Going After the Gipper
James Hirsen
THE
A Political Look at
Going After the Gipper
It looks as if CBS is about to depict one of the greatest American
presidents as a forgetful, inattentive, callous lout with a domineering
pill-popping spouse, who royally bumbles his way through the Oval Office.
In its upcoming miniseries on Ronald and Nancy Reagan, CBS is
apparently planning on leaving out any reference to the infectious optimism of
the Gipper, which helped to conquer Jimmy Carter’s malaise. And it’s
probably not going to mention the 1980s boom that ended the gasoline lines and
salvaged the economy.
Ironically, the man once known as the “Great Communicator” is in the grips
of Alzheimer's disease and can’t speak for himself. This cruel fact makes the
decision of CBS all the more heinous, if indeed its leftist hatchet job is
carried out as currently scripted.
One of the scenes has Nancy Reagan urging her man to do more to help AIDS
sufferers, but her hardhearted husband responding, “They that live in sin shall
die in sin.”
Scriptwriter Elizabeth Egloff admits making up the statement. The
truth is that, at a time when the disease was not widely understood, the Reagan
administration made the decision that AIDS patients were entitled to protection
from discrimination.
Here’s a bit of background on some of the key players in the made-for-TV
Reagan rewrite:
· Leslie Moonves, chairman of CBS, has spent time with overweight
overlord Fidel Castro and schmoozed at Renaissance Weekends with the
· James Brolin, who plays Ronald Reagan, is the hubby of Barbra Streisand, the
Democrat Party’s virtual ATM. Brolin has already had some practice playing a
reprehensible Republican. He’s been involved with NBC’s “The West Wing.” He’s
also one of the
· Judy Davis, Nancy Reagan’s supposed stand-in, is an Australian
actress who has stated publicly, “If this film can help create a bit more questioning
in the public about the direction America has been going in since the 1970s, I
guess then I think it will be doing a service.”
The Left Coast Report says, despite the CBS racket, we can hear Reagan now,
with a fighter’s resolve, a commander’s confidence and a leading man’s charm:
“There they go again.”