Re: [CTRL] Ronald Reagan - Actor, Airhead, or What?
In a message dated 6/7/00 10:15:18 AM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Fitzgerald writes that Reagan was the quintessential homespun Everyman, rooted in 19th Century Protestant beliefs of national greatness; someone with whom people could quickly and easily identify; a great storyteller and superb speechwriter as well as performer once he found something close to his heart. I don't think people really identified with Reagan. I think the media TOLD them they did long enough that many of them believed it. Samantha A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html"Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/"ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Ronald Reagan - Actor, Airhead, or What?
.. From the New Paradigms Project [Not Necessarily Endorsed]: From: Alex Constantine [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Ronald Reagan - Actor, Airhead, or What? Date: Friday, May 12, 2000 8:11 PM BOOKSPublished Sunday, May 7, 2000, in the Miami Herald Airhead, actor or achiever? Ronald Reagan and his legacy of `Star Wars' * Way Out There in the Blue: Reagan and Star Wars and the End of the Cold War. Frances Fitzgerald. Simon Schuster. 592 pages. $30. BY IKE SEAMANS Dismissed even by his official biographer as an ``apparent airhead'' with ``encyclopedic ignorance,'' Ronald Reagan makes an easy target. Even books written by former close associates (more than a dozen) call the ex-president a simpleton, a puppet, a man totally unprepared and detached from reality. According to Donald Regan, a former chief of staff, Reagan rarely worried about presidential burdens, because he'd been ``learning his lines, composing his facial expression, and hitting his toe marks for half a century.'' In short, he was ``just an actor.'' ALL THE PUTDOWNS In case you've missed any of the other endless putdowns, Frances Fitzgerald's exhaustive research for Way Out There in the Blue has found them all. Fitzgerald is no Reagan fan, but the Pulitzer Prize winner (Fire in the Lake) concludes the man was no dope, and anyone who believes differently really hasn't studied closely enough his life and career. While she gives many examples of Reagan's detachment on the job and how he left the details and frequently the decisions to others, Fitzgerald writes that Reagan was the quintessential homespun Everyman, rooted in 19th Century Protestant beliefs of national greatness; someone with whom people could quickly and easily identify; a great storyteller and superb speechwriter as well as performer once he found something close to his heart. Fitzgerald writes that the proof of Reagan's success was his ability to restore national morale even while the achievements of his administration seemed elusive. To make her point, Fitzgerald casts what she calls a ``magnifying glass'' on Reagan's pet program and perhaps his legacy: the Strategic Defense Initiative, SDI, or ``Star Wars.'' What other president, Fitzgerald argues, could persuade the country it desperately needed something that did not and could not exist in the foreseeable future: an umbrella-like shield of space-based weapons to ward off destruction from Soviet missiles? ``SDI was surely Reagan's greatest triumph as an actor-storyteller,'' she writes. Reagan announced SDI in March 1983, just a few weeks after he had called the Soviet Union the ``Evil Empire'' in an Orlando speech. The concept was promptly rejected as unworkable science fiction by most experts, including many within the administration, but SDI became Reagan's greatest sales job when the public overwhelmingly endorsed it. It also led to four ground-breaking summit meetings with Soviet Premier Gorbachev who tried and failed to get Reagan to discard the project, one his financially strapped country could not match. Fitzgerald presents arguments, pro and con, on whether this is what caused the Soviet Union's collapse and the end of the Cold War. She does credit Reagan with declaring its demise long before the experts dared to do so. Ironically, many early opponents now support the SDI concept, which is the subject of mushrooming scholarly studies and government research. FILM INFLUENCES Fitzgerald writes about a University of California professor who is convinced Reagan was greatly influenced by a 1940 movie, Murder in the Air, in which he played a secret agent protecting an ``Inertia Projector,'' which could destroy all enemy aircraft and ``make the United States invincible in war.'' And in Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain, a 1966 film about the development of an anti-missile system, secret agent Paul Newman declares, ``we will produce a defensive weapon that will make all nuclear weapons obsolete and thereby abolish the terror of nuclear warfare,'' language almost identical to Reagan's when he announced SDI in 1983. Fitzgerald's book also provides a complicated behind-the-scenes look at U.S.-Soviet relations at a dangerous time of summitry, arms control, the Iran-Contra scandal, a president oblivious to White House in-fighting among advisers and Cabinet members and the end of the Cold War. Fitzgerald's apparent effort to include everything she knows (which is a lot), sometimes makes this long, rambling but fascinating history plodding. Still, Way Out There in the Blue will fill gaps and provoke discussion and controversy. But readers interested mainly in the psychohistory of our most puzzling president should stick to the first few chapters, into which most of the juicy stuff is crammed. Ike Seamans is senior correspondent for WTVJ-NBC 6. Contact Us Copyright 2000 Miami Heral Forwarded for info and discussion from the New Paradigms Discussion List, not
Re: [CTRL] Ronald Reagan - Actor, Airhead, or What?
From: "Robert F. Tatman" [EMAIL PROTECTED] Uh, not exactly. Maybe I can't *prove* it...but can you *disprove* it? Rulers have used lookalike stand-ins for millennia. Without wanting to appear superstitious, there *is* that odd pattern that the U.S. president elected every 20 years dies in office, by disease or by "misadventure"... And it's a pattern which had held for a long time until Reagan appeared to break it. Well, something tells me he *didn't* break the pattern--he *did* die after Hinckley shot him. The clincher for me is the way he was reported to have developed Alzheimer's Disease. That is all too convenient as a way to pull the false Reagan out of public view and retire him or otherwise terminate the operation. Maybe I've been reading too many political suspense novels. But I find the idea horribly plausible... I think Reagan was displaying signs of Alzheimer's even when he was in office... Perhaps he didn't die in the assassination attempt, but it DOES seem to have somehow affected his mentality afterwards...perhaps the wound was more severe than the public was led to believe, and THAT was what was being covered up, not that he died and a double was put in his place. June A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html"Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/"ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
Re: [CTRL] Ronald Reagan - Actor, Airhead, or What?
Uh, not exactly. Maybe I can't *prove* it...but can you *disprove* it? Rulers have used lookalike stand-ins for millennia. Without wanting to appear superstitious, there *is* that odd pattern that the U.S. president elected every 20 years dies in office, by disease or by "misadventure"... And it's a pattern which had held for a long time until Reagan appeared to break it. Well, something tells me he *didn't* break the pattern--he *did* die after Hinckley shot him. The clincher for me is the way he was reported to have developed Alzheimer's Disease. That is all too convenient as a way to pull the false Reagan out of public view and retire him or otherwise terminate the operation. Maybe I've been reading too many political suspense novels. But I find the idea horribly plausible... - Original Message - From: "William Shannon" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2000 6:08 PM Subject: Re: [CTRL] Ronald Reagan - Actor, Airhead, or What? In a message dated 5/14/00 4:54:02 PM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Welll...I have suspected for years that Reagan was actually *killed* in that "assassination attempt" and replaced by a double--an actor playing an actor. LMFAO!!! You're joking...right? snip A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html"Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/"ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
Re: [CTRL] Ronald Reagan - Actor, Airhead, or What?
In a message dated 5/14/00 4:54:02 PM Central Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Welll...I have suspected for years that Reagan was actually *killed* in that "assassination attempt" and replaced by a double--an actor playing an actor. LMFAO!!! You're joking...right? George H.W. Bush, who, after all, is the ultimate insider, the perfect representative of the Permanent Government, was the one who actually ran the country during the supposed "Reagan" administration. Now this is much more plausible...and I too think this was the case. Bill. A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html"Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/"ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
Re: [CTRL] Ronald Reagan - Actor, Airhead, or What?
Welll...I have suspected for years that Reagan was actually *killed* in that "assassination attempt" and replaced by a double--an actor playing an actor. George H.W. Bush, who, after all, is the ultimate insider, the perfect representative of the Permanent Government, was the one who actually ran the country during the supposed "Reagan" administration. - Original Message - From: "Kris Millegan" [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, May 14, 2000 11:43 AM Subject: [CTRL] Ronald Reagan - Actor, Airhead, or What? from:alt.conspiracy As, always, Caveat Lector Om K - Click Here: A HREF="aol://5863:126/alt.conspiracy:615472"Ronald Reagan - Actor, Airhead, or What?/A - Subject: Ronald Reagan - Actor, Airhead, or What? From: Alex Constantine A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]"alexx12@mediaone. net/A Date: Fri, May 12, 2000 5:11 PM Message-id: [EMAIL PROTECTED] BOOKSPublished Sunday, May 7, 2000, in the Miami Herald Airhead, actor or achiever? Ronald Reagan and his legacy of `Star Wars' * Way Out There in the Blue: Reagan and Star Wars and the End of the Cold War. Frances Fitzgerald. Simon Schuster. 592 pages. $30. snip A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"www.ctrl.org/A DECLARATION DISCLAIMER == CTRL is a discussion informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substancenot soap-boxingplease! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright fraudsis used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html A HREF="http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html"Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]/A http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/"ctrl/A To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
[CTRL] Ronald Reagan - Actor, Airhead, or What?
