Nancy & Ron Reagan spell Dubya trouble (Nancy Just says No)

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/216561p-186368c.html

Much to the dismay of the Bush campaign, Nancy Reagan has just said no to appearing at the Republican National Convention next month.

GOP strategists had hoped the former First Lady and Hollywood actress would make a cameo appearance onstage after a video tribute to her late husband, particularly after her Bush-bashing son, Ron, agreed to speak at the Democratic convention last night.

<snip>

GOP sources, meanwhile, confirmed his mother will not be at their Aug. 30-Sept. 2 convention - and some speculated her son might be behind the snub.

"I do not expect her at our convention but she knows she is welcome," Republican National Committee Chairman Ed Gillespie told reporters here yesterday.

<snip>
This from a downcast GOP official
"The 'not feeling up to it' line is bull----," the official said. "Something happened in the last month, and whatever it was was real."

[lancdem]

1. Nancy said weeks ago she wasn't going

Nothing changed.

[wtmusic]

2. I'm sure Ron Jr. would be happy to deliver a few comments

c'mon, we need to represent the Reagan legacy, don't we? :shrug:

[dbt]

3. Damn. How bad have you screwed up when

God's Wife won't speak at your little Love Fest?

:evilgrin:
dbt

[jdj]

63. Gods wife, good one!

Thanks for the smile.

[lovedems]

4. So it is Ron's fault his mother isn't attending?

They will blame anyone won't they! I guess the thought hasn't crossed their small little minds that maybe Nancy doesn't want to go? Did it cross their minds that Nancy might be opposed to some of smirky's policies? Nope, it is all Ron's fault which is typical republican values becasue women don't think for themselves in smirky's world.

[lordwhorfin]

14. Alert Richard Cohen!

He needs to write Yet Another Witless Nattering on the subject of why Ron Jr. is just such a baaaaad man for speaking at the Democratic Convention . . . it's all Ron's fault his mother isn't going to NY.

Man, Cohen is SUCH a tool.

[Tempest]

23. Michael Reagan blames Ron Jr.

Michael made a statement that Ron Jr. was behind his mother not going.

I have a feeling Michael and Nancy are not on speaking terms.

[kskiska]

30. I'll bet Nancy is trying to cut Michael loose

but he keeps appearing at every Reagan "event," such as the carrier christening.

[progressivebydesign]

5. Ah, the kindhearted GOP, no WONDER she doesn't want to speak:

This from a downcast GOP official
"The 'not feeling up to it' line is bull----," the official said. "Something happened in the last month, and whatever it was was real."

They're accusing a recent widow of lying about how she's feeling. She just lost her partner of many decades... perhaps, asshole, she really IS NOT FEELING UP TO IT! If they had any hope she'd change her mind, her reading that the guy thinks she's lying, will take care of that!

[calimary]

18. Yeah, chucko, something happened last month alright. Her husband DIED.

Her husband, whom she loved (go figure. But she DID love him. Passionately), died of a disease that stem cell research could have prevented. THAT'S what happened, you heartless, calculating, manipulative shithead!!!

She lost her soulmate. He was the love of her life. Even while theirs was a second marriage, and he'd put plenty of time in with his first wife, he and Nancy still had DECADES together, and eyes only for each other. They both thought the sun and the moon revolved around each other. They clung to each other, took total delight in each other (you could see it when you watched them together or looked at photos of them together) and each of them meant EVERYTHING to the other. And she's alone now. Knowing full well, in the midst of her loneliness and mourning for him, that this remarkable research maybe, JUST maybe, could have prolonged his life and his mental health. She knows that maybe, JUST maybe, he'd still be alive and in some semblance of mental presence if this research had been allowed to go ahead years ago. You've GOTTA know that if this research had been encouraged, earlier, and had been making headway, perhaps the FIRST person to whom it would be offered would be HIM.

She also knows that MANY other women WILL be in her position - alone, elderly, having lost their own soulmates and life partners - because their men will have succumbed to the same "long goodbye" that her Ronnie did. And I'm sure she knows that most, if not all, of those women will go through that WITHOUT the world class support system and financially-secure conditions that she enjoys. She KNOWS.

