It’s kind of fascinating to watch Bill O’Reilly butt heads with George Will and other Reagan loyalists over the plain fact that the Gipper was suffering from rather debilitating loss of function late in his second term in office.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
It is too bad that REAGAN did not have this happen to him sooner like in his first term of office.
It did, but was more successfully covered up in the early years.
He’d taken his notes from a Reader’s Digest article.
wow
Yep. But he wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box at the outset. He had the gift of glibness combined with being tall and handsome in his youth – which means that people will automatically give a lot more credibility to your statements than otherwise.
But even with all that he bragged that he never got a grade of above C in high school, and it appears that was the case.
Quite amazing. Good looks, winning personality, ability to memorize anything without understanding it, and ability to figure out which memorized catch phrases are popular. That’s what passes for leadership in way too many situations.
After the meeting that as a clinician had disturbed Caldicott, she checked around with people who had known Reagan for years and they told her he’d always been intellectually somewhat dim and boring. That led her to conclude that she’d met the regular Reagan and not a man in the early stages of dementia.
Rubio is in training to capture what Reagan had. Even if he’s too short and his ears are too big. And like Reagan, he has staff to do the figuring out part for him.
I’m struggling to understand if Rubio is a sly dog, just implausibly shallow and banal or a genuine nincompoop. His enthusiastic delivery of indefensible bafflegab leaves me dumbfounded. Does he just practice in front of the mirror?
I can only imagine he would be handed his ass in any debate in which reality was permitted to intrude.
He’s a nincompoop.
Practicing in front of a mirror is so 19th century. Rubio has a team of coaches and practices on camera. The coaches then dissect the recorded performance and adjust, modify, tweak, etc. Rubio’s body and facial moves, voice, delivery, and memorized “facts” as he performs again and again on-camera. Jeb? is undergoing the same process, but appears to have started later than Rubio because he’s still at the stage of appearing less instead of more fluid in his movements/facial expressions and rehearsed lines — IOW at the more conscious stage of the modification process. Or maybe Rubio has been a more committed and diligent student.
Trump and Carson are leading in the polls at least partly because there’s an uncanny valley between the electorate and these over engineered, expensive animatrons?
Nah. Just different programming teams and who they used to test market the models with before rolling out the latest version. The GOP beltway pro-teams are definitely losing the battle as if Mitt v. 8.9 would sell better than v. 4.3 and they could skip the test market step.
during his SOTU response was . . . er . . . ‘ad-libbed’, then?
No – it was written and somewhat memorized, but too early in his federal career for the PR media types to recognize that his TV iq and presentation skills were that of a hick.
hey oaguabonita, what do you think of the new Montana dem candidate for Congress, Denise Juneau?
http://denisejuneau.com/
I like her. She’s about to term-limit out as state-level equivalent to Secretary of Education (Director or whatever the title is of Office of Public Instruction, OPI), so it’s not surprising she’d run now. She’s Native-American. That’s not an unalloyed strength in MT. We certainly have at least our full ration of racism/-ists here, and in a state with a relatively minuscule African-American population, NAs bear the brunt of it. Also, she was one of the Dem-Establishment potential replacements on the Senate ballot for Walsh after his plagiarism debacle, but declined.
Hard to say what her chances are. Zinke’s horrible across a wide range of issues, but I haven’t picked up on anything to make me think any of that makes him particularly vulnerable — sadly, horrible is what a significant chunk of MT voters want in a Rep. At least she has pretty good name recognition as an elected official to a statewide office. That she’d be an improvement over Zinke is a no-brainer, so that may be a strike against her (with the wingnuts I mean, of course)!
Thanks. can she bring up the public lands issue? and connect Zinke to the carpetbagger from NJ?] candidate for gov?
I was/ am a big fan of Amanda Curtis, hope she runs again eventually
you mean the push to have the state take over management (at a minimum) or ownership of fed public lands (which here means mainly BLM and FS). That went nowhere last legislature. It came out (to those of us who pay attention to such matters anyway — with our small minority status being a big part of the problem generally) that that was being driven by some secretive, out-of-state, extreme-rightwing-‘privatization’-dogma-espousing outfit; iirc, there was even an ethics complaint/lawsuit, unsuccessful I think, against some state legislator from NV or somewhere who came here pushing it). Fortunately, I think a substantial majority here recognize the benefits we collectively gain from fed public lands (even many of those most radically critical of fed mgmt. didn’t support the state takeover idiocy), how totally unrealistic it would be for the state to assume the very large costs of managing those lands, and therefore, that state takeover is inevitably the first step down the road to privatization of those lands (i.e., no other realistic way to cover those mgmt. costs exists). So, to finally get to actually answering, the rightwing zealots haven’t given up the idea, of course, but I’d be surprised to see Zinke or any viable challenger fully embrace it. But if they did, yeah, Juneau or any Dem candidate would be nuts not to oppose it strongly.
