I first became aware of Fred when he did the post-election "inquest" at the Lincoln Project and I was really impressed with how honest and even-handed he was in his communications. I've only seen good things from him since then - he's one of my heroes. Thanks for this interview, he is ALWAYS worth listening to.
America shoulda just stayed in the 1970s according to you. And According to you, We Should have Done absolutely Nothing to prevent to prevent Drug use among children just because you’re convinced that ALL Black men were disenfranchised by Drug use through mass incarceration, you’re convinced EVERY fucking Black man was jailed even though my Uncle and Father hustled and sold Crack in L.A. during the mid 80s were NEVER once arrested for it.
According to you, Jimmy Carter was destined to win Reelection DESPITE polling showing him with dismal numbers and bad approval ratings so dire, that Ted Kennedy PRIMARY challenged him and nearly stripped him of the nomination.
According to you, the “Trickle Down Economics” boogeyman was designed to satisfy Billionaires which RARELY existed back then, when In fact, Trickle Down Economics was overall Toothless and only De industrialized America which is a Good thing because America in the 1970s was isolationist, archaic and resentful of other Countries Trade.
According to you, the 1980s was the Downfall of America, which means you believe that progress especially Technological Progress was TERRIBLE. And Mondale Shoulda been Elected in 1984.
Look, I as well as tons of others who Lived in the 80s and we’re well aware that the Reagan years weren’t all that Great, but I frankly find the Leftists Drum beating that they were so terrible and what led to today Hyperbolic, Overexaggerated and Downright ridiculous. It’s like they use it to Absolve Carter from his faults or accept his own blame for losing the 1980 Election by failing to solve the Economic Problems of the 70s and being the Third Consecutive President who couldn’t solve Stagflation.
NO. Reagan did NOT lead to Trumpism. The ORGIN started After the 1992 Election Upset of Arkansas Governor William Jefferson Blythe defeating Bush Sr. After the election, the Conservative base started pivoting heavily to the right since majority of the Reagan voters who went all out in 1988 to send Bush to the White House, didn’t show up in 1992, when President Blythe pledged to Raise the Corporate Tax to 53% and lower the Middle Class tax bracket to 30% from 33%, they Lost their Fucking minds and strategized a way to take him down. I’m astonished on how many have forgotten about the 1994 Midterms. The Partisan Bickering, Right Wing Turn, Neo Conservative movement, and ultimate origins of MAGA began with that Election. Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott are Grandfathers of MAGA. They were in fact pivotal to helping Rupert Murdoch and News Corp start the Fox News Channel in 1995-1996, especially after Murdoch successfully lobbied to have the Fairness Doctrine overturned in 1987 in exchange for launching a 4th Network Channel the FOX Network.
You forgot George W Bush. This is where the Conception of Trumpism started on January 20,2001. Dubya’s horrendous policies and Atrocious leadership are completely overlooked by the Left. They are completely unaware of just how Destructive and Catastrophic his Giant Tax Cuts of 2001 and 2003 and that he Rewrote the Entire Tax Code. Not Reagan. DUBYA. His Tax Code system was completely pro Billionaires and Dubya called himself a “Friend to Oligarchs”. Dubya RAISED taxes on ALL those making 6 figures and under to 47% and got away with it. He also Deregulated the ENTIRE Gun industry, eliminated Waiting periods, removed background checks, allowed private sales, and Banned all Red Flags and Reagan who established Background Checks is somehow the villain?
Strong Piece my ass. Write a Through one on why George W Bush is certainly a FAR more Appalling and WORSE President than Trump. Because his Era was a Dry Run Test for the Trump Regime.