BET ON IT: She knows these smarmy hypocrits wouldn't embrace her at the republi-CON convention to encourage or boost her campaign, or even her. She knows all they want her there for is to burnish georgie-poo's image. She knows all they want to do is USE her. She knows. She was a first-rate political manipulator and maneuverer in her own right when she lived in the White House. She's VERY skilled, and she's VERY smart. She wasn't born yesterday.

Remember, she's a Republican, too. She's familiar with these people. She's undoubtedly worked with most of them, or had conversations with most of them. She probably knows all of them except for the more recent arrivals. She knows what they're like and what they're about, AND how they operate. This lady's no dummy. Maybe I should rephrase that - this lady's no georgie.

[Straight Shooter]

24. calimary, you have just written an exceptional LTTE

Pass it on.

:thumbsup:

[Hoping4Change]

53. Just what I was thinking. Really excellent.

:thumbsup:

[Cerridwen]

29. And FYI - Reagan blocked, in 1979, the research that ultimately led

to the development of stem cell research which might have been available prior to the onset of his disease; depending on when he first showed symptoms.

Those of us around for a while couldn't help but notice the irony of Ronald Reagan becoming victim to a disease he could have possibly prevented. There were some who gloated as well; I did for about 30 seconds but then remembered I'm a grown up.


Here's a link to some background.

http://www.ejbiotechnology.info/content/vol3/issue1/full/3/

[Cha]

33. That is one of life's ultimate ironies...Also that

that thing I heard ronnie kept saying about ..something going down the "memory hole". When he didn't want to talk about something unpleasant, shall I say.

[genius]

34. Suicide. But he was pretty much gone then so it was the people behind him

that killed him.

[w4rma]

39. Good analysis, imho. (nt)

[jean]

6. Which sect within the GOP would be pissed if pundits trashed Nancy?

I mean, the Reagan wing of the Republican party - is there such a group and how pissed off would they be if the GOP, in any way, trashed Nancy Reagan?

[ewagner]

7. Just a thought....

Would it help Ron's credibility to make his case for stem cell research to the Republican convention too?

The question is Would he be welcome?

[Wind Dancer]

8. Great question!

I would love to know the answer.

[calimary]

44. No, he wouldn't. Especially after last night. These people hold grudges.

Heck, they LIVE for 'em. They'll resent him forever for involving himself with the other side. Maybe they'll have that shallow, pathetic know-nothing Michael Reagan on, but he's a mere consolation prize, if he's anything at all. He's not the prize. Nancy is the prize. And the fact that she's declined, compounded by her son Ron speaking to OUR convention is just acid in the wound. They won't want to criticize her (NO altruism here, or sympathy for the grieving widow. It's simply because even they realize how bad it would make them look). But Ron is a different ballgame. He's once-removed, and he's been a longtime liberal, so they already dislike and distrust him. And because he's the "misguided son," and NOT the exalted widow (who earned enough of her own stripes, back in the day), he's fair game. They'll be angry at her and enraged at him, and will feel comfortable taking out their frustrations on him.

If anything, he's helping his mom by deflecting some of the criticism that they'd have nowhere else to go with, were it not for him.

Besides, even if he did show up, or speak (EXTREMELY doubtful), these people cannot help themselves. They wouldn't give him a fair hearing. They'd boo. LOUDLY. They'd walk out, or they would leave before he took the podium, just "to put him in his place."

Does anybody remember the San Diego republi-CON convention that nominated Bob Dole? That was the one where our dear darling Elilzabeth Dole got all this media attention for doing an Oprah impersonation with her remarks, strolling the stage with her microphone and portraying herself as so human and so smart and so "new generation"? Haley Barbour was the chair of the RNC that year and because they did so poorly in the general election, he had to go hide in some spider hole for quite awhile before reemerging and running for office in Louisiana. That was the convention wherein "Gidget" Molinari delivered the keynote speech and just absolutely embarrassed herself with her cutesy-poo cheerleading for how wonderful the republi-CON party was and would be for women (part of the reason she was chosen for that high-profile speech - to spotlight how allegedly "wonderful" the republi-CONS are with women.

