Interview · moment 10 of 14
Coincidences: Hinckley, Neil Bush, and the Media's Cozy Friends
from Live From The NY Comedy Festival (with Russ Baker) · #80
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
5 minGuest
Tim and Russ joke about how uncomfortable the crowd is, then dig into the bizarre coincidence of Neil Bush's scheduled dinner with the Hinckley family the night Reagan was shot, and Russ recounts media friends warning him off the Bush story, including one Pulitzer winner telling him to 'watch your back.'
- 37:57People dismiss connections between powerful figures as mere coincidences, but the pattern is worth examining.
- 38:43Neil Bush was scheduled to have dinner with the Hinckley family the night John Hinckley Jr. shot Reagan.
- 39:01George H.W. Bush ran against Reagan, lost, then became his VP—only to have Reagan shot by someone connected to the Bush family almost immediately after taking office.
- 39:44Tim notes that people told him it has to be coincidence, because otherwise it would be too obvious.
- 39:58The Bush family operates on a different league than other powerful families when it comes to this kind of thing.
- 40:25Progressive media outlets never discuss this material in any substantive way, so they don't need to come after him.
- 40:59A former New York Times editor told him to skip the Kennedy assassination and Watergate material from his book, then Tim found a photo of that same editor with his arm around George H.W. Bush on his office wall.
- 41:27High-placed people in the media are friends with the people in power—it's a cozy relationship.
- 41:54Tim called a Pulitzer Prize-winning friend at the New York Times to ask if he'd lost perspective on his research findings.
- 42:20The Times editor's response: 'You better watch your back, buddy.'
George H. W. BushJohn Hinckley Jr.New York TimesWatergateFamily Secretsthe Kennedy assassinationRonald ReaganNeil BushGeorge W. BushThe ClintonsNew York