The Great Communicator

The Alberton Papers, Vol. V, #XIX
By Dick Darne 3-11-08
"Tell me more" said Johnny. "How do you ‘check things out’?"
"Lots of ways", replied Todd. "A big list of forwardees is one tipoff. Sometimes the absurdity of the content. If it’s loaded with lots of ‘feel-good, psuedo patriotic homilies which insinuate that any who do not agree must be un-american, then the truth has been lost somewhere along the line. Of course there are several web sites devoted to dispelling myths and debunking misinformation."
"Yeah, I can remember back when all they had was the good old rumor mill and they just called you a ‘dirty commie’. Of course, that can’t be used anymore because the commies are extinct now, defeated by ‘The Great Communicator’ in one profound command to ‘tear down this wall!’ Added Bill.
"That’s what they would have you believe" interjected Gno, "except it was really a Polish Union Electrician and Solidarity that brought down the Soviet Union of Thugs.
"Why was Reagan called ‘the Great Communicator’ anyway?" asked Johnny. "Was he the first to use these methods of communicating?"
"Let me explain this one." answered Elder. "For aeons there have been great communicators, and mostly they achieved big immediate results, but sometimes the long term results were a disaster. We’ll just skip ahead to a point not so far back, say about seventy some years ago, to two men, who rose to power through a combination of events and their considerable oratorical prowess. Adolf Hitler inspired his countrymen to bite off a lot more than they could chew, ending in disaster. Franklin D. Roosevelt inspired his people and together we were able to overcome the great depression and a world war. Communicating itself is just a tool, it can be used for good or bad. Bill here was around for the rise of ‘the great communicator’, let him fill you in on that."
"Let me confess that I was seduced by the ‘great one’ and even voted for him the first time." said Bill. "I’m actually old enough to remember Goldwater, so I will begin there. Since 1933, the republicans had been in the political wilderness, except for a short period right after WW II, after which they were sent back again. They tried again in the 60's with Goldwater and back again they went. They got smarter and craftier, not wise by any means, but looked for a way to get people to come over to their point of view. Voila’, there he was, a grade B actor who could read his script. Of course there was that little matter of ‘ratting’ out his own Union brothers in the Actor’s Guild, but that never really came up. He had been in the employ of one of the world’s largest corporations, yes good old GE, merchants of death and destruction and owners of NBC. He played his part well. First governor of California, then President of the United States of America. Old habits die hard, right out of the chute he destroys the air traffic controllers union and sets the pace for an all out assault on organized labor and the working folks of America!"
"Old Bill’s really getting worked up, we better take a short break for now, someone fix Bill a nice cup of chamomile tea." Said Johnny. "I’m getting an earful and I don’t want old Bill to croak on me now. Also I want to tell the nice folks out there to keep in touch, we’ll pick this up next week." dd