"What the caterpillar calls the end of life, wise men call a butterfly."

There's no escaping it - Reagan's death is everywhere you turn, and the Republicans and the Right are milking it for all it's worth.

I actually liked Ronnie. I wasn't at the time, but I probably should have been a Reagan Democrat (I was a registered Republican.) I hope he had a death with dignity. Alzheimer's claimed my grandmother, and it wasn't pretty. In the end she didn't know who I was, and in the end Reagan didn't remember being president.

I think history will treat him well, but his legacy is not a clear cut image. George Bush had better think a little before he tries to wrap himself with the Reagan aura at every opportunity; W. hasn't missed an opportunity yet to make political points from dead people. I don't think he'll stop now.

The Reagan white house was silent for years about the AIDS epidemic. AIDS was first reported in 1981, but Reagan didn't address the plague until March 31, 1987.

Reagan was a union buster. I remember when my next door neighbors had to move after he fired all the air traffic controllers for striking. Unions still have not recovered, and the American worker is more exposed than ever to corporate greed and overpaid CEOs.

Does anyone here remember Iran-Contra and the lawbreaker Oliver North? He's got a cushy job on Fox news now, but at the time he was facing a prison sentence.

I'll pass along the words of William Rivers Pitt:

Mainstream media journalism today is a shameful joke because of Reagan's deregulation policies. Once upon a time, the Fairness Doctrine ensured that the information we receive - information vital to the ability of the people to govern in the manner intended - came from a wide variety of sources and perspectives. Reagan's policies annihilated the Fairness Doctrine, opening the door for a few mega-corporations to gather journalism unto themselves. Today, Reagan's old bosses at General Electric own three of the most-watched news channels. This company profits from every war we fight, but somehow is trusted to tell the truths of war. Thus, the myths are sold to us.

Thank God for the Internet and the little bit of freedom of speech left to us.

Reagan's famous question, "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?" is easy for me to answer.

No, I'm not. Are you?