Mr. Lawsen, I have read your elongated reply to my strong piece. Your opinion not only doesn't match the facts, but I chose to relate and correlate Reagan and Trump via the Heritage Foundation. I have read your bio indicating you are a "reagan baby",
Much of what you said is speculative, at best, - granted with some facts. Though I decided to what my focus would be - the juggernaut of conservative think tanks, the trickle down to the what NOW are billionaires (that's how trickle down works, MR. LAWSEN), and all this without mentioning or delving into the history of the Heritage Foundation, alone or a focus on Kevin Roberts, his backround, The Federalist Society, women's rights, etc... - BUT one thing really stuck out for me and that is the tone in which you speak -- especially to a women, and it is fucking pathetic. -- there is the "Leftists Drum beating" you expected. /OUT
I wish people would pay attention to history. Actually study it. From "MAGA" to "trickle-down" in recent history to Stephen Miller repeating the 'need' for ethnic cleansing, ideas he wrote about while a 16yo in SoCal, that are > 90% aligned with the National Socialist German Workers' Party from the 1930's which is better known as the Nazi Party. Kevin Roberts is the CEO of The Heritage Foundation but prior to that he ran the Texas Public Policy Foundation and prior to that he was the President of a small Catholic college in Wyoming. None of this is accidental. How we respond should not be either.
I was going to write a piece about Heritage, but chose to stick with just two presidents who were used by heritage -and other conservative think tanks -and the time between would paint a shorter and more concise picture. Yes Nazism. Yes KKK. Yes Great Replacement Theory. So much relates back to churches and states and while my son was applying and being accepted to some colleges, I chose to take a close look at all board members. People should be doing same. They’ve people everywhere!
I love “none of this is an accident. How we respond should not be either” thank you!
Such a strong piece, drawing a line some republicans really don’t want to see. One of my favorite lines: “Where Reagan had embraced a myth, Trump altered the alternative facts into truth.”
I very much appreciate the “don’t want to see” remark — this is an evergreen piece and while I didn’t touch on nearly all the similarities, I’ve gotten some messages that Trump is so much worse and I was wrong about Reagan. Me “nah” :)
Two Republican presidents. Two aging men in visible mental decline. Two First Ladies with very different legacies and very different rumors.
Ronald Reagan left the White House in 1989, and five years later, he told the country he had Alzheimer’s. Some say the signs were there during his second term: confusion, scripted remarks, long silences that hung like bad lighting. But Reagan, ever the actor, exited the stage with dignity. His decline was quiet, framed in love and nostalgia. Even his goodbye letter felt like a carefully directed scene.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, refuses to leave. There’s no official diagnosis, just the daily evidence: incoherent rants, recycled grievances, made up words, and all caps conspiracies on Truth Social. He repeats phrases like a man rewinding his own tape. Unlike Reagan, Trump isn’t receding he’s accelerating into something stranger, louder, and more dangerous. Reagan faded; Trump corrodes.
Now the wives.
Nancy Reagan was protective, calculating, and always just offstage. Rumors swirled for years about her past in old Hollywood,Kitty Kelley and others have claimed she was known, euphemistically, for her oral diplomacy at MGM. These were whispers, never confirmed, cloaked in a genteel layer of mid century misogyny and coded language. Still, she managed her image ruthlessly. Pearls, astrology, and power behind the scenes.
Melania Trump is more visible and more mysterious. A former model whose nude photos were splashed across the internet, often without context or mercy. There has long been a rumor, mostly confined to fringe blogs and unverified sources, that Melania Trump once worked as a high end escort or call girl before marrying Donald Trump. She’s been mostly silent through her husband’s chaos, dragged into the Stormy Daniels affair and hush money scandal not by action, but by association. Where Nancy sculpted the narrative, Melania floats outside of it, like a detached figure in a painting she never agreed to be in.
This is America’s split screen: one president fading into myth, the other turning the whole thing into a sideshow. One First Lady protecting her man with velvet knives, the other vanishing into a designer trench coat that read I really don’t care, do u?
It’s not just politics. It’s performance. It’s decline as theater. And like all good American spectacles, we’re still watching,even when we want to look away.
I first became aware of Fred when he did the post-election "inquest" at the Lincoln Project and I was really impressed with how honest and even-handed he was in his communications. I've only seen good things from him since then - he's one of my heroes. Thanks for this interview, he is ALWAYS worth listening to.
Hi Ivo. That is one of the main themes his honesty and transparency which translates into integrity and honor.
Not quite sure you meant to have your comment here. I so appreciate it and am certain Fred does, too. Thank you.
Ugh, never post comments on a Saturday morning when you don't know which thread you're in!
