PrintMay 9, 2008
Liberal intellectuals start to get a clue about Reagan
Two decades after the end of his presidency, some of the smarter intellectuals are starting to realize the greatness of Ronald Reagan. Newsweek runs a fascinating interview with Princeton University's Sean Willentz, the very definition of an academic liberal, and George Will, about the strange new respect some liberals are developing for Ronald Reagan.
It is brief enough to be read in a minute or two, but long enough for Will to catch Willentz in his self-absorbed assumptions, and for Willentz to back away from some of them. For example:
SW: "...it took people a long time to catch up with Ronald Reagan. But I think that now they can no longer ignore him."
Gee, Professor Willentz, as I recall, the American people caught up with President Reagan by electing him president twice by overwhelming margins. It was intellectuals, with their acquired imperviousness to reality, who proudly stayed mired in their own ignorance, calling it sophistication, and fooling only themselves. (But since they only care about each other's opinions, that was enough for them.) George Will was a little too nice to point this out.
Still, I credit Willentz for his honesty here. Better late than never. He's better than a lot of other academics who remain convinced they are smarter than ordinary people, when in fact academics are one of the most pampered and privileged segments of American society, and consequently often unaware of some of the basic realities of society.
There's no fool like an educated fool.
Hat tip: Susan L.
