Re: [Pen-l] PK on Reagan

[Dan Scanlan <coolhanduke1029@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Jun 1, 2009, at 9:01 AM, Michael Perelman wrote:

> Reagan's ideology, to be sure, is responsible for the mess, but  
> Clinton
> was probably more effective in putting it into practice.

I'm not sure the ideology has as much to do with it as "acting" did  
and does.

When George Murphy, the Reaganesque actor who was elected to the U.S.  
Senate from California, mathematician/songster Tom Lerher wrote that  
"Hollywood's always tried to mix show business with politics, from  
Helen Gahagen to Ronald Reagan? -- with an incredulous smirk in his  
voice. Later at Woodstock, a performer dedicated a song to "Ronald Ray- 
Guns", another prophetic remark by a songster that pointed to the  
unbelievable "leadership" to come.

The thing is, many of us have seen the sham all along. It's not the  
ideology, it's the acting. Clinton was an actor, Obama's an actor.  
Bush Jr. was an actor. On the other hand, Bush Sr. was the the real  
McCoy -- he really is an international banker, a longtime CIA agent,  
the patron of a mob family, the darkness behind events. I suspected  
when he ran against Reagan in 1980 that it was for purely narcissistic  
reasons --  he was merely fleshing out his resume as a joke amongst  
his wealthy, banking, royalty peers.

What a joke, eh? Almost as much fun as bulldozing a pile of Panama  
City citizens' bodies into a mass grave on Christmas week.

Bush Sr. was a decent actor, in a different way, however: like his son  
presenting himself as a yokel cowboy, Poppy had the ability to present  
himself as a bumbling coward.

But as President, he actually was the world's most powerful leader,  
and not simply a front man for the banking and arms cartels.

As the Iran-Contra hearings got closer and closer to Bush as the  
controller behind the scenes, the wealthy moved in another actor, Bill  
Clinton, who successfully ended much of FDR's programs that eased the  
general welfare, marshalled NAFTA and GATT through the playing field,  
hired Halliburton to take over traditional military tasks, and  
willingly donated his penis to the propaganda machine to avert the  
nation's ability to think.

It takes all kinds of actors to keep the big lie going. The ideology  
is just furniture so everyone has a place to park their ass in the  
American living room of "survey says!"

In the specific instance of the Thrift collapses during Reagan's  
starring run, the Bush family, especially Neil (the guy with the  
security company) profited immensely. As did many democrats, like my  
one-time friend Tony Coehlo (student body president when I was at  
Loyola). The raiding of thrifts, especially in Texas, allowed bandits  
like Charles Hurwitz to buy fine old companies like Pacific Lumber and  
raze most of the remaining  2,000 year old redwoods in northern  
California, plant bombs on peaceful activists like Judi Bari, drain  
the employee funds and wipe out whole communities when the logging  
industry could no longer sustain itself.

It wasn't ideology that did all that -- it was control of the money  
from above, fueled by the insatiable appetite to have it all. It's  
nice to blame it on a screwball labor-traitor like Reagan, but he's  
just the diversion. Like Obama.

Dan Scanlan

_______________________________________________
pen-l mailing list
pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l