Is the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project Heading for Your Town?

Indulge me for just a moment.

Flash forward to the year 2010. Here's the scene: I'm driving up the Ronald Reagan Highway on the way to the lovely coastal town of Mendocino, California. Along the way, I stop at the Ronald Reagan Rest Area to relax for a couple of minutes. I'm thirsty, but all I have is a $10 dollar bill -- the recently reissued bill with President Ronald Reagan's face where once old Alexander Hamilton, a Founding Father, an author of the Constitution and the Federalist Papers, and our first Treasury secretary, stared out at us.

I'm heading for a meeting at the Ronald Reagan Court House, which I'm told, is located across the street from the Ronald Reagan Municipal Jail and just down the street from Ronald Reagan High School.

"Wow," I'm thinking, as I was park my newly purchased hybrid electric/gas powered station wagon, "the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project achieved a heck of a lot more than I thought it would when they started up more than ten years ago."

If you think this is an impossibly incongruous dreamscape out of "The Twilight Zone," or better yet, "Death Valley Days," the television program Reagan hosted for years, think again. Here are a few happenings on the "remember and honor" Reagan front -- and all this is going on while the dude is still alive!

Proliferating Reagan legacy projects

The most influential of all the Reagan-honoring organizations is the Washington, DC-based Ronald Reagan Legacy Project (RRLP). Founded in 1997 and sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform, headed by the now-ubiquitous conservative activist Grover Norquist, it is hitting on all cylinders. The project's "mission is to honor and memorialize the historic achievements of President Ronald Reagan. It aims to do so by naming at least one notable public landmark in each state after the 40th president."

In March, Norquist testified before Congress in support of HR 452, the Ronald Reagan Memorial Act of 2001, which specifies that a committee be established to choose a location on the National Mall for a memorial to Ronald Reagan. Norquist said Reagan "deserves this memorial on America's Mall because he represented America." (To see how your state is doing check out http://www.reaganlegacy.org/dedications/index.htm).

Last year, the conservative Federalist Society established a Web site called "Reagan 2000: Federalism and the New Republicans," a campaign "dedicated to individual, family and community rights and responsibilities in acts of self-governance, as set forth by our Founders in the Declaration of Independence and codified in its subordinate guidance, our Republic's Constitution, the original intent of which is specified in the Federalist Papers."

Endorsed by his son Michael, the conservative radio talk show host, the site claims that "in addition to providing an exposition of President Reagan's leadership of, and contributions to, the 20th century's conservative revolution ... [it] contains the New Federalist Platform -- the quintessential conservative platform -- a template for citizens, for candidates from all levels of government and a touchstone for American conservatism in perpetuity."

"Reagan 2000" also offers a selection of Reagan speeches, text from a special issue of The National Review magazine called "The Real Reagan Record," Ronald and Nancy Reagan's biographies, and a walk-down-memory-lane Photo Gallery.

Other conservative organizations cashing in on right-wing Reagan-mania, which is no way should be confused with Beatle-mania, include NewsMax.com, the ultra-conservative online news site. NewsMax is offering "an authentic piece of Reagan history!" They're selling a "framed lithograph of the famous 'Reagan Country' portrait -- each hand signed by the renowned artist!" -- Texan Gary Giuffre. The 16" x 20" print is yours for only $249.00 plus $4.95 Shipping.