Mike reagan tweets: “My brother seems to want [to] sell out his father to sell books”

Michael Reagan tweeted Saturday, “Ron, my brother was an embarrassment to his father when he was alive and today he became an embarrassment to his mother.”

The reach of Mike Reagan's tweeting probably surpasses that of his talk radio work these days, but airing the family laundry was definitely enough to get him weekend headlines on the Yahoo. 

His brother is Ron "Don't call me Junior" Reagan, 52, has speculated lovingly and convincingly in a new memoir (and on ABC's 20-20) that their sainted father, 40th president, Ronaldo Maximus, suffered from Alzheimer’s disease while president.

In his new book, My Father at 100, Ron says he saw early signs of his father's losing his marbles. “The question,” he writes, “of whether my father suffered from the beginning stages of Alzheimer’s while in office more or less answers itself.”

This has caused a predictable shit-storm in the right-wing media. Ron has long been a perfect right-wing foil- he was a talk show host in Seattle and on Air America; he's a liberal, an atheist... and a Seattleite. He's a weather-breeder for the right.

Mike Reagan, who says birther claims "must be taken seriously," ought to know about embarrassment, he's been embarrassing even to his conservative cohort for years. What success he's had outside of boat racing can be directly traced to his pimping his famous father's name, despite his whining biography in 1988 complaining he was neglected by a distant father, and bitch of a step-mother.

And, of course, he's got a new book of his own coming out on Tuesday.

Michael Edward Reagan, 63, is a veteran radio broadcaster, former speedboat racer, and adopted son of Ronald Reagan and Jane Wyman. He's one of the weakest talents in right-wing radio. He's flogged his name shamelessly to no avail -- his radio career has been on a descending glide path for years. Read our Tear Down that Dignity! Michael Reagan Scrapes the Bottom, here.)

Last year he was dropped from the third rate right-wing network he was on and was picked up by a fourth-rate one. He was dropped to make room for Roger Hedgecock, the disgraced former San Diego mayor cum radio talk host. It's hard to find Mike Reagan on any dial, he's been out of our market for many years... even when Seattle had 3 conservative stations.

We've always kept track of Mike Reagan because he got his start in Seattle at KVI in the early '90's, seminal days of right-wing talk. Mike Siegel, then at the top of the local Seattle talk-heap, took the rookie Reagan under his wing, and got him some practice shifts as KVI was just beginning to roll and AM right-wing radio was being born.

(Even though they were relatively early in the talk radio heyday, Siegel and Reagan were soon swamped by a tsunami of larger talents (beginning with Rush Limbaugh) and washed out to sea, so to speak).

Sensational eliminationist talk has given Michael Reagan the headlines of his professional life in recent years.

In 2008, Reagan got his name in lefty blogs like BlatherWatch, and a Worst Person out of Olbermann for announcing he'd like to stick a grenade up the butts of any Palestinian baby named after Hezbollah by their mothers, and "I'd light it."

In 2008, after deluded Truthers sent letters to troops stationed in Iraq claiming that 9/11 was  perpetrated by the U.S. government. Reagan said,"We ought to find the people who are doing this, take them out and shoot them. Really. You take them out, they are traitors to this country, and shoot them.... I'll pay for the bullets."

In 2005, he told a listener, "Howard Dean should be arrested for treason and either hung or put in a hole until the war's over."

We've asked over the years: What does it take -- short of child molesting -- to finish a career in talk radio?

Reagan tried everything but settled on mediocrity, and ungrammatical, dumbed-down, right-wing rhetoric with a target audience of those with his own lack of sensibilities.

You'd think such a formula would work -- and it did for a while.

But he was never able to grow a major audience despite the built-in advantage of his name which he whores continuously -- we've counted the times he said "my father" in one hour -- it averages over 30.

(Ron Reagan speaks only about his father, the president in the most intellectual terms, never airs any familia gripes; Michael, on the other hand, whines about how neglected he was by Ronald and Nancy on air! Listen to him complain about never getting any parental mail at summer camp here, it's pathetic).

In 2004, The Republican National convention committee asked him to give the countering speech to half-brother Ron 's pro-stem cell research one at the D's Convention.

After all that, plus lots of face time on Fox News, and CNN you'd think he might have a better than average chance, but it hasn't helped -- his new network is the tiny, rabid Christianist/right-wing American Family Radio network, of Tupelo, Mississippi.

The network has few stations in major markets, and no major stations anywhere. 

AFR is the media "arm" of far-right goofball and eliminationist Christian Donald Wildmon's American Family Association (AFA) a network of about 165 radio stations. that depend on evangelists and vitamin salesmen who pay for their own shows.  

