On Claiming Reagan

By now you have heard of the telephone conversation that Wisconsin Governor Walker had with a person he assumed to be David Koch.

You know what they say about “assume”.

While inflating himself to the fake Mr. Koch, Governor Walker unapologetically compared himself to President Ronald Reagan. In doing so he conjured in my mind another who assumed to compare himself with a much loved President.

In the 1988 vice presidential debate Republican Senator Dan Quayle compared his executive experience to that of Senator John F. Kennedy when he ran for president.

His opponent in the debate, Senator Lloyd Bentsen, was quick with his response:

"Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy, I knew Jack Kennedy, Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you are no Jack Kennedy."

Governor Walker, I remember Ronald Reagan, and you are no Ronald Reagan. First and foremost I would like to draw an absolutely clear distinction between you and President Reagan. To do so I have only to look at your attempt to disenfranchise public sector unions and ask,what would Reagan say?

He would remind you that he, Ronald Reagan, was once, not only a member of a union (the only American president able to make such a claim) but also served six terms as the president of the AFL-CIO’s Screen Actors Guild. And that's only for starters.

Remember Poland and Solidansk (Solidarity)? When that Polish union began pressuring the Soviet Union for reform the Soviets responded by jailing its leaders and attempting to dismantle the union’s right to organize.

How did President Reagan respond?

In his December 23, 1981 Christmas address to the nation he blasted the attacks and stated that Solidansk had the “basic right of free trade unions and to strike.”

A basic right! Did you hear that Governor Walker?

Governor Walker, you are no Ronald Reagan. I hope the Koch brothers realize that.

Then again, maybe they do.