Ronald Reagan

[jon]

Reagan was an idiot. He wasted YOUR TAX MONEY running up a deficit on bullshit military technology that did not work (Star Wars). If he had been a liberal and done the same thing you would have been frothing for his blood. He presided over the growing influence of the Christian fundamentalists in American politics. Glad to see him go.

 

Star Wars did work. During that time we preduced some of the most technological military advances ever. Most of these are still hidden from the public to this day, including ground and space based missle defense systems and an air breathing space plane.

[Dru]

The only missile defense tests that ever worked were strapped chickens. The Patriot missiles used in GW1 had a success rate statistically indistinguishable from random chance.

 

Space plane on the other hand

 

The whole "military spending won the Cold War" idea is debatable. By keeping the Soviet militarists relevant, it may have actually delayed the ending of the Cold War.

 

Let's not forget Reagan was chummy-chummy with and armed Saddam Hussein with chemical and conventional weapons. And funded mujihaddeen in Afghanistan who ended up providing a home base for Osama bin Laden.

 

NoFX

Reagan Sucks

 

Heard it first from Reagan youth,

Dead Kennedys and D.I. too.

Wanna burn the effigie,

From DRI to MDC.

Guess what nostalgia sucks,

But I miss the days of Reagan punk.

We all shared the same enemy,

From CFA to Shattered Faith.

 

Heard it first from Reagan youth,

Dead Kennedys and D.I. too.

Wanna burn, the effigie,

From DRI to MDC.

Guess what nostalgia sucks,

But I miss songs about Reagan sucks.

We all shared the same memory,

From DRI to MDC.

 

[Mal_Con]

Reagan was not an idiot. He was just a face man i.e. tool, for corporate interests. He never came up with an original idea. He made great speeches on reducing deficits, never paying ransom, and promoting freedom. At the same time he was running the highest deficits until Schrub, trading missiles for hostages, and supporting Saddam. It was all smoke and mirrors, now they are going to try and make him a right wing saint.

[scratchandsniff]

As there has as yet been no post of substance I shall continue the tradition.

[Dru]

He did die horribly of his brain slowly rotting away with Alzheimers. While we are catalouging his sins, let's not forget funding the paramilitary death squads in Central and South America. However, Alzheimer's is a horrible death I wouldn't wish on anyone. Props to Nancy for bucking the Christ lobby and supporting stem cell research.

[Mal_Con]

It is not a horrible death but, rather a horrible parody of life that proceeds relief. Alzheimer victims are usually quite happy. For families of Alzheimer victims death is not a tragedy but rather a gift. He long ago ceased being capable of good or evil and merely became the empty shell of what once was.

[jordop]

"What would this country be without this great land of ours?"

[iain]

Is that from the Genesis music video?

 

Thank god Genesis was around to set the administration straight. Where would we be without them?

 

 

Don't cross Phil Collins

[jordop]

Is that from the Genesis music video?

 

Thank god Genesis was around to set the administration straight. Where would we be without them?

 

The Genesis video was based on the TV series, Spitting Image . . . YOU MEAN YOU GUYS NEVER GOT TO SEE SPITTING IMAGE EPISODES

 

Ohhhhh, man

Mick:

Ronnie:

[klenke]

I was living in England and watched The Spitting Image all the time whenever it came on. It was pretty funny, as I recall. The Ronald Reagan caricature was pretty good. The Genesis song using the caricatures ("Land of Confusion") I think hit #1 in the UK charts, but I'm not positive.

[Skeezix]

Reagan ran up the deficit. He sat back while the USSR self-destructed. His presidency barely survived Iran-Contra. Like Shrub, Reagan swam in the intellectual shallow end --Nothing but air between his ears. But I don't celebrate his death.

[Dave_Schuldt]

I rember those days well. Doonsbury had some great satire. Rember David Stockman? How much energy does it take to destroy the enviorment? One Watt! Itegrety my just rember Iran Contra. What a great scandal. One of the best movies I've ever seen is The Perfect Canidate about Oliver North's run for the senate. The scarry part is that he almost won! Look up some old Bloom Couunty comic strips, more great satire. Don't forget regan started the "War On Drugs". What was David Hinkley's defence?

 

Gil Scott-Heron - B Movie

Buy this album!

 

From the album "Reflections"

 

Well, the first thing I want to say is…”Mandate my ass!”

 

Because it seems as though we've been convinced that 26% of the registered voters, not even 26% of the American people, but 26% of the registered voters form a mandate – or a landslide. 21% voted for Skippy and 3, 4% voted for somebody else who might have been running.

 

But, oh yeah, I remember. In this year that we have now declared the year from Shogun to Reagan, I remember what I said about Reagan…meant it. Acted like an actor…Hollyweird. Acted like a liberal. Acted like General Franco when he acted like governor of California, then he acted like a republican. Then he acted like somebody was going to vote for him for president. And now we act like 26% of the registered voters is actually a mandate. We're all actors in this I suppose.

