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Reagan's Son
The New York Times ^ | January 26, 2003 | BILL KELLER

Posted on 01/26/2003 10:34:20 PM PST by ThePythonicCow

. . . .

Bush's seeming invincibility to bad news may be exasperating to Democrats, but it was no surprise to Michael Deaver, the shrewd public relations man who played Karl Rove to an earlier president, Ronald Reagan. When Deaver was handling spin for Reagan, one frustrated Democrat described the scandal-proof chief executive as the Teflon President. This time around, Deaver watched the White House twirl and sidestep through the serial crises of December with deep professional admiration. To Deaver there was nothing mysterious about it, no Teflon. It was just the relentless discipline of a president who consistently defies the expectations of people who think they are smarter than he is.

Like a lot of Republicans who have watched both Reagan and Bush at close hand, Deaver sees uncanny similarities between them. The presidents are alike in their outlooks and career paths, in their agendas of tax-cutting and confrontational deployment of American power, in the ideological mix of their advisers. (Whatever you read about the president's inheritance from his father and Gerald Ford, the Reagan DNA is dominant in the staffing, training and planning of the Bush administration.) More than that, there are important similarities of character and temperament. And both are simple men who have made a political virtue of being -- in Bush's word -- ''misunderestimated'' by the political elite.

. . . .

What Bush is striving for, on the evidence of the choices he has made so far, is bold in its ambition: markets unleashed, resources exploited. A progressive tax system leveled, a country unashamed of wealth. Government entitlements gradually replaced by thrift, self-reliance and private good will. The safety net strung closer to the ground. Government itself infused with, in some cases supplanted by, the efficiency and accountability of a well-run corporation. A court system dedicated to protecting property and private enterprise and enforcing individual responsibility. A global common market that hums to the tune of American productivity. In the world, America rampant -- unfettered by international law, unflinching when challenged, unmatchable in its might, more interested in being respected than in being loved.

If he fails, my guess is that it will be a failure not of caution but of overreaching, which means it will be failure on a grand scale. If he succeeds, he will move us toward an America Ronald Reagan would have been happy to call his own.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: retread; searchb4youpost
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Good article on Bush - surprising to see it in the NY Times. Article is quite a bit longer than my excerpts above - worth reading.
1 posted on 01/26/2003 10:34:20 PM PST by ThePythonicCow
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To: ThePythonicCow
OHHH WOW NY Times praising Dubya you got be kidding but it is true Dubya might be George Bush Sr son he got little bit of Ronnie influence OH YEAH

That true Demos thought Reagan was stupid movie actor he prove them wrong also Dubya is really going on same path too with Ronnie have Demos think he is stupid and prove his intellence RACK ITTT
2 posted on 01/26/2003 10:49:11 PM PST by SevenofNine (Get ready for SMACKDOWN Saddam)
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To: ThePythonicCow
Thanks for the thread.Bumping for a read tomorrow.
3 posted on 01/26/2003 10:54:35 PM PST by Lady In Blue
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To: ThePythonicCow
Great article......re: this statement: Bush talks, as Reagan did, about a world of black and white
I see both these presidents as talking more about right and wrong, not black & white...but that's just me quibbling.
4 posted on 01/26/2003 11:02:54 PM PST by stylin19a (it's cold because it's too hot...- Global Warming-ists explanation for cold wave)
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To: ThePythonicCow
This article got hundreds of responses yesterday. Hope it does as well today.
5 posted on 01/27/2003 12:10:40 AM PST by billhilly (On fire for BIG AL SHARPTON)
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To: ThePythonicCow
"And both are simple men who have made a political virtue of being -- in Bush's word -- ''misunderestimated'' by the political elite."

Which is generous euphemism for "dancing circles around the self-appointed 'political elite'".

It's been easy. Both were smarter--much smarter.

You see: both Reagan and George W. Bush are great men and great presidents.

