No, Reagan should not be on the $10 bill. No, Reagan should not (yes, I’ve actually heard this suggested) be added to Mt. Rushmore. And, no, I didn’t think that National Airport in Washington should have been named after him, either.
I’m not sanguine about naming things after living people, or even the recently dead. If Reagan was really as profoundly important and influential as his boosters say he was, he will still be in a decade (or three). (And the same is true for any other major public work or tribute to a major public figure.) Nor am I all that excited about renaming or revising works to reflect some new tribute.
A memorial fund, a scholarship, a foundation, an endowment — sure, since that implies a carrying-on of that figure’s work.
But big, flashy honorings of the sorts mentioned above? No. It’s too early, too easy for folks to be swept up by emotion or partisanship. Not a good idea.
Couldn’t agree more.
Ahhh…
But through the use of the holy lock of St. Ronny’s hair I shall cure thee of thy blasphemers tongue!
And, for the record, that’s a nonpartisan opinion, and an historic one. Accolades given too quickly tend to look silly later. Certainly RR doesn’t care about it any more …