 

What has happened is that in the last 20 years, America has changed from a producer to a consumer. And all consumers know that when the producer names the tune…the consumer has got to dance. That's the way it is. We used to be a producer – very inflexible at that, and now we are consumers and, finding it difficult to understand. Natural resources and minerals will change your world. The Arabs used to be in the 3rd World. They have bought the 2nd World and put a firm down payment on the 1st one. Controlling your resources we'll control your world. This country has been surprised by the way the world looks now. They don't know if they want to be Matt Dillon or Bob Dylan. They don't know if they want to be diplomats or continue the same policy - of nuclear nightmare diplomacy. John Foster Dulles ain't nothing but the name of an airport now.

 

The idea concerns the fact that this country wants nostalgia. They want to go back as far as they can – even if it's only as far as last week. Not to face now or tomorrow, but to face backwards. And yesterday was the day of our cinema heroes riding to the rescue at the last possible moment. The day of the man in the white hat or the man on the white horse - or the man who always came to save America at the last moment – someone always came to save America at the last moment – especially in “B” movies. And when America found itself having a hard time facing the future, they looked for people like John Wayne. But since John Wayne was no longer available, they settled for Ronald Reagan – and it has placed us in a situation that we can only look at – like a “B” movie.

 

Come with us back to those inglorious days when heroes weren't zeros. Before fair was square. When the cavalry came straight away and all-American men were like Hemingway to the days of the wondrous “B” movie. The producer underwritten by all the millionaires necessary will be Casper “The Defensive” Weinberger – no more animated choice is available. The director will be Attila the Haig, running around frantically declaring himself in control and in charge. The ultimate realization of the inmates taking over at the asylum. The screenplay will be adapted from the book called “Voodoo Economics” by George “Papa Doc” Bush. Music by the “Village People” the very military "Macho Man."

 

“Company!!!”

“Macho, macho man!”

“ Two-three-four.”

“ He likes to be – well, you get the point.”

“Huuut! Your left! Your left! Your left…right, left, right, left, right…!”

 

A theme song for saber-rallying and selling wars door-to-door. Remember, we're looking for the closest thing we can find to John Wayne. Clichés abound like kangaroos – courtesy of some spaced out Marlin Perkins, a Reagan contemporary. Clichés like, “itchy trigger finger” and “tall in the saddle” and “riding off or on into the sunset.” Clichés like, “Get off of my planet by sundown!” More so than clichés like, “he died with his boots on.” Marine tough the man is. Bogart tough the man is. Cagney tough the man is. Hollywood tough the man is. Cheap stick tough. And Bonzo's substantial. The ultimate in synthetic selling: A Madison Avenue masterpiece – a miracle – a cotton-candy politician…Presto! Macho!

 

“Macho, macho man!”

 

Put your orders in America. And quick as Kodak your leaders duplicate with the accent being on the nukes - cause all of a sudden we have fallen prey to selective amnesia - remembering what we want to remember and forgetting what we choose to forget. All of a sudden, the man who called for a blood bath on our college campuses is supposed to be Dudley “God-damn” Do-Right?

 

“You go give them liberals hell Ronnie.” That was the mandate. To the new “Captain Bly” on the new ship of fools. It was doubtlessly based on his chameleon performance of the past - as a liberal democrat – as the head of the Studio Actor's Guild. When other celluloid saviors were cringing in terror from McCarthy – Ron stood tall. It goes all the way back from Hollywood to hillbilly. From liberal to libelous, from “Bonzo” to Birch idol…born again. Civil rights, women's rights, gay rights…it's all wrong. Call in the cavalry to disrupt this perception of freedom gone wild. God damn it…first one wants freedom, then the whole damn world wants freedom.

 

Nostalgia, that's what we want…the good ol' days…when we gave'em hell. When the buck stopped somewhere and you could still buy something with it. To a time when movies were in black and white – and so was everything else. Even if we go back to the campaign trail, before six-gun Ron shot off his face and developed hoof-in-mouth. Before the free press went down before full-court press. And were reluctant to review the menu because they knew the only thing available was – Crow.

 

Lon Chaney, our man of a thousand faces - no match for Ron. Doug Henning does the make-up - special effects from Grecian Formula 16 and Crazy Glue. Transportation furnished by the David Rockefeller of Remote Control Company. Their slogan is, “Why wait for 1984? You can panic now...and avoid the rush.”

 

So much for the good news…

 

As Wall Street goes, so goes the nation. And here's a look at the closing numbers – racism's up, human rights are down, peace is shaky, war items are hot - the House claims all ties. Jobs are down, money is scarce – and common sense is at an all-time low on heavy trading. Movies were looking better than ever and now no one is looking because, we're starring in a “B” movie. And we would rather had John Wayne…we would rather had John Wayne.

 

"You don't need to be in no hurry.

You ain't never really got to worry.

And you don't need to check on how you feel.

Just keep repeating that none of this is real.

And if you're sensing, that something's wrong,

Well just remember, that it won't be too long

Before the director cuts the scene…yea."

 

“This ain't really your life,

Ain't really your life,

Ain't really ain't nothing but a movie.”

 

[Refrain repeated about 25 times or more in an apocalyptic crescendo with a military cadence.]

 

“This ain't really your life,

Ain't really your life,

Ain't really ain't nothing but a movie.”