6 posted on 01/27/2003 12:23:08 AM PST by Savage Beast
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To: ThePythonicCow
How the heck did this gem get past the NY Slimes editor?
7 posted on 01/27/2003 12:32:48 AM PST by Mr. Mojo
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To: billhilly
Are you saying that it was posted on FR yesterday? My search attempts didn't find any such.
8 posted on 01/27/2003 12:42:24 AM PST by ThePythonicCow (Mooo !!!!)
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To: ThePythonicCow
Yep. Pokey78 beat ya to it.

Reagan's Son (George W. Bush)

The New York Times Magazine ^ | 01/25/03 | BILL KELLER

Posted on 01/24/2003 7:02 PM CST by Pokey78

9 posted on 01/27/2003 12:48:25 AM PST by PeaceBeWithYou (De Oppresso Liber!)
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To: ThePythonicCow
Great article. Thanks--I didn't catch it yesterday.

I have to tell you that I had a different image of you, though, until I read your profile page...;o)


10 posted on 01/27/2003 12:49:24 AM PST by lorrainer (I read it on the Internet. It MUST be true.)
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To: billhilly
Aha - by looking at your postings for the last few days, I see the other post of this article.

See Reagan's Son [The NYT Sunday Magazine's cover story re: President GW Bush].

I still can't get this article to show up in a search (searching for "Reagan", nor searching for "son").

Strange.

11 posted on 01/27/2003 12:49:50 AM PST by ThePythonicCow (Mooo !!!!)
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To: ThePythonicCow
The search does strange things when a ' is involved.

Summer had a thread on it too, with the effect it was having on DU. Worth a look too.
12 posted on 01/27/2003 12:54:32 AM PST by PeaceBeWithYou (De Oppresso Liber!)
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To: PeaceBeWithYou; Admin Moderator
Admin Moderator:

PeaceBeWithYou:


13 posted on 01/27/2003 12:59:29 AM PST by ThePythonicCow (Mooo !!!!)
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To: ThePythonicCow
Maybe this article is to tell the liberals that Bush is even WORSE than they thought!!!"He's like Reagan....HATE HIM".
14 posted on 01/27/2003 3:03:11 AM PST by Claire Voyant ((visualize whirled peas))
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To: ThePythonicCow
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/829756/posts
15 posted on 01/27/2003 8:09:27 AM PST by billhilly (On fire for BIG AL SHARPTON)
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To: SevenofNine
I would suggest that some NY freepers go do there and look for pods.
16 posted on 01/27/2003 8:20:35 AM PST by Valin (Place Your Ad Here!)
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To: ThePythonicCow
I still can't get this article to show up in a search (searching for "Reagan", nor searching for "son").

The word "Reagan" is not in the title. However, "Reagan's", is. A search for "Reagan's" returns the proper search. And the search feature doesn't work for words with less than 4 letters in them.

17 posted on 01/27/2003 8:33:54 AM PST by TomServo
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To: TomServo
So apparently the search engines modus operandi is to split titles into words (splitting on white space), then index words >= 4 characters long. No matching on a substring of such a word. The word Reagan is in no way related to the word Reagan's.

Ok - that's an algorithm, as they say. Good as any.

You don't recall seeing this documented anywhere, do you? Or is it up to each of us individually to stumble through the umpteen possible permutations of a search engine, deciphering the behaviour the this one?

... sorry for the rant ... not really fair of me ... thanks for a useful answer.

18 posted on 01/27/2003 10:47:39 PM PST by ThePythonicCow (Mooo !!!!)
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To: ThePythonicCow
4 letters documented here.

One (full) word documented here. Rant on! ;-)

19 posted on 01/28/2003 4:55:23 AM PST by TomServo
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To: TomServo
So that searches are by full words is mentioned in a post, but not it's not mentioned, until this current thread, what the word delimiter characters are. That is, are words consecutive sequences of alphanumeric characters, or are they consecutive sequences of non-white-space characters.

And the only way, the only way, to find this documentation is to get TomServo on you case for missing (in this case, despite trying hard) previous posts, then ask him?

Time I submitted a couple of suggestions to the admins.

You have been helpful, sir. Thank-you. Nevermind my grumpiness.

20 posted on 01/28/2003 10:50:22 AM PST by ThePythonicCow (Mooo !!!!)
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