Changes

::::*Ah. Still haven't pinned it down, but the issue was whether Reagan said that trees cause 80% of all pollution (ludicrous), that trees cause more pollution than automobiles (ludicrous) or whether trees cause ''certain kinds of'' pollution (true and never disputed). See http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20030323/ai_n10851446 . The Reagan defenders tend to say things like "Reagan was right: trees do cause pollution," but that's silly, because that was never in dispute. (I believe I've read--probably in a Nevil Shute novel, but, hey--that in Australia under some conditions one can see visible plumes of ''flammable'' fumes coming from eucalyptus trees). But the whole thing is stupid, because assuming that Reagan had done his homework, did not misspeak, and was not misquoted, it was still a ''tendentious'' and somewhat dishonest thing to say. It's a phony argument to say that because X is not the only source of pollution, we shouldn't try to control pollution from X. And if, as I suspect Reagan simply misspoke slightly (or forgot a qualification to the statement that he had meant to include) then it was phony and dishonest to portray it as a patently stupid remark. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 09:54, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

::::*Ah. Still haven't pinned it down, but the issue was whether Reagan said that trees cause 80% of all pollution (ludicrous), that trees cause more pollution than automobiles (ludicrous) or whether trees cause ''certain kinds of'' pollution (true and never disputed). See http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20030323/ai_n10851446 . The Reagan defenders tend to say things like "Reagan was right: trees do cause pollution," but that's silly, because that was never in dispute. (I believe I've read--probably in a Nevil Shute novel, but, hey--that in Australia under some conditions one can see visible plumes of ''flammable'' fumes coming from eucalyptus trees). But the whole thing is stupid, because assuming that Reagan had done his homework, did not misspeak, and was not misquoted, it was still a ''tendentious'' and somewhat dishonest thing to say. It's a phony argument to say that because X is not the only source of pollution, we shouldn't try to control pollution from X. And if, as I suspect Reagan simply misspoke slightly (or forgot a qualification to the statement that he had meant to include) then it was phony and dishonest to portray it as a patently stupid remark. [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 09:54, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

::::*It is '''astonishing''' how searches for things like "reagan trees pollution" fail to turn up any really clear description of exactly when and where he said exactly what. One version is in the http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0231069901&id=bs0J36MpieIC&pg=PA230&lpg=PA230&dq=reagan+trees+pollution&sig=IVgd8AHZ7xMAm2QCZVEJcSt4iwQ#PPA230,M1 Concise Columbia Dictionary of Quotations]: "Eighty percent of pollution is caused by plant and trees." But it doesn't say when or where! [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 10:57, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

::::*It is '''astonishing''' how searches for things like "reagan trees pollution" fail to turn up any really clear description of exactly when and where he said exactly what. One version is in the [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0231069901&id=bs0J36MpieIC&pg=PA230&lpg=PA230&dq=reagan+trees+pollution&sig=IVgd8AHZ7xMAm2QCZVEJcSt4iwQ#PPA230,M1 Concise Columbia Dictionary of Quotations]: "Eighty percent of pollution is caused by plant and trees." But it doesn't say when or where! [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 10:57, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

 

::::*This sounds like it's probably right: It is a New York Times review of a ''On Reagan, The Man And His Presidency,'' by Ronnie Duggan. The review is by David E. Rosenbaum and appeared January 8, 1984, p. BR16. He suggests that the book is a hatchet job and that Duggan has pulled together everything that can be used to show Reagan as a "dogged right-wing ideologue." ''However,'' he says that Duggan "found a heretofore unpublished treasure. He obtained the transcripts of more than 500 five-minute radio commentaries Mr. Reagan wrote before and broadcast" while governor of California. In particular, "'Eighty percent of air pollution comes not from chimneys and auto exhaust pipes but from plants and trees,' Mr. Reagan declared on the radio in 1979." So ''if'' the reviewer is quoting the book properly and ''if'' the (biased) book is quoting the transcript properly and ''if'' the transcript is accurate, then Reagan did say something stupid. Most likely some important qualification, was left out. (I'm guessing someone told him that 80% of all volatile foithboindered organic tricycloalphatretramidglobulase gammatane pollution comes from trees and plants and he was keeping it short and punchy...) [[User:Dpbsmith|Dpbsmith]] 11:12, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

Just because a true understanding of events is lacking, does not mean that they did not take place. Kennedy's reference to the Berliner (whether real or imagined) is, without any doubt, the '''most important''' Berliner-related event in history. For all mention of it to be removed makes a mockery of this article. A short factual (and ideally non-speculative) summary of his remark, at the very least, is absolutely required here. --[[User:Jeremiah4-22|Jeremiah4-22]] 08:45, 12 April 2007 (EDT)

Just because a true understanding of events is lacking, does not mean that they did not take place. Kennedy's reference to the Berliner (whether real or imagined) is, without any doubt, the '''most important''' Berliner-related event in history. For all mention of it to be removed makes a mockery of this article. A short factual (and ideally non-speculative) summary of his remark, at the very least, is absolutely required here. --[[User:Jeremiah4-22|Jeremiah4-22]] 08:45, 12 April 2007 (EDT)