As my 5 year old grandson would say “ROASTED”
Ha :)
❤️🔥
America shoulda just stayed in the 1970s according to you. And According to you, We Should have Done absolutely Nothing to prevent to prevent Drug use among children just because you’re convinced that ALL Black men were disenfranchised by Drug use through mass incarceration, you’re convinced EVERY fucking Black man was jailed even though my Uncle and Father hustled and sold Crack in L.A. during the mid 80s were NEVER once arrested for it.
According to you, Jimmy Carter was destined to win Reelection DESPITE polling showing him with dismal numbers and bad approval ratings so dire, that Ted Kennedy PRIMARY challenged him and nearly stripped him of the nomination.
According to you, the “Trickle Down Economics” boogeyman was designed to satisfy Billionaires which RARELY existed back then, when In fact, Trickle Down Economics was overall Toothless and only De industrialized America which is a Good thing because America in the 1970s was isolationist, archaic and resentful of other Countries Trade.
According to you, the 1980s was the Downfall of America, which means you believe that progress especially Technological Progress was TERRIBLE. And Mondale Shoulda been Elected in 1984.
Look, I as well as tons of others who Lived in the 80s and we’re well aware that the Reagan years weren’t all that Great, but I frankly find the Leftists Drum beating that they were so terrible and what led to today Hyperbolic, Overexaggerated and Downright ridiculous. It’s like they use it to Absolve Carter from his faults or accept his own blame for losing the 1980 Election by failing to solve the Economic Problems of the 70s and being the Third Consecutive President who couldn’t solve Stagflation.
NO. Reagan did NOT lead to Trumpism. The ORGIN started After the 1992 Election Upset of Arkansas Governor William Jefferson Blythe defeating Bush Sr. After the election, the Conservative base started pivoting heavily to the right since majority of the Reagan voters who went all out in 1988 to send Bush to the White House, didn’t show up in 1992, when President Blythe pledged to Raise the Corporate Tax to 53% and lower the Middle Class tax bracket to 30% from 33%, they Lost their Fucking minds and strategized a way to take him down. I’m astonished on how many have forgotten about the 1994 Midterms. The Partisan Bickering, Right Wing Turn, Neo Conservative movement, and ultimate origins of MAGA began with that Election. Newt Gingrich and Trent Lott are Grandfathers of MAGA. They were in fact pivotal to helping Rupert Murdoch and News Corp start the Fox News Channel in 1995-1996, especially after Murdoch successfully lobbied to have the Fairness Doctrine overturned in 1987 in exchange for launching a 4th Network Channel the FOX Network.
You forgot George W Bush. This is where the Conception of Trumpism started on January 20,2001. Dubya’s horrendous policies and Atrocious leadership are completely overlooked by the Left. They are completely unaware of just how Destructive and Catastrophic his Giant Tax Cuts of 2001 and 2003 and that he Rewrote the Entire Tax Code. Not Reagan. DUBYA. His Tax Code system was completely pro Billionaires and Dubya called himself a “Friend to Oligarchs”. Dubya RAISED taxes on ALL those making 6 figures and under to 47% and got away with it. He also Deregulated the ENTIRE Gun industry, eliminated Waiting periods, removed background checks, allowed private sales, and Banned all Red Flags and Reagan who established Background Checks is somehow the villain?
Strong Piece my ass. Write a Through one on why George W Bush is certainly a FAR more Appalling and WORSE President than Trump. Because his Era was a Dry Run Test for the Trump Regime.
Mr. Lawsen, I have read your elongated reply to my strong piece. Your opinion not only doesn't match the facts, but I chose to relate and correlate Reagan and Trump via the Heritage Foundation. I have read your bio indicating you are a "reagan baby",
Much of what you said is speculative, at best, - granted with some facts. Though I decided to what my focus would be - the juggernaut of conservative think tanks, the trickle down to the what NOW are billionaires (that's how trickle down works, MR. LAWSEN), and all this without mentioning or delving into the history of the Heritage Foundation, alone or a focus on Kevin Roberts, his backround, The Federalist Society, women's rights, etc... - BUT one thing really stuck out for me and that is the tone in which you speak -- especially to a women, and it is fucking pathetic. -- there is the "Leftists Drum beating" you expected. /OUT
Typos are all Reagan’s fault.
