Well, the liberals are at it again, trying to find yet another way to belittle and bash the biggest threat to the left in American history: Ronald Reagan. In the upcoming CBS miniseries on the Reagans, the scriptwriters, actors, director, etc. alternate turns taking the hatchett to the best American president in the 20th century.
First off, they cast Barbara Streisand’s husband, James Brolin, as Reagan. Now, surely, that should be setting off alarm bells by itself. As Peter Robinson, former speechwriter for Reagan mention on the Big Story this week, what would happen if Charlton Heston were casted to play George McGovern? People would call foul. But it’s ok the other way around. Next, no mention is made of Reagan’s most successful endeavor next to winning the Cold War: turning the economy around and creating 19 million new jobs following the Carter years when the inflation rate was resembling that of a small Latin American country.
Why is there no mention? Well, of course there’s the fact that it would cast Reagan in a favorable light, which is simply not acceptable for liberals, especially Hollywood liberals. On top of that, he turned around the economy by making significant tax cuts and imposing deregulation. That, of course, is EXACTLY what Bush is doing now and what has, as even the New York Times has finally admitted, begun to turn around today’s economy. Anything that would even SUGGEST competence and effectiveness of the Bush administration’s part is simply unacceptable to anyone in Hollywood.
Finally, they have turned Reagan into an intolerant bigot by having him say about AIDs victims that “they who live in sin shall die in sin.” Now, even the scriptwriter admits Reagan never said this, but justifies its inclusion by saying that it’s how he might have acted. Of course, it’s not even how he acted. He significantly increased both funding to the NIH and research into the disease. What makes this most despicable is the fact that Reagan is now in his 9th year of Alzheimer’s. He has absolutely no way of answering for himself. And this is the last thing Nancy Reagan needs at a time like this, especially after having also lost her daughter recently. This move is despicable on CBS’s part, but somehow you just know if Reagan were able to hear and rebut this hatchet job, his response would start with a shake of the head, a laugh, and an exasperated “There you go again!”
I’ve been reading about this, and there is the possibility that CBS may cut out some of the more controversial material because some advertisers have expressed concern. It’s the same reason why Gore can’t launch his “Liberal TV” network, because Advertisers don’t generally like partisanship. It automatically cuts out a huge percentage of your potential audience, and Tylenol wouldn’t want people who liked Reagen to associate Tylenol with hating Reagan. It’s all about the money. But yes, it is disconcerting, that a network would allow a piece with elements such as having Reagan say such a hateful thing. Then again, we have yet to hear CBS’s final decision and we have yet to see the show. Perhaps it will concentrate on his life rather than his politics.
November 3rd, 2003, at 11:09 pm #I’m sick of people blaming corporate conspiracy and “corporate greed” as the reason why everything in this world goes wrong. Gore can’t launch his “liberal tv” because he has no market for such. Fox News, which I will freely admit is conservative, has NO problem getting sponsors…they do indeed have commercials. And they have a huge market, which is why they have shot past MSNBC and CNN in ratings among cable television. But, I forgot, corporations are in bed with Republicans, right? Enron was all Bush’s fault, Cheney is running the country in the name of Haliburton, Condoleeza Rice has an oil tanker named for her so she MUST be siphoning the Iraqi oil to American refining companies. Or maybe she brings it back and forth in her pockets.
Bleh.
November 3rd, 2003, at 11:19 pm #