A basic tenet of any sort of media tradecraft, whether in print or on-screen, is that you should have some knowledge of the things of which you speak or write. Revolutionary concept, I know. When that doesn’t happen, we get what we saw tonight- an assortment of drive-bys beclowning themselves over the meaning of a quote used by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as a callback to Ronald Reagan.
The meaning of “pale pastels” within GOP political discourse is not something that is readily discoverable subsequent to a 10-second Google search. I get it. But the term does have historic significance.
Ronald Reagan used the term multiple times, most notably during his unity speech at the 1976 GOP convention. “Bold, unmistakable colors with no pale pastel shades”, Reagan said when contrasting the GOP platform with that of the Democrats. That phrase has been…
