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That already happened, back in 1984. President Reagan was joking during a sound check, and said the following: > My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you t

That already happened, back in 1984. President Reagan was joking during a sound check, and said the following: > My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.

jacquesm 6y ago
As dumb as Reagan was it was so out of character for him to say that that people clued in to it being a joke. In Trump's case it is not so far out that it might be believed. Conspiracy nuts don't need much to set them off, see 'pizzagate'.
DonHopkins 6y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_begin_bombing_in_five_minutes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_begin_bombing_in_five_minut... >Reactions >Soviet >By August 14, the recording of Reagan's joke had become world news. On August 15, someone who the National Security Agency described to US Representative Michael D. Barnes as "a wayward operator in the Soviet Far Eastern command" sent a coded message from Vladivostok that said, in part, "We now embark on military action against the U.S. forces." Japanese and US intelligence decoded the message and raised the alert state in that part of the world; Soviet naval vessels in the North Pacific, on the other hand, contacted Vladivostok in confusion. The US never saw any evidence of Soviet attack preparations, and the alert status as promulgated by Vladivostok was canceled within 30 minutes.[3] >Initially, on August 13, the deputy minister of Soviet foreign affairs (Valentin Kamenev) told reporters, "I have nothing to say."[5] By the next day, though, President Reagan's leaked comments were denounced by the Soviet government, Pravda, Izvestia, and TASS as "unprecedentedly hostile," as evidence of the United States' insincerity at trying to improve Soviet Union–United States relations, and as abuse of the office of the president. "Western diplomats" described the Soviet response as over-the-top, suggesting it was an effort to give themselves more collateral at the negotiating table with the US.[7] US officials were compelled to mollify the Soviet Union and assure the United States' Cold War adversary that "Reagan’s offhand remark did not reflect White House policies or U.S. military intentions."[8] http://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/rachel-maddow-show/2016-12-22 http://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/rachel-maddow-show/2016-12-... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/14/ronald-reagan-bombing-russia-joke-archive-1984 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/14/ronald-reagan-... https://www.politico.com/story/2010/08/reagan-jokes-about-bombing-russia-august-11-1984-040921 https://www.politico.com/story/2010/08/reagan-jokes-about-bo... Audio and news coverage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFCABnWlN8E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFCABnWlN8E Bonzo Goes To Washington - B-B-B Bombing In 5 Minutes (Jerry Harrison, Bootsy Collins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k4TNtUZnM4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k4TNtUZnM4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Minutes_(Bonzo_Goes_to_Washington_song) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Minutes_(Bonzo_Goes_to_Wa...

jacquesm 6y ago

As dumb as Reagan was it was so out of character for him to say that that people clued in to it being a joke. In Trump's case it is not so far out that it might be believed. Conspiracy nuts don't need much to set them off, see 'pizzagate'.

DonHopkins 6y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_begin_bombing_in_five_minutes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_begin_bombing_in_five_minut... >Reactions >Soviet >By August 14, the recording of Reagan's joke had become world news. On August 15, someone who the National Security Agency described to US Representative Michael D. Barnes as "a wayward operator in the Soviet Far Eastern command" sent a coded message from Vladivostok that said, in part, "We now embark on military action against the U.S. forces." Japanese and US intelligence decoded the message and raised the alert state in that part of the world; Soviet naval vessels in the North Pacific, on the other hand, contacted Vladivostok in confusion. The US never saw any evidence of Soviet attack preparations, and the alert status as promulgated by Vladivostok was canceled within 30 minutes.[3] >Initially, on August 13, the deputy minister of Soviet foreign affairs (Valentin Kamenev) told reporters, "I have nothing to say."[5] By the next day, though, President Reagan's leaked comments were denounced by the Soviet government, Pravda, Izvestia, and TASS as "unprecedentedly hostile," as evidence of the United States' insincerity at trying to improve Soviet Union–United States relations, and as abuse of the office of the president. "Western diplomats" described the Soviet response as over-the-top, suggesting it was an effort to give themselves more collateral at the negotiating table with the US.[7] US officials were compelled to mollify the Soviet Union and assure the United States' Cold War adversary that "Reagan’s offhand remark did not reflect White House policies or U.S. military intentions."[8] http://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/rachel-maddow-show/2016-12-22 http://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/rachel-maddow-show/2016-12-... https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/14/ronald-reagan-bombing-russia-joke-archive-1984 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/14/ronald-reagan-... https://www.politico.com/story/2010/08/reagan-jokes-about-bombing-russia-august-11-1984-040921 https://www.politico.com/story/2010/08/reagan-jokes-about-bo... Audio and news coverage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFCABnWlN8E https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFCABnWlN8E Bonzo Goes To Washington - B-B-B Bombing In 5 Minutes (Jerry Harrison, Bootsy Collins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k4TNtUZnM4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k4TNtUZnM4 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Minutes_(Bonzo_Goes_to_Washington_song) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Minutes_(Bonzo_Goes_to_Wa...