💥!
I wish people would pay attention to history. Actually study it. From "MAGA" to "trickle-down" in recent history to Stephen Miller repeating the 'need' for ethnic cleansing, ideas he wrote about while a 16yo in SoCal, that are > 90% aligned with the National Socialist German Workers' Party from the 1930's which is better known as the Nazi Party. Kevin Roberts is the CEO of The Heritage Foundation but prior to that he ran the Texas Public Policy Foundation and prior to that he was the President of a small Catholic college in Wyoming. None of this is accidental. How we respond should not be either.
I was going to write a piece about Heritage, but chose to stick with just two presidents who were used by heritage -and other conservative think tanks -and the time between would paint a shorter and more concise picture. Yes Nazism. Yes KKK. Yes Great Replacement Theory. So much relates back to churches and states and while my son was applying and being accepted to some colleges, I chose to take a close look at all board members. People should be doing same. They’ve people everywhere!
I love “none of this is an accident. How we respond should not be either” thank you!
This was amazing. Thank you for keeping the strength and loudening your voice to make sure we never back down to idiocy and tyranny. 👏
Thank you for hearing me!!!
Such a strong piece, drawing a line some republicans really don’t want to see. One of my favorite lines: “Where Reagan had embraced a myth, Trump altered the alternative facts into truth.”
I very much appreciate the “don’t want to see” remark — this is an evergreen piece and while I didn’t touch on nearly all the similarities, I’ve gotten some messages that Trump is so much worse and I was wrong about Reagan. Me “nah” :)
I hope this reads as — Trump is worse, but it started with Reagan (really even earlier, but my writings aren’t a thesis:))
Two Republican presidents. Two aging men in visible mental decline. Two First Ladies with very different legacies and very different rumors.
Ronald Reagan left the White House in 1989, and five years later, he told the country he had Alzheimer’s. Some say the signs were there during his second term: confusion, scripted remarks, long silences that hung like bad lighting. But Reagan, ever the actor, exited the stage with dignity. His decline was quiet, framed in love and nostalgia. Even his goodbye letter felt like a carefully directed scene.
Donald Trump, on the other hand, refuses to leave. There’s no official diagnosis, just the daily evidence: incoherent rants, recycled grievances, made up words, and all caps conspiracies on Truth Social. He repeats phrases like a man rewinding his own tape. Unlike Reagan, Trump isn’t receding he’s accelerating into something stranger, louder, and more dangerous. Reagan faded; Trump corrodes.
Now the wives.
Nancy Reagan was protective, calculating, and always just offstage. Rumors swirled for years about her past in old Hollywood,Kitty Kelley and others have claimed she was known, euphemistically, for her oral diplomacy at MGM. These were whispers, never confirmed, cloaked in a genteel layer of mid century misogyny and coded language. Still, she managed her image ruthlessly. Pearls, astrology, and power behind the scenes.
Melania Trump is more visible and more mysterious. A former model whose nude photos were splashed across the internet, often without context or mercy. There has long been a rumor, mostly confined to fringe blogs and unverified sources, that Melania Trump once worked as a high end escort or call girl before marrying Donald Trump. She’s been mostly silent through her husband’s chaos, dragged into the Stormy Daniels affair and hush money scandal not by action, but by association. Where Nancy sculpted the narrative, Melania floats outside of it, like a detached figure in a painting she never agreed to be in.
This is America’s split screen: one president fading into myth, the other turning the whole thing into a sideshow. One First Lady protecting her man with velvet knives, the other vanishing into a designer trench coat that read I really don’t care, do u?
It’s not just politics. It’s performance. It’s decline as theater. And like all good American spectacles, we’re still watching,even when we want to look away.
This is a spectacular piece, Tom. Feels like you get me :)
I know we aren't alone, but so many missed the Reagan to Trump timeline. GW was a big help too.
BTW, Hollywood gossip actually called Nancy a slut, I can see that, so another commonality between her & M.
Aaah yes, good ole GW. Wow on the slut !
:)