primitives puzzled about Ronald Reagan

[franksolich]

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x6865965

Oh my.

glarius (1000+ posts)      Tue Oct-27-09 11:36 AM
Original message
 
Am I the only one puzzled by the blind worship of Ronald Reagan?

I seriously mean this. Why is he Saint Ronnie, the paragon of everything great, wise and wonderful?

It seems that even the Democrats won't say anything even remotely unflattering about him.

I remember when he first came to Canada to meet with Prime Minister Trudeau, he was met by a small demonstration on Parliament Hill holding up signs saying "Stop Acid Rain" and we all had a good laugh when he said that acid rain was caused by trees!

To me he seemed to be an amiable person, but certainly not a great president or the great saviour now being portrayed.

Have I missed something? 

P.S....I don't believe that he was responsible for ending the cold war either. As I remember it, communism came to an end in the U.S.S.R. of it's own failure. I remember at that time Gorbechev coming to Canada and touring our country, observing how democracy worked.

I dunno.

A little history; franksolich was still green in judgement in 1980, and franksolich's candidate for the Republican nomination for the presidency was.....George Bush.

franksolich didn't think Reagan could win against the Lie Machine of the Democrats, and franksolich wanted a Republican candidate who would win.

Man oh man, was franksolich ever wrong.

Two massive electoral landslides says it all.

The defrocked warped primitive:

Warpy  (1000+ posts)        Tue Oct-27-09 11:38 AM
Response to Original message
 
1. Reagan was a slick, polished pitchman who could sell anything and people just don't want to bring themselves to admit they got taken in by him.

Likely he'll always be revered because he made them feel so gosh darn warm and fuzzy while he was robbing them blind.

Sounds to me as if the unfrocked warped primitive just described Bo.

peace frog  (1000+ posts)      Tue Oct-27-09 12:03 PM
Response to Reply #1

21. He was an underrated actor who could deliver a caring, upbeat, fatherly line that made the entire nation melt into a pool of warm 'n' fuzzy security.

It was Morning in America again, and America fell for it - hook, line and sinker.

kentuck  (1000+ posts)        Tue Oct-27-09 11:38 AM
Response to Original message
 
2. He brought them back from the depths of Watergate.

Their next "hero" will be the one that brings them back from George W Bush.

Our next hero will be the one who brings us back from Bo.

lunatica  (1000+ posts)        Tue Oct-27-09 12:30 PM
Response to Reply #2
 
29. And don't forget his heroics with the Iranian hostage situation

Not the hostages themselves of course, but the fact that he averted a fate worse than death. The fate of facing the truth about our foreign policies, especially in the Middle East. Luckily he threw the American Flag over that little spark before it grew to be a real conflagration. Good old American Patriotism (Hatriotism) won the day! Phew! That was close!

The primitive from southeastern Nebraska, a transplant from Pennsylvania:

TwilightGardener  (1000+ posts)      Tue Oct-27-09 11:38 AM
Response to Original message
 
3. He had dementia while in office. So...no, you're not the only one. 

Don't know how anyone can claim the brain-addled as their best and brightest, but that's Republicans for ya. (See also: Sarah Palin)

Brickbat (613 posts)      Tue Oct-27-09 11:39 AM
Response to Original message
 
4. He stuck it to the unions, cut rich people's taxes, demonized the poor and restoked the false patriotism that comes from worshipping symbols such as God, the flag and "America" as a beacon of whatever in a dark world. Some people get off on that kind of stuff.

Like the primitives get off on Bo.

Zomby Woof  (1000+ posts)        Tue Oct-27-09 11:39 AM
Response to Original message
 
5. Not only puzzled, but sickened and enraged

He was a missed abortion.

meegbear  (1000+ posts)        Tue Oct-27-09 11:40 AM
Response to Original message

6. Because he's exactly what they wanted ... a symbol. The person isn't relevant, but the image is.

Isn't that more like Bo?

Bitwit1234 (1000+ posts)     Tue Oct-27-09 12:17 PM
Response to Reply #6
 
26. 100% correct

republicans had never had a president that had done anything. They had never had a president that had charisma. So when Reagan came along they attributed any and everything they could to him so they could have a president that could at least compete with democrats.

I am so sick of "tear down that wall"..well heck it was all but tore down when he made his "trip" around Germany. The only part left standing he was in front of....like Mission Accomplished in a flysuit...they wanted something to poopagander about.

flakey_foont  (1000+ posts)        Tue Oct-27-09 11:40 AM
Response to Original message
 
7. I never thought he was a good president

just did what his advisors told him....

like you, I am totally bewildered by the canonization of Reagan.......