from:alt.conspiracy As, always, Caveat Lector Om K - Click Here: A HREF="aol://5863:126/alt.conspiracy:615472"Ronald Reagan - Actor, Airhead, or What?/A - Subject: Ronald Reagan - Actor, Airhead, or What? From: Alex Constantine A HREF="mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]"alexx12@mediaone. net/A Date: Fri, May 12, 2000 5:11 PM Message-id: [EMAIL PROTECTED] BOOKSPublished Sunday, May 7, 2000, in the Miami Herald Airhead, actor or achiever? Ronald Reagan and his legacy of `Star Wars' * Way Out There in the Blue: Reagan and Star Wars and the End of the Cold War. Frances Fitzgerald. Simon Schuster. 592 pages. $30. BY IKE SEAMANS Dismissed even by his official biographer as an ``apparent airhead'' with ``encyclopedic ignorance,'' Ronald Reagan makes an easy target. Even books written by former close associates (more than a dozen) call the ex-president a simpleton, a puppet, a man totally unprepared and detached from reality. According to Donald Regan, a former chief of staff, Reagan rarely worried about presidential burdens, because he'd been ``learning his lines, composing his facial expression, and hitting his toe marks for half a century.'' In short, he was ``just an actor.'' ALL THE PUTDOWNS In case you've missed any of the other endless putdowns, Frances Fitzgerald's exhaustive research for Way Out There in the Blue has found them all. Fitzgerald is no Reagan fan, but the Pulitzer Prize winner (Fire in the Lake) concludes the man was no dope, and anyone who believes differently really hasn't studied closely enough his life and career. While she gives many examples of Reagan's detachment on the job and how he left the details and frequently the decisions to others, Fitzgerald writes that Reagan was the quintessential homespun Everyman, rooted in 19th Century Protestant beliefs of national greatness; someone with whom people could quickly and easily identify; a great storyteller and superb speechwriter as well as performer once he found something close to his heart. Fitzgerald writes that the proof of Reagan's success was his ability to restore national morale even while the achievements of his administration seemed elusive. To make her point, Fitzgerald casts what she calls a ``magnifying glass'' on Reagan's pet program and perhaps his legacy: the Strategic Defense Initiative, SDI, or ``Star Wars.'' What other president, Fitzgerald argues, could persuade the country it desperately needed something that did not and could not exist in the foreseeable future: an umbrella-like shield of space-based weapons to ward off destruction from Soviet missiles? ``SDI was surely Reagan's greatest triumph as an actor-storyteller,'' she writes. Reagan announced SDI in March 1983, just a few weeks after he had called the Soviet Union the ``Evil Empire'' in an Orlando speech. The concept was promptly rejected as unworkable science fiction by most experts, including many within the administration, but SDI became Reagan's greatest sales job when the public overwhelmingly endorsed it. It also led to four ground-breaking summit meetings with Soviet Premier Gorbachev who tried and failed to get Reagan to discard the project, one his financially strapped country could not match. Fitzgerald presents arguments, pro and con, on whether this is what caused the Soviet Union's collapse and the end of the Cold War. She does credit Reagan with declaring its demise long before the experts dared to do so. Ironically, many early opponents now support the SDI concept, which is the subject of mushrooming scholarly studies and government research. FILM INFLUENCES Fitzgerald writes about a University of California professor who is convinced Reagan was greatly influenced by a 1940 movie, Murder in the Air, in which he played a secret agent protecting an ``Inertia Projector,'' which could destroy all enemy aircraft and ``make the United States invincible in war.'' And in Alfred Hitchcock's Torn Curtain, a 1966 film about the development of an anti-missile system, secret agent Paul Newman declares, ``we will produce a defensive weapon that will make all nuclear weapons obsolete and thereby abolish the terror of nuclear warfare,'' language almost identical to Reagan's when he announced SDI in 1983. Fitzgerald's book also provides a complicated behind-the-scenes look at U.S.-Soviet relations at a dangerous time of summitry, arms control, the Iran-Contra scandal, a president oblivious to White House in-fighting among advisers and Cabinet members and the end of the Cold War. Fitzgerald's apparent effort to include everything she knows (which is a lot), sometimes makes this long, rambling but fascinating history plodding. Still, Way Out There in the Blue will fill gaps and provoke discussion and controversy. But readers interested mainly in the psychohistory of our most puzzling president should stick to the first few chapters, into which most of the juicy stuff is crammed. Ike Seamans is senior correspondent for WTVJ-NBC 6. Contact Us Copyright
