First the Jew-bashing hype over Mel Gibson's "The Passion", and now this: Conservatives are taking Disney Studio's Hockey saga "Miracle" to task. Their beef: In a film that is largely set in the 1980's, nary a reference to Ronald Reagan is ever put forth.

"We are appalled that Disney would neglect to mention the major deciding factor in the US Hockey Team's Victory over the Empire of Evil, namely, that Ronald Reagan took a nation in shambles and managed to construct an unstoppable hockey force that even the Professional Evil Soviet skaters could not deter," said Glenda Biatton, spokesperson for the Ronald Reagan Anti-Defamation League (RRADL) in a press conference Tuesday. "No one can deny that the US Hockey team's achievement is meaningless unless viewed through the prism of Ronald Reagan," claims Biatton.

Disney personnel refused to comment, but the gen-X phone attendant seemed perplexed, "Hey, wait a minute, Reagan didn't take office until '81. How could he have had anything to do with that team?"

"Miracle" is a film that details the trials and tribulations of an against-all-odds Olympic hockey team that captured the hearts

Some even say the Gipper had a few shots on goal during the 1980 Olympics.

of a nation when they staged an inconceivable defeat of a heavily favored Soviet team en route to a gold medal. Many critics have called it an accurate portrayal of the grueling months of dedicated training that led to the thrilling series of victories.

Praising performances by Kurt Russell and slick cinematography, sports commentators from around the nation have even gone so far as to dub "Miracle" the greatest Hockey Film since "Slap Shot", or to a lesser extent, "Strange Brew."

RRADL, an organization dedicated to "promulgating the extraordinary legend and contribution of the Reagan Legacy," takes exception to the fact that Reagan is never even mentioned in the film.

"They go to all the trouble to describe the inevitable tailspin of the Carter years--but not nearly in enough depth," stated Biatton, "and then they never even mention that Ronald Reagan was the salve that soothed the nation's collective jock itch. We find this deplorable."

RRADL is not alone in its criticism. Washington Post's syndicated columnist George Will concurs: "This writer finds it curious that any film could be made in this Grand Age of Information, without a proper mention of the one person who makes this nation so very great: Ronald Reagan. There is no single event in the eighties that has not been touched by His essential greatness. We should take every chance to bow down and confess that Reagan is Lord. Reagan. Reagan. Reagan. Ronald Reagan. Reagan."

Will's unflinching hagiography aside, these developments reflect a recent effort to amplify and cement Reagan's reputation for Posterity. RRADL, says the group's website, was instrumental in bringing MSNBC to produce "From Ron to Nancy", a Valentine's Day special that covers a series of quasi-mushy post-it notes Reagan scrawled to his second wife while illegally mining Nicaragua's harbors and trading arms to Iran for hostages. RRADL also claims to be behind the conservative brouhaha that forced CBS to cancel a made-for-TV movie that made Reagan look less that saintly. "We grow tired of all these attempts to erode the legacy of the greatest figure to ever walk to Earth," says Biatton. "Screw Jesus and all his wussy cross crap. Reagan's the shit."