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Nancy Reagan dead at age 94

nancy reagan

Nancy Reagan has died at the age of 94. Is this the end of an era? I’m not so sure. Nancy and Ronald Reagan were a team. They seemed to play off each other. For years, Ronald Reagan worked on this image and worked on his platform. From the late ’50s Ronald Reagan was always trying to get the right message out there. I think that Nancy was his sounding board. She was the one whom he bounced ideas off of. At least this what I have read. The image of Nancy and Ronald has been so highly polished over the years that it is hard to know what is fact and what is fiction.

I would argue that without Reagan or a Reagan-like figure you couldn’t have a Donald Trump. Ronald would frequently say X, but mean Y. At least his aids would spend a great deal of time explaining what he really meant. It got so bad that America would ignore what Reagan said and go directly to the aides to figure out what new policy was being proposed.

Reagan (Ronald and Nancy) were really about image. They both looked presidential long before he was elected. He had the great looks and the easy-going manner. He had the ranch and that beautiful horse. If he wasn’t president …. this was what a president should look like. This was how a president should act.

Trump has taken this a step further. He isn’t about policies and white papers. He is about crafting the image of a winner. He is the winner even when he hasn’t won anything. He is crafting the image of the successful businessman in spite of the fact that he has had plenty of failures. Without Nancy and Ronald, there would be no Donald running for president.

Nancy Reagan has died. My heart and prayers go out to her family. May she rest in peace.

By ecthompsonmd|2016-03-09T21:06:44-04:00March 6th, 2016|Party Politics|Comments Off

Podcast – Gun Control, we are all Newtown residents with Greg Dworkin (Update)

Greg Dworkin is one of the front page bloggers at the Daily Kos. He is also a physician and a friend of mine. He is also a Newtown, Ct resident. We discuss the need for gun control in this country. Yes, we need to talk about other factors, including metal health issues, but Newtown clearly revealed the need for gun control. Remember that the first victim of the Newtown shooting was a gun owner. She was shot with her own gun while she was sleeping. Having more guns isn’t the solution. If having more guns were the solution, then Nancy Lanza would be alive today. She had plenty.

Enjoy my podcast below.

Greg posted the following this morning:

In order to explain, the significance of this graph, let me include another graph that shows gun ownership by region. This is from Gallup:

NY Times:

But if anything has been learned since [the election], it’s that the president’s power in Washington remains severely constrained by a Republican opposition establishment that is bitter about its losses, unmoved by Mr. Obama’s victory and unwilling to compromise on social policy, economics or foreign affairs. House Republicans, in particular, argue that they won elections as well and they see their ability to retain control of the House as granting them the right to stick to their own views even when they clash strongly with the president’s.

So the Times is calling them bitter and uncompromising dead-enders? Accurate observation.

Gun Control discussion with Greg Dworkin of the Daily Kos [ 40:09 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

By ecthompsonmd|2012-12-23T13:28:36-04:00December 22nd, 2012|Domestic Issues, Party Politics, Podcasts|4 Comments

Unseen

I’ve been reading The View From The Center Of The Universe by Joel Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams.

One things this book discusses is the composition of the universe.

Only a fraction of existence is solid and visible.

The chart above offers some detail.

The dark matter and dark energy that comprises most of existence does not react with light and is impossible to see.

Yet these dark materials alter the shape and the size of the universe.

These facts were not fully understood as recently as 15 years ago.

They are understood better today, though still imperfectly.

Here is a good article on this subject from The New York Times science section.

This is something we should keep in mind when dealing with others.

Much is unseen, and it may be late in the day when we understand the forces motivating people to act as they do.

You have your own view as to the extent all things are connected.

I think all things are, in some way, connected.

As much as we think we might know what exists and what’s going on, we don’t know so much.

One of many good reasons to be slow to judge the actions of others, is the fact that much of existence is made up of the unseen.

By admin|2008-06-07T22:42:09-04:00June 7th, 2008|Books, Science|Comments Off