Barack Hearts Ronnie: An Old, New Song

I've already said I'll work for the Democrat who gets the majority of delegates -- whether Hillary, Barack, Edwards or Kucinich. But if Barack is such a breath of fresh air, why is he raving about Ronald Reagan?

Reagan -- the Hollywood red-baiter who rose from president of the Screen Actors Guild to president of the United States even though he was already senile. Reagan who gave us tax cuts and "trickle down" economics that didn't work -- except for the rich and richer and richest. Reagan who let "mommy" (Nancy) run the white house with the aid of her astrologer. Reagan whose horse was smarter than he was.

Give me a break. One of the most disgusting sights in recent years was the genuflecting before this total fraud that went on at his funeral. And the hypocritical bullshit being trumpeted by the networks! Where were all the actors and writers and directors whose lives he ruined? I guess they were dead. But -- what, me worry? -- in America nobody knows one crumb of history, so Ronald Reagan's vicious red baiting, how he rose to prominence by smearing other actors and writers and directors, was totally forgotten.

I suppose Mr. Obama has forgotten too--scholar of history that he is. Perhaps he was not alive in the 50s so he knows nothing about it -- the Army-McCarthy hearings, the smearing of creative artists who donated to Spanish Civil War Relief even though they were not "card-carrying" communists. They happened, like my parents, and their friends, to have given money to help little Spanish children, orphaned by the Spanish Civil War -- and ever after they trembled lest Ronnie Reagan and his ilk witch-hunt them.

What charity have you given to that some future McCarthy might call a "commie front"? What charity have you supported that some future Ronnie Reagan might out you for, claiming you were a disloyal American? Doctors without Borders? Is it a leftist sham? Or, since we don't have commies any more, is it non-patriotic because it started in France and before Sarko "the French were, cheese eating surrender monkeys"?

Remember "Freedom Fries" you guys?

So Mr. Obama is not such a new style politician after all. He's just a politician -- invoking Ronnie Reagan as if he were God Almighty, using his name as code as the Repugnicans do, trying to pump himself up as a man of the people by mentioning this total fraud as a hero.

I don't mind. Politicians are politicians and they do their thing -- praising the popular, putting down the unpopular -- invoking Reagan for his geniality -- which was probably just dementia. But Americans don't remember the past -- so we are doomed to repeat it.

I want a president who is not a politician and not a hypocrite -- but I don't see such a candidate around.

They all pander -- except Kucinich -- but he probably panders too and I just don't know it because of the thin coverage in the so-called mainstream media.

Barack, I'll vote for you if you get the nomination. And I'll work for you, too. I'll talk to my right wing neighbors in south- eastern Connecticut where I have voted democratic for three decades -- (a very short line).

My neighbors vote for Representative Christopher Shays who we vainly tried to replace with Democratic/feminist/anti-war Diane Farrell, and Senator Joe Lieberman, who is not good for the Jews. And who is certainly not a Democrat. Nor anti-war, nor anything really but a cynical politician. So are they all. Who else runs the gauntlet of a punishing campaign?

My Connecticut neighbors may still think the GOP will protect them from radical Islam. They may still hope the GOP will get rid of inheritance tax. They love their tax cuts more than they love their planet. They love their children, but they'd rather leave them money -- because, hey, in America, money is all we have to keep the wolf from the door.

I will talk to them about greening the planet (for real not just oil company PR) and about the little children maimed and killed in Iraq and about who's really protecting America rather than just doing photo ops. I will try my hardest for the democratic nominee even though many of my neighbors have never voted democratic in their lives.

But let's get real: every politician raises money and every politician (including Barack Obama) wants to get elected more than he wants to tell the whole truth. A pure, new politician? I don't think so. The Ronnie Reagan reference gives him away. He knows the election will be a popularity contest in benighted America, and he's not giving up anything he thinks might get him into the pop-u-lar people clique.

He's running for president of the High School G.O. They all are. Let's not romanticize any of them --bnnot dead red-baiter Ronnie Reagan, nor almost-dead former POW McCain, nor hard-working feminist Hillary who failed to leave Bill because she loved him and she knew she'd never find another man as clever (and smart women like smart men -- even if they are sex addicts), nor rich-lawyer-populist John Edwards, nor handsome Harvard man Barack with his perfect white/black background and his adorable girls.

Hey --i f you want a non-politician, folks, you can't vote for anyone. And that's not a good idea either.

Comments

[moonmaid]

I wanted to like Obama, hoping he was that breath of fresh air. So sad.
The only one that remains to vote for is Kucinich.....we'll just have to write him in!

