Happy Birthday Ronald Reagan, what do you think about Trump?

People make comparisons between Donald Trump and Ronald Reagan. They were both actors. Both had been divorced. Both men had been Democrats. Both men had some populist appeal. They were exactly the same on many issues, like their position on abortion.

But there were also many differences. President Trump and President Reagan lived in different times. The national media was openly hostile to both men. Reagan didn’t fight back. At least openly. He smiled and waved and mirrored back the idea that people liked him even though he was bitterly despised by the corporate media and the journalists who covered him.

In some cases journalists would defiantly state false numbers and there was no recourse, no internet to quickly arbitrate, and no Twitter for him to use to retaliate.

There is no question in my mind that Reagan would have used Twitter to go over the heads of the media and directly to the hearts of the people. He tried to do that with earned media. And amazingly it worked. The American people knew they were being lied to by many in the media and they deeply resented it. Some knew intellectually, they knew the metrics, others didn’t have time to research the issues but they knew instinctively.

In 1984, after they experienced his presidency for themselves, in spite of the false and mean spirited media narrative, Reagan was re-elected overwhelmingly. He carried every state except Minnesota.And almost took that one too.

Donald Trump has some things going for him. There is Fox News and Fox Business Network. which are more objective, but again, that has driven the mainstream media even more to the Left to compensate. There is Facebook and Twitter.

Reagan was a gentleman, kindly and measured. He was strong but never out of control.

Still, while some would argue with me about this, I suspect that Reagan would be chuckling with delight at Donald Trump’s style and at his effectiveness. We now have this amazing political spectacle. Trump is president but a Court of Appeals in California, along with allies in the media, have just assumed responsibility for the next terrorist attack on U.S. soil.