Story of the Day: NY Times Honors Reagan by Ignoring History

New York Times coverage of the unveiling of Ronald Reagan's statue in the Capitol Rotunda on Wednesday reveals not only how myths are perpetuated in the media but also how the omission of critical context distorts history.

In the print version of Thursday's Times report, readers are at least given a terse idea of the man Mr. Reagan's statue was replacing -- Thomas Starr King, "the 19-century Unitarian minister known as the 'orator who saved the nation' for helping to keep California from seceding as a republic during the Civil War." Yet in the online version posted a day earlier, and a full 140 words longer than its printed companion, King is described only as "a 19th-century Unitarian minister and 'Orator Who Saved the Nation.'”

But aside from the appearance of the Times having done nothing more than to cut and paste from the first two sentences of King's Wikipedia entry (for which journalists and news outlets have already been burned recently), the historical significance of supplanting King's statue with that of Reagan's seems completely lost on our paper of record.

As usual, context is king, but it's in short supply in the print edition and non-existent in the online piece. Moreover, quite literally in this case, context is King. And also Reagan. The real Reagan, however, not the cartoonish log-splitting and horseback-riding grandfather who "won the Cold War" and "made us proud to be Americans."

Beyond the bizarrely inscrutable Times description "19th-century Unitarian minister and 'Orator Who Saved the Nation'" and even with the additional stingy mention that he happened to save the nation by "helping to keep California from seceding as a republic during the Civil War," Thomas Starr King was an American hero deemed so for actual virtuous, brave and patriotic deeds while Ronald Reagan's heroic status is almost wholly a myth created by the Republican Party and canonized by our mainstream media. (I say "almost wholly" because Reagan was admittedly a great politician -- a former actor who did much to convince many Americans to believe this myth; at the time, it wasn't only a media creation. Moreover, the American presidency itself confers certain intrinsic mythic qualities, ready-made for such a charismatic figure.)

McClatchy Newspapers reporter Rob Hotakainen supplies some of that much needed context about King.

Not everyone's pleased that Reagan is being put on a pedestal, particularly the descendants of Starr King, who helped keep California in the Union during the Civil War.

"Unfortunately, people say, 'Who was Thomas Starr King?' " said Ginny King Supple, Starr King's great-great-granddaughter, from Los Angeles. "He never got the public recognition after the fact. He was very well-known back in the 1800s and early 1900s. So it is disturbing."

She voted for Reagan, but she said: "From a historical perspective, Thomas Starr King had a lot more to do with the state of the state of California, as opposed to President Reagan. I'm not coming down on Ronald Reagan. He was basically a great man in many ways, but the history of California lies with Thomas Starr King. That's why he was chosen." [As both versions of the Times article notes, each state in the country gets two statues with which to honor its heroes.]

Starr King gave thousands of speeches, up and down the state, railing against slavery, poverty and oppression. Even though the state had banned slavery, many Southerners who had moved to California wanted slaves and threatened to split the state and form their own republic. Starr King corresponded with Abraham Lincoln during his speaking tour.

"More than anything, he kept California from seceding from the Union during the Civil War," King Supple said. "He was a great orator."

Hotakainen also touches on the politics behind the ousting of King's statue.

It also caps a five-year effort by California Republican Rep. Ken Calvert, who launched the campaign to remove Starr King shortly after Reagan's death on June 5, 2004.

"I thought, well, you know, he was a great person, but he's been here for a while. Maybe we can replace him with Ronald Reagan," Calvert said. "And one thing led to another. ... We were able to get it done."

[...]

During the state Legislature's debate, one California legislator said he didn't know who Starr King was, prompting [Thomas] Starr King V to say that the lawmaker would have been better off trying to bolster history education in the schools. He said legislators acted quickly to support the legislation, however, "so as not to appear anti-Reagan."

In a Los Angeles Times op-ed, Oakland historical author Jack Cheevers recently wrote:

It's never pleasant watching politicians try to manipulate history. Whether it's an ex-president blocking release of incriminating White House tapes, the Russian government closing a KGB archive to foreign researchers or Japanese officials forcing a school textbook author to excise references to World War II-era atrocities, the public's ability to learn the truth about historic events is hobbled.

The imminent removal from the U.S. Capitol of a statue of Thomas Starr King, a charismatic San Francisco minister and orator credited with helping keep California in the Union during the run-up to the Civil War, hardly qualifies as a major crime against history. Yet the successful effort by California Republicans to replace him in the National Statuary Hall Collection with a larger-than-life sculpture of Ronald Reagan is troubling nonetheless.