[Dandy12]

Wow Erica, everyone is so surprised about the strangest of bedfellows! Being no longer of this world, it is fine to cozy up to Jesus, and Ronnie Reagan. Never mind what either would have to say today. By doing so, Barack takes away some of the air out of that Republican dogma, that only they are allowed to mouth. Americans have rather short attention spans, and their sense of history is like Reagan = good. Forgotten are the things that weren't so good. I saw Reagan speak in 1977 and was not impressed!

[TruthBeHeard]

You can find debunking Clintons here: http://factcheck.barackobama.com Obama: "Fair to Say the Republicans Were the Party of Ideas For a Pretty Long Chunk of Time," Then Laid Out Why Many of Those Ideas Were Wrong. Obama was asked how his being the nominee would help congressmen and senators, down-ballot candidates, get elected. Obama said, "I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that, you know, Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. They felt like, you know, with all the excesses of the 60s and the 70s and government had grown and grown but there wasn't much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating and he tapped into what people were already feeling. Which is, people wanted clarity, we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamic and entrepreneurship that had been missing, alright? I think Kennedy, twenty years earlier, moved the country in a fundamentally different direction. So I think a lot of it just has to do with the times. I think we're in one of those times right now. Where people feel like things as they are going aren't working. We're bogged down in the same arguments that we've been having, and they're not useful. And, you know, the Republican approach, I think, has played itself out. I think it's fair to say the Republicans were the party of ideas for a pretty long chunk of time there over the last ten, fifteen years, in the sense that they were challenging conventional wisdom. Now, you've heard it all before. You look at the economic policies when they're being debated among the Presidential candidates and it's all tax cuts. Well, you know, we've done that, we tried it. That's not really going to solve our energy problems, for example. So, some of it's the times. And some of it's, I think, there's maybe a generation element to.. (Cut due to length.See link)

[duodave07]

Hitler was an agent of change too. Should Obama mention him also? Bad move, dude. Reagan was a simpleton and a dimwit. The Repugnantcans keep trying to lionize him knowing full well he was a fraud. If Gorbachev wasn't in charge of the USSR, the Iron Curtain wouldn't have fallen (at least not at that time). HE deserves the credit for that, not that B-movie bad actor. He also ushered in the BS of "trickle-down economics" where the rich got richer & the middle-class got trickled on. He is also the reason for all the schizophrenic homeless on our streets and for the start of the gigantic national debt (it was 500 billion when he came in, 3.5 trillion when he left). He was senile at LEAST the last 2 years of his second term. I also in your candidate desciptions you called Edwards "rich" and Obama the (mockingly) "perfect white-black background" while calling Clinton "hard-working". Your bias is obvious. But, mark my words (I'd be glad to be wrong and eat them later), the country is not ready for a female or black president and the Dem's will have shot themselves in the foot again. Our country has made great strides in just this one election cycle, but I don't think it can happen this time around. Regardless, RR was a feeble-minded fool who operated for the rich (or am I thinking of Dumbya, I forget)....

[ESerafina42]

Apart from his rather clever "Saddam-9/11" type equation of Bill Clinton and Richard Nixon (we non-Obamaites can parse words and manufacture offense with the best of you), the other thing that annoyed me was his reference to the "excesses" of the 1960s and 70's which seemed to me to conflate the very real personal and societal excesses like free love and ahem, drug use, with things like the Great Society and the War on Poverty.

Oh, Earth to Barack: One thing that Ronald Reagan did NOT bring to government was accountability.

[repuglycon]

Let's see, the guy Obama admires made a deal with the Ayatollah to keep our hostages until after the election, closed and emptied the mental institutions, tried to call Catsup a vegetable for the school lunch program, and started the war on the middle class. By the rethugs definition he was a great president.

[jackbauer0396]

Exactly, Erica. Because saying that Reagan changed the direction of the country in a fundamental way, not saying whether that was a good or a bad thing, was tantamount to saying that in his first year of presidency, Reagan would be on the 1 dollar bill and Mount Rushmore.

Was Obama channeling Reagan's tax policy? No. Was he touting his terrific union record? No. Was he complimenting the way he handled... err... how he didn't remember... Iran-Contra? No. He's saying he changed the direction of the country in a way that not all presidents do. And if you're going to argue that, I think you're the one who needs the history lesson.

[research]

RayGun stole the election by committing treason. Raygun's gang interfered with Carters official negotiations to free the hostages. The hostages were released and Iran started getting weapons as soon as Raygun was in office.
Oliver North was chief operation manager for the rescue mission, where the USA's best soldiers forgot to put the sand screens on the helicopters. Sure. Secord and bunch more of the Iran Contra gang were also part of the "rescue".