Not sure to whom the ‘carpetbagger from NJ’ refers. First thought you might mean Gianforte, but his Wiki entry says he was born in San Diego and doesn’t mention any NJ connection. He has lots of Religious Right baggage (e.g., large and well-publicized-by-media donations to a creationist dinosaur museum by his family’s foundation), which is disqualifying here in the Reality-Based Community where I live, but alas, not necessarily a detriment to electoral prospects in MT.
I like Amanda. I lobbied for Dems to draft Dirk Adams when Walsh self-destructed, but I was mostly satisfied with her as alternative. And she presented herself and did well enough against near-impossible odds to have gained some cred and name recognition that would be assets if she opts to run for Sen, Rep, Gov, or other elective office.
Would you think that HRC is undergoing a comparable treatment? Her demeanor has markedly changed since 2008. Or is she taking some kind of tranquillizer. I remember reading that she took elocution lessons to make her speech conform more to NYC/northeastern norms. After all she was nothing more than a carpetbagger as NY senator. Who pushed her? Schemer?
Take most of this article with a grain of salt. However, the description of the nuts and bolts seem accurate enough to me because it’s standard SOP for those that can afford it:
She’s employed speech and debate coaches for years, but it’s quite obvious to me that she’s undergone a much higher level of self-presentation training for this campaign. And it wouldn’t be just a few days of video-tape and playback and resistance from her. Unless one has natural acting talents, and Hillary doesn’t, it takes time to excise the rough edges and develop a different presentation style to a smooth and natural appear level.
GWB spent lots of time in such a lab for his 2000 campaign. The tell was a certain level of awkwardness and self-consciousness compared to his first time out against Ann Richards. An intermediate stage in changing/modifying one’s self-presentation. By 2004, the modification was more complete.
There are two major risks in undertaking such a transformation. First, in the early stages, the “improved version” for those that have an okay baseline is likely to be worse than the original and sometimes significantly worse. So, nothing may be better than a little bit of training. (It’s possible that Gore went with the “little bit” in 2000 and then junked it after the primary contests.) Second, it introduces a degree of inauthenticity. In Hillary’s case that wasn’t a major consideration because she’d already laid that down through her decades of impression management efforts on the national stage and even a bit more of that to extinguish “the cackle” would be worth the effort.
My guess is that Jeb? is either not a very good student or is in the early stage of training where he’s getting worse instead of better.
I’d guess she’s gone in to some kind of meditation, mindfulness or whatever. She’s so much more self-confident. Did here job as SoS make the difference? Only guessing.
Reagan was a seasoned actor and he brought those skills to politics. Rubio has none of that going for him. I get the impression that he hasn’t spent a whole lot of time developing himself. Handlers can’t do that for you.
Not even a very good actor b/c other actors had no difficulty seeing the tricks that Reagan used. Once feared how far a really talented and skilled rightwing actor could take this country. Relaxed when I realized that the conservative mind is incapable of achieving better than B actor skills.
The GOP will never put out anyone as cool as George Clooney.
Reagan’s success was pre YouTube. Today, any candidate will get blitzed trying to replicate RayGun.
Although it was still pretty hard to believe when it was actually happening. Really disturbing to watch in real time.
A relative who is a professional journalist interviewed him when he was Governor of California and said he was the stupidest person he had ever interviewed in his entire careeer.
O’Reilly’s theory is pretty plausible, at the least. We found out, years after the event, that Reagan very nearly died from the assassination attempt, and that he’d had very low blood pressure and pulse for a while, which could easily cause brain damage. Mild strokes and multiple ministrokes are often precipitating event for frank Alzheimer’s – it seems in the early stages the brain loses the ability to learn new information before the old stuff starts getting lost. So damage that a younger, healthier person could have recovered from produces Alzheimer’s. It’s certainly plausible that brain damage from a shooting could have had a similar effect.
We’ll never know for sure without medical records that may never have existed and were covered up if they did. It’s interesting to watch the right wing panic at even having this discussed, though.
Don’t mess with St Ronnie! He was the Best President Ever, and no one dares tarnish his perfect image.
The Republicans will never admit he was anything less, even modern Conservatives who ignore his stance on immigration and taxes.
I remember an interview with Jimmy Carter where he described a meeting in the Oval Office with President-elect Reagan. Carter said he offered a thick folder filled with notes he’d taken during his term in office, thinking it would give Reagan a great source of information and help. He said he was astonished and dismayed when Reagan rebuffed him and declined to take the files. And all the while during the conversation as he was giving Reagan info about the basic comings and goings of the White House, Reagan completely ignored him. Mr Carter said, in his usual soft-spoken manner, something to the effect that he saw that as a huge red flag.
to see O’Reilly occupying the role of reasonable insistence on (at least a selection of) the facts that comprise Reality.
