with good reason) for literally = hundreds=20 of years. We land there, and all of a sudden there are these = pesky=20 folk with rifles, calling themselves Druze, or Shiites, or = Sunnis.=20 Bunch of Arabs, undoubtedly all tools of Moscow. And so when = the=20 U.S. Embassy or military headquarters is car-bombed, the = U.S. comes=20 to the conclusion that whoever did it are "pro-Iran = Shiites." Not=20 being able to find the people responsible, the U.S. engages = in a=20 Nazi-like spiral of ascribing collective guilt. If these are = "pro-Iran Shiites," it must mean that the Iranian government = is=20 behind the bombings, and by God, since they are, that means = that we=20 keep bombing Syrian positions in Lebanon. Go figure that=20 one!

And=20 then there are other nifty escalations in El Salvador, in = trying to=20 bring down "covertly" the Nicaraguan regime, and in pouring = lots of=20 troops into our new base in Honduras. All in all, there are = lots of=20 hot spots that could spiral into a major war, and in all of = which=20 the hawks and the ultra-hawks are racing each other into = seeing who=20 can be more militarist. Only the cowardly but healthy fear = of=20 another Vietnam or of a nuclear holocaust among Congress and = the=20 country is restraining the Reagan Administration from its = mad-dog=20 instincts toward all-out war.

It=20 is impossible to tell at this point which force is going to = win out.=20 Someone once said that "Providence looks after fools and the = United=20 States," and perhaps the religious amongst us can boost our = cause=20 with some fervent prayer. We're going to need it.

Reagan: Rhetoric = versus=20 Reality

How=20 can Reagan get away with the systematic betrayal of the = conservative=20 agenda on domestic policy? Or, how can conservatives swallow = the=20 free-market rhetoric while ignoring Reagan's anti-free = market=20 actions? One answer is that conservatives care more about = foreign=20 policy, and the macho invasion of little Grenada has = probably won=20 all the dissident conservatives back into Reagan's camp. = Just before=20 the invasion, the conservative weekly, Human Events, = was=20 piteously begging Reagan to "please, Mr. President, give us=20 something in your policy that we can cheer about." Well, = they got=20 Grenada.

But,=20 apart from that, Reagan has been a master at engineering an = enormous=20 gap between his rhetoric and the reality of his actions. All = politicians, of course, have such a gap, but in Reagan it is = cosmic,=20 massive, as wide as the Pacific Ocean. His soft-soapy voice = appears=20 perfectly sincere as he spouts the rhetoric which he = violates=20 day-by-day. He is, after all, an actor, trained to read his = lines=20 with brio and sincerity. Perhaps that is why, as Alexander = Cockburn=20 wrote recently, while Nixon knew that he was lying and = appeared=20 uncomfortable when doing so, Reagan cannot tell the = difference=20 between the truth and a lie. We can also note the = illuminating=20 insight of shrewd old Republican Congressman Barber Conable=20 (N.Y.).

In=20 1982, when conservatives were appalled at Reagan arguing = with equal=20 moral fervor for higher taxes as he had not long = before for=20 lower taxes, Conable lectured them on the facts of life. = (Reagan,=20 however, didn't admit they were higher taxes: only = "closing=20 the loopholes," and "revenue enhancement" =96 a nice touch = of creative=20 Orwellian semantics.) Reagan, he pointed out admiringly, has = the=20 amazing capacity to keep his mind in hermetically sealed = segments:=20 Rhetoric, where he talks about getting rid of big = government; and=20 reality, where he does just the opposite. Conservatives just = don't=20 seem to understand that.

Shrewd as Conable's = point is,=20 it does not go far enough. For the next question is: if = rhetoric in=20 politics has no relation to reality, why does Ronnie, or any = other=20 politician, bother with the rhetoric at all? Why not just = pursue the=20 usual statist game without all the lies? The reason, of = course, is=20 that it is the rhetoric that sucks the conservative masses = into=20 voting for Ronald Reagan. And so Reagan has cleverly put = together a=20 working coalition for Republican victory: quasi-libertarian=20 rhetoric, by which he sucks in the dumbright conservative = voting=20 masses, and statist reality, by which he preserves the rule = by the=20 special interest groups of the centrist = Establishment.

But=20 Reagan is even more curious a phenomenon. For he has the = astounding=20 capacity, not just to continue the old rhetoric, but to = levitate=20 above the action, to act as if he is not sitting in the Oval = Office=20 at all, but is somehow still out there giving his little=20 semi-libertarian, semi-warmongering homilies, using his 3x5 = cards=20 with all the fake little anecdotes that he has collected = from=20 dumbright sources over the decades. And somehow he is able = to=20 convince the public that he is not really in the White = House, doing=20 monstrous things as Head Honcho of the most powerful State = apparatus=20 in the world; but that he is still outside the State, a = private=20 citizen inveighing and leading a crusade against Big=20 Government.

And=20 so it goes =96 a winning combination that can only become = unraveled in=20 the unlikely event that the conservative masses realize they = have=20 been had, and "go on strike" and stop voting for Reagan. And = what of=20 the man himself? What explains him? There are only two = logical=20 explanations of the Reagan phenomenon. Either he is a total = cretin,=20 a dimwit who really believes in his own lies and = contradictions. Or,=20 he is a consummate and conniving politician, the shrewdest=20 manipulator of public opinion since his hero FDR. Or is he = some=20 subtle combination of both? In any case, Reagan continues to = enjoy=20 enormous personal popularity, the nice guy and the = soothing-syrup=20 voice topped by that truly odious jaunty smirk of = self-satisfaction,=20 that smile that says that he is objectively lovable and that = the=20 public adulation is only his due.

Meanwhile, what we = have to=20 worry about is a question far more serious than the key to = the=20 puzzling Reagan personality. Not only as libertarians, but = still=20 more as human beings and members of the human race, we have = to ask=20 ourselves the question: Is There Life After Reagan? The jury = is=20 still out on that one.

The Reagan=20 Phenomenon