Presidential Rebuttals
July 28, 2011
Comic writer Albert Brooks imagines what would have happened throughout history if it was standard practice for Speakers of the House to rebut presidential speeches. What would have been the rebuttals of famous words from Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy, etc.? This one was my favourite:
Ronald Reagan: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."
Tip O'Neil, speaker of the House, from his speech following the president: "Is Ronald Reagan really asking the Soviets to do the work that the United States should have been doing for decades? That is the problem with this country. We have to ask our enemy to do the heavy lifting. Can we not tear down this wall ourselves? The America I grew up in certainly could have, and I would like to return us to that era. What are we going to ask the Soviets to do next, cook us our dinner?"
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