Friday, June 26, 2009

WITH THEM INDIANA BOYS ON AN INDIANA NIGHT: The NYT's Charlie Savage recalls (and links to the documents) from when Reagan White House aide John Roberts, of Long Beach, IN, weighed in on how much attention the President should pay to the Victory Tour and other affairs of fellow Hoosier Michael Jackson.

On Sept. 21, 1984, the now-CJOTUS wrote in a memo (see p7, PDF), "In today’s Post there were already reports that some youngsters were turning away from Mr. Jackson in favor of a newcomer who goes by the name 'Prince,' and is apparently planning a Washington concert. Will he receive a Presidential letter? How will we decide which performers do and which do not? ... Why, for example, was no letter sent to Mr. Bruce Springsteen, whose patriotic tour recently visited the area?"

ETA by Isaac: Follow the link trail and you'll get to the letter Reagan sent Jackson as he was recovering from his scalp-combustion incident. I trust that I am not violating our no-politics rule when I guess that the Reagan of 1984 would not have lauded the Jackson of 2009 for his "deep faith in God and adherence to traditional values."

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