Ronald Reagan

Mario Cuomo in 1984: High on Passion, Low on Accuracy
By Tom Blumer | January 2, 2015 | 7:29 AM EST

Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, who died on Thursday, is predictably being lionized today by USA Today's Aamer Madhani "as (a) giant in political rhetoric," and by others elsewhere in similarly glowing terms.

Madhani goes on to characterize the three-term Empire State chief executive's 1984 Democratic Convention speech in San Francisco as "what is widely considered one of the finest pieces of political rhetoric in recent memory." That it probably was. But he also calls it "a full-throated rebuttal of President Ronald Reagan, who would go on to a landslide victory over the Democratic nominee Walter Mondale." On that, Madhani is absolutely wrong. It was an attempt at a rebuttal which has since been thoroughly refuted and discredited.

Daily Kos: Reagan ‘Convinced Americans That Democratic Government Was Un-American’
By Tom Johnson | December 21, 2014 | 10:56 PM EST

Mark Sumner contends that since the Reagan years, “conservatism has been more than just an argument about tax rates and regulat[ions]. It's become an open and honest war on the whole idea of governing.”

Ed Schultz: Cuba Move is Obama's 'Tear Down This Wall, Mr. Castro' Moment
By Matthew Balan | December 17, 2014 | 7:20 PM EST

Ed Schultz one-upped colleague Chuck Todd on his MSNBC program on Wednesday. Hours after Todd likened President Obama's policy announcement on Cuba to the fall of the Berlin Wall, Schultz compared the Democrat's address to a famous 1987 speech given at the Wall by his predecessor, Ronald Reagan: "Isn't this Barack Obama's 'tear down this wall, Mr. Castro' – that kind of a moment? I mean, if change can take place with the Soviet Union, why can't it take place with the Cuban people here?"

New York Times Foodie Mark Bittman Uncoils String of Leftist Inanities Disguised as Sunday Review Piece
By Clay Waters | December 16, 2014 | 1:38 AM EST

An epic example of fanciful, fatuous liberalism featured in the most recent New York Times Sunday Review, a screed from Times food writer Mark Bittman that tried to tie in every single current event into a neat package labeled Republican Evil: "The police killing unarmed civilians. Horrifying income inequality. Rotting infrastructure and an unsafe "safety net." An inability to respond to climate, public health and environmental threats. A food system that causes disease. An occasionally dysfunctional and even cruel government. A sizable segment of the population excluded from work and subject to near-random incarceration. You get it: This is the United States, which, with the incoming Congress, might actually get worse."

Washington Monthly Writer: Reagan Nomination in 1976 Would Have Meant No Reagan Presidency…Ever
By Tom Johnson | November 26, 2014 | 1:04 PM EST

Ed Kilgore contends that if the Gipper had headed the Republican ticket that year, he would have lost to Jimmy Carter and consequently would have been an also-ran if he’d sought the 1980 GOP nod.

Flashback: Reagan on Calling Someone a ‘Lying Son of a Bitch’
By Brent Baker | November 10, 2014 | 2:03 AM EST

As part of Face the Nation’s 60th anniversary program on Sunday, the CBS newscast played clips of interviews with current, future and past Presidents – including Ronald Reagan in 1970 being asked by CBS News correspondent Bill Stout about calling a state official a “lying son of a bitch.” Watch the video to hear how Reagan, then the Governor of California, responded with an answer which earned its place in the highlight reel.

AP Stories 25 Years After Berlin Wall's Fall Almost Completely Exclude Reagan
By Tom Blumer | November 7, 2014 | 10:52 PM EST

A search at the Associated Press's national site tonight on "Berlin Wall" (not in quotes) returns 14 stories.

Changing that search to "Berlin Wall Reagan" reduces that number to one. That single story is a short, seven-paragraph item about sections of the wall which are on display in different parts of the world. Reagan's name gets mentioned as follows:

Arsenio: I Don't Care What Car Navigation Says, There Should Be No Taking a Left on Reagan Highway
By Geoffrey Dickens | October 21, 2014 | 12:08 PM EDT

Former late night talk show host and current stand-up comedian Arsenio Hall made quite the astute observation about The Gipper the other day. Even the liberal Hall noticed there was just something wrong about his car navigation system telling him to take a “left on Ronald Reagan Highway.” 

Self-Impressed Paul Krugman Elevates Obama in Gushing Cover Story for Rolling Stone; Wanted 'War Crimes' Investigation on Iraq
By Clay Waters | October 14, 2014 | 11:11 AM EDT

Self-impressed liberal New York Times columnist Paul "I have been right about everything" Krugman was featured in the October 23 issue of Rolling Stone, devoting over 4,000 words "In Defense of Obama." Yes, despite all current dangers foreign, domestic, and coming in from overseas, Obama's presidency is soaring and things would be even better if not for "scorched-earth" Republican obstructionism.

CBS, NBC Skip Obama Saluting Marines With Coffee Cup in Hand
By Curtis Houck | September 23, 2014 | 9:22 PM EDT

When President Barack Obama stepped off of Marine One today in New York City on Tuesday for a series of meetings at the United Nations, he chose to salute the two U.S. Marines saluting him at the bottom of the helicopter with a coffee cup in hand in what many have seen as an unprofessional gesture. By the time Tuesday night came and the evening newscasts of the major broadcast networks aired, two of them omitted the story from their programs.

Both CBS and NBC failed to mention the story in their respective programs while ABC World News Tonight with David Muir mentioned the story for 13 seconds and combined with two teases earlier in the program for a total of 25 seconds of coverage.

NPR Celebrates The New Republic And Its 'Joyous Hit Pieces' on Reagan, Will; No Mention of Stephen Glass Scandal
By Tim Graham | September 19, 2014 | 2:42 PM EDT

On Tuesday night’s All Things Considered, NPR anchor Robert Siegel awarded a seven-and-a-half minute interview to The New Republic and its editor, Franklin Foer. The magazine is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a new book called “Insurrections of the Mind.”

Siegel found time to ask about a Hendrik Hertzberg book review trashing Ronald Reagan as a “child monarch,” which he described as a “scathing and very amusing read.” He also brought up  a Henry Fairlie piece eviscerating George Will, which Siegel called “another very amusing piece.” But he never found time to discuss the New Republic’s enormous scandal with writer Stephen Glass's slew of wildly fabricated articles in the magazine from 1995 to 1998, memorialized in the movie "Shattered Glass.”

Reihan Salam: Mitt Should Run in 2016, And ‘Let Romney Be Romney’
By Tom Johnson | September 2, 2014 | 11:13 AM EDT

If reform-conservative pundit Reihan Salam gets his way, Mitt Romney will join Ronald Reagan on the list of Republican governors of coastal states who were elected president of the United States on their third try. In a Friday column for Slate, Salam wrote that he’s “delighted” about “speculation” that Romney “is at least considering another presidential run.”

Salam argued that if Romney does mount another campaign, he should present himself as a “populist” wonk opposed to “the outsize power of the megabanks and in favor of a more competitive and inclusive capitalism.” Such a persona, Salam surmised, would be closer to the real Mitt than the self-described “severely conservative” version of two years ago: “I tend to think that Romney’s struggles in 2012 flowed from his defensiveness and his fear of alienating Tea Party conservatives he didn’t truly understand.”