I'm totally bewildered by the primitive elevation of Bo to their deity.

The Allentown dude primitive again, upset because Clare Boothe Luce hasn't shown up at this bonfire:

AllentownJake  (1000+ posts)        Tue Oct-27-09 11:41 AM
Response to Original message
 
8. Ronald Reagan was the perfect Republican President

He was a shitty actor but a great pitchman for General Electric after his acting jobs dried up.

He was able to sell disastrous policies like he sold Washing Machines to the American people.

Why do they worhsip St. Ronnie, because he was able to sell people on policies that would mean their own destruction with a smile and still get decent approval ratings.

CrispyQ  (1000+ posts)      Tue Oct-27-09 12:58 PM
Response to Reply #8
 
42. Perfectly stated.
 
Americans were eager to embraced Reagan's message that Americans don't have to scale back their lifestyles & conserve - we're America after all & we don't do that. After that, 'supply side economics' was an easy sell.

It's a big bonfire, but the above's the gist of it.

[Karin]

I don't believe I have the stomach to row over and watch this particular bonfire.  Go to hell, DUmmies. 

[thundley4]

glarius (1000+ posts)      Tue Oct-27-09 11:36 AM
Original message
 
Am I the only one puzzled by the blind worship of Teddy Kennedy?

I seriously mean this. Why is he Saint Teddy, the paragon of everything great, wise and wonderful?

It seems that even the Republicans won't say anything even remotely unflattering about him.

I remember when he tried to undermine the US by traitorous acts and communication with the USSR.

To me he seemed to be an amiable person, but certainly not a great senator or the great saviour now being portrayed.

Have I missed something?  

P.S....I don't believe that he was responsible for Mary Jo's death, it was a VRWC.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Likely he'll always be revered because he made them feel so gosh darn warm and fuzzy while he was robbing them blind.

Wait, what?

[DumbAss Tanker]

Having served for almost all of the last 15 or so years of the Cold War under arms, Reagan did indeed end it.  He ended it by forcing the Soviets to compete militarily in such a way that it would strain us, but break them.  Did he and Caspar Weinberger really clearly foresee that the Soviets would have to put their entire economy on an unsustainable war footing, and maintain it for over a decade? Perhaps not, but combined with the Soviet Afghan adventure and our opportunistic spoiling there, oour tech progression, conventional force expansion, and superweapons (Star Wars, MX, and ABM) finally pushed them over the edge into a place where they had to throw in the towel on the military competition, and military supremacy or at least parity against our alleged 'Threat' had been the absolute cornerstone of their legitimacy.  Once they were cracked on that, the dominos began falling.   

[Lord Undies]

The admiration of and appreciation for Ronald Wilson Reagan by a large - huge - segment of the population of the USA and most of the free world is real, deep, and historic.  It scares the squishy turds out of the satan worshippers we call "the left".  

Actually, it is the reason behind the admiration and appreciation which scares the Evil Goons (and by extension their Little Goons) - not the man himself.

[The Village Idiot]

Reagan was the REAL THING    and we haven't seen one since, with the possibility of Sarah Palin.

[Carl]

lunatica  (1000+ posts)        Tue Oct-27-09 12:30 PM
Response to Reply #2
 
29. And don't forget his heroics with the Iranian hostage situation

Not the hostages themselves of course, but the fact that he averted a fate worse than death. The fate of facing the truth about our foreign policies, especially in the Middle East. Luckily he threw the American Flag over that little spark before it grew to be a real conflagration. Good old American Patriotism (Hatriotism) won the day! Phew! That was close!

Yeah his predecessor in office did soooooo much to prevent islamofacisim.
 

[GOBUCKS]

I remember when he first came to Canada to meet with Prime Minister Trudeau, he was met by a small demonstration on Parliament Hill holding up signs saying "Stop Acid Rain" and we all had a good laugh when he said that acid rain was caused by trees!

Yeah, whatever happened to that acid rain doomsday? We were assured that New England and southern Canada would be transformed into treeless steppes within a very few years, unless Americans stopped generating electricity, shut down American industry, and became third-world serfs for the good of the planet. All that, notwithstanding the fact that every dead tree ever pictured had been killed by insect parasites.

