WEBVTT - OG Ronald Reagan 0:00:00.360 --> 0:00:03.880 Hi listeners, just a quick heads up out of the 0:00:03.880 --> 0:00:07.320 shadows tell stories of people fleeing and living in sometimes 0:00:07.440 --> 0:00:19.440 violent environments. There's this photo of two men who were 0:00:19.440 --> 0:00:23.239 superstars in the eighties. One of them is in a sharp, 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:29.800 pinstriped suit, standing there stoically, not exactly awkward, but he's 0:00:29.800 --> 0:00:34.880 standing very still and stiff, standing tall. It's a big 0:00:34.880 --> 0:00:38.360 difference from the way I'm used to seeing him. Even 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:43.040 in photos he's usually a big, winding ball of electricity. 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:49.720 But maybe it's because on this day in Fernando Vallenzuela 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:52.199 is standing in the White House next to maybe one 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:55.320 of the only people in America that is more famous, 0:00:56.120 --> 0:01:02.760 President Ronald Reagan. In the early eighties, the Dodgers picture 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:06.440 was so talented and well known that the phenomen of 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:11.440 his fame was cobbed Fernando Mania. It was infectious to 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:15.600 root for this five eleven Gordo from Sonoda, a rookie 0:01:15.680 --> 0:01:18.040 who was so good in his first season with Los 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:22.040 Dwyers that he made history by capturing the cy Young 0:01:22.080 --> 0:01:25.520 Award and the Rookie of the Year Award, and the 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:30.040 attention of millions of fans all over the world. Fernando 0:01:30.160 --> 0:01:34.040 was so famous that he made baseball more popular internationally. 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:37.600 He created a whole generation of Mexican American fans of 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:40.360 the sport. He also helped the Dodgers win the World 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:43.000 Series and thus made his way to the Oval Office 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:46.560 to meet an equally famous fan, the President of the 0:01:46.640 --> 0:01:53.200 United States. And I have this theory that maybe Fernando 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:55.720 just did a little bit more than win games for 0:01:55.880 --> 0:02:00.320 my favorite baseball team. He went over the country at 0:02:00.320 --> 0:02:03.480 a time when Mexican immigrants like him were being rounded 0:02:03.560 --> 0:02:07.520 up in immigration raids and blamed for all of America's woes. 0:02:08.639 --> 0:02:12.519 He humanized people like my parents, And even now when 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:17.200 I look back at his legacy, I feel seen, which 0:02:17.240 --> 0:02:19.480 brings me back to that photo of the two eighties 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:24.080 superstars standing next to the President is Hope in a 0:02:24.160 --> 0:02:28.160 pinstripe suit, Because maybe that day in the White House 0:02:28.680 --> 0:02:32.800 was the day Reagan saw us too. It's a moment 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:36.200 where a Mexican wasn't seen as a threat, but something 0:02:36.240 --> 0:02:41.320 to be celebrated, to be recognized, Fernando standing tonics to 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:44.160 one of the most powerful people on the planet, who 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:46.520 in just a few years will get a bill on 0:02:46.600 --> 0:02:49.640 his desk that will do more than make us feel seen. 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:54.240 It will give us a chance to be Americans. And 0:02:54.280 --> 0:02:57.440 I don't know if this moment Fernando and Reagan meeting 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:01.639 has much of an impact on Reagan, a staunch conservative 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:04.640 whose policies like the war on drugs and trickle down 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:10.720 economics largely decimated my community, that it influenced his decision 0:03:10.800 --> 0:03:13.200 to sign a bill that would give three million families 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:17.760 a shot at coming out of the shadows. Because honestly, 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:21.359 it's hard to tell what's going through Reagan's head