[...]

Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Corona), who says the Gipper inspired him as a boy, orchestrated the move to bump King. No doubt the congressman and other Republican stalwarts feel they can honor their hero by strewing the land with as many smiling likenesses of him as possible.

But although Reagan arguably has been sufficiently memorialized (with an airport, a museum, highways, courthouses, post offices, state office buildings and parks named after him, and his own postage stamp), King needs all the exposure he can get.

San Francisco Chronicle reporter Carolyn Lochhead also reveals an uncomfortable and quite pertinent historical note.

[House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, 69, came to Washington at the end of Reagan's second term, in 1987. He had infuriated gay activists for failing to acknowledge AIDS, although he had begun to do so by the time Pelosi arrived. She spent much of her first years in office fighting for funding to combat the disease, which by then was ravaging the gay community.

Of course that's only one of the many catastrophic contributions by Ronald Reagan.

Regardless of Reagan's support of genocide in Latin America during the eighties to his devastating long-term economic policies -- which are at the very heart of today's economic collapse -- good ol' Ronnie, even in his afterlife, has managed to retain his famous Teflon coating about which so many mainstream reporters used to acknowledge yet fail to uncover. (A report from Robert Parry, a standout mainstream journalist from that era who went against this grain, is the first link above and highly recommended reading. Parry reveals just a taste of Reagan's true legacy.)

Among the many sad ironies of Reagan's statue replacing Thomas Starr King's, a man who railed "against slavery, poverty and oppression," is that while King is credited with saving California from seceding from the Union, Reagan has become the hallowed symbol of a political party whose members today openly toy with the idea of secession.

Just don't expect the Times to point out this fact.

Comments

[Brad Jacobson]

NY Times Honors Reagan by Ignoring History

[Jose Chung]

Color me mildly surprised of the presence of a member of the liberal intelligentsia who is NOT ADVOCATING FOR ERASING the memory of King BECAUSE he was a man of the cloth! Look at it from this perspective: how often does the secular left acknowledge the sacrifice Christians made to free the slaves?

Is it fair to say the Bloodhound now champions King and mourns the loss of his statue because of his personal detestation of the Gipper? Is that fair to say?

[steve leger]

No it's unfair to say that, thanks for asking.

[Woody]

how often does the secular left acknowledge the sacrifice Christians made to free the slaves?

The same way we regard the sacrifices of anti-slavery secularists, i suppose.

Why would there be any difference?

[Matthew Levy]

Anyone who knows anything about the fight against slavery acknowledges the contributions of Christians to abolitionism. There were also Christians who used the Bible to justify chattel slavery. So don't act as though the "secular left" is trying to write Christians out of the history books.

[ckerst]

I laugh when the wingnuts call Raygun the gipper. While the real person that earned the name is forgotten Reagan wears it for doing absolutely nothing. It's fitting since the astrology worshiping, ufo loving fool's whole legacy is myth.

[Batocchio]

"NY Times Honors Reagan by Ignoring History."

Well, honoring Reagan sorta necessitates that, doesn't ?

Thanks for a good piece, especially on King - he's not well known enough.

[clarence swinney]

Reagan does not have--ONE--number that is great.

Comparing Democrat’s hero-CLINTON—versus Republican’s hero--REAGAN
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.JOBS—grew by 43% more under Clinton.
2.GDP---grew by 57% more under Clinton.
3.DOW—grew by 700% more under Clinton..
4.NASDAQ-grew by 18 times as much under Clinton.
5.SPENDING--grew by 28% under Clinton---80% under Reagan.
6.DEBT—grew by 43% under Clinton—187% under Reagan.
7. DEFICITS—Clinton got a large surplus--grew by 112% under Reagan.
8.NATIONAL INCOME—grew by100% more under Clinton.
9.PERSONAL INCOME—Grew by 110% more under Clinton.
10. DEFENSE BUDGETED-Clinton -2311B—Reagan-2062B (current $)
11.UNEMPLOYMENT—AVG—Clinton 5.2%--Reagan 7.6%
(I admit averaging averages can be dumb. I dumb.)
SOURCES—Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.BLS.Gov)--Economic Policy Institute (EPI.org)—Global & World Almanacs from 1980 to 2003 (annual issues)
www.the-hamster.com (chart taken from NY Times)
National Archives History on Presidents. www.nara.gov
LA Times 10-11-00 on Market--www.Find articles.com
Federal Budget.Com 2009

A vote for a Conservative is a vote for Less Success.
A vote to reduce the Standard of Living for all Americans.

