An Alzheimer’s comedy?
“Have you no sense of decency, at long last?” The words spoken more than 60 years ago to disgraced Sen. Joe McCarthy by the chief counsel for the United States Army now apply to the Hollywood left, which has revealed plans to make a comedy movie, “Reagan,” that attempts to depict, according to Variety, “the start of the ex-president’s second term when he falls into dementia and an ambitious intern is tasked with convincing the commander in chief that he is an actor playing the president in a movie.”
The 40th president, five years after leaving office, was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 1994.
Patti Reagan, the daughter of the conservative Reagan and his second wife, Nancy, was none too pleased with the idea for the movie, though she has been anything but a conservative during her father’s presidency and beyond.
“It steals what is most precious to a human being – memories, connections, the familiar landmarks of a lifetime that we all come to rely on to hold our place secure in this world,” she poignantly wrote in an open letter to actor Will Ferrell, who was set to star in the film.
“Alzheimer’s is the ultimate pirate,” she said, “pillaging a person’s life and leaving an empty landscape behind. It sweeps up entire families, forcing everyone to claw their way through overwhelming grief, confusion, helplessness, and anger. Perhaps for your comedy you would like to visit some dementia facilities. I have – I didn’t find anything comedic there.”
Late last week, Ferrell said he had pulled out of the project.
She is woman, hear her roar
Yep, Hillary Clinton’s officially playing the woman card.
The Democratic presidential front-runner is offering people actual credit card-like “woman cards” for a $1 donation. But hurry. Mini Timmaraju, director of Hillary for America’s Women Outreach, said only a “limited” number are available. There was no word whether they came with a Ginsu knife set if you order in the next five minutes.
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump recently accused the former secretary of state of playing the “woman card,” and she herself has said people should support her candidacy simply because of her gender.
“We’ve been hearing from supporters all over the country,” Timmaraju wrote in an email to supporters, “that they’d like a ‘woman card’ of their very own – to display proudly on a fridge or pull out of their wallet every time they run into someone who says women who support Hillary must not be using our brains.”
It didn’t add whether they should have an adequate response – if there is one – to anyone who asked if there was any other reason they were supporting Clinton.
Heard this before
You’ve heard of Arab Spring? It’s Faux Hate Crime Spring. The latest incident occurred recently at Salisbury (Md.) University, where students reported a drawing of a noose on a whiteboard in Blackwell Library along with the hashtag “whitepower” and a racial slur.
Upon the finding, the usual “leap to conclusions” playbook was opened and measures checked off. University police began investigating the incident as a potential hate crime, and Salisbury President Janet Dudley-Eshbach wrote a letter to students denouncing the “act of intolerance.”
By now, you may be able to guess the ending.
The students who drew the offensive image were black, but it was not expected charges would be filed against them. However, they may face penalties from the school.
Salisbury officials would not release the names of the perpetrators, citing the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, according to spokesman Richard Culver. But he said the students could receive disciplinary action.
Faux hate crimes have been so rampant across the country this spring that, unfortunately, an actual hate crime now may make it harder for victims to be believed.
Tolerance anyone?
Despite the spin
The Obama White House has no choice. It has to continue spinning the Affordable Care Act as a plus for the American people, and it has. But the bill has never been popular, and a new poll proves it still isn’t. Despite the millions poured into advertising and spinning it, 54 percent of respondents in a new Pew Research Center survey disapprove of Obamacare while only 44 percent approve.
That disapproval rate has shot up since last July when the United States Supreme Court upheld a portion of the law that allows the federal government to provide insurance subsidies through federal exchanges. At that time, perhaps the law’s high water mark, 49 percent disapproved of it and 48 percent approved.
The poll, taken last month, also found that 44 percent of respondents claimed the law had a mostly negative impact on the country, while 39 percent said its effect had been mostly positive. Approximately 13 percent said the Affordable Care Act had not had much of an impact on the country.