I really want to know what the difference between this and the Webb ad is.

if he were alive today?  Do you think he would approve of the neo-con/Bush Administration?  Hell, even Dubya's own father and HW's advisors don't approve of Dubya.  Also remember that Reagan was a liberal Democrat for the first 50 years or so of his life and headed the liberal Hollywood Screen Actors Guild. For more on Reagan in Hollywood, see here.  For more on Reagan as a FDR/New Deal Democrat, see here.  The bottom line is that this man was FAR more complicated, and far more nuanced, than you right-wingers would make him out to be.  Also recall that Reagan  proposed banning all nuclear weapons at the famous Reykjavik Summit. 

Webb became secretary of the Navy in 1987, the first Naval Academy graduate in history to serve in the military and then become Navy secretary. He resigned a year later after refusing to agree with the reduction of the Navy's force structure during congressionally mandated budget cuts. More recently, he has been a strong vocal critic of President George W. Bush's decision to go to war in Iraq.

Webb served with the 5th Marine Regiment in Vietnam and received the Navy Cross, the Silver Star Medal, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts. He received his law degree from Georgetown University.

He has written six best-selling novels, including "Fields of Fire," considered by many to be the classic novel of the Vietnam War. His original story, "Rules of Engagement," was made into a movie starring Tommy Lee Jones and Samuel L. Jackson. He has traveled worldwide as a journalist, and his PBS coverage of the U.S. Marines in Beirut earned him an Emmy Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

-------------

and what good has allen done?  where are HIS accomplishments?

That's how he knows.

throughout his life, throwing himself in front of enemy grenades in Vietnam, standing up for the US Navy.  The question is, how much honor - if any - does George ALLEN have?  Will ALLEN pull down his OWN photo with Ronald Reagan, even though California Cowboy George never served in the Reagan Administration and even though Allen's big government, huge pork-barrel-spending agenda is certainly not something Reagan would have approved of.  Oh, and what does Mrs. Reagan think about the fact that George Allen OPPOSES embryonic stem cell research to cure diseases like Alzheimer's, while Jim Webb supports such research that could have cured Ronald Reagan?  Actually, we already know the answer to that question.

nancy's strong belief in the powers beyond reality allows her to speak directly to ronnie and every OTHER republican president we've had to personally get their permission for republicans to use their words or likenesses in their ads or speeches.

if webb was running as a rethug, you think she would oppose this? no way and IP, are you even a Va resident?  if you are, why are you ok with nancy reagan having a say in our state politics, if you're not, why are you even here?

I shall fulminate and quake in my shoes! Slap not your glove of rhetoric upon my virtual face! Keep up the fight brave warrior, you are the nations last defense! You hath vanquished a squishy liberal like me!

Oh, wait, no, you are an idiot, but thanks for playing.

And thanks Lowell, I'm not sure Republicans can read dead peoples' minds, but who knows.

Please ... Against George Allen, Jim Webb earned more honor his first day at the Naval Academy than Allen has his entire career.

Also, the ad is a bio piece, not an endorsement and Jim Webb - even in the primary - used his connection with Reagan to connect with voters. Nobody complained then. Just that now it looks like Webb will win - hence Allen is pulling out all the stops - in September no less.

POUND THESE MO FOS.

I "thought" they had us. Boy was I wrong. Again.

Why because we have the BEST bloggers in Virginia.

And Democrats are the BEST bloggers in America.

Bravo Everyone, once again you secure Jim Webb's Victory!

Oorah, Jim Webb.

Mr. Montoya?

If so, I am as well. Nice to know these things.

This is public domain clip and as stated earlier the ad speaks for itself.  Is Reagan endorsing Webb from beyond the grave?  Some people may come to that conclusion, but I say the ad is what it is.  A good introductory piece.

at the end of Raese's ad sounded more like Reagan's voice than the one in Webb's ad.  I suggest that this issue is over!  Finished!  Colorin colorado...

but I saw over 170 articles relating to this on the Google news search.Clearly there is no rel meat to this story.  But then this is an election year and the GOP/Allen people are going to do whatever it takes to make this and anything else look bad. 
  Do you really think the GOPers will win based on logical arguments, real issues and real ideas????

This will keep the Webb campaign on the front page!!  And Allen will look bad in the end.  Maybe the newspapers will even repeat the macaca story.  Que chevere!

