I lived on Rockford Files reruns and beer when I was in college. (And cheese steaks if I’m telling the complete truth.) I’m a huge James Garner fan. So somebody please tell him to shut up before he destroys my appreciation of him.
In his new memoir, Garner disses Reagan as stupid and says he’s pro-choice.
“Too many actors have run for office,” he writes. “There’s one difference between me and them: I know I’m not qualified. In my opinion, Arnold Schwarzenegger wasn’t qualified to be governor of California. Ronald Reagan wasn’t qualified to be governor, let alone president. I was a vice president of the Screen Actors Guild when he was its president. My duties consisted of attending meetings and voting. The only thing I remember is that Ronnie never had an original thought and that we had to tell him what to say. That’s no way to run a union, let along a state or a country.”
Garner writes that he was asked to run for Congress in 1962 as a Republican, and “it didn’t stop them when I told them I was a Democrat. …They just thought I could win.” In 1990, Democratic leaders approached him about running for governor of California, but the discussion got to the issue of abortion and Garner says he answered, “I don’t have an opinion, because that’s up to the woman. It has nothing to do with me.” The conversation pretty much stopped there.
Ack.
Look, I assume actors are all libs but when they start airing it out it bugs me, especially when they start calling certain Republicans, stupid. Or when they start talking about being pro-choice. It just bugs me. So I’m begging James Garner to leave me with my memories.
Now all I’ve got left is beer and cheese steaks. And, at least we’ve still got Tom Selleck.
November 3, 2011 at 11:35 pm
Always such a disappointment to get to know what "stars" are really like. He was such a sweetie in two movies with Doris Day; and excellent in Rockford. Too bad, I would have wanted to remember him from the good ole days.
November 4, 2011 at 12:03 am
Funny, his recollections of Reagan's term as President of SAG don't jibe with anything else I have heard or read.
November 4, 2011 at 12:16 am
Also funny is the way these bitter old lotharios bring up abortion as a sacred cow. That old friend made a lot of their problems disappear for 300 bucks.
November 4, 2011 at 12:52 am
Excuse me, but as an ex-conservative, allow me to ask if Mr. Garner does or does not have a right to his opinions, as you seem to believe YOU do?
I don't know how old you are, Erik, but Garner's opinions are EXACTLY what I remember of Reagan as SAG Pres and US Pres.
Saw him do a televised interview douring the writers' strike in 1960. The VPs were crowded all around him – including Garner – looking wary and worried. With good reason. Reagan stumbled around so much I never figured out what he was trying to say. That also happened when he was President. I well remember his staff running around doing damage control when he contradicted himself or pulled something totally off the wall. This is what I remember.
I happen to be pro-choice myself. What in the world do you men know about rape, incest or anything else related to pregnancy? When one of you gets pregnant, THEN comment. Until then, but out. In Utah a women get prosecuted for a MISCARRIAGE! What crap.
And Blakrep, what in the WORLD does James Garner have to be bitter about? You haven't even read the book, right? Lothario? He's been married to the same woman for 55 years.
It's truly sad how intolerant and judgmental conservatives have become. My way or the highway, right? I guess you'll have to give up Julie Andrews too, because she wrote the Introduction and called him a "Sweetheart."
November 4, 2011 at 1:27 am
suzanne~ i know about rape and unwanted pregnancies (notice it's plural)and about being a single mother and about having an abortion when i got pregnant again 2 yrs later. i know that i would never want another woman to go through what i went through before and after having an abortion. i know that the decision i regret the most was the one where i aborted my child and not the one where i had the baby (at 18, single, and POOR).
being judgmental is also about the actions, not the person. actions can and SHOULD BE judged to be right or wrong and people (out of love and charity) should be corrected. otherwise, you might think that child rape is reprehensible but your neighbor (with his own idea of morality and right and wrong) disagrees and likes 10 yr olds. but, who are you to judge? right?!
sorry, that may be extreme but really, in todays world, anything goes.
i get from your comment that you are angry and i am sorry for that. i pray for your peace. May God Bless you and watch over you.
November 4, 2011 at 11:12 am
@Suzanne Moore:
What in the world do you men know about rape, incest or anything else related to pregnancy?
