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Stupid Things

After another orgy of Republican candidate debate Reaganophilia, Paul Slansky is back once more with a loving look back at Ronald Reagan’s troubled relationship with fact.

The orgy itself came to new lows.

Shamelessness crossbred with cluelessness to produce such gems as John McCain‘s “It would be good to have Nancy Reagan back in the leadership role of the ‘Just Say No’ program”

And the Nanc herself threatened, “He’s back.”

Jeremy Blachman explores what the hell is up with Presidential Libraries, as he writes about his recent Reagan Library visit, and the abiding strangeness of the place.

“The Ronald Reagan museum is a waste of a museum. Regardless of what someone thinks about Ronald Reagan, it’s pretty hard to argue with the idea that there is a compelling story that his museum should be able to tell …Reagan had eight years in office… And they totally wasted the chance to do anything even remotely interesting, educational, relevant, or thoughtful with the Reagan museum… the biggest exhibit in the museum — and the one you’re channeled to right when you enter! — is a collection of Nancy Reagan’s gowns, each one carefully placed on a mannequin and accompanied by a placard that tells you the designer and when Nancy wore it. “Lunch with friends, November 14, 2002.” …There’s more space devoted to the dresses than to Reagan’s presidency. Next came a short video about the museum. About Reagan? No, not really. About the location and size of the museum, and the restaurant in the back and the piece of the real Berlin Wall we could find in the courtyard… The only thing lingered on? A whole bunch of display cases of his love letters to Nancy…I know he wrote a whole bunch of radio addresses in the 4 years before he ran for President, but those aren’t mentioned. Neither are, oh, I don’t know, any presidential speeches he may have had a hand in, or at least that he delivered even if he didn’t write them…it appears that the only thing he ever wrote, in all his life, were love letters to Nancy…and then you get to the final exhibit — the life of Nancy. …and then there’s Reagan’s tomb, and a lonely piece of the Berlin Wall outside (as opposed to the two replica wall pieces inside, which make no sense — why not just bring the real one inside, and fit it into the exhibit)…it just made me angry that it was such a missed opportunity to be interesting. .. Can’t you do more than show Nancy’s dresses? Can’t you make an intelligent, interesting museum out of what’s out there? Apparently not.”

Festiva!

 

Christmas is a special season at the White House. Won’t you join the search for America’s best Presidential gifts?

 

 

 

 

 

Most Wonderful Time!

 

 

 

 

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For only $150.00 you can get this handsome Baccarat paperweight. It features Woodrow Wilson looking for all the world like the President-For-Life of a former Soviet republic.

 

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Often mocked, never bettered, the Nixon birthplace birdhouse. A classic at $45.00

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Vice Presidents before Dick Cheney often felt slighted and ignored, and were forced to find themselves something to do. In tribute to those dark days, the United States Vice Presidential Museum offers this Dan Quayle shot glass. $3.77.

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He may belong now to the ages, but he can still help tuck you in at night. The Lincoln Nightlight, $27.50.

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A sly dig at Betty Ford’s addictions? On offer for $24.95 in the Reagan Library’s “Nancy Reagan’s favorites” gift section, the First Lady Purse Pill Box. “It can be a headache to be first lady. This silver pill box helps you find the right remedy ever-so-elegantly“

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Because repeating “um, you lost,” won’t silence Confederate apologists, $12.00 gets you ten Christmas cards and envelopes with this touching Christmas scene of the Jeff Davis family from the “Confederate White House.”

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An undistinguished presidency yields endearingly odd sports apparel from Bridgeport Connecticut’s Warren Harding High School. $21.99 or multiple variations at similar prices.

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For $40.00, a talking Nixon doll with some explaining to do.

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“No Nickname”? Because “America’s Fattest President” couldn’t fit on a patch? Yours for only $4.27.
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You’ll accept no substitute for victory over sleeplessness with this 18″ square Commander in Chief throw pillow! President Bush has never looked so butch, and you’ll never feel more comfortable. For $18.99 you can take your pillow with you on trips like El Jefe does!

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All aboard for two full hours of ship shaping, USS Ronald Reagan style!

Tomorrow the National Geographic Channel presents what we can only suppose is an upbeat account of life aboard the aircraft carrier.

Judging from Reagan’s afterlife online it should draw well. The subculture of USS Reagan tchotskes grows ever more diverse daily.

For $5.95 plus shipping you may own this handsome 5×7 inch photograph of a disturbing looking Nancy Reagan christening the ship.

What’s the deal with the angle of her head?

You might prefer the action shot with a more realistic looking Mrs. Reagan, only $9.99, shipping included!

Or go all out and drop $5,600 on a ships painting, shipping included.

Laugh, and the World Loses Grasp of the Facts

Although the opening was briefly marred by the Reagan Museum’s lost collections story, and by people actually recalling the era, Nancy Reagan’s dress show has returned her in triumph to the fashion pages.

“Her glamour sometimes spurred more ire than awe. Reagan was widely criticized for her extravagance during the economic downturn, and she took her biggest drubbing for commissioning $200,000 worth of china for the White House in 1981. A year later, however, she shocked journalists and her husband alike when she paraded onstage during a Gridiron Dinner wearing a schizophrenic get-up that included a feather boa and yellow galoshes. The first lady belted out “Second Hand Clothes” to the tune of “Second Hand Rose.”

“The reporters saw that she could laugh at herself and it became a turning point for her and the press,” co-curator Jenkins says.”

Everyone loves America’s Widow!

In order to pull this off the actual history of her fashion habit has to be ignored.

In brief: she took clothing, only occasionally paid for it, lied about it, and kept sloppy records throughout Reagan’s two terms. Some details here.

The exhibit’s second hand clothes tribute to her masterful evasion of facts: