The Other October Surprise -- Reagan?

[khirkhib]

I was talking politic with a friend yesterday and he reminded me of the other potential october surprise.  Reagan's condition has been progressively getting worse as I understand it he is currently on life support and it it very possible that he will not survive the summer.  My friend, somewhat more paranoid than me, thought that Reagan's death would be arranged (scheduled) to help Bush garner votes in the mid-west. There are a few things that I feel Rove would not do though and euthanizing an ex-president is one of them but despite his rant I think that he made a good point.  Reagan could die this summer or early fall and that may have an affect on the Reagan Democrats which had a significant impact in the Mid-west but now that Nancy Reagan is critizing the government for hindering stem cell research she could convert a sympathy vote into a progressive critique of the Bush administration.  Just wondering if anybody has given any thought to the possibility.

[© tweed]

...and his last words were "re-elect Bush!  win one more for the gipper!"

[Filuwaúrdjan]

He can't speak

[opebo]

Its true anytime people think about Reagan it helps the GOP.

[12th Doctor]

I have actually thought about his possibility.  I'm glad that you brought it up.  I think that your freind need to come back to reality, but Reagan's death could really help Bush.  Not that I am hoping it happens, but I do wish thatthe lord would be merciful and just let him go.  His body is Reagan, but his mind and soul have been gone for years now.  He won't be honored as he deserves to be until he passes on.

Anyway, the point is that you are right, such an event could change things and be beneficial to Bush.

[© tweed]

He can't speak

Doesn't matter, they could say he could.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Morbid thread

[12th Doctor]

He can't speak

Doesn't matter, they could say he could.

Oh, you mean like how William Casey apparently spoke to Bob Woodward?

[lidaker]

supersoulty,

first of all, it's "Sieg Heil", not "Zieg Hiel". Secondly, I think it's a little nutty to compare Al Gore to Adolf Hitler.

[agcatter]

I hope Reagan does pass on peacefully in the near future - for his sake and that of his family.

[ilikeverin]

I don't much care about Reagan other than another poor Alzheimer's sufferer.

[12th Doctor]

supersoulty,

first of all, it's "Sieg Heil", not "Zieg Hiel". Secondly, I think it's a little nutty to compare Al Gore to Adolf Hitler.

1) I've seen it spelled correctly both ways.  German is a language that is changing rapidly.

2) Well for God's sake, he sure as Hell looks like him in the photo.

[© tweed]

2) Well for God's sake, he sure as Hell looks like him in the photo.

Not really

[lidaker]

1) I've seen it spelled correctly both ways.  German is a language that is changing rapidly.

Not really

[MODU]

The gesture yes, the face, no.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

what's funny is supersoulty probably throws a temper tantrum everytime MoveOn or any other liberals compared Bush to Hitler. double standard. It's stupid when both sides do it, just leave it at that instead of arguing why it's OK for your side to.

[CO-OWL]

1) I've seen it spelled correctly both ways.  German is a language that is changing rapidly.

Not really

The correct spelling is "Sieg Heil".
"Ziege" means goat, and Hiel was a Flemish poet (says my encyclopedia)

[NHPolitico]

We may not have to wait until October...

Hollywood sources tell LA Weekly columnist Nikki Finke that former President Ronald Reagan's medical condition has suddenly worsened. "He really took a downslide today," the insider told Finke Friday evening. "Doctors are at the house. Things aren't good." At the start of the day, several news organizations chased down a rumor that the ex-president had died, but it wasn't true... Family members gathered at the Reagan's Bel Air home late Friday...

[lidaker]

Jun 5, 9:31 AM EDT

Reagan's Health Said to Have Deteriorated

By TOM RAUM
Associated Press Writer

 
 
 
 
PARIS (AP) -- Former President Ronald Reagan's health has deteriorated, the White House has been told. The White House was informed that the 93-year-old former president's health had changed significantly in the past several days, a person familiar with Reagan's condition said Saturday.

Reagan has been out of the public eye since disclosing a decade ago that he had Alzheimer's disease. He has lived longer than any other U.S. president.

Rumors about Reagan's health arose Friday and his office in California said it had received more than 300 calls over the past two days.

   
 
 
"He's 93 years old. He's had Alzheimer's disease for 10 years. There are plenty of rumors. When there is something significant to report I will do so," the Reagan family's chief of staff, Joanne Drake, told The Associated Press on Saturday.

White House officials also checked on Reagan's health Friday. The White House was told his health has deteriorated and "the time is getting close," according to the person familiar with Reagan's health, who did not want to be identified out of sensitivity to the family. "It could be weeks. It could be months."

Reagan's condition has changed significantly for the worse in the past several days, this person said.

News about Reagan's health came as President Bush arrived in the French capital, the second stop on his trip to Europe.

 
 
 
Former first lady Nancy Reagan, at a fund-raiser last month for human embryonic research, described the toll that Alzheimer's has taken on her husband.

"Ronnie's long journey has finally taken him to a distant place where I can no longer reach him," she said. "Because of this I'm determined to do whatever I can to save other families from this pain. I just don't see how we can turn our backs on this."

Nancy Reagan and others believe the use of stem cells from embryos could lead to cures for such illnesses as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

Such research is generally opposed by political conservatives and many anti-abortion groups because it involves the destruction of days-old human embryos. President Bush signed an executive order in 2001 limiting research to existing embryonic stem cell lines.

Reagan celebrated his birthday Feb. 6 in seclusion at his Los Angeles home. The nation's 40th chief executive, who broke his hip in a fall at his home in 2001, has rarely been seen in public since his poignant letter announcing he had the memory-sapping disease.

In that note on Nov. 5, 1994, Reagan said, "I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead."