Ronald Reagan

Upon first reading Lou Cannon’s column (“The Reagan Presidency: Every Night at the Movies,” Opinion, April 28), I was inclined to laugh. There were, after all, a few of us who suspected Ronald Reagan and his Administration were little more than a Hollywood back lot from the start; pretty from the street but held together from behind by shaky props. The more I’ve thought about the article, however, the more upset I’ve become. Wasn’t there somebody in Washington with guts enough to tell the American people about this facade of a man? Where was Lou Cannon with his then-18 years of covering Reagan? Where was the rest of the Washington media?

And what about the current White House resident? Didn’t George Bush see enough to hear the “Sound of Music?” No, Bush was too loyal to the icon in those halcyon Reagan mandate days to pop the bubble, they’ll say. What about loyalty?

GUNNAR JENSEN, Fresno