So far, the left hasn't been able to say anything belong the same old ad homneim comments against Reagan. It's too bad that the facts are against them.
Posted on 06/06/2004 8:18:35 AM PDT by knighthawk
Any list of the great TV characters of the 1980s would have to include Bill Cosby as Dr. Cliff Huxtable on ''The Cosby Show'' (which ran from 1984-1992), Ted Danson as Sam Malone on ''Cheers'' (1982-1993), Michael J. Fox as Alex P. Keaton in ''Family Ties'' (1982-1989) -- and Ronald Reagan as the president of the United States in ''The Reagan Years'' (1981-1988).
He was not only the president, he played one on TV.
In politics, Reagan achieved something he never managed in show business: He became an A-list star.
Forget about all those years playing second fiddle in the movies to the stars far ahead of him on the red carpet, the Bogeys and Cagneys and Cary Grants; erase those memories of taking supporting roles in forgettable TV series such as ''Burke's Law,'' appearing as a panelist on ''What's My Line?'' and hosting ''Death Valley Days.'' Gov. Ronald Reagan of California was a player. President Ronald Reagan was the player.
But even when Reagan was in the White House, one had the feeling he hadn't really given up his Hollywood-by-way-of-Illinois roots. His presidency was laced with cinematic references.
What was the name attached to Reagan's 1983 Strategic Defense Initiative? ''Star Wars.''
When asked how he felt about Mikhail Gorbachev's popularity, what did Reagan say? ''I don't resent his popularity or anything else. Good Lord, I once co-starred with Errol Flynn.''
What Clint Eastwood line did Reagan co-opt when he promised to veto any tax increases voted by Congress? ''Go ahead, make my day.''
In foreign policy speeches, whom did Reagan often invoke? Rambo, the Sylvester Stallone killing machine.
When discussing the Iran-Contra mess with Oliver North on the telephone on the day North was fired, what was Reagan's comment? ''I'd say this is going to make a great movie someday.''
When recounting stories of World War II heroes, Reagan often confused scenes from movies -- a B-17 pilot who cradles his gunner's head in his arms as the plane goes down, a black sailor who saves his white buddies by shooting down a Japanese plane at the last moment -- with genuine history. He really believed these things happened.
Even when Reagan was shot (by a man who was obsessed with a movie actress), he stayed in character, telling his wife, ''Honey, I forgot to duck'' -- a line first uttered by Jack Dempsey to his wife after Dempsey lost to Gene Tunney in 1926. He also had a quip for the surgeons: ''I hope you're Republicans.''
Some skeptics wondered if Reagan actually had the ad-lib capabilities to toss off those one-liners under such duress, but most Americans wanted to believe our national sheriff was that kind of guy. We were holding out for a hero, to quote the Bonnie Tyler hit from the era. And if we couldn't find the real deal, we'd gladly accept somebody who could play the part with authority.
Ronald Reagan was that man.
According to a poll taken after Reagan was elected, the No. 1 reason people voted for him was, ''It was time for a change.'' He was a tough-talking optimist who shook us out of our Jimmy Carter-created national malaise and acted as an ''outstanding national cheerleader,'' as historian Alonzo L. Hamby put it.
He might not have been a great president, but he was the Great Communicator, and his message was: America is strong and unbeatable, the closest thing yet to the utopian ''shining city on a hill.''
He was not my favorite president. Even as wife Nancy was urging America's children to ''Just Say No'' to drugs, Ronnie was slashing funding to drug rehab programs -- not to mention the nearly $150 billion in cuts he made against health care, education, the environment, senior citizens, pregnant women and single parents. Who can forget Reagan's infamous tirade about the (completely fictional) ''Chicago welfare queen'' who was tooling around Chicago in her Cadillac?
Meanwhile, the defense budget soared by more than $200 billion. Little wonder that two of Reagan's favorite movies while he was in office, ''Wargames'' and the made-for-TV ''The Day After,'' had nuclear holocaust themes. On MTV, the video for Don Henley's ''End of the Innocence'' included a scene with multiple posters of Reagan's image on a wall as Henley sang:
Oh beautiful for spacious skies And now those skies are threatening We're beating plowshares into swords For this tired old man that we elected king Armchair warriors often fail And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales . . .
But Henley and other liberals were small voices lost in the tide of Reagan's overwhelming popularity and the ''greed is good'' mentality of the 1980s. Even those of us who disagreed with most of his policies and were frightened by his sometimes foggy demeanor had to admit that he gave off an affable, warm glow while restoring a sense of strength and fierceness to our international image.
He was the perfect casting choice.
Ping
What utter disrespectful trash.
When Richard Roeper dies, no one will notice.
Reagan quips from old movies and historic quotes - and becomes one of the century's greatest Presidents.
This lickspittle simply barfs up the same mundane leftist hairballs written in college toilet stalls.
Who trumps?
One day words will fail Richard Roeper. No one will care.
Expect more articles like this in the days to come...The worthier a man, the uglier he makes the libs behave. And if ever a worthy man there was, the Gipper was it!
I see that the vultures have begun to feed.
Roeper, stick to movie reviews. You are not so much as a pimple on the late, great Mike Royko's a**.
It's inconceivable to these people that it was the MESSAGE and not the MESSENGER that was what America needed.
So far, the left hasn't been able to say anything belong the same old ad homneim comments against Reagan. It's too bad that the facts are against them.
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