When a man named John Hinckley shot President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981, my family and I were on a camping trip in what is now Bears Ears National Monument in southeastern Utah. I was just ten years old, and though we spent a lot of time camping and hiking and backpacking in that area, I distinctly remember that specific trip — warm days of skittering across sandstone with my brother and cold, starry nights shivering in inadequate sleeping bags.
THANK YOU, Jonathan. Agree absolutely. Thank you for being honest about who Reagan really was and what he actually did in office — most of which I thought was horrible, though I will never forget how it felt when finally the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union crumbled. Sometimes a near-death experience can change a person's heart.
Unfortunately, Trump is unlikely to have any kind of healing epiphany. Because he has not, in fact, rejected Project 2025; he is just saying, as he often does, whatever he thinks will succeed in selling his product (which is always himself) to the buyer (whoever's approval he is trying to gain). Project 2025 was basically composed by Trump's loyalist staph and his most determined hangers-on, the likes of Steves Bannon & Miller & all those "Christian" Nationalists. (As a person who actually tries to follow Jesus, I sure do wish they'd choose another name. American Taliban would be more accurate.)
I initially heard about the shooting second- or third-hand Saturday evening and did not believe it could possibly be true — even though I'm older than you are, Jonathan, old enough to be able to remember when JFK was killed, and MLK, and Bobby Kennedy, etc., etc. — old enough to know how much blood has been spilled in American political history. I spent much of Saturday evening praying for Trump's survival, and also praying that he would have a change of heart — such things can, and occasionally, do happen: George Wallace, of all people, underwent a change of heart after his own near escape and publicly renounced his racist past. But that is unlikely to happen with Trump. I am afraid for my country, and for the world, and for the whole bloody planet in a way I've never been before — not even during an Air Force childhood, living under the shadow of the Cold War. I am tired of being constantly told that the left is the one spouting all the violent rhetoric.
It bothered me a lot that so many people seemed to forget that others were also shot, and even killed, by that shooter — and that, in the end, he was another messed-up kid who should never, never had access to weaponry like that. I guess at this point I'm just ranting. But I needed to hear what you wrote here, JT. It helped me reorder my terribly scattered neurons. Thanks for keeping up the good work. We all gotta keep our eyes on the prize, and hold on.
Always valuable and insightful. Much like listening to Killer Mike’s track Reagan. “But thanks to Reaganomics, Prison turned a profit, ‘Cause free labor’s the cornerstone of US economics, ‘Cause slavery was abolished, Unless you are imprisoned…” and finishing out the track, “Ronald Wilson Reagan. Ronald, 6, WIlson, 6, Reagan, 6. 6, 6, 6.”
The false equivalency the GOP is using to equate the political opposition to Felon Trump and their outright calls for violence is disgusting. And how the media, even NPR, are in lock-step is infuriating.
Felon Trump and his cult of Christian Nationalists and ammo-sexuals have been planting seeds of violence and hate and should not be surprised then the first tendrils emerge in their soils.
Yeah - aware of all the turmoil - frankly over it. There has been absolutely no concern for the man who actually WAS killed nor the two injured men but then - where has the concern been for all those children and adults slaughtered every day by gun violence?
Got this notification from Wilderness Watch today - dont know what their "thinking" was on this one.
The Biden administration has abandoned the Obama administration’s 2015 ban on cruel predator killing practices in national preserves in Alaska, instead reverting back to practices established by the Trump administration.
On July 3, the National Park Service (NPS) issued a final rule governing hunting on the 19 million acres of national preserves in Alaska, which includes over eight million acres of Wilderness. The NPS administers national preserves similar to national parks, but allows hunting and trapping:
Killing mother bears and cubs in their dens, including using artificial spotlights;
Killing wolves and coyotes with pups during their denning season;
Shooting caribou from motorboats or shore as they swim across lakes or rivers;
Nice Jonathan. Thanks for re-iterating this unfortunate history. Somehow "Pollution is NOT Patriotic" didn't become a thing.
When Reagan was shot I was in the library at the Solar Energy Research Institute (now NREL) in Golden. A nice place for an engineering student from CU Boulder. I was probably getting psyched about plastering the desert with solar reflectors for "power towers."
Denis Hayes was the still director then and he came in and said they were closing, but we could hang out and please make sure the doors locked behind us. Fed world sure isn't like that anymore after Oklahoma City and then 9/11.
Then Reagan cut the SERI budget from $130M to $30M or so. Denis Hayes didn't go peacefully and after being fired said "Secretary of Energy James Edwards has embarked on a careful, methodical campaign to destroy America's solar option."
Sounds a bit like what Trump and JD Vance want to do to renewables and electrification in general. Or if a different epiphany happens to Trump, maybe he'd put Elon in charge of Operation Warpspeed for EVs and whatever. But these day Elon seems more interested in gender issues than in improving his vehicles.
Thanks for this piece. For those of us who love the West and dry lands, a second Trump presidency would be an unmitigated disaster. I'd like to be friends with everyone, and am sure Trump has many good sides to his character, but from an anti-developer perspective, his administration would likely be a total disaster for the lands covered in the Land Desk.
Not surprised at your anti-Trump screed as well as your dislike of Reagan. However, the WSJ has reported as late as week that Trump has rejected the Project 2025. I watch MSNBC and CNN from time to time to see Chuck Todd or Rachel Maddow compare Trump to Hitler! You might expand your daily reading list to include publications that don’t pander to your predetermined views.
Felon Trump said he’d never met Epstein, despite the hundreds of photos of them together, the dozens of times Felon Trump’s name appears on call logs and flight manifests. Just one of thousands of examples Felon Trump has clearly, unequivocally lied. So by contending that Felon Trump “rejected Project 2025” makes your validity suspect as well.
