The Sh*t L*st

In case Edmund Morris's accent has impaired your judgement, Paul Krugman reminds us how quickly we forget, even when we don't yet have Alzheimer's Disease:

Over the course of this week we'll be hearing a lot about Ronald Reagan, much of it false. A number of news sources have already proclaimed Mr. Reagan the most popular president of modern times. In fact, though Mr. Reagan was very popular in 1984 and 1985, he spent the latter part of his presidency under the shadow of the Iran-Contra scandal. Bill Clinton had a slightly higher average Gallup approval rating, and a much higher rating during his last two years in office.

We're also sure to hear that Mr. Reagan presided over an unmatched economic boom. Again, not true: the economy grew slightly faster under President Clinton, and, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates, the after-tax income of a typical family, adjusted for inflation, rose more than twice as much from 1992 to 2000 as it did from 1980 to 1988.

Until I can get a free Fetal Stem Cell Boost with my Jamba Juice Orange Dream Machine, I can't but consider Reagan's legacy incomplete.