[Issak]

Erica,

Thanks for reminding me that not everyone has gone insane.

Yours is a refreshing and rational look at a dubious process, where the real issues are buried underneath a patina of meaningless superficialities. Where inadequate candidates are propped up as mere packages, not unlike like Doritos or Ding Dongs.

We remove the wrapper, get a quick sugar rush- but ultimately is not good for us, is not good for anybody- that's particularly the case with Obama. His teeny boppers easily riled, emanating that arrogant whiff of those who think they know better, but don't.

Theirs seems to be a juvenile fascination devoid of insight and the harsh realities one finds when the jig is up and the manufacturing of consent is set forth.

Nobody can tell them any different- and so it goes- another round of deception, the Haudini Effect in motion - (10% or less might know the trick but can't convince the other 90% of it) .....yet again.

[fightorleave2]

Way to Go Erica. I hope you saw what your fellow HuffPo blogger, Laurence O'Donnell, says of Reagan and how much this country loves, and misses him. I'm so glad that someone else was saying the same thing I was thinking. I certainly wasn't reminiscing during his funeral, and I don't want another morning in America. I want the day to come where the corporations are put in their place in America. I know it's never going to happen, certainly not with an Obama or Clinton presidency.

[thedirtman]

The Democrats could debate the worst President ever. Clinton can represent Nixon. Obama can represent W Bush. Edwards can take Reagan. The three can slug it out. The winner gets victory on Super Tuesday.

[Troubledwawa]

I was able to listen to that video today on Meet the Press. It didn't sound like Obama was "invoking Ronnie Reagan as if he were God Almighty, etc", to me at all. And it didn't sound like that to any of the guests on MTP, either. In fact, Bill Clinton actually agreed with Obama on the issue of the Republicans being the party of ideas, according to his quote researched by Tim Russert's staff.

If anyone saw the clip I saw, Obama was giving an accurate, honest, and well articulated opinion of the last 30 years of US history. To imply Obama was "invoking Ronnie Reagan as if he were God Almighty, etc..." is clearly an over reaction that probably will have implications down the road for Hillary.

Back in New Hampshire Bill Clinton complained that the press was giving Obama a free ride and being hard on Hillary. The press did back off of Hillary as a result. However, that "back off" appears to have come to an end.

[Cay]

Go look at Barack's website and his proposed policies. He is about solutions and looking at things as they really are - not as we want them to be.

Just saying that Reagan was a transformational president doesn't mean Obama likes everything Reagan did. Or even anything Reagan did. Come on, stop being so knee jerk partisan.

[clevelandchick]

One Hillary's top advisors is a union-busting lobbyist, talk about the epitome of being Reaganesque! Gee, I wonder what the working folks of America can expect when she makes this guy Secretary of Labor?

[itmaybetoolate]

Thank you for this! Exactly my thoughts on bar's use of reagan. And don't forget his pandering to the homophobes by associating himself with the "ex-gay" gospel singer.

Unlike you, I won't vote for bar or for hil. I would vote for Edwards or Kucinich but guess I won't have the chance. So, for the first time in my life, I won't vote. I just can't hold my nose and vote anymore - I cannot do it.

[thedirtman]

It was said by William McAdoo that the speeches of Warren Harding were like..

"an army of pompous phrases moving over the landscape in search of an idea."

For George W. I see this. "a cloud of gnats spreading over the sky in reconnaissance of a complete sentence."

Perhaps we could come up with ones for Ronnie and Tricky too.

[krocklin]

not mentioning reagan and his administration's iran/contra affair is a glaring omission of one of ronnie's greatest crimes.
he and many in his administration beside poindexter (whos now working in bush's administration)and north should have been impeached/indicted for that.
at one stage he was on the ropes as democratic weak-kneed "investigations" began. it almost looked like it could turn into a watergate for him.
but then he rallied as the media looked the other way. and now hes everyone's hero.

[thedirtman]

The worst President ever is a tough question. As far as getting poor results its almost impossible to top George W. Bush. Two recessions, mounting debt, unnecessary war, greater oil dependence when we should be getting off of oil... How could any President top that?

But Ronnie was far more insidious. He could make people feel good about some of the worst things - from suppressing minimum wage and 10% unemployment to taking down the solar panels on the White House. And then asking where is the beef? Talking about adding insult to injury... Incidentally, does anyone know if those solar panels on the WH are still down? and why?

[thedirtman]

I'm not sure how far down the line it will take Democrats if the bickering here gets personal. Erica, I do think you did well on saying that you would give Obama your support if called.

Further,....

This debate over which President was the worst ever has got to continue. We need to make sure that the candidates are answering this same question. We need to set history straight. What I've seen here is genuinely healthy and truthful. Give John Edwards a point here too. He came out strong here from the beginning.

[USMC1980]

Apparently Obama is running to be the GOP nominee, not the DNC nominee. It's pretty sad whena politician's true stripes are shown, and Obama has shown his to be stuanchly REPUBLICAN.

I would also argue that proclaiming the virtues of Reagan (A union buster) probably didn't go over to well with the unions that endorsed him in NV. It's just one of many screw ups in a over-hyped campaign that has now been shown to be all air and no substance.

NH and NV are more proof that Iowa and Iowans are fools who should have thier caucus rights taken away from them...Iowa, what an over-rated place.

[glitzqueen]

Thanks for this. The Reno Reagan Rant put me into shock, too -- although it shouldn't have. I've since discovered Barack made very similar remarks in his book.

Those of us who remember the truth about Reagan really do have an obligation to set the record straight. I held forth on the subject yesterday at http://dandelionsalad.wordpress.com/2008/01/19/dream-versus-nightmare-pick-one-an-open-letter-to-barack-obama-by-the-other-katherine-harris/

[adamNsteve]

Hallelujah Erica Jong!

They all suck, including Obama. All one can do is try to figure out which one sucks least.

[Herrington]

Ms. Jong, I remember Reagan. Where we are and what we are as a country is due in large part to the fateful combination of his likeability and that he remained lost in some demented Aynn Rand ten page rant on some fictional hero of capitalism.

What I hope, and all that I am able to give credence to hoping, is that one of the Democratic candidates will turn out to have and understanding of how the world operates that is at least as good as their understanding of how to get elected to lead it. From the dialectic in vogue, I cannot help but believe that no one in public profile has any fucking idea what the world is or how it works. Bummer for me, probably will be for you too.

Still, the probability that a Democrat, any Democrat, will do a more responsible job of preserving the Constitution and the nation, as opposed to collapsing the whole thing into a new dark ages, is better than any bet on any of the sold out, signed and sealed, harbingers of geo-political and economic disaster offered by the right.

On the other hand, if I thought there were a possibility that the world might take a lesson from out total destruction, I might be tempted to vote Republican. But they would not, so I won"t.

[4Honesty]

Talk about NOT wanting "to tell the whole truth"...
Ms. Jong should fully disclose that her nephew, Mr. Peter Daou, plays a pivotal role in Hillary Clinton's campaign - as her Internet Director. Mr. Daou is also a frequent contributor to the Huffington Post. (You can read his posts at the following link: www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-daou )

Their family ties can be confirmed at the following sites:

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erica_Jong

www.answers.com/topic/erica-jong

www.arikah.com/encyclopedia/Erica_Jong

www.nyobserver.com/node/36409

[JoeGarcia]

Missing from the Obama campaign news release corner of his web site is a statement that explains his remarks likening himself to President Ronald Reagan.
Was Ronald Reagan a transformation candidate and president yes; but what did Ronald Reagan"s Revolution achieve? Perhaps, Mr. Obama is too young to remember. He might perceive the fortieth President of the United States as a granddad, the cowboy riding, like the Lone Ranger on Trigger, to slay the communist menace.
I still remember his school nutrition standards"ketchup was classified as a vegetable, or his query with regard to why we need more than one Redwood tree? I remember a Ronald Reagan who traded arms for hostages. Who violated the Boland amendment by illegally shipping arms to the Nicaraguan Contras.
Also, there were the Reagan acolytes who organized a right-wing political industry under his mantle. The industry, largely funded by Richard Mellon Scaife tried desperately to eviscerate the post-New Deal consensus as it relates to gender diversity, civil rights, taxes, health care, the composition of the Supreme Court, reproductive rights, the list goes on and on. Its affects dominate and polarize our politics today.
It was Mr. Scaife and his minions who funded the Arkansas Project and the preliminary investigations into Whitewater, Monica Lewinsky and other trumped up scandals. Scaife wanted Clinton to leave office under the same circumstances as his hero"Richard Nixon.
So Mr. Obama when you compare yourself to Ronald Reagan look at the totality of the man and the venial policies he and his supporters inflicted on hard-working middle class families.
Ronald Reagan was a change-agent but certainly his policies not then or now brought about change the American people needed.
What follows is an op-ed I penned ten-years ago that, in my opinion, aptly describes Ronald Reagan"s legacy:
see http://reform.squarespace.com