Paul Krugman's recent article Don't Cry For Reagan made it into the Süddeutsche Zeitung digest of the New York Times. Krugman argues that W. Bush is not an aberation, a derailment of the conservative movement, but an extension of it. He points out that all the nostalgia for the Reagan days is out of place.

Going on a 1993 article which looked back on the 12 years of Reagan and Bush I, he notes how the Reagan administration is similar to the Bush administration:

• packing the Department of Environmental Protection with opponents of environmental protection
• privatization and contractors run amok without regulation
• a horrid attourney general (Ed Meese); the politization of the Justice Department
• an administration filled with movement conservative ideologues from the 1960s-1970s for whom government is always the problem and thus see no point in governing well
• thus jobs go to loyal followers, not experts in the field, an apparatchik culture
• the contempt for the rule of law

Why didn't Reagan's administration turn into the total disaster that Bush's has? He offers several reasons:

• Reagan's party still had moderates who kept some of his program in check. (To which I would add that not even the Democrats have been willing to check Bush II).
• Reagan's party never controlled both houses of congress.
• "There was no Reagan-era equivalent of the rush, after 9/11, to give the Bush adminstration whatever it wanted in the name of fighting terrorism."
• The Cold War prevented Reagan from developing the hubris "that led the Bush administration to believe that a splendid little war in Iraq was just the thing to secure his position."

Thus, Krugman concludes, since he is the one who got the blank check and really did what he wanted to do, it is Bush II who is the "true representative of what modern conservatism is all about. And it's the movement, not just one man, that has failed."

All together, the fundraiser raised over 2000 Euros. An anonymous donor matched that number, bringing the total "take" to over 4000 Euros. That covers more than half of Agustin Aguayo's total legal expenses.

The party was a lot of fun. About 130 people attended over the course of the evening. There was no typcial demographic; the crowd varied widely.

Andreas and Lisa from the Las Lanzas Coloradas treated us all to some beautiful jazz music; the Üsküdar Turkish ensemble pleased the crowd with a set of classical melodies on their stringed instruments; Cecilia the belly dancer was one of the highlights as well. Michael Sharp from the MCN sang a peace song he wrote himself. The evening closed with a selection of 1960s peace music with DJ Lawrence Stallings. All the while, there was a delicious choice of finger foods and drinks.

We woud like to thank everyone who contributed time, money, talent - anything and everything - to make this effort a success.

Local media: An interview with TPAs Penelope Pinson and David Whizen appeared in the Schwäbisches Tagblatt on 24 March.

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