Volume X, Issue XIIIa: "Tear Down this Wall
REAGAN CAN TEACH US
It is no surprise that the mainstream media is no friend of Conservative candidates. Dr. Ben Carson and Donald Trump have both experienced this recently. President Bush had an incident where Dan Rather presented a fabricated letter from his National Guard commander questioning his integrity and fitness.I knew it was a fraud because the letter was unquestionably produced on a modern word processor, something that wasn't even invented at the time.
An adversarial media is nothing new. Ronald Reagan had few friends in the press corps, but he had a knack for getting his message out in spite of them. To be fair, there's more media now and it is all too easy to get caught up in a feud with Megyn Kelley, something that probably wouldn't even have been an issue for Reagan, but still, the Great Communicator can still offer us great wisdom in dealing with the current gaggle of media inquisitors.
Reagan, it might be said, stepped too easily into the trap, fielding questions when he should have kept on moving, but he was not easily cornered. He could, in fact, move on and announce that something was a matter for another day. Ronald Reagan, though the press defined him, never let their definition stick. He used humor and candor skillfully to ultimately own the game. He'd already been cast as a "dangerous hawk" when he stated: "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."
Actually, Reagan never said this over the airways, but was parodying the public announcement he'd made that morning about signing legislation allowing student religious groups the same access to school facilities after hours as other clubs. The media leaked this and had a field day... or so they thought. Reagan stayed on message. The press writhed as he spoke of the "Evil Empire," but ultimately the Berlin Wall came down. Reagan never lost sight of the fact that he was playing a bigger game... and he eventually put points on the board. Today's Conservative candidates would do well to study his game book. "Let's win this one for the Gipper!"
Special Book Section
Several weeks ago we began the serial presentation of "Pontifus, The Bridge Builder's Tale in Three Parts." [1.] This week we will present the fifth chapter of the third book: "Little House at the End of the World" Here [click to read]. This special book section will continue through the Summer. The full publication of THYME will resume in the Fall. Look for a new installment of Pontifus each Wednesday morning.