Guys, seriously, if Nancy Reagan does not want this particular campaign to use her husband's image then they should withdraw it.  It's the respectful and high road to take even if she is only calling for its pulling for partisan reasons (I don't know if she is or isn't).  Webb's life is a time line of one impressive achievement after another.  He does not need the voice of Ronald Reagan to show Virginians just how astonishing his life has been.  When it comes to personal accomplishment I doubt anyone can deny that it is Webb's life has been one to be admired and that Allen's doen't even begin to compare.

She should say, I don't think Ronnie would've liked you anymore, Jim.  Rather, her spokeswoman says "Use of the President's name, image or likeness implies endorsement, which is neither fair nor respectful of any candidate."  So, her standard isn't Webb-specific, it's "any" use. 

The deceased can't endorse.

of James Webb.  President Reagan didn't know George Allen from Adam.  Does that disturb you?

You were at the press conference IPub?  Incredible.  A witness to history.  And who would've thought that Webb's name would come up again twenty years later...

Seriously, based on your description it sounds like you know as fact that Reagan didn't know much about Webb and that Regan prepared the crib notes.  Cmon - at best this is a guess on your part, but probably just wishful projection.

And for the matter in question, using Reagan's image in an ad, you haven't addressed the matter of all those Republicans who attach themselves to the man.  Webb certainly knew Reagan better than Allen but Allen still uses Reagan in his promotional materials. 

So if Nancy Reagan is going to play partisan politics with her husband's legacy then the footage is fair game.

wouldn't know the former assistant secretary of defense and the secretary of the navy?

how uninformed was he?

you just tried to insuniate that reagan didn't give a shit about webb, he barely knew him right?  -- then why did he appoint him to a council in 1983 -- FOUR YEARS before he appointed him Secretary of the Navy:

-----------

Appointment of James Webb as a Member of the National Voluntary Service Advisory Council
May 25th, 1983

The President today announced his intention to appoint James Webb to be a member of the National Voluntary Service Advisory Council. This is a new position.

Mr. Webb is a writer. He was assistant minority counsel to the House Committee on Veterans Affairs in the U.S. Congress in 1977-1978. In 1979 he became the first visiting writer at the United States Naval Academy. He returned to the Congress in 1979 to become the chief minority counsel for the Veterans Affairs Committee. Since 1981 he has been a full-time writer.

He graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1968. Mr. Webb received a degree from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1975. He is married, has two children, and resides in Arlington, Va. He was born February 9,

http://www.presidenc...

-----

go back to your troll hole -- you have lost!

Pull the Ad.

Dude, that's just stupid!

Are you serious? Is Nancy still using her court astrologer to channel Ronald Reagan's post-death endorsements?

This is another example of the pettiness of Nancy Reagan and fellow Republicans. As Lowell has brilliantly shown, every election cycle candidates that have had no contact with Reagan invoke him name and his imagine to conjure up some imaginary link between themselves and the Gipper.

Jim Webb actually served under Reagan and Ronald Reagan said those words about him, on film as many have pointed out. It's great for Republicans when they want to use our soldiers as props to serve their macho image building propaganda, but heaven forbide, when a soldier is a Democrat and runs for office, even those words of praise that Republicans once sang for Jim Webb turn sour?

Ronald Reagan was a master at using props and the truth is we now find out that Republicans can't stand it when those props actually have minds of their own.

This is what is truly disgusting about the Republican party today and why many of us have left it. Jim Webb honorably served his country. The President of the United States rightfully sang Jim's praise. Today Jim Webb and an army of fellow Americans have grown tired of the duplicitous nature of the Republican Party and we are fighting to take our nation back.

Ronald Reagan was a former Democrat when he turned Republican because he thought that party was better serving the interests of the nation as a whole in the fight against Communism. Today, Jim Webb has made a similarly courageous stand to place his country over loyalty to a previous party in order do what he thinks is best.

Not even Nancy Reagan has a right to dishonor the courage that her former husband and Jim Webb have shown this nation.

The ad should run from now until November 7th when George Allen gets a chance to get off the government gravy train and join the unemployment line.

I would leave the decision up to the voters.  Let them see the ad and come to their own conclusions. 

So, let me understand. It's alright for republican candidates to use images of Reagan but not democrats? I am confused as to the what the former First Lady is attempting to do.

