Home
Archive
Columnists
Video
Blogs
Discuss
About
Search
Donate
Advertise
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Register to Vote: Rock the Vote, powered by Working Assets Wireless
Advertisement
  • AlterNetYour turn

Support AlterNet
Do you value the information you're getting from AlterNet? Please show your support with a tax-deductible donation.


Feedback
Tell us how we're doing.

Beware the ghost of Ronald Reagan! [VIDEO]

Posted by Guest Blogger at 1:30 PM on May 4, 2007.


Rachel Maddow: Reagan's an obsession with these people ...

Share and save this post:
Digg iconDelicious iconReddit iconFark iconYahoo! iconNewsvine! iconFacebook iconNewsTrust icon

Got a tip for a post?:
Email us | Anonymous form

Get Video in your
mailbox!

 

In this clip, AirAmerica Radio's Rachel Maddow takes on the conservatives' almost obsessive embrace of the myth of The Gipper.

The money quote actually comes from Bill Maher: "The Republican party has this campy fixation with all things Ronald Reagan ... I mean it's almost gay!"

Digg!

Tagged as: maddow, reagan


Henry Rollins and Paul Waldman Spurn the Media's Love for McCain
From Friday's episode of Meet the Bloggers
Post by Robert Greenwald. September 6, 2008.
Bush's White House Spying on Iraqi Prime Minister
White House Press Secretary Dana Perino wants to make it clear, the White House IS NOT denying spying on Maliki.
Post by Amanda. September 5, 2008.
GOP Vetting Emporium and Taco Stand
Come for the vetting, stay for the tacos!
Post by Brave New Films. September 5, 2008.

Comments Turn comments off sitewide Give us feedback »
Comments closed.
The comments for this story have been closed. Thank you to everyone who participated.
View:
Reagan was the beginning
Posted by: Jeanne on May 4, 2007 1:55 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
of the end. I am old enough to remember him as governor of California. He was a hard-ass, intolerant old git then. Freedom of speech and expression had no place in his world. My memory says that he endorsed running protesters over. He is responsible for loosing the mentally ill onto our streets when, as president, he withdrew funding for mental hospitals. And "trickle down" economics? Puhleeze!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Mr. Deregulation
Posted by: christee on May 4, 2007 2:55 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Ronald Reagan was a nice old actor guy. However, the people who operated his puppet strings (let's start with George H.W. Bush and his oil buddies,) put the Reagan stamp on such things as the Code of Ethics being abolished (on TV), abolishing the Dept of Education, closing the mental hospitals in California, letting the savings and loan industry regulate itself (boy, that one turned out great), giving the world Oliver North who gave weapons to the "enemy", gave weapons and money to Saadam and Bin Laden, BUT, Ronnie was such a nice old guy.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Mr. Deregulation Posted by: ohb0b
» RE: Mr. Deregulation Posted by: madmac10
» RE: Mr. Deregulation Posted by: Laches
Yeah, but...
Posted by: pcushniesr on May 5, 2007 4:06 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
... ain't Rachel just the cutest little thing you ever saw?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

SDogood
Posted by: SDogood on May 5, 2007 6:49 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
There is also union busting in dear old Ron's past...remember firing the air traffic guys for having the nerve to strike for better conditions? I also remember the deaths of marines in Lebanon, untruthful smears about people on welfare, and cutting down brush on the farm (just like the current President Shrub does). Reagan was certainly a nice man to meet and the mold for future GOP candidates; guys not very smart but controllable and beholden to powerful interests. Check the history books and usually you find these kind of 'leaders' responsible for the fall of governments from neglect and irresponsibility.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: SDogood Posted by: Doubtom
» RE: SDogood Posted by: SALLY EVANS
THEY'RE JUST WIERD
Posted by: VZEQICVA on May 5, 2007 7:43 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I think this gathering was at the request of Nancy. It served no purpose other than to prove who ran things in the Regan White House. She still has an enormous amount of clout. And being good Republicans they just did what they were told to do and looked very foolish doing it. Clearly, everyone was uncomfortable. Thanks, ANNA