Recall 1920’s and Wall Street under Conservative control?
Recall 2000-2008 and Wall Street under Conservative control?

Want more of those years?

[clarence swinney]

Eulogize these Facts--
PRESIDENT REAGAN SCANDALS

INVESTIGATIONS OF IMPORTANT OFFICIALS

Attorney General—Cabinet--two OIC investigations-no charge
Asst. Attorney General—No Charge
Secretary of Defense—Cabinet—Pardoned
Asst. Sec. Of Defense—Guilty--to Prison
Secretary of Labor—Cabinet—Not Guilty
Secretary of Interior—Cabinet—Guilty—fined
National Security Agency--Director----Cabinet—Guilty
National Security Agency--Director----Cabinet—Guilty—Pardoned
National Security Agency—Director---Cabinet---Resigned
Asst. Secretary of Navy—--Guilty—Fined
Dep. Secretary of Air Force-Guilty—Fined
Director of CIA—Cabinet—Died during investigation
Asst. Director of CIA—Guilty—Fined
Director of HUD—Cabinet--Pled Fifth
Asst. Director of HUD—Guilty
Director of Superfund—Guilty—to Prison
Director of FAA—Guilty-Fined
Director of NASA-Guilty—Fined
Special Asst to President—Guilty
Communications Director for President—Guilty
EPA Administrator—Resigned
Asst. Secretary of State—Guilty

9 Cabinet Members—

REAGANGATES (32)

Illwind-gate (biggie)
Superfund-gate
Hud
Wed-Tech
Interior
Labor
Oval Office
Lt Colonel
Iran-Contra
Basement
Faa
Nasa
Pentagon
Korea
S & L (folks! I think we hit the jackpot—come and get it the vaults are unguarded)
Epa
Postal
Agriculture
Hhs
Home loan
Veterans
Fema
Legal Services
Civil Rights
Transportation
Product Safety
Economic Development
Synthetic Fuels
Social Security
Land Management
Osha
Cia

Sources—
Haynes Johnson book “Sleepwalking”
“When The Pentagon Was For Sale”—Andy Pasztor—(awesome list of criminals). Want Earmarks. Loaded
2 books titled “Scandals”
“The Clothes Lost The Emperor”-Paul Slansky (day by day chronology of 1980’s)
“Stealing From America”—
“Landslide”-Jane Mayer & Doyle McManus

Nathan Miller book states 233 were investigated
Haynes Johnson states 138 were --charged--indicted--found guilty -- investigated

p.s.—Newt and Gang spent $110,000,000-(GAO number) on Hearings and Investigations on Clinton

IMPORTANT---ONE for $110,000,000
and ONE—

(yes 1) person working for President Clinton was Found Guilty of a Felony. Evil man took few trips to ball games , etc. No quid pro quo per OIC –Pals doing what they had done for years—take pal to events. Pled guilty for did not have finances to fight the government and Smaltzsmear. His boss fought 37 such charges and was found not guilty on each charge.

138 charged is more than grand total since 1900.

I would appreciate anyone correcting what I write. I try to be honest but do make errors.

cswinney2@triad.rr.com

[clarence swinney]

Reagan this personal record of SHAME

--------------------------RONALD REAGAN RECORDS AS FIRST---------------------------
(1900-1989)

(Peggy Noonan pay attention)