What do men know about rape, incest and prenancy? Men bring about rape, incest and pregnancy. Read Susan B. Anthony. Men ought to be men enough to care for their own. The feminists took the side of these illegitimate SOBs and brought abortion into the public square to let these criminals off the hook. Now, it is past time that men started honoring women as God wishes.
November 4, 2011 at 11:53 am
James Garner is a partisan Democrat and has been all his life. He met his wife, a fanatical Democrat, at an Adlai Stevenson rally in 1956. He is also a total pro-abort, being a long time supporter of Voters for Choice. As for his comments about Reagan, Reagan served seven terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild: 1947-1952 and 1959-1960. Garner was only around for the last of his terms. By all accounts Reagan was a very effective leader of the Guild as demonstrated by his many terms in that office.
Here is a link to a write up on Reagan at the Screen Actor Guild site:
http://www.sag.org/ronald-reagan
November 4, 2011 at 2:07 pm
Excuse me, but as an ex-conservative, allow me to ask if Mr. Garner does or does not have a right to his opinions, as you seem to believe YOU do?
This is the dumbest line of argumentation there is, but it really doesn't come as any surprise considering the quality of the rest of your writing. Yes, Mr. Garner has a right to his opinions. We also have the right to call him an idiot for those opinions. Whenever someone lies back on the "he has a right to his opinions" trope, you know they've got nothing else to offer.
It's truly sad how intolerant and judgmental conservatives have become
An ironic statement considering the tone of your own comment.
November 4, 2011 at 4:29 pm
–In 1990, Democratic leaders approached him about running for governor of California, but the discussion got to the issue of abortion and Garner says he answered, "I don't have an opinion, because that's up to the woman. It has nothing to do with me."–
–In 1860, Republican leaders apprached him about running for President, but the discussion got to the issue of slavery and (he) says he answered, "I don't have an opinion, because that's up to the slaveowner. It has nothing to do with me."–
The life of another human being has nothing to do with me…. He's as wrong about that as he is wrong about President Reagan.
November 5, 2011 at 4:43 pm
I could have gone the rest of my life not reading Mr. Garner's comments, but just goes to show, the actor is NOT the characters he plays.
November 5, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Um, someone please tell Suzanne Moore he's the pot calling the kettle black. Besides, you'd think she was on staff with both the SAG and the White House the way she knows just what happened in those settings back in the day. But I imagine she's too busy cuing up her copies of "All the President's Men" and every Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon film ever made. To quote someone else, "What crap"!
November 5, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Suzanne, you have given us a perfect example of the incoherency of the PRO-ABORTION (that is after all what the choice is about) position. Being a human being, I have the right to comment, be concerned, and work to stop the willful killing or abuse of another human being. And yes that includes such crimes as rape or incest. Excuse me if I don't think that these crimes excuse the deliberate taking of an innocent human life.
I remember President Reagan quite well from my naive college liberal days and even then found him to be intelligent, well-spoken, with well thought out opinions. The meme that he was stupid and senile is worn out and historically inaccurate.
Of course Mr. Garner has a right to say stupid things, just as Matt has the right to point out the stupidity and condescending manner of his comments.
November 6, 2011 at 6:36 pm
Since when does Garner have a right to a misinformed opinion? It's contradicted by the facts: we know, we've got the documentary evidence, that Reagan was not dumb. Garner's opinion is contradicted by facts, therefore he has no right to it.
You only have a right to opinions that are not nonsense.
November 7, 2011 at 12:37 pm
Was Garner trying to claim that he being pro-abortion turned off the Dems in 1990? Does he really think that we're so stupid as to think that the California Democrat Party in 1990 wouldn't think of running a pro-abort liberal actor?
November 7, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Gosh Suzanne, I bet you have no idea about war, having never served on a battlefield. Better not form or express an opinion based on your internal logic. I bet you have no idea about foreign or domestic policy, monetary or financial policy, bailouts, the FAA, running a restaurant, paying employees, etc. In fact, unless you've served in a direct capacity in any of these government sectors, you'd better not have an opinion.
I hope you have no opinions on the priesthood, because what do you know, not being a priest?