Mike Reagan will be by far the biggest name on their little Christian stations scattered mostly in the South, and the Midwest. God and Donald wildmon only know what kind of financial arrangement Reagan's got: he might have to sell some vacation packages to make ends meet.

(Catch AFR's Today’s Issues show broadcasting live Jan. 30, 10a from the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky)

Reagan hasn't been heard in the Seattle market for several years: for that we are grateful, although his show was occasionally great for comic relief. Mike might do well to follow the suggestion of a few commenter on his unlively web forum:

I think that it would be really great to have a lively discussion/debate about modern techniques that could be employed in the harvesting of redwood trees. Compare and contrast this with the planting and harvesting of corn in Nebraska.

Comments

[tigsnort]

Another stupid public figure who deals with personal issues on Twitter. Please make them stop.

[joanie]

You have to feel a little bit sorry for Reagan. You never know what life was like for an adopted child who gets a third mom and probably feels like none of them want him. I don't know. Childhood wounds heal slowly or never. Lot of resentment and anger in that man.

And he said it: "... wants to sell out HIS father." (Not "our" father?)

[sparky]

Thats what I was thinking too..sounds like someone is being left out...again.

[ExPatBrit]

I really like Ron Jr on the radio.

That said , without that famous name opening doors I doubt either of them would have progressed very far.

[AprilMayJune]

Ron Jr has always spoken very respectfully and lovingly about his father. It must be difficult for Mike being the adopted step child.

Sibling rivalry can last a lifetime, unfortunately.

[KMQ1]

I have found Ron to always have been very respectful of the father with whom he disagreed with politically. It actually revealed a very personal side to Reagan.

It's interesting that Ron only stated what everyone else felt was a question that needed to be asked. Were there early indicators of Alzheimer's at the end of his presidency? Perhaps there were, but only in hindsight. That's the awful thing about the disease.

I disagreed with a lot of Reagan's politics but I also have a tremendous amount of respect for his integrity. If he had been diagnosed there is no doubt he would have stepped down. That's all Ron really said.

[Andrew]

I wonder if they're even civil, like send eachother Christmas cards and what not. Then again, maybe they plan these swipes at eahother to generate some publicity and then laugh about it over mojitos.

[Keoni]

What a worthless piece of tripe your column is. Your biased slant against conservatism is flagrant and your adoratonal comments on the disrespectful and lowly Ron junior almost as disgusting.
Ron has been an embarassment for decades to himself and his family.
But your blinders won't allow you to see it let alone speak it.

[Coiler]

"adoratonal" is not a word. Neither is "refudiate".

[Bill]

I think AFR dropped him back in May, so the poor, neglected, no-letter-getting little troll has no radio outlet at present. Too bad, his antics and statements were always entertaining and short-wave-in-your-mother's-basement wacko stuff.

[Gib Mij]

Babwa Wawa even called Ron Jr.'s piece not believable from what she saw when being around Pres. Reagan in 1984. Later Ron Jr. had to back off on his claims about Alzheimer's when he was president after realizing that others were lining up besides his half-brother to refute those claims. Fortunately, the light of truth has been shown.

All in the name of sensationalism to sell books. Just another example of what is wrong with the media these days and leftists - in general. They have little credibility left except among fellow kool aid drinkers, such as right here on Blatherwatch.

[Tommy008]

Monson claimed today or yesterday that Ron Reagan "hates" his father.

[Tommy008]

looks like that S.P.D. bum,Berk, who is either a coward or a sick Nazi executioner, or both, probably both, will face criminal charges after the inquest jury returns their findings tomorrow. Even Luke Burbank was feeling macho in comparison to Berk's fearful, nearly instantaneous use of deadly force when confronted by very mild "menace", if any.

[Andrew]

I'm starting to feel very sorry for both of the Reagans. I don't know that any amount of book money could ever make up for going on fifty, sixty years old and still profiting from the shadows of their long dead, towering super dad, rather than contributing to society in a some more humble and noble way. A gradeschool teacher can say they made some kind of difference, a dentist filled some tiny holes, but these guys strictly cash in and crap nothing of any true value back out.

I suppose the argument is that the books aimed at the obsessed fans of Reagan Sr., but how fucking sad is that? That's like playing an bit part on a 70's sci-fi flick and then spending the next forty years of your life on the convention circuit.

I feel more sorry for Mike Reagan though, because whereas Ron is at least the counter point to Ronald Reagan, and he conducts himself in a highly civil manner. Mike on the other hand, is shameless panderer and he has no class at all. He even looks trashy.