Yeah. In response to that accusation, see 179 and tell me if you think Reagan was a liar.
I'm not trying to go overboard on this particular issue, but I think this is fascinating. Not only do we think our candidates need/deserve to be protected from rudeness....we now believe that all of our good heroes in the past were merely disengenuous showmen prepping zingers in advance.
I don’t see a quotation of Reagan in your #179 in which he claims he wasn’t ready in advance. All he said was that he couldn’t believe he was actually getting that question. Doesn’t say one way or another whether he had prepared for it.
He could have meant it like a batter saying, “I couldn’t believe he pitched such an easy one at me with no outs, no strikes and two men on base.”
I don’t think I’m being critical of Reagan (or calling him a showman, that’s your bizarro take on it, not mine) by saying he probably prepared for it.
Two questions:
1. Wouldn’t he have been stupid, at his age, NOT to prepare for that question?
2. Does preparing for questions in advance make you a “showman”? (What a bizarre thing for you to say, esp when counselling Palin and Bachmann to do a better job of preparing for questions!!!)
Whether or not Reagan prepared for the famous Age Question in advance, he was NOT a showman. He was a Great President, a Great American and a Great Communicator (as I’ve said before).