Posted on 07/15/2004 9:05:30 AM PDT by presidio9
With all the stories about the newly graduated Bush twins posing for fashion spreads and hitting the campaign trail with their father, I must say a few words about another president's child who seems to have grown up well: Ron Reagan.
Granted, at 46, Reagan is more than twice the age of the Bush twins, and his father left office more than 15 years ago. But Reagan also seems to have finally come into his own.
The beginnings were not auspicious. Twenty-two when his father took office in 1981, Ron Reagan was a lanky, awkward-looking ballet dancer, one of the lesser lights of the Joffrey Ballet Company, with a downscale wife who was seven years older than he was. And, some thought, he was rather effeminate.
He was easy to make fun of. Remember that skit he did on Saturday Night Live, when he danced around in his underwear? He was no Tom Cruise. And he was clearly an embarrassment to his parents, even if he wasn't as resentful toward them as his older brother and sisters were.
Over the years, while his sister Patti posed for spreads in Playboy and Maureen and Michael carped about how their parents had neglected them as children, Ron slipped away into the shadows. He left ballet, wrote magazine articles, and launched an obscure television career, which included hosting a short-lived cable talk-show, and most recently hosting dog shows on the Animal Planet network and being a commentator on MSNBC.
Since his father's death last month, however, he has emerged as a mature, thoughtful and well-spoken middle-aged man. I was shocked to learn that he's been with the same wife - Doria, a clinical psychologist - for more than 20 years. At the memorial and funeral services, he seemed solicitous toward his mother, and when he spoke of his father's religious faith, he chided the politiicians who flaunt religion to gain political points. Later, in an interview with Lary King, he denounced the Bush administration for leading us into war with Iraq, charging that "we lied our way into the war."
In recent years Ron Reagan has criticized the Bush administration for claiming his father's legacy, saying that although his father called for "an international army of conscience" to deal with atrocities in the world, "these people are overly reaching, overly aggressive, overly secretive, and just plain corrupt."
He has called George W. Bush "simply unqualified for the job," adding that his father "didn't have to ask Dick Cheney what he thought."
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
Ron Jr. grew up 'well'? I guess to a leftist looney, it might seem tht way.
Anytime someone tied to conservatism moves to the left they've "grown". When Bob Dole embraced tax increases in the 1980's he got a lot of good publicity and was said to have "grown".
What's interesting is that Patti Davis when from being a far-left anti-nuclear demonstrator/nude poser to more or less apolitical, yet there are no columns about how wonderfully she's grown. That's because she didn't move to the left.
He hasn't grown up yet, he's still in that awkward liberal phase most of us grow out of when we get a job. Maybe Ron needs to get a job and then he will develop.
Notice how the article is written simply to smear Pres. Bush. It's OK to grow up slowly if you are a Dem...think of JFK, Jr, who at 40 when he died was "finding himself". But for G.W.Bush to quit drinking at 40 (after numerous accomplishments WAY beyond Ron P. Reagan and the younger Kennedy), he was immature and a failure...in the eyes of the media.
Ron P. Reagan is NOT impressive, never was, never will be. Too bad he carries such a distinguished name.
Apparently Ron Jr. is a lier.
Ah Another anti-Bush Story from New York SPEWSDAY!
How interesting to watch these folks don the knee pads.
Gag me with a pinafore.
Who really deserves Ronald Reagan's legacy? A group of people who honestly took the Gipper's words to heart or a punk who just happens to share his name?
Ron Reagan has talked recently about people who wrap themselves in the mantle of his father and claim to speak for him and even proclaim what Ronald Reagan would say about subjects like the war in Iraq. Sounds like Ron has grabbed that mantle for himself. The Ronald Reagan we all know and love would NEVER support embryonic stem cell experiments conducted with federal funds.
I find it humorous that liberals like Sheryl McCarthy lionize the son who advances their agenda, when they wouldn't have given the time of day to his father. Sure, he's worthy of respect - now that he agrees with THEM. The dad who made the son famous so he could grow up to become a tired liberal windbag? They treated him like dirt while alive.
Ronald "The Great Man" Reagan
Ronald "Twinkletoes" Reagan
Regards, Ivan
LOL- I daresay a large portion of America was shocked to see him with a woman at all.
If he wasn't putting down Bush in a sophmoric way, there would be no article. And it is piss-poor journalism to mention the "crippling restrictions " to fetal stem cell research instead of telling the truth - that GWB's position is that no Federal money is to go to this. Private research and the drug companies can do work with these tissues - but only on their dime.
Ron Reagan was a lanky, awkward-looking ballet dancer, one of the lesser lights of the Joffrey Ballet Company, with a downscale wife who was seven years older than he was. And, some thought, he was rather effeminate. He was easy to make fun of.
"I used to think Ron was a geeky fag ballerina, but then he attacked Bush and now hes a freaking foreign policy genius!"
I used to think Sheryl McCarthy was an affirmative-action promoted typist. My opinion holds steady.
But of course, those who believe that Michael Moore tells the gospel truth in his films, that President Bush was selected, and not elected, and that John Kerry as a boy, actually plowed the fields on the family farm; believe that Ron Prescott is a "mature, thoughtful, and well-spoken middle age man." Yup, "the group think" crowd recognize Ron Prescott as one of their own.
It's is a good thing that neither he, nor his sister Patti, ever had any children. As Grandpa said, "Some folks and critters were never meant to reproduce."
and when he spoke of his father's religious faith, he chided the politiicians who flaunt religion to gain political points.
Ms. McCarthy; You know as well as the rest of us that Ron Reagan is taking advantage of who is father was. So get off your soapbox; we ain't interested in what he has to say.
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