ANYWAY, at that same convention, where they shamelessly attempted to demonstrate what a "big tent" they had with room for EVERYBODY - even women and blacks and other minorities - they made a big deal out of showcasing Colin Powell, to whom they gave a prime time speech slot. He came out and began speaking. And everybody loved him. YAY, YAY, cheer, cheer. Until he came to the part in his speech about supporting a woman's right to choose. THEY BOOED. THEY BOOED. I clearly remember that, and took not a little bit of delight in it, and the hypocrisy it glaringly demonstrated. Funny, not a mention was made of that booing ever again. But the point was, this was the alleged "darling of the convention," who, by his very existence, embodied the "big tent" they like to brag about. It was a real hoot. I'll never forget it.

They booed Colin Powell, whom they presumably adore. JUST because he announced his support of a woman's right to choose. They couldn't even have just shut up and let him talk. They had to boo. Ron Reagan would fare no better. It'd be far worse for him. FAR worse. Colin never went to visit the Democrats.

[ewagner]

50. Thanks for refreshing my memory

I had forgotten about Colin AND Elizabeth Dole (my least favorite Reagan official for some very specific reasons)

Your opinion has a very loud ring of truth to it. I have forgotton how "idealogically pure" the Repubs like to be.

Thanks for a great post.

[yardwork]

62. Please share your reasons?

I have some very specific reasons for intensely disliking Elizabeth Dole, and I wonder if they are the same as yours? Please share!

[ewagner]

65. I've posted this before but

I was a Mayor of a small town when Reagan was elected.

We were a pretty remote place and our largest employers in town needed air service badly to keep competitive. At that time, two slots (one inbound and one outbound) to Chicago from our Region. Those slots were shared with two other communities "downline" from our city. To keep the air service solvent, we organized within the community to raise public and private funds to guarantee seats for the airline over the period of a year.

Overnight, Airlines were "deregulated". The determination was made that slots didn't belong to the public but to the airlines and could be traded like commodities AMONG the airlines. So United Airlines offered our small, struggling Commuter Airline an OBSCENE amount of money for those two slots (which he never paid for). He took them and we woke up one morning to no air service without any warning at all.

Libby Dole's stance? Free Market, Free Market, Free Market, Free Market.

Does that mean that the businesses located in our small, remote City didn't deserve to exist there? Did that mean that they had to move out to some other place to be competitive? Did that mean that our workers had to abandon their hometown in order to find work?

That drove me over the edge............

[annxburns]

9. Did anyone read this in the LA Times?

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-micklethwait28jul28.story

I am noticing an increasing split in the republican party between the neos and the paleos. I wonder if part of the reason Nancy is not attending has to do with the more moderate wing of the republican party wanting to wrest control from the neo-cons. It's no secret that some of Reagans old advisors are dismayed at the sharp turn Bush has taken toward an interventionist policy toward the world. Bush is the worst of both worlds, aggressive and go it alone.

[bushisanidiot]

10. Watch how quickly they'll turn on Nancy if she doesn't tow the party line

gawd..

the venom in that party just amazes me.

[readmylips]

17. That's their kkkristian venom....

they'll probably bottle it and sell it at the convension. We aint buying it.

[Frances]

11. If the GOP had been smart,

they would have had the first Bush and his wife Barbara making phone calls and sending letters and flowers to Nancy and Ronald Reagan during the last 10 years.

I remember when Reagan's adopted daughter Maureen died. Maureen adored her father and was an outspoken Republican. But the Bush family didn't send anyone to her funeral.

[onenote]

13. Bet the media ignores this during the Repug convention

Undoubtedly the repug convention will feature some sort of memorial tribute to Ronald Reagan. But I doubt the talking (air)heads will play up the fact that Nancy turned down an invite to be there. If something similar happened at the DNC they'd be all over it.

onenote

[mom cat]

49. Welcome to DU. This is Soulsick in JP and I approve of your

message. :hi: I so agree with you about our biased media, but fortunately, I don't think that their lack of comment will matter that much. The "spin" they might have gotten will be ever so obviously absent and showing the Reagan without her will be a gesture that is as hollow as they are. Serves them right for trying to milk his death. That kind of shameless behavior has it's own blow-back and they are going to get burned to a crisp on this one.

