Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problems, government is the problem." These famous words, from Ronald Reagan's first inaugural address, were played on Sunday's episode of Meet the Press, where David Gregory hosted a segment devoted to Reagan's 100th birthday.
After the clip was played, Gregory unloaded the mother of all leading questions--actually, it was more of a statement masquerading as a question--on NBC's Andrea Mitchell. The absurdity of Gregory's remark is only dwarfed by the madness of Mitchell's response.
Here's Gregory: "And as much as modern day conservatives, Andrea Mitchell, may take that sentence from his inaugural as gospel and run on that in their own debates with President Obama and Washington today--indeed, Reagan was much more of a pragmatist than an ideologue when it came to the major issues."
If you can't watch it, here is part of what she said: "People are trying--Republicans in particular--are trying to appropriate Ronald Reagan for their own political purposes now."
All I have to say is this: thank God for Peggy Noonan, who jumps in and spanks Mitchell (I mean that figuratively): "Whoa whoa whoa whoa. Republicans are not, I think, trying to appropriate Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan was a Republican. Conservatives are not trying to appropriate him. He was a conservative."
That just leaves one question: Is Andrea Mitchell crazy?
But really, the media's recent rewrite of Ronald Reagan's presidency has been, if nothing else, amusing to watch. Talk about political acrobatics.
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Nov '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
Whew, they are really trying to rewrite his image. It is shocking for her to say Republicans are trying to appropriate Reagan for their own purposes when Time has the photoshoped cover of Obama and Reagan.
Nov '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
Many years ago my brother stole some money. Before the theft was discovered he started accusing me of stealing money. His false accusations led to his own downfall.
Liberals like Andrea Mitchell remind me of my brother.
Jun '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
This is too cute by half. "He [Reagan] was admired"? By whom, the Democrats that thought he was a dolt? And the icing on the cake has got to be Jim Baker, the man who argued against speaking the words "tear down this wall." What are these people smoking? Because with revisionist fantasies this vivid, we ought to be selling that stuff on street corners.
Jan '11
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
In Reagan's own words: "I heard those speakers at that other convention saying "we won the Cold War" -- and I couldn't help wondering, just who exactly do they mean by "we"? And to top it off, they even tried to portray themselves as sharing the same fundamental values of our party!"
Oct '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
Ronald Reagan accomplished more of his conservative agenda than any conservative in modern history. For all eight years of his presidency the House was controlled by the Democrats, and for only two of those eight years did he have a Senate from his own party... and they were so ill-prepared for leadership that they also might as well have been Democrats.
Remember the times, if you are old enough. The Dem's, which included all of the functioning media of the time, except a few magazines like National Review, called him an amiable dunce, denigrated his every word and action, and were backed by an in place bureaucracy unchanged from the time of Roosevelt. Oh, BTW, the GOP was controlled by the Rockefeller, Northeast wing of the party.
Could any other American, or, if you will, add in Maggie Thatcher and Winston Churchill, have overcome such staggering odds against him. Note, also, that conservatives who were overwhelmingly enthusiastic about the Gipper were, at best tepid, about James Baker.
America has been untaught the story of Ronald Reagan. If you are under forty, you have been fed a pack of lies for your entire lifetime.
Edited on Feb 7, 2011 at 8:42amJul '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
I can think of no business other than media, in which one can be so utterly clueless and out of touch with reality, and still keep one's job.
Even drug dealers know not to snort their own stuff.
Edited on Feb 7, 2011 at 8:24amOct '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
At one point, representatives of the Left were eager to tell us how bad a President Ronald Reagan was. In 1996, The Schlesinger polled ranked him 25th and the Ridings-McIver 26th. The Old Narrative was simple: say how bad a President he was over and over again until people believed it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States
But it never worked. He left office with a 64% approval rating and his popularity has only continued to grow. So now the New Narrative: Reagan was a great President, not because he was a "conservative who persuaded voters that less taxation meant more prosperity, that less government facilitated the pursuit of happiness" http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,956787,00.html but because he oversaw an era of transformation just like their own beloved Barack Obama. Everyone just needs to back off so they can see how great he is.
Jun '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
"That just leaves one question: Is Andrea Mitchell crazy? "
No. She's evil. She's been getting away with this idiocy for her entire career, so she's quite shrewd to keep at it. I didn't like the way Noonan seemed to concede Mitchell's point, and offered that tea party figures are using Reagan as their mantle --- as if there is some nefarious conspiracy they are hiding.
