Lies from the Right – or Why You CAN see Reagan’s Portrait at SAG

According to a good friend at the Screen Actor’s Guild, it seems our truth-challenged bloggers and talk show hosts out there have been peddling a lie to their listeners, and it’s creating all sorts of headaches for the Guild.
The lie? That the “liberal” Screen Actor’s Guild doesn’t have a portrait of Reagan in its offices, despite the fact that he was a president of the union for many years.
This isn’t a debatable point at all – it’s one of those “1 or 0” situations, and in this case it’s a “1” and the people lying about it are a “0.” It’s a lie. Smirky Republicans can make up all the stories they want, but it’s still a lie.
One that’s caused the Guild quite a bit of hassle as Self-Appointed Guardians of Liberty (aka cranks) call up the Guild and proceed to bitch mightily about the injustice of it all – unaware that they’ve been hoodwinked by self serving liars who needed to ride Reagan’s death for a boost in the ratings. The guild had to waste a lot of time answering questions and putting out press releases to correct what was a lie. Odd how journalists and others jumped on this without checking facts, such a shock, really.
I can personally attest to the total falseness of said lie – I have attended events at SAG’s main offices, including one at the James Cagney Conference Room. When you enter the room there are portraits, all identically sized, of every former president of the union – including such notable “liberals” as Ronald Reagan and George Murphy*.
What a tremendous waste of everyone’s time, all caused by a nice big lie told by people who claim to be our Moral Guardians. Thanks kids. It’s good to know that some people feel a need to memorialize the former president with a nice big lie that causes good people a big headache.
*It’s interesting to note that most actors who run for office are Republicans: George Murphy, Ronald Reagan, Shirley Temple Black (although she was defeated in her one bid for Congress she served as Ambassador several times), Fred Thompson, Fred Grandy, and of course Arnold Schwarzenegger. Doesn’t fit the Crank Squad’s view of the world, but I guess with blinders on you can see more or less what you want.
UPDATE: A brief mention of my site on this topic appeared at LA Observed! Thanks Mr. Roderick!
© 2003-2006 Greg Dewar | All Rights Reserved | Originally Published at www.schadelmann.com