that 0:03:21.440 --> 0:03:26.799 day in but it's for sure fun to imagine, Mr 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:33.359 because maybe, just maybe and went a little something like this. Okay, 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:47.360 you ready, it's November six, Mr President. There's a whole 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:50.080 bunch of press outside waiting to see what you're going 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:55.280 to do about SP twenty two two. So tell me 0:03:55.360 --> 0:03:58.840 what it is again. Simpson's bill. Oh, he won't shut 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:04.640 up about it. You remember, Oh Simpson, the football player. No, no, 0:04:04.760 --> 0:04:09.120 Mr President, the cowboy from Cody, the tall fellow ron. 0:04:09.480 --> 0:04:15.120 Where are you on this one? Well? What's up? Oh? 0:04:15.160 --> 0:04:19.719 That's right, the bill legalizing all the Mexicans. How could 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:23.440 I forget? This was a tough one, A lot to 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:27.320 put on one man's shoulders. But thankfully that man was me, 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:33.719 the gipper, ron ron Ronnie the money. That's right. I'm 0:04:33.839 --> 0:04:41.560 Ronald Reagan, I'm Patty Rodriguez, and I'm Mary Glendo. And 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:44.080 this is out of the shadows. Children of eighty six. 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:46.960 Immigrants and their children have long lived in the shadows 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.840 of America. Their destinies aren't just shaped by where they 0:04:49.880 --> 0:04:53.520 come from, but by their particular place in history. In 0:04:54.760 --> 0:04:57.240 the lives of millions of immigrants and their children were 0:04:57.320 --> 0:04:59.760 changed by one lucky stroke of a pen by an 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:04.920 likely allah, President Ronald Reagan. This podcast will examine the 0:05:04.960 --> 0:05:07.680 ripple effects the bill had on first generation kids of immigrants, 0:05:07.960 --> 0:05:12.560 who are navigating intergenerational mobility and transforming the cultural landscape. 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:19.240 This is an untold story of luck, timing, triumph, opportunity, survival, 0:05:19.680 --> 0:05:38.000 and of course hope. I have to admit Eric, before 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:40.760 we started this podcast, I didn't know a lot about 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:44.520 Ronald Reagan, and I realized for a lot of Latinos 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:49.000 Mexican Americans, especially, Reagan's legacy is kind of like an iceberg. 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:52.120 You know, when you first see an iceberg poking its 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:55.280 head out of the water. At first, it looks small, 0:05:55.480 --> 0:05:58.720 pretty even, like you see it one way, but then 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:02.919 you realize how big it actually is beyond what's on 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:09.960 the surface. It's so big and deep and devastating. I 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:14.880 totally get that Reagan's true legacy also depends on who 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:20.320 you ask, and we asked a lot of people. I mean, 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:23.520 I think Ronald Reagan was the devil. I definitely feel, like, 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:28.839 definitely complicted feelings. And it's so complex and contradictory because 0:06:28.880 --> 0:06:32.200 he's also one of the reasons you're here in the 0:06:32.240 --> 0:06:34.040 first place, and you left your land. When I think 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:36.800 about Ronald Reagan, I think about you know, I know 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:40.120 that he was an actor, Like if that never happened, 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:43.760 like I would not be doing what I do. There 0:06:43.839 --> 0:06:47.039 was a lot of things that I felt had more 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:50.200 of a negative impact, like the increase in homelessness and 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:52.280 all of that stuff. A lot of damage was done, 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:55.679 reaching back to even Ronald Reagan when he was governor 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:57.559 here when we were outed up a lot of people 0:06:57.640 --> 0:06:59.920 and set him across the border, and some of the 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:08.520 probably weren't Mextic considered that they were probably things. Yeah, yeah, 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:19.000 everyone's a critic. Ever since I could remember, I wanted 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:23.760 to be a gangster or I mean Franklin Delanor Roosevelt, 0:07:24.160 --> 0:07:28.840 the greatest scratch that second greatest president of all time 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:35.080 f D R H. Golly. I witnessed firsthand what that 0:07:35.120 --> 0:07:38.160 man could do. See. I was there in the depression 0:07:38.160 --> 0:07:44.960 when good, honest Americans, white people felt hopeless, people were starving, 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:48.560 and things felt dim. But hearing f DR was like 0:07:48.640 --> 0:07:53.320 a warm blanket. You people must not lose faith. Let 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:58.720 us unite in banishing fear. And also the Japanese. We 0:07:58.960 --> 0:08:03.520 just announced us special camp. I mean a housing opportunity 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:11.480 for the Japanese in America. Wow, good old Franklin Frankie, 0:08:11.520 --> 0:08:15.680 my boy, he was really my um what what what 0:08:15.720 --> 0:08:20.560 do your kids call it? How do I help you understand? Oh? Wait, yes, 0:08:20.720 --> 0:08:25.320 I got it. F DR was like my tupac. I 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:28.600 remember the first time frank made me feel warm inside. 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:33.560 It was the winter of ninety three. I was heartbroken. 0:08:34.320 --> 0:08:37.119 Not only had my father lost his job in the depression, 0:08:37.520 --> 0:08:40.840 but my dear Sally told me we can't go steady anymore. 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:45.080 So when Frankie talked about not being afraid, it was 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:49.600 like he was talking directly to me. I pulled myself 0:08:49.720 --> 0:08:54.160 up by my bootstraps and started dating Sally's sister. Boy, 0:08:54.280 --> 0:08:57.680 could she cut a rug? So I vowed to be 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:02.080 like my hero. He helped he, so did I. He 0:09:02.160 --> 0:09:07.360 did radio, so did I. He became president, well so 0:09:07.480 --> 0:09:17.800 did I. Mr President, damonies, and get off your high horse. 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:22.000 You're no john Ford yourself. I mean what what was 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:26.880 what was I high? Yes, the Mexicans? Yes, where are 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:30.280 we on that? M hmm? What after you are? Do? Oh? 0:09:30.400 --> 0:09:35.200 Dang it all to hell? Like I said, this was 0:09:35.240 --> 0:09:38.839 a tough one. On one hand, unemployment was really high. 0:09:38.880 --> 0:09:41.319 It was double digits when Reagan came in, and people 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:44.680 were really concerned about that. But you also had the 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:48.200 growers also said, everybody's going to be eating tomatoes growing 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:49.800 in Mexico because we're not going to be able to 0:09:49.800 --> 0:09:53.120 grow tomatoes, the rapples or whatever in the US because 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:57.440 we don't have the labor. I don't understand. If unemployment 0:09:57.559 --> 0:10:01.320 is so high, why is there a problem finding workers 0:10:01.360 --> 0:10:06.679 to pick our tomatoes? Well? Mr President, those aren't well 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:13.280 they're not really American jobs. Farming Oh it's not really farming. Um, 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:18.600 it's u picking, harvesting it best. But real American blue 0:10:18.640 --> 0:10:22.320 collar workers, well, well they're salt of the earth. And 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:25.400 they could. Now I'm not telling you what to do 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:28.839 because I know you ate that, but this bill could 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:33.319 cost some people their jobs, not us, mind you. He 0:10:33.520 --> 0:10:36.640 just won our last election. But the last thing Americans 0:10:36.720 --> 0:10:44.360 want is to compete with Well, Fernando Mania is alive 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:47.839 and well, this kid from Mexico is a phenomenon, or, 0:10:47.920 --> 0:10:50.800 as they would say down South, Fernando pitch of bitch. 