THANK YOU, Jonathan. Agree absolutely. Thank you for being honest about who Reagan really was and what he actually did in office — most of which I thought was horrible, though I will never forget how it felt when finally the Berlin Wall came down and the Soviet Union crumbled. Sometimes a near-death experience can change a person's heart.
Unfortunately, Trump is unlikely to have any kind of healing epiphany. Because he has not, in fact, rejected Project 2025; he is just saying, as he often does, whatever he thinks will succeed in selling his product (which is always himself) to the buyer (whoever's approval he is trying to gain). Project 2025 was basically composed by Trump's loyalist staph and his most determined hangers-on, the likes of Steves Bannon & Miller & all those "Christian" Nationalists. (As a person who actually tries to follow Jesus, I sure do wish they'd choose another name. American Taliban would be more accurate.)
I initially heard about the shooting second- or third-hand Saturday evening and did not believe it could possibly be true — even though I'm older than you are, Jonathan, old enough to be able to remember when JFK was killed, and MLK, and Bobby Kennedy, etc., etc. — old enough to know how much blood has been spilled in American political history. I spent much of Saturday evening praying for Trump's survival, and also praying that he would have a change of heart — such things can, and occasionally, do happen: George Wallace, of all people, underwent a change of heart after his own near escape and publicly renounced his racist past. But that is unlikely to happen with Trump. I am afraid for my country, and for the world, and for the whole bloody planet in a way I've never been before — not even during an Air Force childhood, living under the shadow of the Cold War. I am tired of being constantly told that the left is the one spouting all the violent rhetoric.
It bothered me a lot that so many people seemed to forget that others were also shot, and even killed, by that shooter — and that, in the end, he was another messed-up kid who should never, never had access to weaponry like that. I guess at this point I'm just ranting. But I needed to hear what you wrote here, JT. It helped me reorder my terribly scattered neurons. Thanks for keeping up the good work. We all gotta keep our eyes on the prize, and hold on.
Always valuable and insightful. Much like listening to Killer Mike’s track Reagan. “But thanks to Reaganomics, Prison turned a profit, ‘Cause free labor’s the cornerstone of US economics, ‘Cause slavery was abolished, Unless you are imprisoned…” and finishing out the track, “Ronald Wilson Reagan. Ronald, 6, WIlson, 6, Reagan, 6. 6, 6, 6.”
The false equivalency the GOP is using to equate the political opposition to Felon Trump and their outright calls for violence is disgusting. And how the media, even NPR, are in lock-step is infuriating.
Felon Trump and his cult of Christian Nationalists and ammo-sexuals have been planting seeds of violence and hate and should not be surprised then the first tendrils emerge in their soils.
Yeah - aware of all the turmoil - frankly over it. There has been absolutely no concern for the man who actually WAS killed nor the two injured men but then - where has the concern been for all those children and adults slaughtered every day by gun violence?
Got this notification from Wilderness Watch today - dont know what their "thinking" was on this one.
The Biden administration has abandoned the Obama administration’s 2015 ban on cruel predator killing practices in national preserves in Alaska, instead reverting back to practices established by the Trump administration.
On July 3, the National Park Service (NPS) issued a final rule governing hunting on the 19 million acres of national preserves in Alaska, which includes over eight million acres of Wilderness. The NPS administers national preserves similar to national parks, but allows hunting and trapping:
Killing mother bears and cubs in their dens, including using artificial spotlights;
Killing wolves and coyotes with pups during their denning season;
Shooting caribou from motorboats or shore as they swim across lakes or rivers;
Indiscriminate and cruel trapping; and
Using dogs to hunt bears.
Nice Jonathan. Thanks for re-iterating this unfortunate history. Somehow "Pollution is NOT Patriotic" didn't become a thing.
When Reagan was shot I was in the library at the Solar Energy Research Institute (now NREL) in Golden. A nice place for an engineering student from CU Boulder. I was probably getting psyched about plastering the desert with solar reflectors for "power towers."
Denis Hayes was the still director then and he came in and said they were closing, but we could hang out and please make sure the doors locked behind us. Fed world sure isn't like that anymore after Oklahoma City and then 9/11.
Then Reagan cut the SERI budget from $130M to $30M or so. Denis Hayes didn't go peacefully and after being fired said "Secretary of Energy James Edwards has embarked on a careful, methodical campaign to destroy America's solar option."
Sounds a bit like what Trump and JD Vance want to do to renewables and electrification in general. Or if a different epiphany happens to Trump, maybe he'd put Elon in charge of Operation Warpspeed for EVs and whatever. But these day Elon seems more interested in gender issues than in improving his vehicles.
Thanks for this piece. For those of us who love the West and dry lands, a second Trump presidency would be an unmitigated disaster. I'd like to be friends with everyone, and am sure Trump has many good sides to his character, but from an anti-developer perspective, his administration would likely be a total disaster for the lands covered in the Land Desk.
Very nice job denting the Reagan myth. It gets tiring. Did Reagan accomplish some great things? Yes. But even Nixon accomplished some great things.
Not surprised at your anti-Trump screed as well as your dislike of Reagan. However, the WSJ has reported as late as week that Trump has rejected the Project 2025. I watch MSNBC and CNN from time to time to see Chuck Todd or Rachel Maddow compare Trump to Hitler! You might expand your daily reading list to include publications that don’t pander to your predetermined views.
Felon Trump said he’d never met Epstein, despite the hundreds of photos of them together, the dozens of times Felon Trump’s name appears on call logs and flight manifests. Just one of thousands of examples Felon Trump has clearly, unequivocally lied. So by contending that Felon Trump “rejected Project 2025” makes your validity suspect as well.
I did’t say it, I passed along a WSJ report.