General Phil Sheridan played a key role in the Civil War and later commanded U.S. troops in the West during the Indian Wars. He was said to have remarked, “The only good Indians I ever saw were dead.” This is often quoted as, “The only good Indian is a dead Indian.” Sheridan denied making the remark, but at the time it would not have been considered exceptional. The Indian Wars were bloody, and Sheridan had seen many of his troopers buried.

Although the quotation is questionable, the thought is regrettably widespread. We may pretend to forgive our enemies after they die, and we sometimes even praise them. But the praise often rings hollow. It is used hypocritically, in an attempt to show how our current opponents compare unfavorably with those of the past.

For example, take Ronald and Nancy Reagan. The mainstream media now portray them as what they were – a truly devoted married couple. But in addition, liberal commentators fill newspapers and the Internet with endless, unfavorable comparisons of the current Republican presidential hopefuls with Ronald Reagan. One might think that while he was president, Reagan was highly regarded by these pundits. One couldn’t be more wrong.
Reagan was regularly derided as a fool, an idiot, and a pinhead. Nancy was described as a robotic mannequin or witch, and was insulted with the taunt, “She looks so lifelike.”

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And don’t forget Reagan being ridiculed as a vegetable.

This is nothing new. During their presidencies, Eisenhower, Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II were regularly mocked as morons incapable of fulfilling their duties. But oddly, after they left office, they were praised as intelligent and wise when compared to later Republican politicians. Psychologists would have difficulty explaining how Republican presidents gain IQ points after they retire. Perhaps Democrats look upon them more kindly when they see them in the rear-view mirror, and especially when they see them in the ground.

The same phenomenon applies to other aspects of Republican presidents. While in office, Democrats depict them as warmongers, militarists, fascists, Nazis, and even Hitlers.

But after they leave office, they are seen as competent, even noble, while current Republican candidates and office holders are compared to Nazis. Thus Donald Trump is compared to Hitler, not only by Democrats, but also by Mexican politicians who should know better than to meddle in American politics. Don’t they understand that by insulting our candidate, their vitriol may backfire and actually gain Trump votes?

Trump as Hitler? Perhaps I missed it, but did Hitler have a daughter and a son, both of whom were married to Jews? No, but Trump does. Trump as anti-immigrant? Both of Trump’s paternal grandparents were immigrants, his mother was an immigrant, and he is married to an immigrant. Two children married to Jews? An avowed friend of Israel? Many immigrants in his family?

In reality, Donald Trump is a really lousy candidate to be cast as Hitler. Nevertheless, mainly Trump, but also the other Republican hopefuls, are compared to Hitler and Mussolini. And they are compared unfavorably with Ronald Reagan. Reagan is now portrayed by liberal pundits as the ideal conservative. But while he and Nancy were alive, they were vilified unmercifully.

Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr. on March 30, 1981, 69 days into his presidency. He literally came within inches of death. Pope John Paul II was shot on May 13, 1981. He too recovered, but neither man was quite the same afterward. Conspiracy theorists continue to theorize about the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. But attempts on the lives of two leading anti-communists within a short time? That somehow does not excite the interest of theorists. Does this suggest the political orientation of the theorists?

After the shooting of her husband, Nancy Reagan became even more protective. She consulted an astrologer in an attempt to arrange his appointments for auspicious days. For this, Nancy was widely condemned as irrational and superstitious. Do I believe in astrology? No. But who would criticize a terrified wife for attempting to safeguard her husband? Someone who puts politics above human feelings. Someone whose chief regret is that John Hinckley Jr. was not a better marksman.

General Sheridan may or may not have said what he is reputed to have said. But in effect, Democratic pundits are saying something similar today: The only good Republican is a dead Republican. That was a questionable way of thinking during a military campaign a century and a half ago. It is totally inappropriate during a political campaign today.

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