1.First to turn America into a DEBTOR nation in Peacetime
2. First to increase DEBT faster than growth of national income in eight years
3. First to increase DEBT faster than growth of gdp over eight years
4. First to double the deficit in just eigh t years
5. First to “almost”: triple the national DEBT in just eight years
6. First to increase SPENDING by 80%--over 8 years.
7. First to SPEND more in eight years than was spent in prior 50 years.
8. First to have “real” INTEREST RATES of 8% after averaging 1% over 35 years.
9. First to keep PRIME INTEREST RATES at 20%.
10.First to over value the dollar to the yen at rate of 262 yen to 1 dollar.
11.First to have served as Governor and increase STATE SPENDING by 112%
12.First to have HOME LOAN INTEREST RATES as high as 16%
13. First to CUT TAXES by 60% for his rich pals
14. First to allow the SAVINGS AND LOAN INDUSTRY to be raided after signing a deregulatory bill and proclaiming “I think we have hit the jackpot”. Come and get it the vaults are unguarded.
15. First to deal with TERRORISTS
16. First to send an AUTOGRAPHED BIBLE to a man he called “The Satan of Terrorists”.
17. First to have an ADMIRAL plead the Fifth Amendment.
18. First to have a stealing, lying, gutless wife abusing MARINE LT. COLONEL plead the Fifth Amendment.
19. First to have a “sitting” CABINET MEMBER INDICTED
20. First to have an ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE INDICTED.
21. First to have an ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE SENT TO PRISON.
22. First to have over 100 MEMBERS OF AN ADMINISTRATION CHARGED WITH CRIMES..
23. First to have more members of his administration charged with crimes than CUMULATIVE TOTAL OF ALL OTHER PRESIDENTS in the twentieth century
24. First to set a record for the LARGEST ONE DAY PERCENTAGE DECLINE in the DOW in history. 10-19-87
25. First to have over $10,000,000 INCREASE IN WEALTH from serving for 8 years as president.
26. First to testify ”under oath” 130 times that ”I DON’T REMEMBER” .
27. First to have an Admiral with a photographic memory testify 128 times “ I DON’T REMEMBER”.
28. First to undergo BRAIN SURGERY a few months after leaving office. No pain no gain.
29. First to, repeatedly, FALSIFY HIS WIFE’S AGE. As tho anyone cared.
30. First to promote his religious faith and never have an ACTIVE CHURCH MEMBERSHIP.
31. First to never use the term JESUS CHRIST in speeches.
32. First to seek GUIDANCE FROM THE STARS not from God
33. First to have had a SHOTGUN WEDDING.
34. First to have worked as a SHILL in Las Vegas.
35. First to call a Stealing, Lying, Psychotic, wife abusing Marine a “LIAR.
36. First to have been OPENLY ALIENATED from his children.
37. First To have served with ALZHIMERS
38. First to have UNEMPLOYMENT AT 10.8% since great depression.
39. First to attack a small unprotected nation with 88,000 inhabitants and 10,000 bb guns then PROCLAIM -“America stands tall again”— “we have whipped the Vietnam Syndrome”-we have defeated communism”. Gosh! What if we had whipped Cyprus?.
40. #1-in FARM FORECLOSURES
41. #1-In BANK FAILURES
42. #1-In SAVINGS AND LOAN FAILURES
43. #1-In Percent increase in PERSONAL BANKRUPTCIES
44. #1-In recorded MISSTATEMENTS
45. #1-In never having a single press conference in which he did not make at least one or more INCORRECT STATEMENTS.
46. #1-In needing a staff person standby during press conferences to tell the press “WHAT HE REALLY MEANT”.
47. #1-In having SERVICEMEN KILLED during peacetime.
48. #1-In largest DROP IN POPULARITY in one week.
49. #1-In being first to HONOR NAZI STORM TROOPERS by calling them” Innocent Victims”
50. #1-In being first to be labeled “BRAIN DEAD AFFABLE DUNCE’ by this writer.
51. First to lie-over and over-to reporters “I DO NOT DYE MY HAIR my barber uses a special shampoo”
52. First to have a wife who ”forced” him to WEAR THREE SUITS in one day
53. First to boast “Not bad for a DUMB GUY who worked only 20 hours per week”.
54. First to have his wife sit nearby and WHISPER ANSWERS to questions
55. First to FALL ASLEEP while the Pope spoke
56. First to invite the Pope to visit the White House and “BRING THE WIFE AND KIDS”
57. First to have his press secretary remove him from the microphone because he could not answer questions. Then, as the reporter
yelled out “answer my question” he replied “MY HANDLERS WON’T LET ME SPEAK”. Quick get the white coat.
58. First 20th Century president to have historians RATE HIM BELOW every president of the 20th except for Richard Nixon. 1994 Poll.
59. First to give us a First Lady with a past reputation for giving the BEST BJ in Hollywood.
60. First to suggest his eldest son undergo PSYCHIATRIC examination
61. First to have been voted in British polls (twice) as the ”MOST FEARED LEADER IN THE WORLD” sic em Rambo.

