Another one of those pesky "acquaintances posted the following: "And he was suffering from Alzheimer's the entire two terms. Yes, Republicans, go ahead and continue to worship the best Republican President since Eisenhower!" I responded as follows:
In the first place, Steve and I lost our dad to Alzheimers, so don't you dare try to "school" either of us on the subject. Secondly even those who worked for him are on record numerous times regarding his behavior and general dullness of mind even in his late 40s (as Jim Garner did), so ____ this is for you!
"xxxx", you would have to try hard to be more incorrect.
Reagan was SAG president between 1947 and 1959, which means he was only 48 when
he left the job! In her press release following "Ronnie's" death, Nancy Reagan said, "We have lost
him at 93 after ten years of suffering with Alzheimer's disease." That
means he was diagnosed at 83, six years after leaving the White House. It seems
to me that the behavior described by Garner (for whom I admittedly have far
higher regard then I ever did for Reagan) is a consistent life pattern. To believe that Reagan had Alzheimer's in the White House for eight years when his behavior was essentially the same as Garner noted when he was 48, would imply he had Alzheimer's disease for 45 years. Moreover, if you were even remotely correct regarding him suffering in his first term, how morally bankrupt does that make his sycophants to allow him to run again?
This
indecisive, sometimes bewildered behavior was been described by former UN
ambassador and national security advisor Jeane Kirkpatrick , thusly, (paraphrasing
for clarity....) " Someone would raise an issue and we would sit, waiting
for any indication of any kind from President Reagan that he understood or had
an opinion."
Pierre Rinfret was an economic advisor to Presidents
Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and to an extent, Reagan. He was a lifelong Republican
and former Gubernatorial candidate in New York. He was asked, prior to Reagan's
1980 campaign, to try to talk some sense into the man regarding his insistence
that supply side economics ("Reagonomics")
was a valid model for the nation.
Rinfret obliged and flew to California to meet with Reagan.
After several hours, he left and described the meeting thusly, (again paraphrased
for brevity, meaning unchanged) "After several hours in which I attempted
to convey that Supply side theory simply wouldn't work, I finally asked him why
he thought it would. He thumped his chest and said 'because I just know it!'"
Rinfret left, unable to shake Reagan from an opinion, only he and several rogue
economists held to be true. Rinfret later told Reagan's handlers, "Lowering
taxes without pain or costs is the ultimate Economic Utopia."
It should be noted
that the carefully constructed image, far brighter than the man, succeeded in
bullshitting even many in the media, Carl Rowan stating, "How did we get
into this mess? Because the press, during the 1980s committed one of the
greatest crimes of the 20th century. The media took a dive, caved in, and did
not tell the American people the price they would eventually pay for
Reaganomics." In 1988, David Stockman, former Reagan budget director leveled
an even more scorching attack along the same economic lines.
Former Reagan Press Secretary Larry Speakes was more personal. From his vantage points as a Reagan White
House insider, Although Speakes had spent nearly six years enhancing the
President's image, his own unhedged assessment of the First Couple undid much
of that work. Reagan, he writes, was an "inexperienced and sometimes
downright disinterested President." Nancy was a back stabber, obsessed to
the point of absurdity with guarding her husband's reputation.
It is amazing how little of the real Reagan ever came to
light, stage managed as the entire presidency was. Don Regan (former Reagan Chief of Staff, said that he (Reagan)
needed marks (on the floor as in a play) and scripts, to portray the great
communicator. When he went off script, which he rarely did, he sometimes
alluded to events which he portrayed as factual which were in fact, from movie
roles of his "b" actor career.
The events and occurrences of the Reagan
years mostly happened around him, not because of him. So go ahead with your hero
worship if you must, but be advised the man you think was the "greatest Republican
President since Eisenhower", couldn't have carried Ike's lunch box. In truth, the Nixon legacy legislatively far outshines Reagan's!
As a final "proof", allow me to a brief meoment of humor, courtesy of The Onion "According to current Republican National
Committee chair, Reince Preeibus, 'When I heard about Eisenhower's
presidential accomplishments—holding down the national debt, keeping inflation
in check, and fighting for balanced budgets—it hit me that we'd clearly gotten
their names mixed up at some point,' Priebus told reporters. 'I
couldn't believe we'd been associating terms like 'visionary,' 'principled,'
and 'bold' with President Reagan. That wasn't him at all—that was Ike.' "We
deeply regret misattributing such a distinguished and patriotic legacy to Mr.
Reagan,' Priebus added. 'We really screwed up.' Following his discovery, Priebus directed RNC
staffers to inform top Republicans of the error and explain that it was
Eisenhower, not Reagan, who carefully managed the nation's prosperity, warned
citizens of the military-industrial complex's growing influence, and led the
country with a mix of firm resolve and humble compassion. (This is from "The Onion" but so
spot on I just had to include it!)
At last, even Republicans can see that the emperor was naked
all along. To be fair, some of us knew that 34 years ago!
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