discussion/poll over Reagan movie. ask questions here, please

http://www.sho.com/site/movies/thereagans/controversy.do

Frank Sesno moderates

9PM Eastern

Panel:

Marvin Kalb
Senior Fellow at the Joan Shorenstein Center for the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University

Martin Anderson
Fellow at the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, former Chief Domestic and Economic Policy Advisor during the Reagan years, and co-author of several books culled from Reagan letters and writings

Carl Sferrazza Anthony
Author of First Ladies, First Ladies Volume II, producer of THE REAGANS and former speechwriter for Nancy Reagan and contributing editor of George Magazine

Lou Cannon
Ronald Reagan biographer and author of five Reagan books, including GOVERNOR REAGAN: His Rise to Power and PRESIDENT REAGAN: The Role of a Lifetime

Linda Chavez
President of the Center for Equal Opportunity and syndicated writer.

so, four/five against one, with Kalb probably leaning over backwards to avoid the appearance of "bias"

oh, that liberal media


Question 1)

What is the difference between calling the Contras "the moral equivalent of the Founding Fathers" and calling the Iraqi insurgents "freedom fighters?"

not very appropos, I guess, but it jumped right up

OK

Question 1) did Meese use the same sort of deal to give Colby fast acting cancer as they did to Ruby?

OK, not very good, either

Question 1) why did Reagan apologists claim that reducing income taxes in the mid 80s create the increase in tax revenues, knowing full well that the increase in tax revenue was due to the GIGANTIC increase in FICA taxes, from something like 10 percent to about 14!!!!!

that's a forty percent increase, and I remember it well, as I had to pay the entire load, being self employed

they still try to pull that big fat lie, conveniently 'forgetting' to factor FICA taxes into their propagandistic assertions concerning lower income payers not paying any INCOME taxes. right. they still pay, what 7.5% off the top, with no deduction possible, yes?

According to this direct quote from

Leslie Janka, a deputy White House press secretary who resigned in protest after the administration excluded the press from the Grenada invasion, went so far as to say, "The whole thing was PR. This was a PR outfit that became President and took over the country. And to the degree then to which the Constitution forced them to do things like make a budget, run foreign policy and all that, they sort of did. But their first, last, and overarching activity was public relations."
---On Bended Knee; Hertsgaard, page 3

who is Janka? Is he a spoilsport, or does this quote accurately reflect similar, on-the-record observations from people like Mike Deaver, David Gergin, Richard Wirthlin, and others, who admit that one of the most important aspects of their jobs in the Reagan administration was to burnish and protect his public image; to make the people perceive him in exactly the way they intended.

Sorry, but I don't expect an honest answer from four of the five members of your clearly biased panel.