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:58.320 Oh that's a job that once belonged to an American. Ah. Yes, 0:10:58.640 --> 0:11:06.920 Fernando Allen's way a lot. It's June of the Middle East. Well, well, 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:09.720 the Middle East is the Middle East, and I've decided 0:11:09.760 --> 0:11:13.600 to start selling weapons to China. Raiders of the Lost 0:11:13.720 --> 0:11:17.120 Arc is hitting theaters. God, I would have been great 0:11:17.160 --> 0:11:21.760 in that one. And then there was Fernando. Hell of 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:24.800 a picture, and I know something about that. I won 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:28.040 the series against the Yankees. In the winning game, pitched 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:31.640 lights out on the Warner Brothers law as Grover Cleveland Alexander. 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.480 So when I tell you Fernando was the real deal, 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:39.679 I know from which I speak. Another strike out by 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:43.079 Fernando Valenzuela, and that's a no hit up, folks. He's 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:47.920 a pollous but off the mound very shy man. He 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:50.320 came to the White House for lunch and hardly spoke 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:54.120 a word. By God, there was this other guy with him, 0:11:54.160 --> 0:12:00.560 an interpreter of some sort. What was his name? That's right, JJ. 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:05.080 The most powerful people in the country were in line 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.400 waiting for this kid who was only anything years old, 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:11.800 who couldn't speak about the English. So they consigned them 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:16.120 a baseball or an autograph. Now, wait a minute, he 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.800 doesn't mean me. F d R would not stand in 0:12:19.840 --> 0:12:23.320 line to ask for an autograph, and neither would I. 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:26.760 I stand in line for no one. It was listening 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:30.439 to Ragan, then the Vice President, George Bush, Father, the 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:34.800 Senator of the State, Alexander Haig, the Secretary of the things. 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:39.240 Gospel was better from Los Angeles. Okay, so I was there. 0:12:39.720 --> 0:12:43.640 Maybe I got an autograph, Maybe I had a soft 0:12:43.679 --> 0:12:49.080 spot for the kid. Even FDR like baseball, and you 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:53.280 should have seen this Fernando kid. Not only was he great, 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:56.520 but he reminded me of my best pal back in 0:12:56.640 --> 0:13:04.600 Los Angeles, Peppe Rubies. Out of the shadows, will be 0:13:04.720 --> 0:13:18.280 right back now, back to the show. Oh, my first 0:13:18.280 --> 0:13:21.240 time walking into Jason's was like walking into the green 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:27.440 room at the Tonight Show. Jason's was a restaurant in 0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:31.880 Beverly Hills that was known for three things. The clientele 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:39.120 I'm talking Sinatra, Jimmy Stewart, Elizabeth Taylor, all the chili. Heck, 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:43.200 Liz had it flown into Rome when she was filming Cleopatra. Man, 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:45.560 I would have been great in that film. Can you 0:13:45.679 --> 0:13:50.920 imagine me as Julius Caesar Germanicus guard to escort Queen 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:56.520 Cleopatra to her apartments? Anyway, where was i? Ah? Yes? 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:01.000 The third thing was pepe Ruise, the legend dairy bartender 0:14:01.040 --> 0:14:04.800 and Amy go too to the stars, even future stars 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:10.040 like me. How's it going, young man? You look lost? What? What? Oh? 