“I just want to repeat something somebody said earlier, which I thought was brilliant, which is what they do in Hollywood is they soften up their subject like Ronald Reagan. They show some nice pictures. They say some nice things about them that they can’t deny saying nice about them. They do it to soften them up, and they’ll put the dagger in. And this is what they did in the movie “Nixon.” They softened him up in a sentimental way and then stuck the knife right in: he’s a drunk; he’s a bum; he’s a bad guy, a crook. That’s what they always do out there. There is a prejudice that they don’t know out there in Hollywood. And I think in this kind of case it’s too bad you can’t sue the bastards. Because what is happening here is clearly, these are late hits.” – Chris Matthews, Hardball, October 21. The notion that Reagan was homophobic – peddled in the biopic – is not substantiated by any historians or contemporary sources. As Martin Anderson said on the same show:
What Lou says is absolutely correct. I remember once in early 1980 on the campaign plane with the issue about what do we do about gay groups that want to see him and demanding things. And he sat us down and he said, “Now, look. First of all,” he said, “I know a lot of gays. I was in Hollywood.” And then he reminded us, “You know how many of them there are?” And then he said, “Look, leave them alone.” And that was his policy.
Yes, he should have said more about AIDS. He shouldn’t be let off the hook. But to cast him as a homophobe lets real homophobes off the hook.
THE PALESTINIANS: A new poll suggests that a majority wants to keep fighting Israel even if there’s a political settlement and a Palestinian state. Just as discouraging:
Ninety-six percent of Israeli Jews say the people who piloted the planes on September 11 were terrorists, while 37 percent of Palestinians share that view. Slightly more than one in four – 26 percent – of Palestinians believe Israelis planned the 9-11 attacks.
Forty-two percent of Palestinians and 61 percent of Israeli-Arabs stated that they support the people who are attacking Americans in Iraq. Zero percent of Israeli Jews said they did.
More grist for Sharon, I’d say. And, of course, Arafat.
The Dish 