Gorbachev: George H. W. Bush Called Reagan "Extreme" And GOP Supporters "Blockheads"

The Nation:

On September 23, Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel and her husband, Stephen F. Cohen, a contributing editor, interviewed former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev at his foundation in Moscow. With the twentieth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall approaching, we believed that the leader most responsible for that historic event should be heard, on his own terms, in the United States. As readers will see, the discussion became much more wide-ranging. --The Editors [...]

MG: ... By the way, in 1987, after my first visit to the United States, Vice President Bush accompanied me to the airport, and told me: "Reagan is a conservative. An extreme conservative. All the blockheads and dummies are for him, and when he says that something is necessary, they trust him. But if some Democrat had proposed what Reagan did, with you, they might not have trusted him."

Read the whole story: The Nation

Comments

[brady61995]

thats a great picture

[lmvd3]

George H.W. Bush has a wee girl's voice.

[Okieborn]

It seems to me that the whole Bush clan live by the rule of back-stabbing !!!

[gakabani]

Al-Queda was founded under his supervision while he was the head of the CIA. Bush created this monster to control us by inflicting fear and steal our resources and destroy our economy. It is a well crafted plan and executed to the point after his son took power (2001).

[pfc1369]

No sick puppies?

[StillAmused]

At least, Pappy KNEW they were blockheads and just pandered to them.

Junior, on the other hand, ARE one.

[S1m0n]

Every negotiator opts from time to time to blame someone not present. "If it was up to me, that's the deal we'd make, but the sales manager won't budge. He can be a real jerk some times. How about we keep this price, but add another 12 months onto the warranty?"

[TremoluxMan]

Interesting article and as with all things, the truth lies somewhere between the American and Soviet versions of why things happened as they did.

[dadw5boys]

I would belive the Russian .

[chesterfeild]

Really there should be some sort of written exam, that a person has to pass to be president.

[TremoluxMan]

In their infinite wisdom, all that the Founders and the Constitution requires is that a person be 35 years of age, native-born, and have a pulse. IQ, let alone wisdom or experience, is optional.

[ThirdSection]

I believe the founders were counting on there to be a well-informed, critically-thinking citizenry to vet candidates for IQ, wisdom and experience.

[eastcoastprogressive]

He speaks the truth, but still sounds like an elitist snob. Good thing the blockhead minority are now all Democrats have to deal with as the greedy old party goes down the drain.

[marka]

Well, the elder Bush was right about one thing. They were. and are blockheads Cut faxes for the rich and wildly overspend and you too can stimulate the heck out of the economy. That won' t make you an economic expert and it will make for one heck of a deficit. Bush II, seems to have missed that part of the lesson.

[Roger]

We are still at risk that the myth of Ronald Reagan as an heroic American figure will continue to be perpetuated to the point of becoming ensconced in our national psyche. The blockheads and teabaggers continue to worship the fool and the media merely repeat their worship as conventional wisdom. We who know better can never stop reminding anyone who will listen that he was merely a hack and a demagogue.

[johnnygoodwud]

while working in d.c. as an event planner, i met bush sr. many times. he, like his son, unless reading a scripted speech, do not do well adlibing, and talking off the cuff with people.

[ThermoChemist]

"Like Father Like Son"..? [Seems Dubya "learned" from the best..!]

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."
-- George H. W. Bush

"I'm conservative, but I'm not a nut about it."
-- George H. W. Bush

"It's a very good question, very direct, and I'm not going to answer it."
-- George H. W. Bush [Seems like Palin took this to heart at the VP Debate]

"We're enjoying sluggish times, and not enjoying them very much."
-- George H. W. Bush; 1992

"I've told you I don't live and die by the polls. Thus I will refrain from pointing out that
we're not doing too bad in those polls."
-- George H. W. Bush; 1991 [Cheney?]

"When I need a little advice about Saddam Hussein, I turn to country music."
-- George H. W. Bush; 1991

"Those are two hyporhetorical questions."
-- George H. W. Bush; 1988

"The Democrats want to ram it down my ear in a political victory."
-- George H. W. Bush; 1988

"Boy, they were big on crematoriums, weren't they?"
-- George H. W. Bush; during a tour of Auschwitz in 1989

"I will never apologize for the United States of America. I don't care what the facts are."
-- George H. W. Bush; 1988

"I'm for Mr. Reagan, blindly."
-- George H. W. Bush; 1984

"Fluency in English is something that I'm often not accused of."
-- George H. W. Bush; 1989

[ThirdSection]

Wow! He was either a great wit or a halfwit!

[ThermoChemist]

Bush 41?

Could be a toss up; but, I'll go with the latter..!

: )

[HeavyHitter]

Sounds to me like our "blockheads" and teabaggers have had far too much influence for far too long. Only Reagan could negotiate with the Soviets because if anyone like Carter, Clinton or Obama had done the same thing, they would have come unhinged. That sickens me. Now this increasingly militant group of dimwits, who are the sum total of our baser instincts, has ascended to the leadership of one party in a two-party system and has local and national media outlets promoting their views. Is history marching backwards, right before our very eyes?

[Robert Cantor]

you mean the great RWR, the one who Don Regan told to 'speed it up'? all his training as an actor/cowb­oy/gangste­r/warrior made him one tough hombre?