May we expect the sun to rise in the west tomorrow . . . or assume one could find snowballs in hell today?
I made sorta the same comment here at another post the other day. How, imo, I came down on the side of O’Reilly in that verbal fisticuffs, particularly when Will told him that he (O’Reilly) was aiding and abetting the “leftists” in their efforts to undermine the legacy of Reagan. First time I’ve ever felt sympatico with Bill O.
He was already suffering from pre-Alzheimer’s.
It’s been suggested by Fox-watcher Gabriel Sherman that we are seeing the outlines of a struggle to succeed Ailes:
Reagan’s legacy seems merely a theatrical prop.
Reagan’s legacy seems merely a theatrical prop.
Has been since Reagan began using it.
Mann tweet (have no idea who he is)
Note of caution: GOP operations have used the “we’re pulling out” ploy for various GOP candidates before when the money spigots have not in fact been turned off.
Rylee Ahnen tweet
Billmon
I beleive the correct quote is “dead girl or live boy”
Yes, but extrapolating from that, a “live girl” was okay or would be given a pass. Hence, Vitter may have pushed too far on the “live girl” pass.
For me, the diaper was a bridge too far. Wilbur Mills and Fanne Fox, that was understandable. I also can’t find any reference to him being married.
The diaper thing – Yukkk!
P.S. Looking at his wikipedia page, Wilbur wasn’t a bad guy. He did some very good things. Back then he was called a conservative Democrat. Today he would be called a socialist.
ot:Because, of course, the only people who suffer racism in America are ghetto-dwelling, welfare-taking Black people.
And, if you have some success, you no longer have the right to voice the injustice and racism that you see occurring DAILY in your life?
GET.DA.PHUQ.OUTTA.HERE with the bullshyt.
I bet this young man’s father could tell stories that would make your head shake in disgust.
And, I also bet his father couldn’t be more proud of his son today if he tried.
……………………………….
Mizzou hunger-strike figure from Omaha, son of top railroad exec
Jonathan Butler, a central figure in the protests at the University of Missouri, is an Omaha native and the son of a railroad vice president, the Omaha World-Herald reports.
Butler refused food last week in a move to force the university system’s president, Timothy M. Wolfe, from office. Wolfe resigned Monday and Butler ended his hunger strike.
Jonathan Butler played high-school football at Omaha Central High, where he won a state championship, and earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Mizzou, the newspaper reports. He is working toward a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy.
He is a member of a prominent Omaha family. The newspaper says that Butler’s father is Eric L. Butler, executive vice president for sales and marketing for the Union Pacific Railroad. His 2014 compensation was $8.4 million, according to regulatory filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Eric L. Butler and his wife, Cynthia Butler, serve as pastors of Joy of Life Ministries, the newspaper reported. Along with Jonathan Butler, the couple has two other children.
http://www.stltoday.com/lifestyles/columns/joe-holleman/mizzou-hunger-strike-figure-from-omaha-son-o
f-top-railroad/article_20630c03-2a68-5e63-9585-edde16fe05f3.html
all good for Jonathan and his family!!!
The Hill In new shock poll, Sanders has landslides over both Trump and Bush
(But only Clinton is ‘electible.’)
And this was before Americans heard Trump and Carson say that they don’t back an increase in the minimum wage. (To be fair, Carson seemed to say that the minimum wage is already too high.)
Unfortunately, he has to win the Democratic primary before those numbers are half way revealing.
DEM primary voters have to make the same calculation in this election cycle that they did in 2008. Then the floor for both of them was about the same (and at or near a winning margin); so, the question was which candidate had a potentially larger upside and the larger the more likely it would trickle down to Senate and House races.
That was Trump. I can’t believe he said that bit it’s all over the news. I believe that he thinks it but I thought he was too savvy to say it.
Carson did as well and went further. None of the other candidates objected to what Trump and Carson said.
And the non-union white blue collar workers eat this up. Dumb as rocks.
Well, perhaps the younger, white blue-collar, union workers won’t be so gullible seeing as how they got the shaft from the older guys.
??? Maybe you are referring to two-tier systems? If so, I agree about the shaft. The unions are forgetting that solidarity is what gave them power.
I find that they usually come out with something like “I have my job and benefits because I’m so valuable that my grateful employer rewards me, but those other guys are loafers that don’t deserve it”.
Like I said, dumb as rocks!
” the Gipper was suffering from rather debilitating loss of function late in his second term in office”
If you ask me, I’d say it was a LOT earlier …
(Not quite enough information to warrant a new diary, but …)
WNYC Bridgegate Defendants: Christie’s Team Hiding Thousands of Documents, Including Christie Emails
(Recall recently Christie’s lawyers denied having any work papers.)
Unfortunate timing of this release b/c at the kiddie table debate yesterday, Christie claimed the he could prosecute Clinton on her e-mail issue.
Interesting tidbits: