But then Tim B sent this quote from the just published REAGAN DIARIES. The entry is dated May 17, 1986, and records Reagan’s opinion of George W. Bush, the son of his Vice President.
"A moment I've been dreading. George brought his ne're-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida. The one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I'll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they'll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work."
The secret word is Trash
(Oh, and by the way, I’m still not smoking cigarettes no matter how many dead presidents might want me to.)
The secret word is Trash
(Oh, and by the way, I’m still not smoking cigarettes no matter how many dead presidents might want me to.)
Oh yeah, and if you though Reagan had a low opinion of Bush, check out what Hugo Chavez has to say -- and also the cows behind him.
Have to inform you that this is fictitious, see snopes.com, it's from an article by Kinsley, who has fun making up Reagan diary entries, after he heard he'd been mentioned in a passage.
ReplyDeleteMe, I think it's being sent around the internet to confuse people. See, Nixon really did say Fred Thompson was an idiot. Maybe this April fool's type quote is to get people thinking the other quote is made-up as well.
The Chavez thing is not as appealing as it may seem at first glance.
ReplyDeleteHis Bush confrontation is just part of his populist politics. Chavez is a megalomaniac power monger himself... and not exactly Che, as he likes to present himself.
That video of him talking about Bush is a weekly sunday TV broadcast he has on Venezuela. Kinda like the sunday TV broadcast of christian mass. A bit too Big Brother for my taste..
He's a very smart politician. All he's doing is creating a santified heroic image of himself while demonizing Bush.
Good vs Evil... where have I heard that before?
It's not very difficult to be anti-Bush or anti-American in South-America. They don't need Chavez to explain that... they already feel it in their bones, like they have felt it for the last decades. All Chavez is doing is feeding on that for his own purposes.
(I'm not criticizing the fact that you've included that link... I'm saying this because I've started seeing too many people with Hugo Chavez t-shirts (mainly north-americans) like he was some kind of 21st Century Che Guevara)
Beware.
MH
With due respect, Comrade Mark, because you seem generally righteous, how is that any national leader who provides jobs, literacy, cheap housing and socialized medicine, in other words actual socialism -- and also flamboyantly gives the finger to the US in the process is called a megalomaniac? There was only one Che and even he came in for his share of abuse.
ReplyDeleteSo the whole Reagan thing was a Michael Kinsley fabrication. Fucking Jesus, never turn you back on a liberal.
ReplyDeleteChavez may not be Che or Simon Bolivar, but at least their names are mentioned in the conversation, instead of just Peron, Pinochet, the IMF and Anaconda Copper.
ReplyDeleteIn the USA, SOCIALISM is a nine letter word.
ReplyDelete"how is that any national leader who provides jobs, literacy, cheap housing and socialized medicine" - yes, but he also provides a ruthless "assault on press freedom" - and this is not only based on the USA's right wing media stories.
ReplyDeleteHe is indeed a megalomaniac - try talking with anyone from Venezuela - and particularly anyone whose income doesn't depend on his loyalty to the "great socialist leader."
He's making his move to occupy the void left by Fidel Castro - and the main difference between the 2 is that Fidel started out well and progressively became a megalomaniac power monger (some might say the Russians introduced him to such concepts), while Chavez is already starting out as a megalomaniac power monger.
Beware of the wolf in sheep's skin.
and to "flamboyantly give the finger to the US" doesn't mean he's good. The fact that he does it "flamboyantly" gives a hint about what I'm talking about.
Things are no longer black & white. Welcome to the 21st century, comrade.
(no offence intended, lefty)
MH
I enjoyed Mick's article on Bush the Younger, "Ming the Incompetent." I think that is the correct psychological analysis of him. Stupid, stupid. Even worse than the liberals.
ReplyDeleteGreat interview with Gore Vidal a few months back, too . . . he and Chomsky are the great ones in politics today, although they aren't quite as crazy as us counter-culture types! John Ruskin's economic analyses ARE economic reality. Nationalism IS socialism. There is no profit at the site of exchange; profit comes from labor--intellectual, physical, or creative. Trying to get something for nothing--that's what they teach in university economics departments . . .