Touche!

Well, actually he's opposed to it, but in my book, that's a ringing endorsement of Webb's libertarian and moderate credentials.

I can think of few political appointees in the history of our nation with a greater pornography obsession than Edwin Meese.  In the age of Jimmy Swaggart and Tammy Faye and Jim Baker Edwin Meese was a perfect fit . . . He had one hand on the Bible and the other on a copy of Penthouse.

"In a telephone interview, Edwin Meese, attorney general under Reagan, called use of the footage "improper, unethical and very possibly illegal. ... For him to use video of Ronald Reagan to appear in a campaign ad to favor him is fraud."

http://news.yahoo.co...

I count this another major victory for Jim Webb. 

If the image Jim Webb is part of the public record; or a movie his family took during the ceremony, it belongs to the public sphere or to Jim Webb.

Just call Ronnie up and get his blessings.  I'm sure he can't stand phony Allen, like the rest of us.

If the image of Jim Webb came from a movie shot by he or his family during the ceremony, it belongs to Jim Webb.

For example, if someone is being honored during a graduation, and let's say someone like former Secretary of State James Baker gives the graduation speech and also commends the same person as part of the ceremony, mom and pop shoot a reel, guess what folks, the reel belongs to mom and pop.

Nancy only has ownership of her husband's image if Webb were doing something like photoshopping the two images together.

In other words, Nancy doesn't have a legal leg to stand on.

[...] if someone is being honored during a graduation, and let's say someone like former Secretary of State James Baker gives the graduation speech and also commends the same person as part of the ceremony, mom and pop shoot a reel, guess what folks, the reel belongs to mom and pop. -- Mimi Schaeffer

Just what I said in the previous "thread" (Does Allen have permission...) :)

As James Webb returned to the campaign trail Friday, President Ronald Reagan's widow called on the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate not to use footage of the late president in a television ad.

http://www.roanoke.c...

give me a break. To quote Speaker Reed, "A statesman is a politician who is dead."

Also, someone commented on my profile tag awhile back. I found this eerie real quote from Capt. Smith in a newspaper article after Titanic sank quoting him from months before. “… the Olympic is unsinkable, and the Titanic will be the same when she is put in commission. Why, either of these vessels could be cut in halves and each half would remain afloat indefinitely. The non-sinkable vessel has been reached in these two wonderful craft.”

I would call that entire article VERY pro Webb. You have the initial call from Nancy Reagan's office, then lots of great stuff about Webb and some quotes from last night's office opening. I'd recommend everyone read it.

using Reagan's image without permission?  Are you saying that Rick Santorum and Trent Lott have no "shred of decency?"

I note that when asked, they didn't say a think about giving George Allen permission.

You KNOW this for a fact?  You have evidence?  Or is this just like when Jim Riley defamed RK without even a shred of evidence, and is now facing possible legal action of his own? Do you people all live in a fact-free, reality-free zone or what?  Do you people ever do any digging, like actually trying to find out if Santorum, Lott, etc., etc. received permission to use Ronald Reagan's images.  No, I thought not.

but it hardly matters.  If Nancy is playing politics (i.e. letting Lott and Santorum use the images but not Webb) then she is NOT simply looking out for her late husband.  SHE'S PLAYING POLITICS. 

And if that's the case, using factually correct historical video is FAIR GAME.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........

by a PUBLIC servant. 

While you may own your wheelbarrow Nancy doesn't own everything that Reagan ever said or did.  It's part of history.  Does she own history as well?

the Reagan Library has the right to say one thing but repeatedly do the opposite.

Remember that Webb used Reagan in his primary literature. Why didn't anyone say anything then?

Perhaps because Allen and GOPers know Webb is going to win?

Are you all listening to yourselves???  This woman doesn't want someone to use her dead husband's image in their campaign.  The more I think about it and the more I read the more I do think it is for strictly for partisan reasons but that's her right.  Let's say we do go ahead and run this thing.  Imagine the backlash, not just among the black population who were devastated by Reagan's harsh social and economic policies, but also among the very segment that they were trying to reach out to with this ad.  How will the Reagan-Democrats of the Roanoke area, Norfolk area, and parts of the NOVA Suburbs feel when they hear that Webb used Reagan's image despite his wife's opposition?  Now you have pissed off Black voters (who are sick of being ignored during campaigns BTW) and the Reagan-Democrats.  Like I said, Webb does not need Ronald Reagan's voice to impress people.  His life story is enough!