Somehow the acid rain doomsday has been abandoned in favor of the global warming doomsday, by the same America-hating pop-science moobats. Whether it's snail darters, spotted owls, acid rain, PCBs, coal ash, or global warming, the proponents, and their objectives, are always the same.

[crockspot]

There was another ignorant thread over there today (can't seem to locate it now) whining about Reagan's "I PAID for this microphone" comment, and all the DUmmies jump on the bandwagon about how all us pukes always pull that "I pay your salary" crap, until one informed DUmmy points out to them that Reagan actually DID pay for that microphone, and should be commended for wanting to allow his opponents to share that microphone that he paid for. Killed that thread right quick.

[Thor]

Reagan was one of the best Presidents in the 20th Century. He gave the military a LOT. He brought up our wages to compete with the civilian market. He increased our military forces to a point where we WERE the super power. We (the military) went from the glum days of Carter where aircraft cannibalization was at an all time high and flight schedules couldn't be met due to a lack of funding to having many aircraft up and available for almost any mission and at any time. I can't tell you how many times I asked, "why can't we do "this" during the mid to late 70s only to hear that we didn't have the funds to do "this".  He also did a couple of things that I loathed and would ask him today why the hell he did that, if I could. 1.) He granted amnesty to some six million illegal aliens. 2.) He circumvented the 2nd Amendment by signing the 1986 gun bill.

[GOBUCKS]

President Reagan was the greatest American since Abraham Lincoln. It is truly sad, and more than a little alarming, to compare him with the midgets we call leaders today. He was the most inspiring leader the nation has ever had. Check out the last four paragraphs of his farewell address:

"And that's about all I have to say tonight, except for one thing. The past few days when I've been at that window upstairs, I've thought a bit of the 'shining city upon a hill.' The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim, an early freedom man. He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free. I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still.

"And how stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was 8 years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she's still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.

"We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan Revolution, the men and women across America who for 8 years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger; we made the city freer; and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad -- not bad at all.

"And so, goodbye, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America."

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ronaldreaganfarewelladdress.html

[The Village Idiot]

"We've done our part. And as I walk off into the city streets, a final word to the men and women of the Reagan Revolution, the men and women across America who for 8 years did the work that brought America back. My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger; we made the city freer; and we left her in good hands.

He's doing about 1800 RPM with this White House.

[Wineslob]

The DUmmies are re-writing history yet again.

[Chump]

DUmmies imagine a world where the most minute personal choices are determined by legislation.  They believe man is owed, simply because he exists.  They believe all solutions can be found in government.  Reagan was the antithesis of every principle a DUmmie could possibly have; he was the anti-DUmmie, if you will.  It should not suprise anyone that they would see nothing great about him.

[ReaganForRushmore]

I'm fascinated by individuals who have little or no concept of history or current events. The Reagan
Presidency (and era) ended January,1989 when his Vice President, George Herbert Walker Bush became POTUS. Reagan is beloved and established as a true leader for one simple reason, he believed in America. He won two presidential elections by landslides because he focused on the two primary tenets of the great American experiment, freedom and liberty.

Did he make mistakes?, sure, he is human.

Ronald Reagan has stood the test of time. He has been out of office for 2 decades,(dead now for 5 years) and both Parties continually compete against his bench marks. Sadly, the succeeding Presidents pale in comparison to what Ronald Reagan was as a man and for what he accomplished while in office.

RIP, Mr President.

[franksolich]

Great post, sir.

[diesel driver]

I'm fascinated by individuals who have little or no concept of history or current events. The Reagan
Presidency (and era) ended January,1989 when his Vice President, George Herbert Walker Bush became POTUS. Reagan is beloved and established as a true leader for one simple reason, he believed in America. He won two presidential elections by landslides because he focused on the two primary tenets of the great American experiment, freedom and liberty.

Did he make mistakes?, sure, he is human.

Ronald Reagan has stood the test of time. He has been out of office for 2 decades,(dead now for 5 years) and both Parties continually compete against his bench marks. Sadly, the succeeding Presidents pale in comparison to what Ronald Reagan was has a man and for what he accomplished while in office.

RIP, Mr President.

Amen, brother, Amen!

I saw an AP article the other day about Lord Zero (piss be upon him) criticizing the opponents of global warming....

This narcissistic moron knows as much about science as I do about "community organizing".... 

Zero isn't man enough to be considered human, and he damned sure isn't man enough to be POTUS....
He more qualified to polish the knobs on the urinals in a public restroom, with his tongue....

[Chris_]

Amen, brother, Amen!