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

THEY'RE JUST WEIRD
Posted by: VZEQICVA on May 5, 2007 7:45 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I think this gathering was at the request of Nancy. It served no purpose other than to prove who ran things in the Regan White House. She still has an enormous amount of clout. And being good Republicans they just did what they were told to do and looked very foolish doing it. Clearly, everyone was uncomfortable. Thanks, ANNA

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: THEY'RE JUST WEIRD Posted by: Laches
egregious
Posted by: Blabdy on May 5, 2007 7:46 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Remember the time young unarmed black South Africans were in a protest demonstration against apartheid, were turned back with armed force, some of the youths were then shot in the back as they attempted to flee? Reagan's public response to this is that these demonstrators were TERRIORISTS (mind you!) and that by their protest they had called for their own death and injury.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: egregious Posted by: astockton
A "B" actor for chrissakes!
Posted by: Doubtom on May 5, 2007 8:18 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Reagan was a phony, an actor, a poser, a childish person with a constant need for adulation, oops, said that already, he viewed too many of his own films.
One of his more famous posturings was his constant reference to his WW2 service where he spent the entire war making "war" movies for the military, while enjoying a commission as a captain, thereby forever cheapening that rank in the eyes of the nation. He took care to have many photos taken of himself in his spiffy uniform for future reference no doubt.
The most you could say about Reagan before his mind left him altogether, is that he read his lines well but then he was an actor wasn't he? He once played straight man to a monkey.

Are we as a nation so bereft of heroic figures that we have to resurrect the memory of an altogether mediocre figure in politics? He was a complete disaster to our economy to boot!

Those who clamored for his countenance on Mount Rushmore, conveniently forget that he was engaged in totally illegal action, against the expressed wishes of Congress in the Iran/Israel/Contra affair and then flipped off the world by pardonning the culprits involved. Oh yeah, that's greatness for sure! Just the type of president we should shower with admiration.

When you see this childish adoration for clowns like Reagan, you are reminded of the need to look closely at who gets to write history.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Right on, Rachel
Posted by: georgiaorwell on May 5, 2007 8:51 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Boy, you hit it outta the park, Rachel, about Reagon. The neocons act like Reagan is the Second Coming, the guy who walks on water or something. In their world, he could do no wrong. Reagon also opened an era of economic disaster for the middle class and of ethical downturns in the US.

You are a great voice for progressives and I wish you had your own tv show as well - like Bill Maher. Somehow, though, it is sometimes hard to stomach how you can sit there with Tucker Carlson, Mr. I'm so proud to be a conservative blah-blah himself. Keep up your great work!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Reagan- senile von Hindernburg to Poppy Bush as Hitler running rings behind the scenes
Posted by: xbj on May 5, 2007 9:17 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Now we all know what might have happened if Hitler had actually had an idiot son.

Remember all the nightmare scenarios about cloning Hitler or that the Nazis might actually have frozen some of his one-testicle spew?

Doesn't take blood or genetics to be a Nazi; just unremitting hate, relentless greed and the powerlust it fosters, and the morals of a virus.

In in some cases, the intelligence of a virus.

Reagan? He was even more stupid, AND senile to boot.

And the poor souls who still worship him? Dumb and dumber.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Silly
Posted by: froggy on May 5, 2007 10:58 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This was silly, while pointing out something she decided to trash a city that she has most likely never been to. Like oh my god movies where filmed there? There was a trial there? Oh no!
Those safe cities with white people are just creepy!

btw's manson's community existed in the hills between Chatsworth and Simi Valley.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

The Refucklicans love actors because..........
Posted by: tap17x on May 5, 2007 11:41 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
..........their positions have no merit so they hide that fact by being represented by TV and movie greaseballs. Reagan, George Murphy, Fred Thompson, Arnold (who's not quite as disgusting as the others). The voters are too goddamn stupid to distinguish issues from personalities, so they go for some senile old asshole who gives them a warm feeling in their "heart." Reagan made Nixon look good and Bushit is so bad that he makes ScrotumFace (Ronnie) look good. It's a hopeful sign that the Refucks invoke Ronnie to try to erase the stain of Bushit - I don't think the voters, even as hopelessly dumb as they are, will go for it. Reagan was a horrible president.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Reagan started...
Posted by: Bbear41 on May 5, 2007 1:30 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
... What Dubya has continued

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Looking for President Goodguy --- The Search For A New Reagan
Posted by: michaelo on May 5, 2007 7:36 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
by
Michael O'McCarthy

There are events that make you want to puke. The GOP presidential debate tonight and the resurrection of Ronald Reagan as American Savior are one of them. Not simply because of the contestants from America's right wing zoo, but because of their quest: to recreate the delusional image of the "great communicator."