Sep '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
Andrea Mitchell is doing what she often does - misappropriating reality.
May '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
Andrea Mitchell must get her facts from Media Matters. See,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/04/AR2011020403104.html?nav=rss_nation/special
I guess if history does not fit your narrative, you just rewrite history.
Edited on Feb 7, 2011 at 8:59amJun '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
Here's a suggestions for the Democrats. They can have Nixon, a bit of Eisenhower, and most of Hoover. They can have the "No Child Left Behind" and "Medicare Prescription" part of W. We'll take a part of JFK (the tax cut part and the stand up to the Soviets part), and at least half of Truman.
But, dammit, they have to keep FDR and they can't have any of Ronald Reagan. They don't deserve him and they can't have him.
What next from the Left?: Cal Coolidge and Woodrow Wilson were soulmates?
Edited on Feb 7, 2011 at 9:28amDec '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
Emily Esfahani Smith, Ed. :That just leaves one question: Is Andrea Mitchell crazy?
But really, the media's recent rewrite of Ronald Reagan's presidency has been, if nothing else, amusing to watch. Talk about political acrobatics. ·
She's not crazy. she's a liberal. Only out of touch with reality liberals and/or the ignorant and/or those born after about 1975 can believe the Big Lie that Obama is a lot like Reagan.
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
You know, I watched that and thought, "Okay, she's right," Reagan did compromise -- he had to; the House was controlled by Tip O'Neill -- and he did practice a pragmatic form of bi-partisanship.
But who is she supposed to be talking to? It sounds for all the world like she's using Reagan to scold....Republicans! Sarah Palin! When in fact, if she could somehow, for half a second, actually listen to herself she'd realize that she's really talking to President Obama, who didn't and doesn't practice any of that political strategy that Reagan had such an abundance of. It's an advanced form of delusion, I think. What a nutjob!
Dec '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
When media hounds catch a scent, they are blind to all else in their chase after it. They feed on Orwellian newspeak and disparage conservatives as clueless for being confounded.
No one needs to explain the details of Reagan’s transmogrification from worst to best, from embarrassment to icon who now shines only less brightly than our historic first Islamic apostate president.
It is the natural order that transgressives hold transformative power, and what could be more transgressive than make Reagan run among their pack.
Jun '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
Rob Long: You know, I watched that and thought, "Okay, she's right," Reagan did compromise -- he had to; the House was controlled by Tip O'Neill -- and he did practice a pragmatic form of bi-partisanship.
But who is she supposed to be talking to? It sounds for all the world like she's using Reagan to scold....Republicans! Sarah Palin! When in fact, if she could somehow, for half a second, actually listen to herself she'd realize that she's really talking to President Obama, who didn't and doesn't practice any of that political strategy that Reagan had such an abundance of. It's an advanced form of delusion, I think. What a nutjob! ·
The irony is that President Reagan was able to enact most of his agenda with a Democratic Congress. Could it be that his policies actually appealed to a bipartisan sensibility because they were sensible? If that is true, then what does that tell you about President Obama's inability to get any bipartisan support for his agenda? Could it be that they make no sense! [Of course, the MSM narrative is that the Republicans are just mean-spirited].
Edited on Feb 7, 2011 at 11:19amOct '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
Well, nowadays we all claim Reagan was in our group, not yours.
He did some amazing things. By definition, that makes him a pragmatist. But he also used the bully pulpit to advocate his principles, in a world gone mad.
I feel proud for America, that so many of us still want to be part of Reagan's legacy, even if others want to exploit it. Reagan spoke to what people saw in their everyday lives, despite what the elite believed--that's why they hated him so much. I have yet to see any other politician do this other then Bill Clinton (and he never came close to matching Reagan).
Every Republican today either repeats talking points or is too tied to the political elite culture. The only honest ones are the crazies. Paul Ryan may one day come close, but even he has a long way to go.
Well. I guess I'm forgetting Chris Christie.
Dec '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
"Mr. Gorbachev, paint this peeling Wall!"
Oct '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
thank god for peggy noonan.
Aug '10
Re: Andrea Mitchell: GOP has Misappropriated Reagan
I like the idea of imagine historical alternatives to this:
According to Marcus Junius Brutus in 41 BC, "People are trying--Octavian and Mark Antony in particular--are trying to appropriate Gaius Julius Caesar for their own political purposes now."
According to Marcion of Sinope in 140 AD, "People are trying--proto-orthodox Christians in particular--are trying to appropriate the Gospel According to Matthew for their own theological purposes now."
etc, etc