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:13.720 He their friend? Uh? Sorry, you just have a big audition, 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:19.640 Sam would pepper ree, No, I'm not the director. Sam 0:14:19.640 --> 0:14:22.880 would a knight at the opera? Oh yes, I love 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:26.760 that picture. Mr Marcus over there. Time flies like an arrow, 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:31.520 for it flies like a banana. Wow, this is quite 0:14:31.520 --> 0:14:35.280 a place. You know what? You need a drink? Well? 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:38.400 What do you recommend? Whom do you like? Dean Martin? What? 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:41.480 What is he here? Not today? But I'll make you 0:14:41.560 --> 0:14:45.400 Mr Martin's favorite vodka, A bit of sherry orange Rent 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:50.080 and my secret oil orange shows which Stuart, that's more 0:14:51.080 --> 0:14:54.120 jeepers a name did a flame of love. It was 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:56.240 inspired by his song And I'll give you Dean Martin's 0:14:56.280 --> 0:15:01.040 confidence until midnight. Oh is that right? That's right? Amigo? 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:09.800 Realuise Huh? Is that Italian? No Spanish? Mexican? Well yeom meymo. 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:18.160 Ronald Reagan, Nice to meet you. How you peppe? The usual? Please? 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.240 Oh my god, ground show? Why how did you call me? 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:24.720 Man's as only as old as the woman he feels? 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:30.640 My god, what an angel? That's no angel, that's uh, 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:34.600 that's Nancy d They call her queen of no Peppe. 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:41.000 That's some mory. Nancy Davis, my god, the love of 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:46.280 my life. Well you sure are tall, aren't you. Well? 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:50.800 The weather is fine up here. It's a little warn 0:15:50.880 --> 0:16:01.000 do fruit. She was had brand new, recently arrived as 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:07.480 a young contract player at MGM. Yes, that's Karen to Multi, 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:13.480 my wife's biographer. A truth teller if I ever met one. 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:19.560 He was an actor who had, you know, didn't have 0:16:19.680 --> 0:16:23.080 exactly an illustrious career, and he was hitting middle age 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:25.960 and he was finding it sort of harder and harder 0:16:26.480 --> 0:16:30.960 to come by parts his first wife had essentially walked 0:16:31.080 --> 0:16:33.960 out of the marriage, so he was kind of at 0:16:34.000 --> 0:16:37.800 a low point in his life when when he met Nancy. 0:16:38.000 --> 0:16:42.640 Nancy would never really kind of make it as an 0:16:42.680 --> 0:16:45.480 actress on her own either, So both of these people 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:48.000 were at a point in their lives where you would 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:51.240 not have expected like great things out of their future, 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:54.960 but it really turned out that they you know, it 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:58.240 was quite a match. Now, wait a minute, Karen, you 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:04.200 don't know what you're It's more complicated than that, Oh Nancy, Yes, 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:12.879 Mr President, Mr President, that's itty. Wrap your lips around running. 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:17.600 Stop out of it? What what what are you even 0:17:17.680 --> 0:17:20.680 talking about? I'm not out of it. I'm in here, 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:24.160 damn it. I'm in it. Now give me that damn bill, 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:30.280 I'm gonna sign that thing for Peppe for love. Oh 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:34.680 stop that, yesha, stop give me that thing. And you know, 0:17:35.359 --> 0:17:39.000 damn it, I'll fire you in a minute. I made you, 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:44.119 I'll make you. Wait, wait, don't what would at all do? 0:17:49.240 --> 0:17:51.639 My mom loved Donald Reagan. She prays for him all 0:17:51.680 --> 0:17:53.320 the time. I've known that since I was little. I 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:57.960 always just kind of like had my parents thinking, you know, 0:17:58.119 --> 0:18:01.480 Reagan was a great president. People say he was an optimist. 