Bill Kristol is getting dragged pretty good right now over this tweet from earlier today where he compared Joe Biden’s “For God’s sake, [Russian President Vladimir Putin] cannot remain in power” to Ronald Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” line from his speech in 1987 at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin because both lines, according to him, are “‘Gaffes’ by U.S. Presidents, per the foreign policy establishment”:
"Gaffes" by U.S. presidents, per the foreign policy establishment:
“For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”
— Joe Biden, Royal Castle, Warsaw
March 26, 2022"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
— Ronald Reagan, Brandenburg Gate, West Berlin
June 12, 1987— Bill Kristol (@BillKristol) March 27, 2022
But Kristol is wrong in one major way and we all see it. It’s not the foreign policy establishment who says what Biden said is a gaffe. They appear to AGREE with it. It’s the WHITE HOUSE that’s saying Biden didn’t mean what he said:
Reagan's staff didn't come out immediately and say "No, no, no, that's not what he meant. The wall can stay. Keeping the wall is entirely cool with us." When did you become an idiot Kristol?
— PB Firearms (@FirearmsPB) March 27, 2022
Kristol — and others — are literally celebrating something the White House says isn’t true because THEY want it to be true:
From a White House official after Biden's speech: “The President’s point was that Putin cannot be allowed to exercise power over his neighbors or the region. He was not discussing Putin’s power in Russia, or regime change.”
— Tarini Parti (@tparti) March 26, 2022
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And nobody in the Reagan White House walked it back:
You ridiculous old fool.
Reagan's comment wasn't a gaffe, wasn't walked back, and probably was the beginning of the end of the Soviet Union. https://t.co/jfP1szw4tJ
— Fusilli Spock (@awstar11) March 27, 2022
This is “not even close to being similar/historic”:
Reagan's line was in his speech
Not even close to being similar/historic
— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) March 27, 2022
We’d really like Peter Robinson, the guy who wrote this speech, to weigh in:
This is an insult to @p_m_robinson and many, many people that ran the traps to get that line in, but he knows that and said it anyway. https://t.co/zvgi4uOdAh
— Minnow (@Phila_Mino) March 27, 2022
What’s even worse is that Kristol is “not this dumb.” It’s just s*itposting:
I know he's not this dumb, so I assume this is just some form of Straussian esoteric communication that I am not meant to understand. https://t.co/b5DmBFGatX
— Jeff B. is *BOX OFFICE POISON* (@EsotericCD) March 27, 2022
Yep:
So-Called Reaganite Says Fundamental Reagan Scripture Is A Gaffe https://t.co/I0etGAWhO9
— NeverTweet (@LOLNeverTweet) March 27, 2022
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