We highly recommend this book that shatters the Ronald Reagan mythology into 1000 tiny shards. Our colleague, Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News, has been working on this revelatory dissection of the Reagan hagiography for quite sometime.

Like all myths, the Reagan legend is built on faith not the facts. Bunch does a lacerating job of tearing down the "Reagan brand," which still has a powerful influence over the right wing drift that has characterized America since 1980 -- and that Obama is going to still confront as we try to steer the ship of state back to common sense policies.

Reagan was an actor who played his part while others built up an image of who he was that grew even stronger after his presidency, steamrolling any semblance of actual history.

Recently BuzzFlash wrote an article on how cities and states are now increasingly privatizing public property and services in order to fill large budget gaps. This is the legacy of the Reagan myth and right wing Grover Norquist-esque efforts to drown government and the public commons. We asked in that BuzzFlash analysis, "Did the Reagan Revolution actually win? Local and State Governments are Selling Off Public Property and Services."

So don't think that Obama's victory alone with shed us of the disastrous results of the "Reagan Crusaders." Myths can be pretty powerful and have staying power. Thankfully, Will Bunch is here to debunk the right wing PR construct that became a worship of Reagan.

For more, read the full review by clicking below.