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:05.119 Well he was, but he was also an idealist. The 0:18:05.240 --> 0:18:08.040 more you learn about Reagan, the harder it is to 0:18:08.160 --> 0:18:11.520 square some of his decisions that impacted my community the 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:15.240 real Reagan. You know, they always said about Reagan. That's 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:19.320 one of his biographers, veteran journalist leukennont what you see 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:22.320 is what you get, And I I think that's one 0:18:22.320 --> 0:18:24.920 of the silliest phrases I've ever heard, because sometimes he 0:18:25.520 --> 0:18:28.080 got a lot more than you saw, and sometimes you didn't. 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:31.560 You didn't get anything. If you talk to enough people 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:35.520 who personally benefited from Reagan's policies, you start to get 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:40.119 this picture of greatness. Nancy Reagan's biographer Karen to Multi 0:18:40.560 --> 0:18:43.840 especially tied Reagan's thinking on the issue of immigration to 0:18:44.000 --> 0:18:50.480 an inherent optimistic patriotism. I do think that Reagan and 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:54.600 a lot of conservatives had this very idealistic view of 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:58.880 America that it was a country of strivers. I mean 0:18:59.000 --> 0:19:02.960 that it was it was a place that people came 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:06.920 because they were seeking freedom and opportunity, and that that 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:12.040 freedom and that opportunity should essentially be available. When I 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:15.920 hear that and imagine the gipper hanging out with guys 0:19:16.000 --> 0:19:19.920 like Paperuis and Fernando. It's really easy for me to 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:23.960 tap into my own optimism, especially when I try to 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:26.920 imagine Reagan having to decide whether he was going to 0:19:27.040 --> 0:19:31.520 sign or veto Urka. But that optimism, like Patty said 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:34.120 at the top of the show, is just the tip 0:19:34.200 --> 0:19:38.159 of the iceberg, because if you look at Reagan's policies 0:19:38.240 --> 0:19:42.840 as a whole, they paint a different picture. Here's Homeboy 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:46.720 Industry's founder, father Boyle. A lot of damage was done 0:19:46.960 --> 0:19:50.120 reaching back to even Ronald Reagan when he was governor 0:19:50.240 --> 0:19:53.560 here where he shut down all the mental hospitals with 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:56.639 the promise that there would be smaller, more community based 0:19:56.920 --> 0:20:00.960 and that's exactly why the largest mental institution on the 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:05.480 planet Earth is Los Angeles County Jail. And we owe 0:20:05.520 --> 0:20:09.280 it to him for that. And here's Communities in Schools, 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:15.440 Los Angeles executive director Elmer Roldan. Ronald Reagan's policies told 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:19.040 people that anything that was happening in the streets of 0:20:19.640 --> 0:20:24.520 America that was even it was impacting Black communities or 0:20:24.600 --> 0:20:29.080 Latino communities, was a product of our violent nature. The 0:20:29.200 --> 0:20:32.639 crack epidemic that aids epidemic wouldn't have been what they 0:20:32.720 --> 0:20:37.600 became if it wasn't for his positions to who, what 0:20:37.920 --> 0:20:40.879 and why When it comes to Reagan can be a 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:45.119 bit of a minefield, especially for people like me and 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:49.240 for most of the people who make this podcast Patty, Karen, Betsy, 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:52.639 and Caesar, who all had parents or relatives that benefited 0:20:52.680 --> 0:20:58.200 from IRKA directly or indirectly. For us, Reagan's legacy is 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:01.560 hard to reconcile. That was fascinated by the fact that 0:21:01.640 --> 0:21:04.600 he was a Republican, and I wanted to understand why. 