Reagan Revolution

Voting against their own interests since 1980.

Read HERE.

I wonder how this will go over at his next speaking engagement for a white-supremacy group?

Jodie Foster's 'Ex' Set Free to Live With Mommy

John Hinckley Jr, who shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981 hoping to impress Jodie Foster, will be freed from a mental hospital to live full time in Virginia with his mother, the AP reports. Was surprised to overhear a group of editors of a certain age fuming about this in the newsroom today, calling a federal judge's decision to set the 61-year-old loon free "unprecedented. Yeah, it was unprecedented, unless you count Squeaky Fromme and Sara Jane Moore, who have both been out for years.

Bernie Sanders Looks to Capitalize on Hillary Clinton's HIV/AIDS Misstep

By now I'm sure you've heard that Hillary Clinton issued a follow-up to her Tweet apologizing for disgustingly praising the Reagans for "starting a conversation" about AIDS. (Read her post HERE.) In the midst of the initial comment, I pointed out that I found it interesting that everyone -- namely countless right-wring media outlets -- was suddenly more than willing to discuss President Reagan's indefensible record on HIV and AIDS ... now that it's a bat with which to hit Mrs. Clinton.

With that in mind, I also found it interesting that Bernie Sanders, rightfully, joined the attack on Mrs. Clinton ...

“I just don’t know what she was talking about,” he told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “In fact, that was a very tragic moment in modern American history. There were many, many people dying of AIDS, and in fact, there was demand all over this country for President Reagan to start talking about this terrible tragedy. And yet he refused to talk about it while the AIDS epidemic was sweeping this country. So, I'm not quite sure where Secretary Clinton got her information.”  

... and then suddenly updated his website, which hitherto had nary a mention of HIV/AIDS, to include a page about -- you guessed it -- HIV and AIDS, pledging "virtually universal access to drugs" to treat the disease. Great to see him add the topic to his campaign site -- and I'm certainly not accusing him of not being a friend of the gays. (He voted against DOMA, voted to overturn DADT and Vermont was the first state to legalize civil unions for LGBT couples, after all.) But as Americablog's John Aravosis points out, it would have been nice if he had done it earlier and not merely as a political opportunity. And it's a stark reminder of the never-ending double standard Hillary faces.

Hillary has had her position online since Day 1. But I can only imagine what people would be saying about her right now if she only added it after her opponent f**ked up.  ("She's so calculated." "She's so inauthentic.") Ugh. In my three-plus decades following politics, I have never seen a candidate face such a ridiculous level of scrutiny -- and be held to such an impossibly high standard. It's truly unheard of. And the whole women saying "I'm not just going to vote for her because she's a woman" argument is such bullshit. Would any of us ever think a black person -- or any liberal, really -- voting for Obama because he was black was wrong or stupid? And show me one Evangelical Christian who doesn't latch on to whichever candidate is the biggest bible-thumper. 

UPDATE:

Just to be clear, I'm THRILLED Bernie put out an HIV/AIDS policy statement (we need all the help we can get). I'm just driving home the double-standard in that I am 100 percent sure if it were the other way around she would be lambasted as an opportunist. And imagine if she stole his verbiage! 

Broken Record

With a record like this, it's easy to see why Ronald Reagan is held in such high esteem by the right. But did you know it was Nancy's stepfather -- who took her from rags to riches -- that we really have to thank?

Tennis Whites

Via Tennis.com: Former first lady Nancy Reagan once had a tennis tournament named after her, and it was there that, circa 1990, she and former President Ronald Reagan met with an up-and-coming sister act named Venus and Serena Williams.

Did You Hear the One About the Statue of Liberty Having AIDS?

Boy Culture gets to the, um, bottom of this oft-repeated story that Ronald and Nancy Reagan died laughing when Bob Hope joked that Lady Liberty had gotten AIDS, either from the mouth of the Hudson or the Staten Island Fairy. Read HERE.

I can't tell you if it's true about her having AIDS. But I can tell you from first-hand experience that Lady Liberty is a bondage queen, as I discovered on my first visit to the Big Apple in 1985.

UPDATE:

A reader pointed me to this PSA Bob Hope made, which I'm told was an apology of sorts for that "joke" made about two years earlier.

Patti Davis Discusses President Ronald Reagan's Epic AIDS Failure

Interesting perspective from the former first daughter HERE.

When AIDS Was 'Funny'

And all those Reagan worshipers wonder why LGBT people's blood boils every time we hear his name.

Via Joe.My.God: Vanity Fair has posted a short film titled "When AIDS Was Funny." The film compiles audio tapes of the homophobic mocking and belittling of gay people and people with AIDS that took place between Ronald Reagan spokesman Larry Speakes and the White House press pool.

VF writes:

Using never-before-heard audio tapes from three separate press conferences, in 1982, 1983, and 1984, When AIDS Was Funny illustrates how the reporter Lester Kinsolving, a conservative (and not at all gay-friendly) fixture in the White House press corps, was consistently scoffed at when he posed urgent questions about the AIDS epidemic. With snickering, homophobic jokes and a disturbing air of uninterest, Speakes dismisses Kinsolving’s concerns about the escalating problem. “Lester was known as somewhat of a kook and a crank (many people still feel the same way),” says Calonico. “But, at the time, he was just a journalist asking questions only to be mocked by both the White House and his peers.”

Watch HERE.

The White Party

Maybe this explains why all those closet cases have such a hard-on for Ronald Reagan.

President Reagan Demands 'Class Warfare'

What's the GOP have to say about this? (Via Towleroad)

I'm just now seeing this, so let's make sure it goes more viral than it already has.