The City on a Hill: Fulfilling Ronald Reagan's Vision for America

Throughout American history, many eloquent, persuasive political commentators have conveyed their opinions not with name calling and invective but with grace and passion. Broadcaster Michael Reagan, son of the former president, is not one of them. He skillfully chooses revelatory personal stories about his father and clearly presents the conservative view on a variety of issues. But his suggestions for reviving his father's vision have already been covered at length in conservative media. His broad generalizations concerning government change often have a smug, self-righteous tone that seeps into the many passages of liberal-bashing. In his section on foreign policy, Reagan demonizes almost a dozen countries in simplistic dismissal, then lumps together most of Latin America, warning readers of the region's threat to the good ol' U.S.A. It is this moral indignation that not only makes his chapter on religious tolerance ironic but also buries his occasional good ideas under anti-Democrat rhetoric. When Puritan John Winthrop said Boston was to be ""a shining city on a hill"" that would be an example to the world, he presided over an exclusionary, isolationist congregation bent on purity at any cost--an ""us vs. them"" attitude that Reagan carries like a sword (in this case, a blunt one) into every diatribe. (Sept.)