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:10.680 I was now shocked by that me finding out what 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:13.800 happened in Central America, which I didn't know, and then 0:21:14.200 --> 0:21:19.080 I started feeling guilty for having these feelings. My dad 0:21:19.200 --> 0:21:22.119 has always said that his favorite president is Ronald Reagan, 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:26.000 and it's interesting because we didn't even get amnesty from it. 0:21:26.440 --> 0:21:29.000 So it was just because of him helping out so 0:21:29.119 --> 0:21:31.879 many other people that in my household it was like, 0:21:32.200 --> 0:21:35.159 this is a good guy, so my entire life. To me, 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:37.240 of course, I'm gonna think he's a good guy. Who's 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:39.120 my dad thinks he's a good guy. So I think, 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:42.600 for the first time, working on this podcast, now I 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:45.800 think I'm able to make my own educated opinion, not 0:21:46.040 --> 0:21:48.280 based on what my parents taught me, but based on 0:21:48.400 --> 0:21:52.119 my own research. What's fascinating to me about Ronald Reagan 0:21:52.320 --> 0:21:57.920 is the juxtaposition of someone who spoke very passionately about immigrants, 0:21:58.240 --> 0:22:01.120 but then on the back sekend he was also doing 0:22:01.160 --> 0:22:03.800 these really atrocious things. It's like a complicated web of 0:22:03.960 --> 0:22:07.359 like ship going on, like even him, you know, stepping 0:22:07.400 --> 0:22:11.560 away from like what FDR did and like going against that. 0:22:11.560 --> 0:22:15.359 I don't know, it's like an interesting story. Yes, f 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:20.359 d R, Franklin, Delano Roosevelt, not a saint, not even close. 0:22:21.000 --> 0:22:24.400 Another guy who did good and bad and it really 0:22:24.480 --> 0:22:26.880 all depended on what you look like and who you were. 0:22:27.960 --> 0:22:31.480 And thinking about that, the full legacy of Ronald Reagan's 0:22:31.560 --> 0:22:34.919 life as a politician, I think that there was more 0:22:35.040 --> 0:22:37.719 going through his head when it came to Erica, more 0:22:37.800 --> 0:22:42.680 than just Fernando and Peperois. Or maybe it really was 0:22:42.760 --> 0:22:50.879 as simple as what what f DR do out of 0:22:50.920 --> 0:23:03.720 the shadows? Will be right back now, back to the show, 0:23:13.600 --> 0:23:16.840 damn it all the hell? That is the question that 0:23:17.000 --> 0:23:22.080 guided my soul. How do I become FDR? Think like him, 0:23:23.000 --> 0:23:28.440 lead like him, be like him. I realized a long 0:23:28.520 --> 0:23:31.960 time ago, you needed to be like to be that powerful, 0:23:32.680 --> 0:23:35.000 and I figured the easiest way to get people to 0:23:35.119 --> 0:23:38.880 like me was to be seen. And what better way 0:23:38.960 --> 0:23:43.920 to be seen than on the big screen? Randy, Randy, 0:23:44.640 --> 0:23:48.040 where's the rest of me? Cat? Cat Cat? Let's try 0:23:48.119 --> 0:23:50.480 this again, but but this time do it well? Or 0:23:50.800 --> 0:23:53.399 or this time try to act. He had been a 0:23:53.680 --> 0:23:56.760 kind of not very successful movie actor, had been more 0:23:56.840 --> 0:23:59.840 successful as the host of a couple of television program 0:24:00.359 --> 0:24:02.720 but he did have this way of speaking and of 0:24:02.880 --> 0:24:07.320 connecting with people. All right, Karen, Maybe I wasn't the 0:24:07.400 --> 0:24:11.399 best actor, but but it didn't matter. I needed people 0:24:11.480 --> 0:24:14.920 to know my name. I needed the power. And what 0:24:15.119 --> 0:24:17.280 better way to be at the seat of power than 0:24:17.359 --> 0:24:21.400 as the face of the General Electric Company. No, I'm 0:24:21.440 --> 0:24:24.399 not recording, I promise, well, did you see me on 0:24:24.520 --> 0:24:29.359 TV last night? To see those those monkeys? Oh? Gosh, sorry, 0:24:29.440 --> 0:24:32.600 wrong clip. Here's the g e thing. Here is Ronald Reagan. 