Reagan’s Home Movies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzMYNONhfs4
When we saw this clip on Rachel last night, it was amusingly presented as a “video briefing” that the CIA presented to Saint Ronnie, who supposedly preferred this kind of thing to his one-page memos.
But when we go to the NBC background story, the spin is quite different:
CIA Historian Nick Dujmovic suggests the president’s reported reliance on videos were part of the myth of the “insubstantial president,” suggesting that there were only a small number of videos produced (each of which took a month to put together). Dujmovic adds that the idea did not come from Reagan or the White House but from the CIA, which in the summer of 1981 suggested some videos already in production might be “helpful for Reagan.”
Well, darn. Still, this video — which Reagan did watch in 1982 — is amusing in itself, if only for the fabulous Fifties retro presentation. And the reason we can present it here is even more amusing: It’s from the CIA’s YouTube channel.
When I was a wee lad and uber space nut, I would have killed for something like this on the Soviet Space Program.
I can only imagine the dialogue between the briefer and Ronnie…
“Well, where’s their big triangle spaceship?”
“What?!? Um, Mr President?”
“You know that big triangle spaceship that Lucas borrowed for Star Wars.”
“Huh?”
“Well… Star Wars.”
Barely audible sigh.
Someone needs to put together a video presentation for Rick Perry listing the three Federal agencies he’d eliminate, then make him watch it over and over and over again.
@Serolf Divad: I hate to burst your bubble, but I think they already did.
Hahaha — the narrator said “high secrecy”!
NOJO • TRUMP TARIFFS UNLEASHING FURY OF CANADIANS - AND THEIR LEGENDARY SNIPERS! @ManchuCandidate: So, can you guys annex us now?
MANCHUCANDIDATE • TRUMP TARIFFS UNLEASHING FURY OF CANADIANS - AND THEIR LEGENDARY SNIPERS! PP is done. 51st state, my ass.
NOJO • TRUMP TARIFFS UNLEASHING FURY OF CANADIANS - AND THEIR LEGENDARY SNIPERS! @FlyingChainSaw: No, but my government was.
FLYINGCHAINSAW • TRUMP TARIFFS UNLEASHING FURY OF CANADIANS - AND THEIR LEGENDARY SNIPERS! @nojo: Were you kidnapped?
NOJO • TRUMP TARIFFS UNLEASHING FURY OF CANADIANS - AND THEIR LEGENDARY SNIPERS! @FlyingChainSaw: I’ve spent the past five weeks looking like Astronaut Dave going through the…
FLYINGCHAINSAW • TRUMP TARIFFS UNLEASHING FURY OF CANADIANS - AND THEIR LEGENDARY SNIPERS! NOJO - HOW COME WE'RE NOT COVERING KRASNOV?
NOJO • The Reckoning Four years later: Uhhh, how’d that work out?
JNOV • Hanging by a Thread @nojo: yeah. I had a feeling you’d say that.
NOJO • Hanging by a Thread @JNOV: Haven’t touched a thing — checked it the other day, worked from here. But that’s my…
JNOV • Hanging by a Thread Oh! My edits worked! Praise nojo!