I don't feel like a bad person for what I posted. I would bet that Webb himself will call Nancy Reagan, through her office, to talk about his stance on stem cell research and other social and economic issues.

Keep in mind, the letter that came out yesterday was very quick, probably written by the Allen campaign and sent to Reagan for review and signature (or at least the suggested text). I'm not saying that's a bad thing- that's very smart of Allen's campaign. But I'm skeptical about the passion from that side, just because we have been burned so many times in the past by a very well run political machine.

I really do appreciate your feelings and sentiment. Give Jim Webb the time to address this and her office.

He is part of the public record.  What he says carried weight.  What he said in public is in the public domain.  (Allen took a picture with Ronnie, Webb has Ronnie on tape speaking nicely about him.)  No one has the right to censor the rebroadcast of a Presidents public orations.  Public use of a President's speeches is par for the course. 
  I am sorry Mrs. Reagan wants to play politics with her husband and feels she can speak for him. 

  Ronnie is dead.  He can't speak for himself. No one  can.  NO ONE.  So his record must speak for him.  His words on Webb will speak for themselves.

...and his words (???) on George Allen must also speak for themselves.

You stated that Jim Webb was in the Reagan Administration for only a year. WRONG! He was in the Administration for almost four years. You are just repeating the lies of the Allen camp. If you listened to the ad, Reagan is talking about Webb being Asst Secry of Defense, not Secry of the Navy.... That came later in the FOUR YEAR period.

The Reagan speech was in an open forum, his remarks were about a young man whom he respected for his service to the country both in combat as a Marine and in his Administration. This ad does not imply any endorsement...and how could it, Reagan is no longer alive. If I.Publius believes that the ad implies an endorsement, and if IPublius is aware that Reagan is dead, then what is I.Publius smoking?

rolls 'em himself

I am sitting in my office looking at a picture of myself and President Reagan. On the photo,the President (in his own pen) wrote some very nice things to me. Should I not display this photo? God forbid, someone might see it. Is it an endorsement of me? Yes, as a person... but it certainly can't be construed as an endorsement for a future political activity on my part. Does Nancy want the thousands of pictures of her husband with American citizens who are proud of his accomplishments and his presidency to be taken off the walls? No, I.Pub, this is just political and even you know it!

Listen folks,

This blog in general is getting awfully juvenile.

Everyone respects a widow's wife. Especially Nancy Reagan, like it or not Ronald Reagan is an American hero to many.

However, this recent controversy brings a healthy debate into poltics.

Can the dead be used in campaigns?

Well, this is what I think..

If you are a private citizen who elects to jump into the public spotlight (i.e. movies, politics, music). You should expect a loss of privacy.

It's unfortunate yes, but it's unavioidable. It won't end either even if (and I hope they don't) Webb folks pull the ad.

JFK understood this, his Jackie Kennedy understood this (she even didn't like it) but she accepted it. You didn't hear Jackie Kennedy say or do the same thing when Republicans compared themselves or pretended they were endorsed by JFK from the grave.

So this isn't the first time a deceased president has been used for political reasons. And it won't be the last.

Obviously if people use a deceased president or public figure for political reasons it's both to honor the deceased and to show respect for him.

Obviously Jim Webb adored Ronald Reagan for him to use this. Is that such a bad thing?

So if Webb pulls the ad? Don't you think it's appropriate for Republicans to pull ads, pictures, audio of Reagan also, or Democrats pull JFK stuff?

The question is how far do you go?

Sorry republicans, you lose.

People love Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy.

Everyone, including those in politics will continue to honor them and use them now, and in future campaigns.

I object to the use of his image by the Allen campaign!

It is inappropriate for the forerunner of the Democratic party to be used for crass political gain by George Allen, who is of the OTHER SIDE!!! Anyone who can't see the outrage of this must be blind.

Furthermore, we need to add the sacred name of Thomas Jefferson to the airport, along with the other sacred names. Henceforth, let it be called "Thomas Jefferson, Ronald Reagan, George Washington National Airport." If anyone just calls it National, their luggage must be re-routed by way of Dubuque, while they are subjected to a TSA body cavity search.