0:24:33.840 --> 0:24:36.879 Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It's my pleasure to appear 0:24:36.920 --> 0:24:40.720 with Cloris Leachman and she he presents. Stick your hands 0:24:40.840 --> 0:24:44.680 up and hand us the loote. General Electric money is 0:24:44.760 --> 0:24:49.200 our most important product. Part of the gig was traveling 0:24:49.240 --> 0:24:53.000 the country and meeting with General Electric employees all over 0:24:53.080 --> 0:24:55.680 the country. I mean he would talk to tens of 0:24:55.760 --> 0:24:59.480 thousands of people, and even in the fifties he was 0:24:59.600 --> 0:25:04.600 adv cating very much the sorts of things that he 0:25:05.800 --> 0:25:08.600 would later become his hamart. Working as the host of 0:25:08.680 --> 0:25:11.840 ge Theater kind of required me to be a conservative 0:25:12.440 --> 0:25:16.960 and a good actor has to believe he is the character. Sorry, FDR. 0:25:17.600 --> 0:25:20.480 I had to ditch that Democrats ship because it wasn't 0:25:20.520 --> 0:25:24.200 taking me anywhere, which I didn't mind because the bag 0:25:24.480 --> 0:25:28.720 was good. Man, Do I love money? I basically became 0:25:28.800 --> 0:25:33.120 Alec Baldwin and thirty Rock, except more conservative, and boy 0:25:33.200 --> 0:25:39.040 did I have power. Finally, so I became president of 0:25:39.119 --> 0:25:45.640 the Screen Actors Guild. Will you name names? Senator McCarthy, Oh, boy, 0:25:45.760 --> 0:25:47.840 who I have a list as long as you're bar 0:25:47.960 --> 0:25:52.879 dab oh my. So he was the president of the 0:25:53.040 --> 0:25:58.639 Union and he did testify in Congress, and he really 0:25:59.000 --> 0:26:04.960 walked of very very narrow wine between Again, you have 0:26:05.080 --> 0:26:08.320 to understand what the country was going through at the time, 0:26:08.960 --> 0:26:11.720 and the Union had been in the middle of all 0:26:11.840 --> 0:26:17.840 these gigantic battles. Uh and they're, you know, over communism. 0:26:19.320 --> 0:26:22.440 Well you didn't hear this from me, but I hear 0:26:22.520 --> 0:26:25.639 that redhead, you know, the one she's married to, that 0:26:26.000 --> 0:26:29.280 Spanish fellow. Well I heard the hair Dante, the only 0:26:29.359 --> 0:26:32.359 red she carries in her purse. She's got some explaining 0:26:32.440 --> 0:26:36.760 to do. It would later be revealed that both Reagan 0:26:36.920 --> 0:26:41.200 and his first wife, Jane Wyman, were FBI informants during 0:26:41.400 --> 0:26:45.000 all of this. Uh, to be fair, like, like I've 0:26:45.040 --> 0:26:47.879 done most of my life, I just read whatever script 0:26:47.960 --> 0:26:50.440 the directors put in front of me. Well, in this case, 0:26:50.520 --> 0:26:54.280 it just happened to be j Edgar Hoover, and hey, 0:26:54.760 --> 0:26:58.679 I was able to get actors residual checks. You're welcome, 0:26:58.760 --> 0:27:03.600 Tom Hanks. I at that. So not all bad? Right? So? Yes, 0:27:03.720 --> 0:27:07.920 the battles with communists and the specifically communists in the 0:27:08.440 --> 0:27:13.399 Hollywood unions that sort of implanted the anti communist side 0:27:13.520 --> 0:27:18.480 of his of this ideology. Yeah, kill those COMMI bastards. 0:27:19.440 --> 0:27:22.240 I'll give you all my guns if you will. The president, 0:27:22.320 --> 0:27:24.960 you'll need to snap out of it. You're having a 0:27:25.119 --> 0:27:31.160 Central American flash back. After sag and ge that angry 0:27:31.320 --> 0:27:36.359 Barry Goldwater hit me up with another gig. He basically 0:27:36.440 --> 0:27:39.120 wanted me to tell people to vote for him. Good 0:27:39.240 --> 0:27:42.440 luck with that, Barry. The way I saw it, Barry 0:27:42.600 --> 0:27:45.000 was going to lose even if I was able to 0:27:45.160 --> 0:27:49.120 channel the Almighty's voice and command people to vote for him. 0:27:50.119 --> 0:27:53.080 So I thought it was the perfect opportunity for a 0:27:53.160 --> 0:27:57.200 little bit of Ronnie magic. I spit a couple of 0:27:57.280 --> 0:28:00.440 bars to the crowd, and they ate that it up. 0:28:01.520 --> 0:28:04.639 I've spent most of my life as a Democrat. I 0:28:04.880 --> 0:28:08.280 recently have seen fit to follow another course the money. 0:28:09.480 --> 0:28:12.240 There has come a time for choosing between being broken, 0:28:12.359 --> 0:28:15.960 righteous or making a buck off the backs of others. 0:28:17.359 --> 0:28:20.639 It was one of my fine air moments, and it 0:28:20.800 --> 0:28:24.200 led to the next bag. Some dudes came up to me, like, 0:28:25.080 --> 0:28:28.480 you ever think of running for office ship? Not really, 0:28:28.600 --> 0:28:31.359 but they gave me a mill for my campaign, and 0:28:31.680 --> 0:28:34.080 I had to take it because I was still out 0:28:34.160 --> 0:28:37.320 here hustling, trying to be like my boy Frankie Roosevelt. 0:28:38.120 --> 0:28:42.959 But you know, by destroying everything he built, Mrs Welfare 0:28:43.120 --> 0:28:49.640 Queen tear down that mall, My campaign was ironclad. I 0:28:49.760 --> 0:28:53.680 talked a little bit about welfare queens cutting social programs, 0:28:54.280 --> 0:28:59.120 making America great again, and general inspirational shit, change the 0:28:59.200 --> 0:29:03.680 game type it. And then there was the war. I 0:29:03.840 --> 0:29:09.000 led comfortably from home against the Red Army by funding 0:29:09.080 --> 0:29:13.200