I saw an AP article the other day about Lord Zero (piss be upon him) criticizing the opponents of global warming....

This narcissistic moron knows as much about science as I do about "community organizing".... 

Zero isn't man enough to be considered human, and he damned sure isn't man enough to be POTUS....
He more qualified to polish the knobs on the urinals in a public restroom, with his tongue....

I certainly agree.......but damn, that's cold........

doc

[miskie]

Having served for almost all of the last 15 or so years of the Cold War under arms, Reagan did indeed end it.  He ended it by forcing the Soviets to compete militarily in such a way that it would strain us, but break them.  Did he and Caspar Weinberger really clearly foresee that the Soviets would have to put their entire economy on an unsustainable war footing, and maintain it for over a decade? Perhaps not, but combined with the Soviet Afghan adventure and our opportunistic spoiling there, oour tech progression, conventional force expansion, and superweapons (Star Wars, MX, and ABM) finally pushed them over the edge into a place where they had to throw in the towel on the military competition, and military supremacy or at least parity against our alleged 'Threat' had been the absolute cornerstone of their legitimacy.  Once they were cracked on that, the dominos began falling.   

This is exactly why Obama studies and tries to emulate Regan. The only difference is Obama is trying to use this technique against the United States. -- To put the USA into a position where it will financially collapse upon itself, giving the government leeway to capture entire industries.

[miskie]

Yeah, whatever happened to that acid rain doomsday? We were assured that New England and southern Canada would be transformed into treeless steppes within a very few years, unless Americans stopped generating electricity, shut down American industry, and became third-world serfs for the good of the planet. All that, notwithstanding the fact that every dead tree ever pictured had been killed by insect parasites.

Somehow the acid rain doomsday has been abandoned in favor of the global warming doomsday, by the same America-hating pop-science moobats. Whether it's snail darters, spotted owls, acid rain, PCBs, coal ash, or global warming, the proponents, and their objectives, are always the same.

Indeed - Seems every 20 or so years a new doomsday scenario crops up - into the early 1970s we were heading straight into the next Ice Age, then acid rain was going to kill our trees and melt our skin. And now the planet is just too hot to sustain life. 

The Acid Rain thing really amuses me --"Oh Noes !! Teh Tr33z!!!!111!"-- to be perfectly clear, what most people call 'maple trees', I call 'weeds' - Every spring, I rip at 50 or so out of my yard that sprung up while snow was still on the ground.

I even have a nice Japanese Red Maple that happily planted itself a couple years back exactly where I would have planted it, so I allowed it to stay- Its now about 6 feet tall after three years.

[AprilRazz]

Zomby Woof  (1000+ posts)        Tue Oct-27-09 11:39 AM
Response to Original message
 
5. Not only puzzled, but sickened and enraged

He was a missed abortion.

Look in the mirror if you want to see the actual missed abortion you piece of excrement .

[Chris]

Indeed - Seems every 20 or so years a new doomsday scenario crops up - into the early 1970s we were heading straight into the next Ice Age, then acid rain was going to kill our trees and melt our skin. And now the planet is just too hot to sustain life. 

The Acid Rain thing really amuses me --"Oh Noes !! Teh Tr33z!!!!111!"-- to be perfectly clear, what most people call 'maple trees', I call 'weeds' - Every spring, I rip at 50 or so out of my yard that sprung up while snow was still on the ground.

I even have a nice Japanese Red Maple that happily planted itself a couple years back exactly where I would have planted it, so I allowed it to stay- Its now about 6 feet tall after three years.

Don't forget the Ozone Layer.  Spray deodorant and room freshener was supposed to kill it.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Did anyone catch Rush's show today?  I guess it was the 45th anniversary of a speech that Reagan gave for Barry Goldwater before the '64 election.  Rush played numerous clips, and President Reagan's remarks are as relevant now as they were then.

[AllosaursRus]

Brickbat (613 posts)      Tue Oct-27-09 11:39 AM
Response to Original message
 
4. He stuck it to the unions, cut rich people's taxes, demonized the poor and restoked the false patriotism that comes from worshipping symbols such as God, the flag and "America" as a beacon of whatever in a dark world.

According to you, it didn't work, huh? You're a ****in' idiot! Ronnie brought us back from the brink of a 20 year recession, asshat! Everything he did WORKED! You can't deny it, no matter how hard you try to ignore it!

Any Pres that comes forward, tells us, "I'm from the gubmint, and I'm here to help!", and then tells us: "THAT is the problem!", has my vote!