There is perhaps no other politician in US history that has played the role of “the reasonable” American as much as Ronald Wilson Reagan. Like the “Quiet American” of foreign policy, Reagan captivated the new televised American in a way that only Marshall McLuhan could appreciate: Reagan was the medium and he was the message.

http://losangelesfreepress.com/node/354

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Sickness System -The Reagan Legacy
Posted by: ccluelessfl60 on May 5, 2007 9:13 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
When I remember Reagan, I remember when we had a fairly effective health care system for the working poor, in this country. It was neighborhood clinics that saw patients and dispensed medication based on income and need. We had a system designed to care for children and families that was fairly accessible. Reagan totally defunded this program to give the money to the military and set up the HMO industry. Now we have the result of this plan .As someone said the other day we have a Sickness System not a Heath Care system.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Just five words
Posted by: juno1957 on May 5, 2007 10:48 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The Butcher of Central America.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Just five words Posted by: Doubtom
RONNIE VS. ARNOLD
Posted by: Roverton on May 6, 2007 10:14 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Arnold starred in TOTAL RECALL.
Ronnie starred in I DON'T RECALL.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: ONNIE VS. ARNOLD Posted by: rotorooter
Ronny Raygun?
Posted by: ghoster on May 6, 2007 12:40 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
AFter the debate they had a candle light vigil at his tomb, and then went and ate kittens. Fitting end I reckon.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Quintessential Repyukican
Posted by: paschn on May 6, 2007 2:30 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Ron was, ( in addition to being a "B" actor ), a treasonous corporate whore. Much like all other repyukicans. The only way to be sure swine of their ilk won't play this crap again when the U.S. sheeple fall back into a coma is to hope they are somehow removed from the gene pool.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Why the Republicans are Bad for America.
Posted by: Lincoln fan on May 7, 2007 1:23 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I think it's because they're so much against the people that it makes the Democrats almost look like they're not.
Bob Reichenbach,
Director, The Lincoln Initiative.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I like to tell tall tales about Ronnie:
Posted by: surfreality on May 7, 2007 4:47 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Did you know he had a cooking show on the radio in the early 30s before he was a movie star? He invented the casserole.
As a child he sang for the King of Sweden.
He won a gold medal in the 1932 Olympics as the bat boy for the womens' softball team.
In college he profited from his classic Grecian physique by posing nude for art classes.
He had a world class costume jewelry collection...
He was an expert at tiddlywinks.

There's a Taoist point of view that says if you want something to decline then push it towards it's peak and then let the natural cycle take over. So I like to add to the Ronnie "legend" in ridiculous ways.
Let's advocate Ronald Reagon for the $3 bill!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Get some small satisfaction..
Posted by: zipper696 on May 8, 2007 2:31 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
By renting " The Killers" - directed by Don Siegel you will have the satisfaction of seeing Regan in his last movie role playing a BAD GUY and firstly thrown from a moving vehicle and injured by John Cassavetes and finally being shot to death by Lee Marvin.

That aside, it is a damn good film.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Don't forget Ronnie and HUAC
Posted by: DaBear on May 8, 2007 12:01 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Ronnie ratted out dozens of actors, directors, producers and screen writers. That was when he was a "young" nice old actor guy. He went downhill on the fast track to asshat human rights criminal from there.

I loved the visual of the hooded goons with candles holding a whispering, chanting debate around Ronnie's tomb.... bwahahahah. I live over the hill from Simi and yeah, it's a fucked up town. My only consolation in living in an adjacent fucked up Republikaaner owned town is that at least we're not in Simi (which has the Shrine topping it's western hills).

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]