CBS Cancels Reagan Drama

Conservatives upset that former president portrayed as mortal, insist that he was that and much more

CBS announced this week that it was canceling plans to show a four-hour miniseries based on the life of former President Ronald Reagan. The announcement came amid a flurry of complaints from conservatives across the nation.

The primary complaint received by CBS was that the drama made the former President seem like a mere mortal and not the omniscient, conservative icon that they claim he is.

"It was totally ridiculous," said Bruce McBurnside of the Heritage Foundation. "They had a scene where he was putting his pants on one leg at a time. If that wasn't bad enough, they strongly insinuated that his wife made key decisions for him based on her astrology beliefs. Plus, they're calling it 'The Reagans,' as if Nancy somehow deserves equal billing with the Almighty. It's blasphemy, pure and simple."

Indeed, many conservatives consider Reagan's legacy to be sacrosanct and place him on a level somewhat close to Jesus and the Holy Ghost. The fact that Reagan chose not to sign a treaty because of Nancy's belief that Jupiter was not properly aligned on the day of the scheduled signing deserves no mention in a docu-drama of this type.

The mini-series is said to portray Nancy Reagan as a controlling, protective spouse and the former President as a doddering old fool being led around by high level policy makers in his administration and his wife. At one point, in fact, the program goes so far as to imply that Nancy regularly spanked her husband when she disapproved of his actions.

"The idea that the President was disciplined in any way," said McBurnside, "is pure speculation. Surely, this didn't happen on a regular basis."

The real problem, conservatives say, is the failure of the the mini-series to highlight all the good that came from the Reagan years.

"They should be focusing on Reagan's real accomplishments," said McBurnside, "like Reaganomics, the parting of the Red Sea, the dismantling of antitrust laws, the healing of lepers, the gutting of the tax code, and his turning water into wine."

Viacom, which owns CBS, has decided not to entirely shelve the project but to air the mini-series on its Showtime cable network, a move that still rankles some conservatives.

"It doesn't belong on Showtime," said McBurnside. "It belongs in a trash can."

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