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Obama Gaff, Apologizes to Nancy Reagan for 'Seance' Comment
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by politisite | November 7, 2008 at 05:26 pm
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WASHINGTON -- President-elect Obama called Nancy Reagan on Friday to apologize for joking that she held seances in the White House.
At a news conference in Chicago, Obama said he had spoken with all the living presidents as he prepares to take office in January. Then he smiled and said, "I didn't want to get into a Nancy Reagan thing about doing any seances."
The 87-year-old former first lady had consulted with astrologers during her husband's presidency. But she did not hold conversations with the dead.
Obama spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said the president-elect later called Mrs. Reagan "to apologize for the careless and offhanded remark." She said Obama "expressed his admiration and affection for Mrs. Reagan that so many Americans share, and they had a warm conversation."
It actually wasn't Nancy Reagan who was linked to conversations with the dead; it was Obama's top Democratic challenger for the presidency, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.
In either case, use of the word "seance" might be overstated.Nancy Reagan consulted an astrologer to help set her husband's schedule, wrote former White House chief of staff Donald T. Regan. The revelation created a furor and President Reagan even broke with his policy of not commenting on books by former White House staffers.
"No policy or decision in my mind has ever been influenced by astrology," Reagan said.
In his book "The Choice," Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward described how Clinton consulted with a spiritual adviser who led her through imaginary conversations with her personal hero, Eleanor Roosevelt. Newsweek magazine, which was promoting the book, characterized the visits as "seances," a term that White House officials quickly tried to squelch.
"These were people who were helping her laugh, helping her think," said Neel Lattimore, Clinton's spokeswoman. "These were not seances."
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politisite
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at 21:33 on November 7th, 2008
Oh dear. A somewhat unfortunate offhand remark.
at 21:47 on November 7th, 2008
As far as Gaffs go, Vice President Elect Biden will beat Obama 5 to 1.
at 22:00 on November 7th, 2008
Yes, you may well have a point there, on previous evidence.
at 07:52 on November 8th, 2008
I do hope we'll not be hearing about this Regan gaff forever. More noteable to me in this commentary is the Hilary reference.
As for Clinton White House officals were absolutely right, if, as I believe, the so-called 'spiritual adviser' of Hilary Clinton is the great Dr Jean Houston, pioneer of human potential.
Though Hilary was consulting with Jean Houston seances or anything related to the occult is certainly not what Houston does. Only those ignorant of her work could possibly think so. I was stunned years ago to hear of Hilary Clinton's association with Houston being criticized. And to hear Houston described as 'spiritual adviser' is remarkable as it seems to me to imply something akin to religion. Jean Houston is about SCIENCE. The science of human potential and she's FABULOUS. Much of Houston's work has been done with athletes to improve performance and it's been proven to be very effective. The subconsicous mind cannot differentiate between real and imagined experience. We can either benefit or be hindered in our functioning by things that actually are not. Having an 'imaginary conversation' with an once-living person to gain access to knowledge which is actually in one's own head is very far from being even closely related to a seance. It is nothing more than a way to build bridges in one's mind to better and more powerful functioning. Houston early on in her book, The Possible Human, refers to conversations Edgar Bergen had with Charlie McCarthy, famous ventriloquist had with his wooden headed companion which she witnessed as a child. Bergen considered that puppet the wisest person in the world. Bergen was accessing his subconscious via those conversations sidestepping blocks he had in his conscious mind. I have NO doubt Houston was doing with Hilary absolutely nothing more weird that that. Absolutely nothing more occutist than that and nothing any one with any understanding of the functions of the mind, or Houston's work, would have any trouble understanding. Thank you for the opportunity to express this as I was very dismayed to have heard of Professor Houston's work being maligned, and Clinton's association with her being interpreted as bizzare, as surely was the ignorance-based intent. As for Obama simply doesn't differentiate between astrology and seances as both are considered by many as 'occultist' though I've no idea why his remark, clearly amusing to him, wasn't more general. Unfortunate is about it. I'm sure it drew smiles from some of us.