virus: Politics and Perception was Teflon vs. Hardon

Gifford, Nate F (giffon@SDCPOS3B.DAYTONOH.ncr.com)
Wed, 8 Oct 1997 08:32:10 -0400


The man who is Nate wrote:----------
heThe
>> ...and contend that "Slick Willie" is nowhere
>> near as slippery as the Teflon President.
The Nateman wrote

>Love him or Hate him you knew what Reagan stood for. What does Bubba
believe
>in? Not getting beat up by his wife! I think that qualifies Bubba as the
>slickmiester of the two.

The man who is Nate replies:
In case the remainder of the group is thinking "Political Flame War" let me
point out that politics probably has the greatest selective pressure of any
meme environment.

It is my contention that the best way to know what Reagan stood for was to
look at the converse of his rhetoric. Why did David Stockman quit? Who is
slicker George Bush who called Supply Side "VooDoo Econmics" and then went
on to support it for eight years or Bubba who went to the mat a couple of
times during his first year before going political? Have you ever read
Peggy Noonan's memoir of her time with the Great Man? It reads like the
diary of a moonie. Have you ever really thought about the ramifications of
the Contra scandal? It makes the Clinton Gore gaffe's look positively
prim. For instance do you remember that Fawn Hall misstyped a swiss bank
account and sent $1 million of the Sultan of Brunei's funds to a lucky
winner. Why do you think the Sultan of Brunei was sending money to the
contras? I'm certain that given his reputation as a judicious and fair man
he wasn't trying to buy influence in the Reagan white house ... Thank god
that Bill is now richer then the Sultan .... but thats another thread isn't
it?

My point isn't that Bubba is good ... my point is that your statement "You
knew what Reagan stood for" may be true for me, but certainly isn't true
for his supporters that took his rhetoric at face value. Perhaps you would
care to let me know what you think Reagan stood for and we'll see how your
ideas jibe with history.

The point of the exercise would not be to argue politics ... it would be to
argue that you are infected with some kind of "new right" meme that is
filtering your perception of current events. From a personal point of view
I find Clinton distasteful ... but less distasteful then the pols fielded
in '92 and '96. In 2000 I fear that I will not be able to vote because a
choice between Al Gore, Jack Kemp, and Ross Perot is no choice at all.

Perhaps we should conduct our discussion off line and then post the
results?