Ron Reagan on NBC's Dateline

Just got through watching NBC'S Dateline with the segment on Ron Reagan. He was being interviewed by Chris Matthews. Ron will be on again on Monday with Matthews on Hardball. Anyone see the show and if so what are your thoughts?

You're right about Michael not getting along with Jane Wyman but it's pretty clear she didn't play the blame game, making her ex-husband out to be a bad guy to the kids. If she had, maybe Michael would've been closer to her than to his dad. Instead, I suspect he resented her for divorcing him.
I had the honor of interviewing Maureen Reagan once, between the '76 and '80 elections. She showed so much of her father's good nature and optimism that I think she'd have been happy in a family of wolves. She was charming, witty, warm, intelligent, humble and very proud of BOTH her parents. In the end, she and Michael are kids anyone would be proud of. Patti and Ron, by comparison, seem spoiled and immature. Both sets of kids had to share their father with another family and the world. One set adapted, the other didn't.
If you credit Jane Wyman with nothing else, you have to give her high marks for never criticizing her ex-husband OR Nancy in public. How many women could resist that?

He was a no-show son even then. I remember reading an interview with him a few years ago, when he said he no longer bothered going to see his father, as his father couldn't recognize who he was. And he had had a falling-out with his mother for at least five years during that time, so he didn't go see her either.

No doubt both Ron and Patti were embarrassments and huge disappointments to their parents. I guess poor Nancy had to beg them to behave during the long week of a state burial. He didn't see his mother for five years after President Reagan didn't recognize him anymore? How low is that? Abandoning his mother when she needed him most! Ron is the opposite of everything his father was about and he really makes my blood boil. The guy is a non believer, and yet sees fit to criticize the genuine Christian beliefs of our President! Where in the hell does this little ballerina liberal twerp get off judging the current President, who was extremely gracious to their entire family? He even refused to bow his head at his own father's funeral. What a loser!

During the funeral, I heard Chrissy Pantywaste Mathews say that Ron Junior is an independent.

Yeah, right, why is it those guys always shield their (often extreme) liberal views by calling themselves independent when they are so clearly not. At least they should stand up and be counted for whom are and what they believe. Then at least one could try and respect their opinions however much we disagree.

No doubt both Ron and Patti were embarrassments and huge disappointments to their parents. I guess poor Nancy had to beg them to behave during the long week of a state burial. He didn't see his mother for five years after President Reagan didn't recognize him anymore? How low is that? Abandoning his mother when she needed him most!

To her credit, Patti had reconciled with her parents just before her father's diagnosis, and was a big part of her parents' life in those years. I don't care for her politics, but I can't fault her personal behavior then. Even Michael gave comfort to Nancy in those years, even though he was not her son.

But I clearly remember Ron Jr. saying his comments a few years ago, because I was so appalled by them. And now he has the nerve to claim to be the keeper of the Reagan flame, when he was out of the picture for the years when his parents needed him the most? Of course nobody in the media will throw what he actually did during that time up in his face -- heck, they can't even mention that he's a lifelone liberal Democrat!

Ron is the opposite of everything his father was about and he really makes my blood boil. The guy is a non believer, and yet sees fit to criticize the genuine Christian beliefs of our President! Where in the hell does this little ballerina liberal twerp get off judging the current President, who was extremely gracious to their entire family? He even refused to bow his head at his own father's funeral. What a loser!

Yep. He thinks he's so clever, too. He throws a disguised barb at Bush during the eulogy which would be clear to anybody who knew how much he hates W, and then when the media calls him on it, he thinks it's very telling that people thought he was talking about Bush. You didn't need to be Einstein to figure out who he was referring to, considering he's on record as saying that W is suffering from "dementia", and that Bush's great achievement is that he's no longer an "obnoxious drunk."

During the funeral, I heard Chrissy Pantywaste Mathews say that Ron Junior is an independent. Yeah, right, why is it those guys always shield their (often extreme) liberal views by calling themselves independent when they are so clearly not.

Ron Jr. is on record as voting for Nader, and defines himself as a lefty by his comments and actions. If the definition of an independent is somebody who voted for Nader in 2000, then I guess Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins are "independents" too. What a crock.

actually, i have read a few of patti's pieces about her change in attitude about her dad, and i was very moved by them. she is a good writer; in fact, i couldn't even finish the one she wrote about his dying moment. i probably don't really have much hope for her politically, any more than her brother, but at least she is a dynamic character, not the sort of howdy doody puppet her brother is.

as far as her get-up...whoa, you're right about that. REALLY needs a haircut...

On Nancy's "childrearing".

My personal, unsolicited, analysis---Ron and Nancy were so involved with each other, they did not include the kids in their magical world made for two. Not to say they did not love their children, but were so content with each other's company they put each other first. Reagan was brought up in a time when parents provided for children and just expected a lot more from them. In his day, fathers provided and mothers ruled at home. He and Nancy lived a much different life-she was by his side in everything.

I think Ron Jr.'s attitude is a slap in his father's face because President Reagan's religion was very real and informed his deeds, personally and as President. Ron has no looks, no great athletic ability and no noticeable talent. His attitudes project a lifetime diet of sour grapes and a time warp of adolescence in which he lives perpetually. He is, unfortunately, a little man with a little mentality who is allowing the media to use him because this is his moment to "be somebody" (he thinks).

Also, regarding the religion thing--another way of rebeling against his father's faith and innate greatness? He needs to grow up and get a life of his own. I remember times in the Reagan years when Ron's actions (and Patty's) were disrespectful to their father.

vaudine

Agreed. Ron has spent a lifetime rejecting the things his father most cherished: religion, conservatism, patriotism and Nancy. Now all of a sudden he's the keeper of his father's flame? Please!

A giant, majestic oak has been felled, and all that it shaded and sheltered now stands exposed. Only the undergrowth with deepest roots can hope to survive. The shallow-rooted will whither and fail. (And some nuts are just squirrel food.)

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