There They Go Again

From the "List of People who Aggravate the Crap Out of Me" file...

Ron Reagan, son of the late president and conservative hero Ronald Reagan, will co-host a new political talk show on MSNBC, the network said on Wednesday.

Reagan will host "Connected: Coast to Coast" from MSNBC.com headquarters in Redmond, Washington, MSNBC said in a statement.

The show, which will air twice daily, will base its other host -- Monica Crowley, a former Richard Nixon aide and Fox News analyst -- at MSNBC headquarters in New Jersey.

Reagan drew attention last year when he gave a spirited eulogy at his father's funeral condemning politicians for using their religion for political gain and for a speech on stem-cell research at the Democratic National Convention.

The show will premiere on Tuesday. The early broadcast will present developing news, while the later show will focus more on analysis and debate.

President Reagan, who served from 1981 to 1989, fought with Democrats on Capitol Hill over tax cuts and battled communism as well as a recession. His death touched off a national mourning not seen in decades.

First of all, saying Reagan "battled" Communism is like saying that Washington fought in the American Revolution. You might want to note who won the battle. Even I have to walk around acknowledging who won the Super Bowl on Sunday. And it's nice that Reagan's achievements get boiled down to battling Democrats over tax cuts and battling Communism. I can guess that when Jimmy Carter passes on, I won't be reading about how he battled malaise, the energy crisis and giant bunnies. People didn't mourn Reagan the way they did because of tax cuts. They mourned the man and what he meant to them.

Getting away from that to the actual story... it pains me to do this. I'm attacking the son of one of my idols. But Ron Reagan's last contribution to anything that proved successful was his cameo in Soul Man... although to be fair, I didn't catch his bit as a brothel owner on General Hospital. Regardless, I watched his act (okay, subjected myself to it) during the election run-up when I would try to watch his late-night show with Scarborough on MSNBC, or his frequent appearances on their panels. Scarborough had that look on his face one gets when they're trying to humor a dolt -- "if I keep smiling, no one will know how much I want to laugh at this idiot."

If he can get a show, I should change my name right now. Well, fine, put a bag over my head so I don't scare any children. But I'm reasonably confident that all twelve people who read this blog (we're up 20%!) could do a better job offering political insight than Ron Reagan.

Well, at least there's no chance anyone will hear his comments, since he's on MSNBC.