Cuz Merica

[VFR800]

Yeah I "could"

[dhp123166]

 

The Reagan presidency is a touchstone for the modern conservative movement. But much of what today's voters think they know about the 40th president is more myth than reality, misconceptions resulting from the passage of time or from calculated attempts to rebuild or remake Reagan's legacy. So, what are we getting wrong about the Gipper?

 

 

1. Reagan was one of our most popular presidents.

 

It's true that Reagan is popular more than two decades after leaving office. A CNN/Opinion Research poll last month gave him the third-highest approval rating among presidents of the past 50 years, behind John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton. But Reagan's average approval rating during the eight years that he was in office was nothing spectacular - 52.8 percent, according to Gallup. That places the 40th president not just behind Kennedy, Clinton and Dwight Eisenhower, but also Lyndon Johnson and George H.W. Bush, neither of whom are talked up as candidates for Mount Rushmore.

 

During his presidency, Reagan's popularity had high peaks - after the attempt on his life in 1981, for example - and huge valleys. In 1982, as the national unemployment rate spiked above 10 percent, Reagan's approval rating fell to 35 percent. At the height of the Iran-Contra scandal, nearly one-third of Americans wanted him to resign.

 

In the early 1990s, shortly after Reagan left office, several polls found even the much-maligned Jimmy Carter to be more popular. Only since Reagan's 1994 disclosure that he had Alzheimer's disease - along with lobbying efforts by conservatives, such as Grover Norquist's Ronald Reagan Legacy Project, which pushed to rename Washington's National Airport for the president - has his popularity steadily climbed.

 

2. Reagan was a tax-cutter.

 

Certainly, Reagan's boldest move as president was his 1981 tax cut, a sweeping measure that slashed the marginal rate on the wealthiest Americans from 70 percent to 50 percent. The legislation also included smaller cuts in lower tax brackets, as well as big breaks for corporations and the oil industry. But the following year, as the economy was mired in recession and the federal deficit was spiraling out of control, even groups such as the Business Roundtable lobbied Reagan to raise taxes. And he did: The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 was, at the time, the largest peacetime tax increase in U.S. history.

 

Ultimately, Reagan signed measures that increased federal taxes every year of his two-term presidency except the first and the last. These included a higher gasoline levy, a 1986 tax reform deal that included the largest corporate tax increase in American history, and a substantial raise in payroll taxes in 1983 as part of a deal to keep Social Security solvent. While wealthy Americans benefitted from Reagan's tax policies, blue-collar Americans paid a higher percentage of their income in taxes when Reagan left office than when he came in.

 

3. Reagan was a hawk.

 

Long before he was elected president, Reagan predicted that the Soviet Union would collapse because of communism's inherent corruption and inefficiency. His forecast proved accurate, but it is not clear that his military buildup moved the process forward. Though Reagan expanded the U.S. military and launched new weapons programs, his real contributions to the end of the Cold War were his willingness to negotiate arms reductions with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his encouragement of Gorbachev as a domestic reformer. Indeed, a USA Today poll taken four days after the fall of the Berlin Wall found that 43 percent of Americans credited Gorbachev, while only 14 percent cited Reagan.

 

With the exception of the 1986 bombing of Libya, Reagan also disappointed hawkish aides with his unwillingness to retaliate militarily for terrorism in the Middle East. According to biographer Lou Cannon, the president called the death of innocent civilians in anti-terror operations "terrorism itself."

 

In 1987, Reagan aide Paul Bremer, later George W. Bush's point man in Baghdad, even argued that terrorism suspects should be tried in civilian courts. "A major element of our strategy has been to delegitimize terrorists, to get society to see them for what they are - criminals - and to use democracy's most potent tool, the rule of law, against them," Bremer said. In 1988, Reagan signed the United Nations Convention Against Torture, which stated that torture could be used under "no exceptional circumstances, whatsoever."

 

4. Reagan shrank the federal government.

 

Reagan famously declared at his 1981 inauguration that "in the present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem." This rhetorical flourish didn't stop the 40th president from increasing the federal government's size by every possible measure during his eight years in office.

 

Federal spending grew by an average of 2.5 percent a year, adjusted for inflation, while Reagan was president. The national debt exploded, increasing from about $700 billion to nearly $3 trillion. Many experts believe that Reagan's massive deficits not only worsened the recession of the early 1990s but doomed his successor, George H.W. Bush, to a one-term presidency by forcing him to abandon his "no new taxes" pledge.

 

The number of federal employees grew from 2.8 million to 3 million under Reagan, in large part because of his buildup at the Pentagon. (It took the Democratic administration of President Bill Clinton to trim the employee rolls back to 2.7 million.) Reagan also abandoned a campaign pledge to get rid of two Cabinet agencies - Energy and Education - and added a new one, Veterans Affairs.

 

5. Reagan was a conservative culture warrior.

 

Reagan's contributions to the culture wars of the 1980s were largely rhetorical and symbolic. Although he published a book in 1983 about his staunch opposition to abortion (overlooking the fact that he had legalized abortion in California as governor in the late 1960s), he never sought a constitutional ban on abortion. In fact, Reagan began the odd practice of speaking to anti-abortion rallies by phone instead of in person - a custom continued by subsequent Republican presidents. He also advocated prayer in public schools in speeches, but never in legislation.

 

In 1981, Reagan unintentionally did more than any other president to prevent the Roe v. Wade abortion ruling from being overturned when he appointed Sandra Day O'Connor to the Supreme Court. O'Connor mostly upheld abortion rights during her 25 years as a justice.

 

No wonder that home-schooling advocate Michael Ferris was one of many right-wing activists complaining about Reagan by the end of his presidency, writing that his White House "offered us a bunch of political trinkets."

 

Will Bunch is the author of "Tear Down This Myth: The Right-Wing Distortion of the Reagan Legacy." He is a senior writer for the Philadelphia Daily News and a senior fellow with Media Matters for America.

 

 

Besides all this, in case you didn't live through his years, Reagan was a fucking dumb asshole, only Geoge W. rivaled him in ignorance. Most Americans were as embarrassed by him when he left office as they were about George W., it's fucking insane to think and see how his history has been re-written over the years

[KoHeartsGPA]

I bet Joseph Stalin is your hero, dhp.

[Z-train]

Besides all this, in case you didn't live through his years, Reagan was a fucking dumb asshole, only Geoge W. rivaled him in ignorance. Most Americans were as embarrassed by him when he left office as they were about George W., it's fucking insane to to think and see how his history has been re-written over the years

We needed confirmation that you are a really safe distance from genius.Thanks.

[dhp123166]

We needed confirmation that you are a really safe distance from genius.Thanks.

HAHAHA a genius like you?

 

Mr. "I hate unions so much they are the bane of America and yet I am a ranking official in my railroad union?"

 

Not only is that some serious cognitive dissonance you got going on in your head (read: insanity)...

 

...you are guilty of the one thing I cannot stomach at all in myself or others;

 

F!@#ING HYPOCRISY

[john510]

Besides all this, in case you didn't live through his years, Reagan was a fucking dumb asshole, only Geoge W. rivaled him in ignorance. Most Americans were as embarrassed by him when he left office as they were about George W., it's fucking insane to think and see how his history has been re-written over the years

I knew somebody would get this train rolling again but i didnt figure it would be you.Reagan a "dumb asshole" ? come on really ? Are you too ignorant to realize Reagan left this country and the world much better off than the guy before him ? 

[KoHeartsGPA]

Yes, yes he is....then again...he IS a Hillary supporter...so....ya...

[q-tip]

I knew somebody would get this train rolling again but i didnt figure it would be you.Reagan a "dumb asshole" ? come on really ? Are you too ignorant to realize Reagan left this country and the world much better off than the guy before him ?

But then it all collapsed a few years later

[TENDRIL]

votes have not counted for 60 yrs. do not vote

[paradime]

We needed confirmation that you are a really safe distance from genius.Thanks.

 

Liked By

 

Mattndew76 Today, 07:02 PM

 

KoHeartsGPA Today, 05:41 PM

 

john510 Today, 05:35 PM

 

angliagt Today, 03:19 PM

 

q-tip Today, 02:55 PM

 

 

The true believers.

 

I have great respect for Reagan in that he was the last president to genuinely act in the what he felt was the best interests of the common good. Like the direction he took the country it or not, he had integrity.

 

Has the Republican party shaped history and over idealized his presidency? Abso-fucking-lutely. I remember very clearly how Ronnie's cognitive abilities started to fade (about two years into his second term) and the distinct impression that he was being protected. The economy was going to hell in a hand basket, and the Iran Contra thing was nipping at his heals. It was a very uneasy time. His presidency marked the end of the 50's male ethos. 

[KoHeartsGPA]

Nobody is saying RR was perfect, but he was the best we had since....shit....WWII?

 

And don't even try to bring up Bill...he sold us out to the Chinese and gave nuclear capabilities to N Korea...how's that working out for us?

[q-tip]

Bill just rode the wave setuo by Regan and bush sr. That's right bush sr. kinda did sruff, but nothing that helped his presidency. :Lol:

[dhp123166]

" The nine most terrifying words in the english language are, 'I'm from the government, and I am here to help'".- Ronald Reagan

 

 

 

 

 

 

I remember when Reagan was elected.  Carter was in the White House, but he appeared hapless and helpless, maybe even cursed; the Iranian revolution and the storming of the U.S. Embassy, the hostage crisis, the failed attempt to rescue them, the OPEC oil embargo. . .  for all intents and purposes, it appeared America was battered and on her knees, and new leadership was not only warranted but imperative.  Enter Ronald Reagan, charged with playing the role of Hollywood president, who talked tough and exuded confidence, but  took his orders from the head of Merril Lynch. 

 

When discussing Reagan these days, it is important to distinguish between the historical Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the United States, and the mythical being Reagan, hailed by the Republican party for shrinking government, cutting taxes, defeating the Soviet Union, and restoring America to greatness.  The historical Reagan did none of these things.  The mythical Reagan, conservative idol, did all of them and more. 

 

The most significant blow Reagan dealt to America was the quote above, and the paradigm shift that it represented.  Reagan taught us to hate the government, to believe that government was the source of all of our problems, that government couldn’t get anything right, that anything government did was doomed to fail miserably.  If all of this seems obvious, you’re either unaware of or have forgotten America’s past–you deny what it was that made America special and great in the first place.

 

The purpose of the American experiment was to see if there could truly exist a government that Abraham Lincoln would later describe as being “of the people, by the people, for the people”.  A government that would exist to serve the will and interests of the governed, and that would reject the European model of feudal, aristocratic plutocracies that the founders fought to overthrow.  All of the major powers in the world were autocracies, ruled by the caprice and fiat of kings and queens, claiming legitimacy in the name of God.  They were also in the thrall of bankers and corporations (the Boston Tea Party was the first anti-corporate protest in American history).  It was against this backdrop that America was conceived, a country whose government derived its just power from the consent of the governed, and not from the divine right of a sovereign leader who served as God’s living emissary on Earth.  This was a radical and extremely liberal concept in the 1770’s, and judging by right wing talk radio and the ineptly named Tea Party movement today, has become one again. Or maybe it always has been, and the Tories are just experiencing a remarkable comeback.

 

For the majority of our national history, this was the framework In which we saw our government; flawed, imperfect, but ours.  It was this that enabled the American government to rack up an impressive string of achievements in a relatively short period of time, and it is this legacy that modern conservatives–and all who buy into their misguided “government is the problem” rhetoric–deny and rebuke with their an-historic views.

 

To those who would say “the government can’t get anything right” or is “the problem, not the solution”, I would just like to point out one glaring, inconvenient truth:  Almost every great achievement in American history was accomplished by the American government.  This isn’t just my opinion, it is objective, incontrovertible fact.  The free market has provided us with novelties and trinkets, but precious few truly remarkable, noteworthy accomplishments; almost all of those are solely attributable to government (I’d say all, but I’m sure there are one or two things I’m not thinking of right now).  Without the direct and active involvement of the government, America as we know it wouldn’t even exist–for that matter, neither would the world as we know it.  Saying that “government can’t get anything right” as I hear so often, particularly from conservatives, isn’t just wrong; it is ignorant of basic American history.  To give just a small example, below is a list of some of the American government’s greatest hits, in no particular order.  Note:  not one of the items on this list would have ever been created by a purely free market system, absent government assistance:

 

• The Hoover Dam:  The Hoover Dam, once the largest and most ambitious project of its kind in the world, remains a massive feat of ingenuity and engineering, so respected even today that it remains an achievable Wonder of the World in the Civilization series of strategy games.  The Hoover Dam faced numerous legal and technical challenges during its inception and construction, and many new and innovative achievements in both engineering and labor management resulted from the problem solving necessary to accomplish such a monumental and historic undertaking.
• The Louisiana Purchase: The single biggest expansion of American territory in its history, edging out even Alaska, the Louisiana Purchase was originally an accident of circumstance; intending to purchase only the port of New Orleans, a critical point for commerce, America found itself negotiating with a French government indebted by wars and unable and unwilling to maintain any presence in the territory it had acquired in North America.  In one bold gesture, America more than doubled in size and established itself as the dominant force on the American continent.
• The Lewis and Clark Expedition:  Celebrated in history for its vision, courage, and audacity, the Lewis and Clark expedition was a government commission, intended to survey the newly acquired territory of the Louisiana Purchase and provide a report and maps of what America had bought.  Countless books have been written about the project, and one of its key members even graces an American dollar.
• The Panama Canal: Seeking to shorten and speed the transport of goods and people between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Panama Canal was a particularly formidable and daring challenge that the French failed at twice.  Undaunted by the inability of those two previous attempts, the American Government, operating well before the rise of modern “No, We Can’t” conservatism, took the project on and accomplished what many engineers had called impossible.  To date, the Panama Canal, finished in 1914, remains a critical channel for commercial and military transport, nearly a century later.
• The National Power Grid: Originally created to deliver power to weapons and munitions factories during World War One, the system was expanded as part of Roosevelt’s New Deal infrastructure program, and now supplies the majority of American homes and businesses with power, even in the most remote locations.  While we take electricity for granted, it should be remembered that prior to the creation of the national power grid, the only homes with electricity existed in major metropolitan areas; for better or worse, without the national power grid, suburbia would have never existed.
• The Federal Highway System: Every major city in America is connected by a vast, sprawling network of highways, developed by a conservative president as an effort to ensure the ability to transport military and commercial goods across the country in the event of a national emergency.  Roughly 70% of American goods are transported by trucks around the country, 100% to their final destinations.  The Federal Highway System is safe, comprehensive, and well maintained, a tribute to government achievement.
• The Apollo Space Program/Moon Landings: The SpaceX project, Virgin Galactic, XCOR,  these private ventures are only even possible because of the vast amounts of research and data provided by decades of government programs.  Prior to the existence of NASA, little was known about what existed outside the planet’s atmosphere, and the information that makes it possible for private companies to build ships capable of leaving and returning to it exists primarily due to the American government–and to a slightly lesser extent, the Russians.  America remains the sole country to land men on another planet, and even if the Chinese project to do the same ever reaches fruition, it will be riding on the back of research and advances made by the United States government.
• Global Positioning Satellites: Tom Tom and Garmin are private companies, but didn’t create the technology that powers their devices.  The Global Position Satellite system was created by the U.S. Government as a navigational and locational tool for use by the military.  Today, GPS technology is ubiquitous, and can be found in everything from commercial airliners to modern cell phones.
• The Hubble Space Telescope:  Capable of viewing farther and better into space than any other creation in the history of humanity, the Hubble Space Telescope remains a technological watershed in the history of space exploration.  Science for the sake of science is common fodder for politicians–particularly conservatives, but has provided the world with a great deal of information and knowledge that simply wouldn’t be possible if we limited our investment in research to the free market and it’s commercially driven restrictions.
• The GI Bill:  There were two major forces that contributed to the rise and stability of the middle class in the latter half of the twentieth century:  labor gains achieved by the American Union movement, and the  opportunities provided by the G.I. Bill.  Enacted by Roosevelt as a reward for service during the war, the G.I. Bill encompassed a host of benefits for veterans that included low cost mortgages and tuition assistance for college and vocational programs.  The ability to simultaneously re-integrate returning veterans into society while also improving their social and financial positions was a critical factor in the economic strength of the United States in the aftermath of the war.  These gains continued until the early 80’s, and have been in decline ever since.
• The Internet:  Despite being the butt of ignorant jokes, Al Gore was absolutely correct when he claimed that he “took the initiative in the creation of the Internet.”  While it may seem hard to imagine, at one point the Internet was destined for the dustbin of history.  Formed as an evolutionary offshoot of the military DARPANET, an advanced network for information sharing among military contractors and researchers, the system was replaced with a more advanced and secure model in the late 70’s and was slated for dismantling.  It took the lobbying efforts of the Junior Senator from Tennessee, Al Gore, to save the project from obsolescence and open the infrastructure up into the modern, commercial entity now known as the Internet.  While it is altogether possible that the effort would have remained a boondoggle, of interest only to hardcore computer enthusiasts without the development of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners-Lee, the fact remains that the Internet was entirely the product of government research and spending.  It is inconceivable to suggest that the modern Internet would have ever been created by private industry and the free market.
• Personal Computers:  Taking a step back from the Internet, whose growth and popularity were only possible by the existence of personal computers, it should be noted that personal computers themselves were an extension of government research into digital processing and logic, and that the original mainframe computers were funded by government research.  It is no disservice to or slight upon the innovators of the personal computer industry–including Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak–to point out that all of their advances were, like most great inventions, predicated on the work that came before, and that in the case of computers a large part of that research was financed by government.  Even the brilliant developments by the famed Xerox/PARC researchers benefited indirectly from the government, as a significant number of its scientists were  government researchers laid off as the DARPA funding began to wind down.
• Satellite Imagery: Google Earth may be the product of private industry, but has never launched a satellite of its own; rather, all of its images come from government satellites or satellites that it purchased from the government.  It is hardly credible to suggest that any company would have invested the billions of dollars necessary to develop the imaging and satellite technology and the additional money to then launch dozens of expensive satellites into orbit.   

 

Again, this list is by no means complete or comprehensive; rather, this represents just a fraction of noteworthy achievements accomplished or made possible by the United States Government.  Even many commercial items of lesser importance are the result of government research (e.g. Silly Putty and Memory Foam were both accidental byproducts of government research into materials for use in government projects–among hundreds of others).  To say that the government does nothing right is either mendacity or ignorance.

 

And yet Reagan painted government as the problem, completely rejecting and overturning its historical role as a partner to and servant of the people.  Reagan cast government as a giant bureaucracy, ominous and malevolent, an enemy of the people; this was a brilliant piece of marketing judo, only possible because of the specific confluence of tumultuous events that were taking place as the 1970’s drew to a close.  Ronald Reagan managed to take a series of annoying governmental nuisances, conflate them with current events such as the gas and hostage crises, and then use the disastrous Operation Eagle Claw fiasco to paint a picture of bloated government incompetence–all at a time when the public was just gullible and desperate enough to buy into it.  As a result, Reagan initiated a paradigm shift in American public sentiment that fundamentally changed our relationship with our government.  Prior to Reagan, “good government” was see as not only possible, but desirable.  Since Reagan, “good government” is seen as an oxymoron, and this has been nothing but a disaster.

 

The role of good government, as envisioned by the founders, was to provide a cohesive suite of services to the people, all for the common good.  These included, but were never limited to, a system of roads to provide commerce; a postal system to deliver personal letters and information throughout the land.  The formation and maintenance of a serviceable navy to protect our coasts and commerce.  A system of laws, to promote the general welfare and maintain the peace.  For the better part of 200 years, the American government stood as a beacon of good governance, and oversaw our rise among nations to a position of leadership–economic, military, social, and moral.  Political corruption existed and bubbled up throughout our history from time to time , but always ended in a thorough and public examination, followed by corrective laws to prevent a recurrence; we learned from our mistakes. Those days are gone.  They ended during the Reagan administration.

 

My impression of Ronald Reagan, having lived through his presidency and legacy, was he is and always was largely a figurehead, a puppet ruler tasked with putting a good and noble face on the dark business of dismantling all of the most significant and beneficial gains that the American people fought for and won during the 20th century.  Almost every one of Reagan’s major themes has been proven not only wrong but disastrous, not only during his presidency but in the years since–and yet, paradoxically, his ideas remain stronger than ever.  Most significantly, the ideas that tax cuts and deregulation spur job creation, which get trotted out repeatedly by conservatives despite the mountain of evidence that not only are these notions wrong, they are 180˚ from empirical reality.  The wave of deregulation that started with Reagan’s Savings and Loan debacle and most recently resulted in the spectacular collapse of the housing market has been an unbroken string of increasingly expensive failures, all bailed out at taxpayer expense–yet the acolytes of Reagan, their faith undeterred, continue to insist that the problem is that we haven’t deregulated enough. Bush cut taxes on the wealthiest Americans at the turn of the century, only to watch the unemployment rate in America hit levels second only to those under Hoover–and that using the modified, lower numbers generated by the Reagan administration’s new method of tabulation.  Nonetheless, Republicans continue to insist that allowing these cuts to expire will limit job creation.  Journalists and pundits alike repeat these empty mantras with neither irony not challenge; such is the power and significance of the Reagan effect:  even direct evidence cannot contradict the ridiculous, unwarranted reverence we have for the great Reagan’s dogma.

 

And here we sit, trapped between the proverbial rock and the hard place; on the one side, a growing number of difficult challenges that can only be overcome with the power and reach of government, on the other an intractable bloc of conservative voters and their representatives, hellbent on proving that government is incapable of solving any problems–despite a long and storied tradition and history of it doing exactly that.  This isn’t principle and it’s not philosophy, it’s politics as an article of religious faith, and it’s exactly the kind of thing that the founders wanted to protect our government from, for exactly the reasons that are corroding us from within today.

 

There is a lot of talk about the unhappiness of modern voters with Washington’s gridlock, and the general public sentiment seems to suggest a desire to see it end; to see a restoration of the days when politicians could argue but compromise, and when the business of the country could be done.  Those days ended when Reagan took office, and ushered in an era where an entire political party decided to believe that government was not only the worst place to turn to resolve America’s problems, but that it was structurally incapable. 

 

What amazes me is that, despite their position that government is the problem, Republicans not only run for but get elected to public office.

 

Electing a Republican to public office is like hiring a PETA activist to run your animal testing lab: when the animals all get released and the lab burns to the ground, it was your fault for hiring someone who was ideologically opposed to the project in the first place, and the outcome was not only predictable but inevitable.  Likewise, when we look at the shambles that George W. Bush left behind, we see a Republican majority: in the House, Senate and Supreme Court, all three branches of government were controlled by a political party which has internalized and adopted their patron saint Reagan’s philosophical outlook on government as a whole; how and why would we expect anything less than disastrous results?

 

When Ronald Reagan came along and painted government as a vast, evil entity incapable of solving any problems and indeed the source of most of them, he created an alternate universe, one completely contradictory to the reality of our history, and yet one that sadly persists to this day. When you hear conservative commentators speak of government as incapable of doing anything right, when they speak about “government healthcare” as an inherently bad idea because “government can’t do anything right”, and when these sentiments are echoed by people from all walks of life, these aren’t just opinions, these are the echoes of the reality Reagan painted, a reality that contradicts over two hundred years of genuine American history.  In creating and popularizing the “government is the problem” mindset, Reagan laid the foundation for the modern gridlock we see in Congress today; he made the notion of “good government” seem ridiculous.  In doing so, he robbed America of two of its greatest assets:  belief in our ability to achieve as a nation, and hope for the future, all while pretending to restore both of these things.  The reality is, Reagan was a corporate shill whose purpose was to undermine the faith of the American people in their own government, and place it in the corporations themselves.  Unfortunately, he was all too successful in this, and the damage he caused may yet be irreparable.  The Occupy Wall Street movement is the first, real effort to roll back the excesses and mistakes of the Reagan Revolution, but it doesn’t appear to be winning. The forces of corporatism and greed appear to be holding the majority of the public in abeyance, as if we still expect some sort of reward for our abject obedience to the system that has thus far beaten us down so mercilessly.

 

As it stands, it would appear that the class war is effectively over, and Reagan’s side–the rich, powerful, and corporate elite–have won decisively. That they do so with such a large block of public support is a national tragedy.  This, above all, is the legacy of Ronald Reagan:  He was the president that destroyed us.  Worst of all, he did it with our help.

 

He–and the new face of the Republican party that he left behind–couldn’t have done it without us.

[KoHeartsGPA]

TL:DR

[VFR800]

Besides all this, in case you didn't live through his years, Reagan was a fucking dumb asshole, only Geoge W. rivaled him in ignorance. Most Americans were as embarrassed by him when he left office as they were about George W., it's fucking insane to think and see how his history has been re-written over the years

 

I know that modifying a person's post in quote is usually all good but in this case the context is WAY out and I do not appreciate having a short novel's worth of someone's else words attached to an image I posted as a meme style reply. 

 

Only means you're a douche not a funny man.

[datzenmike]

I knew somebody would get this train rolling again but i didnt figure it would be you.Reagan a "dumb asshole" ? come on really ? Are you too ignorant to realize Reagan left this country and the world much better off than the guy before him ? 

 

I remember RR but not as he is portrayed today. I don't think he was a dumbass but time adds legitimacy to three things in this world. Old buildings, old brothel mistresses and old statesmen. Time fades the sharp edges and adds a rosy glow to memory. Ahhh the good old days. 

 

In 50 years good things will be said about Obama....

[KoHeartsGPA]

^^Wut????? LOL

[datzenmike]

I know that modifying a person's post in quote is usually all good but in this case the context is WAY out and I do not appreciate having a short novel's worth of someone's else words attached to an image I posted as a meme style reply. 

 

Only means you're a douche not a funny man.

 

Yes, we all modify other's posts for humor or other effect. Corrections are rare and complaint driven....

 

corrected.

[VFR800]

I know it's usually done for some comedic value and that here we all want to have fun.

 

Just did not feel cool with me that one.

 

Thanks Mike.

[dhp123166]

I know that modifying a person's post in quote is usually all good but in this case the context is WAY out and I do not appreciate having a short novel's worth of someone's else words attached to an image I posted as a meme style reply. 

 

Only means you're a douche not a funny man.

The funny part is that you got all twisted by something that wasn't even done intentionally.

 

I was just trying to quote the picture.

 

You're offended? Really?

[VFR800]

The funny part is that you got all twisted by something that wasn't even done intentionally.

 

I was just trying to quote the picture.

 

You're offended? Really?

 

Funny part?

 

If it was not done intentionally then how you would see it as funny that I mistook your quoting of me is hard to see cept maybe to you.

 

You were going to amend it yourself?

 

I'm not "all twisted" but if you think I am then that delusion is yours.

 

Offended? 

 

No,I did not appreciate it.

 

Pretty sure I stated that.

[paradime]

Get it straight GPA

 

And don't even try to bring up BUSH Jr...he sold us to the Chinese and gave nuclear capabilities to N Korea...how's that working out for us?

 

Last time it was Obama you blamed for selling us out to China, and giving N Korea nucs. I DO NOT want to defend Mr. PC (President Clinton), but fuck'n hell GPA, take off your Red sweater and get your shit straight. Korea's Oct 9th 2006 nuclear test was a direct result of GW's Texas cowboy gun slinger foreign policy. When Bush took office, everyone around him with an ounce of foreign policy experience, including George Bush Sr. his own Joint Chief of staff Colin Powell, and Secretary of States James Baker told him to stay the course with the Clinton administration's direct engagement in N Korea with UN inspections, and open diplomacy. But NooOOoo, Jr. went and pulled all diplomatic ties, threatened N Korea with military action, and called them part of an "Axis of evil". 5 years later Kim had his bomb. That one belongs to...

 

[paradime]

" The nine most terrifying words in the english language are, 'I'm from the government, and I am here to help'".- Ronald Reagan

 

I remember when Reagan was elected.  Carter was in the White House, but he appeared hapless and helpless, maybe even cursed; the Iranian revolution and the storming of the U.S. Embassy, the hostage crisis, the failed attempt to rescue them, the OPEC oil embargo. . .  for all intents and purposes, it appeared America was battered and on her knees, and new leadership was not only warranted but imperative.  Enter Ronald Reagan, charged with playing the role of Hollywood president, who talked tough and exuded confidence, but  took his orders from the head of Merril Lynch. 

 

Where did you get this from? word for word: 

http://www.wearethedog.com/2012/07/22/how-reagan-destroyed-america/

 

If you aren't RThompson than this is what plagiarism looks like.

[dhp123166]

Where did you get this from? word for word: 

http://www.wearethedog.com/2012/07/22/how-reagan-destroyed-america/

 

If you aren't RThompson than this is what plagiarism looks like.

 

 

You're right, haha you caught me with my hand in the cookie jar! This post did fall under the definition of plagiarism!

 

But I am not passing this in for credit nor am I profiting from it. This article said everything I felt but had not invested the time in proving.

 

It's a free online internet forum, posting on which, is a diversion at best for me, and at worst a timesuck.

 

But I don't care, just because I lifted it word for word doesn't make it not true.

 

I have neither the time nor inclination to waste hours of time composing and researching something I need support for when...in reality, it will not be counting for 30% of my grade.

 

I never claimed to be anything other than an a@#$hole so this causes me no grief.

 

Timesuck ends...now.

[john510]

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The true believers.

 

I have great respect for Reagan in that he was the last president to genuinely act in the what he felt was the best interests of the common good. Like the direction he took the country it or not, he had integrity.

 

Has the Republican party shaped history and over idealized his presidency? Abso-fucking-lutely. I remember very clearly how Ronnie's cognitive abilities started to fade (about two years into his second term) and the distinct impression that he was being protected. The economy was going to hell in a hand basket, and the Iran Contra thing was nipping at his heals. It was a very uneasy time. His presidency marked the end of the 50's male ethos. 

True believers ? In what ?