Kristi Thompson (March 23) is absolutely correct when she says that Vice President Albert Gore is no Ronald Reagan. Unfortunately, she has the equation wrong. We should all be thankful that Ronald Reagan is not, and was not, Al Gore.
President Reagan did not misrepresent his military service, claim to have invented the Internet, tell us that he first proposed the earned-income tax credit and pretend to have discovered Love Canal. Reagan did not claim that he and his wife were the inspiration for Eric Segal's "Love Story," pose as a pro-life champion and then become a pro-abortion advocate when political expedience demanded such a change, or rigorously and proudly defend the tobacco industry (from which the Gore family made a great deal of money) and then piously attack it for political profit.And above all, Reagan did not tacitly approve of the killing of women and children at Waco and in the Balkans, turn a blind eye to the corruption of the Clintons and a half dozen Cabinet members, help convert the Lincoln bedroom into a motel for fat cats, sit quietly by as the Clintons smeared Kenneth Starr and Kathleen Willey (as they routinely do anyone who disagrees with them), and solicit and accept illegal campaign contributions and then lie about his actions.
Indeed, Al Gore is no Reagan. He is merely a reincarnation of Spiro Agnew playing a supporting role to Bill Clinton's Richard Nixon.
Robert C. Steensma
Salt Lake City