62. First to serve as Governor on a ”conservative” platform and INCREASE SPENDING BY 112%.
63. First Governor TO INCREASE personal income taxes by 60%, tax increase on cigarettes by 200%, state tax collections by 152%.
64. First Californian Governor to INCREASE TAXES BY ONE BILLION in one year.1967.
65. First to have a Special Assistant say on national TV “sometimes you had to HIT HIM ON THE HEAD with a 2 x 4 to get his attention”
66. First to have his official biographer state on national TV ‘After he was shot in 1981he GOT SLOWER AND SLOWER EACH YEAR. His speech got slower. He deliberated more and he hesitated more when he spoke. He lost his physical quickness and would not make decisions on the spot. It was a very, very slow and steady mental and physical decline”.
67. First to have a POPULARITY RATING OF ONLY 35% after his first two years in office.
68. First president to have been DIVORCED
69. First president to have the Geriatrics Department of a major
university study his behavior and conclude that AFTER THREE YEARS IN OFFICE HE HAD ALZHIMERS.
70. First president to have been known to, before presidency, SHACK UP with the love of his life while his wife was in the hospital giving birth to their first child.
71. First president to have applied for PERMANENT DEFERMENT from the Draft.
72. First to increase CORPORATE TAX RATE from 46% to 51% in 1986.
73. first to replace strict regulator volcker with non regulator greenspan and create recessions in 1991-1992-1992-2007-2008-2009 plus big market crash 10-19-07

------------------------------------ THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE----------------------

cswinney2@triad.rr.com

[clarence swinney]

LEGACY A GREAT RECORD

CLINTON PRAISE-WITH PLEASURE
GDP--rose from 6300 to 11,600
NATIONAL INCOME-5,000 to 8,000 Billion--took 20 years to grow 2500B before Clinton
JOBS CREATED--over 22 million--record by far
AVERAGE WEEKLY EARNINGS--$360 to $478
AVERAGE WEEKLY HOURS WORKED--never hit 35.0--hit that mark 4 times in 80's
UNEMPLOYMENT--from 7.2% down down down to 3.9%
MINIMUM WAGE--$4.25 to $5.15
MINORITIES--did exceedingly well
HOME OWNERSHIP--hit all time high
DEFICIT--290 Billion to whoopee a SURPLUS
DEBT----+28%---300% increase over prior12 years
FEDERAL SPENDING--+28%---80% under Reagan- who da true conservative?
DOW JONES AVERAGE--3,500 to 11,800 all it's history to get to 3500 and Clinton zooms it
NASDAQ--700 to 5,000---all of it's history to get to 700 and Clinton zooms it
VALUES INDEXES-- almost all bad went down--good went up in zoom zoom zoom
FOREIGN AFFAIRS--Peace on Earth good will toward each other---Mark of a true Christian--what has Bush done to Peace on Earth?
POPULARITY---highest poll ratings in history during peacetime in AFRICA, ASIA AND EUROPE even 98.5% in Moscow--left office with highest gallup rating since it was started in 1920's.
STAND UP FOR JUSTICE--evil conservatives spent $110,000,000 on hearings and investigations and caught--- ONE--- very evil man who took a few plane rides to events.
BOW YOUR HEADS--Thank you God for sending us a man of Bill Clinton's character, intelligence, knowledge of governance, ability to face up to crises without whimpering and a great leader of the world.
THANK YOU GOD FOR THE GOOD TIMES THE CLINTON YEARS.

cswinney2@triad.rr.com

[clarence swinney]

want information try these

Clarence Swinney has been a political research historian since 1991 of Reagan-Clinton-Bush II administrations.

Some articles can be read by a Google

Clarence swinney +

52 Great accomplishments by Democrats(how great middle class was formed)
Democrats create wealth and jobs
Praise Clinton—show a greater record
Clinton vs Reagan—wipe out
Clinton terrorism—best record of any president
Carter vs Reagan
Bush Waffles—tell me he was not a loon
Bush Lies—trust him
Identify a Conservative
Reagan Scandals-more charged in 8 than prior 80
Reagan Firsts—ouch-bad bad bad boy
Tax & Spend:
Liberal =pay their way=democrats way
Conservatives=spend + borrow=let kids pay tomorrow=republican way

First 15 pages(150 articles) on google is all needed for after that you get repetitions

Author-Lifeaholic-success by working for a Life not just a Living
Author
Unpublished-ALL AMERICAN PARTY
To be used for dvd and speeches to democratic audiences in an OBAMAFEST coming soon
Unpublished:
First term: Clinton vs Reagan
Scumbag Xpress—how to waste 100M in a failed effort to destroy an administration

cswinney2@triad.rr.com
short bio at google : clarence swinney + bush lies