[johndavidjr]

PP & Fairweather--

The Republican Kevin Phillips' rather devastating critique of Reaganomics provides us with the numbers, and there actually isn't any controversy about the relative shift in tax burden to the middle class from the wealthy under Reagan/Bush.

 

So-called supply siders, you might recall, are supposed to argue that rich folk used their gargantuan tax savings and invested it in economic growth (The stock market bubble?) The controversy about tax policy (Reaganomics) simply lies in whether this assertion is correct. PP's link to Arthur Laffer & Associates, however, offers no quantitative data suggesting this has occurred, but provides merely a celebration of long-ago political success (my earlier point about it as simply polemics).

 

GDP growth rate has been far lower in past 20 years vs. 1950s & 60s, when relative tax burden on middle class vs wealthy was substantially lower. If you have other evidence relevant to an evaluation of Reaganomics, then do let us know. It seems clear, however, that the rich have obtained a greater share of US economy's comparatively weak growth over the past two decades, than in prior periods, due in large measure, to GOP-backed tax policy that prevails under Reagan/Bush.

 

PS, my mom died with senile dementia; ain't nice & I don't view the news of Mr. Reagan's demise at age 93 on a personal level.

-------------------------------------------------

Edited June 6, 2004 by johndavidjr

[scott_harpell]

Hey John David... Keep your shit talk in this thread ass hole.

[johndavidjr]

A very insightful comment Mr. Harpell.

[Scourge]

Ever since Jerry Garcia died I've been living in my van. It's all Ronald Regan's fault.

[willstrickland]

Scott you posted it in Spray...it's fair game. Besides, what did you expect? A bunch of glowing reminescence of the good 'ol days of a charismatic hands-off style president who's policies were about 50/50 on the effective scale?

 

Personally, I liked Regan. I thought he was charismatic, and he WAS a uniter, not a divider. As a person, I thought he was really pursuing what he felt was best for ALL of us.

 

Unfortunately, he was a non detail oriented type and there were plenty of blunders. Iran-contra, record tax cuts followed by record deficits (sounds familiar eh?) an Interior Sec that was probably the single worst in history, S&L scandal and bailout a major shift in tax burden to the middle class.

 

But he has success too, essentially outspending the USSR on defense until they reached the breaking point, firing the air traffic controller assholes who illegally went on strike, and the incalcuable effect of uniting the country. In his re-election campaign he won 49 states, losing only Mondale's homestate of Minnesota. He appointed the first woman Justice to the Supreme Court. He made MLK day a national holiday.

[icegirl]

thank you WS. thank you for pointing out some interesting facts (amazing how his supreme court appoinment reached out to us years later). as I will now post in a _third_ thread, give the guy a day or so in the grave before you ensue with impending liberal rhetoric. Doesn't matter if you loved or hated the man, show a bit of class.

[chirp]

Class is relative when death is imminent.

[jjd]

Respect:

1. To take notice of; to regard with special attention; to regard as worthy of special consideration; hence, to care for; to heed.

 

2. To consider worthy of esteem; to regard with honor.

 

Class:

7. A high degree of elegance, in dress or behavior; the quality of bearing oneself with dignity, grace, and social adeptness.

 

Dignity:

1. The state of being worthy or honorable; elevation of mind or character; true worth; excellence.

 

Honor:

1. Esteem due or paid to worth; high estimation; respect; consideration; reverence; veneration; manifestation of respect or reverence.

 

2. That which rightfully attracts esteem, respect, or consideration; self-respect; dignity; courage; fidelity; especially, excellence of character; high moral worth; virtue; nobleness.

 

http://www.webster-dictionary.org/

 

Above are just some of the traits exhibited by Ronald Reagan - traits that some of the posters to this website clearly lack.

[JoshK]

He appointed the first woman Justice to the Supreme Court. He made MLK day a national holiday.

 

 

MLK day

 

Is the justice Sandra Day O'Connor? If so, I would hardly consider her any sort of gift to the nation.

[scott_harpell]

A very insightful comment Mr. Harpell.

 

Will I see you at pub club this week?

[Bug]

Reagan had the best propaganda department since Adolf Hitler.We will be sorting out what he said and how that applied to what he did for decades. One thing is for sure. He presided over a government that ignored the constitution when the need arose. Every member of Reagan's cabinet was indicted for something. It takes a lot of evidence to indict someone while the VP is President. The indoctments had to be crammed down the throat of the justice department which then applied their efforts to proving the their former leaders innocent instead of doing their job of looking for further proof of the articles raised in the indictment.

Reagan saved us from nuclear disaster. If it were not for that, he would be one of the worst presidents in history. It remains to be seen wether it was luck or cunning.

[johndavidjr]

Quote from David Stockman's book "Triumph of Politics:"

 

"If the Securities and Exchange Commission had jurisdiction over the White House, we might have all had time for a course in remedial economics at Allenwood penitentiary."

Edited June 6, 2004 by johndavidjr

[johndavidjr]

Ronald Reagan, November 1986: "In spite of the wildly speculative and false stories about arms for hostages, we did not, repeat, did not trade arms or anything else for hostages."

Edited June 6, 2004 by johndavidjr