[1monster]

15. Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush loathed each other... Somehow I

don't think flowers would have healed that breach..

[Tempest]

25. Nancy hates the Bush's

"they would have had the first Bush and his wife Barbara making phone calls and sending letters and flowers to Nancy and Ronald Reagan during the last 10 years."


Nancy blames Bush for Reagan's assassination attempt.

She's made nasty comments about the family in the past.

[silverpatronus]

26. that's something i've always wondered about...

i dunno if this goes into tinfoil hat theory or what, but the hinckley (sp?) family and the bush family are very tight. and bush41 WAS reagan's VP...perhaps he was anxious to get to the top and asked a favour?

like i said, tinfoil hat theory, but worth thinking about?

[Tempest]

27. Neil Bush and Hinkley's brother were having lunch

The day before or the day of the assassination.

[2plus2]

43. "tinfoil hat theory??"

it's talk like that that keeps dems down and divided....2plus2 baby, if person A knows person B and person A shoots person C who is a "co-worker" of person B...is it likely that person B is involved in the shooting of person C? Yes it is...because 2 plus 2 ALWAYS equals 4.

[noiretextatique]

52. please

:eyes: keeping dems down :eyes:

[silverpatronus]

58. well since i'm a self-identified tinfoil hatter...

i was sorta trying to be witty in my own self-deprecating way. apparently i failed miserably. do forgive me.

[noiretextatique]

61. sorry, replied to the wrong post...but

you don't have a thing to apologize for. it seems someone has been watching too much faux snooze. too many coincidences = no coincidence.
:tinfoilhat:

[Jane Austin]

31. Maureen looked a lot like her mother, Jane Wyman.

Are you sure she was adopted?

[Cha]

35. Yeah, they were adopted...Michael and Maureen by Ronnie

and Jane.

[Bunny]

38. No. Maureen is Ronald and Jane's biological daughter.

Michael is the only adopted one. Ronald and Jane adopted him.

[montana_hazeleyes]

55. I believe you are right.

I always thought Maureen was born to Reagan and Jane Wyman.

[kskiska]

57. Jane Wyman also gave birth to another daughter, Christine

but the baby only lived a day or so. That's when they adopted Michael. Jane was a major star back then and couldn't take the time off to have another baby.

[mom cat]

48. Remember how cold they were when their own daughter died?

[Piperay]

51. Maureen was Reagans 'blood' daughter by his first wife

Jane Wyman, so they were snubbing actual Reagan DNA by not sending anyone. x(

[buff2]

12. I don't blame her for not going

Why can't the repukes understand she just lost her husband and is still grieving? All they want to do is use her for political purposes. That's "compassionate conservatism" for ya! :thumbsdown:

[montanacowboy]

16. Nancy R has always hated the Bushes

she felt that Ronnie was being manipulated by Poppy, and probably rightly so. I think she also felt the assination plot against her husband was engineered by Poppy -

I admire the fact she won't go to their dog and pony show, good for her

[cthrumatrix]

41. whatever her reason for not going...we know the transparent reason

they want her...to inflate a past president becuase the current one "sucks".

[RedEarth]

19. LOL....too bad you freaking nazis

[peterh]

20. I have to agree with 'not feeling up to it' line is bull----,"…..

It’s not like she’s been locked up in her house in grief….just spend some time on the USS Ronald Reagan…..I think there’s a real riff between her and the twit….Ron won’t delve into it out of respect for his mother and Michael will dance around it because of the potential impact it would have as a front page headline….not on his mother, but on the twit….

[erpowers]

46. Do Not Agree

She is 83 and she did look a little frail during the funeral of her husband. She was at the USS Ronald Reagan, but it is named in her husband's honor. I do not think she would have gone to the ship if it was not named after her husband. I think people that old who were married to and loved someone so much for so long have a hard time to getting over their death. I really think she is still in mourning for her husband. I really think she just wants to stay out of the spotlight for a little while.

[hyphenate]

21. I heard she might not be attending

That's good. For members of the Reagan family to distance themselves from the current bunch of Republicans is good, regardless of how you look at it. It might make those Repubs who look to the "good old days" of Reagan reconsider their slavish devotion to the party of exclusion.

[Tempest]

22. "Something happened in the last month"

No shit.

Ronnie died, you dumb son-of-a-bitch.


And they want to parade Nancy out so soon afterwards?

Christ, let her mourn in peace.

[wish_I_could_vote]

28. Michael made a total ass of himself last night

He was asked how his mother felt about Ron speaking at the Dem convention. He shrugged and said something along thee lines of...well..he is her favorite and can do no wrong. Grow the f up idiot.

[Cha]

36. I bet Nancy was super proud of her son last night...

A most Excellent, compelling, well delivered speech..I know I was!

[saracat]

64. Nancy is NOT Michael's mother!

He was adopted by Jane Wyman.Nancy has always disliked Michael, and with reason.He is a sanctimonious prig. He shouldn't even be asked about Nancy's opinions or behaviour as he would be in no position to know.Isn't it interesting that the blood related children are all liberals, who didn't vote for their Dad, and in some cases actively demonstrated against him? Only Maureen was a republican and she was a moderate and pro choice as well as a women's rights advocate.BTW Ron said he tought his father would be "proud" of his speaking at the Dem convention as he encouraged them to support what they felt was right.

[Snellius]

32. Wasn't Nancy the one who called Bush the "village idiot"

and, according to Liz Smith, was so surprised HE was chosen to run for prez. She later claimed she didn't say it, but everyone knew she did. I would be great to see the sanctification of Ronald Reagan backfire of the Bush family.

[WinterStorm]

37. LOL Hahahahaha!

The pundits probably wrote their speeches about Nancy and now they have to scrape it.

No ones talking about it are they.

I wonder why?

Could it be that they are realizing that their party is going to lose the election and we will not stand up for another stolen election again.

[lebkuchen]

40. Nancy's attending the GOP convention would negate Ron's speech

What would be the point?

Nancy's issue is stem cell research. Bush is against it. She therefore has no reason to support his presidency. The GOP has insulted her with repeated attempts to get her to change her mind.

[Wilber_Stool]

42. You know what would be nice?

If Nancey would petition "*" to release the Raygun presidential papers. Do you think she has enough clout to do something like that? Of course, she may not have the desire to do so.

[Fleshdancer]

45. All she wants is support on stem cell research

She hasn't exactly asked for much as the wife of a Republican icon or the past 20 years. The only thing she ever wanted was support for stem cell research...her party chose to close their minds to science and keep their ears open only to the religious special interests. Now they want to benefit from who she is and expect her to jump up and comply? It amazes me that they're surprised that she's not campaigning for this absurd administration.

[Logansquare]

47. Never any love lost between the Reagans and the Bushes

And the stem cell issue was the final straw, I'm sure.

[Leilani]

54. That is it...they were never close.

Some additional info: When McCain returned from Vietnam, the Reagans became close to a lot of the POWs, McCain & his wife, in particular.

In fact, McCain s 1st wife worked for the Reagans.

In 2000, Nancy Reagan supported McCain, but was strong-armed by the Repug party to stay neutral publically. However, it was known in Repub circles that most of the Reagan types preferred McCain.

Also, when Maureen Reagan died, McCain did the eulogy...they were very, very close. And they had the skin cancer thing in common.

So, there has been a Reagan/Bush split for years. When Reagan was President, the Bush family was never in the family quarters for 8 years. And this was during Dubya s hard drinking days...Ron Reagan said something about Dubya being the obnoxious drunk in the room.

[montana_hazeleyes]

56. They should just leave her alone.

She is an old woman and a grieving one at that.
And she is smart. She knows they just want to use her. She knows they don't care about her or her late husband for that matter.

This will sound awful to say, but I think they are probably mad at him for not dying closer to the election.

[gatlingforme]

60. I could not have said it better.

[goforit]

59. Hmmmm......She should publically denounce Bush saying" he's a fraud"