ronny is dead
ronny is dead
and i say, good riddance
Ronny wasn't so bad. He was just a mindless spokesman for thinly veiled conservatism. Was Rummy was pulling the strings back then as well?
RUMSFELD WAS REAGANS ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST. I AM NOT MAKING THIS SHIT UP
"With the Iran-Iraq war escalating, President Ronald Reagan dispatched his Middle East envoy, a former secretary of defense, to Baghdad with a hand-written letter to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and a message that Washington was willing at any moment to resume diplomatic relations. That envoy was Donald Rumsfeld."
RUMSFELD WAS REAGANS ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST. I AM NOT MAKING THIS SHIT UP
"With the Iran-Iraq war escalating, President Ronald Reagan dispatched his Middle East envoy, a former secretary of defense, to Baghdad with a hand-written letter to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and a message that Washington was willing at any moment to resume diplomatic relations. That envoy was Donald Rumsfeld."
Reagan ratted on Hollywood during the McCarthy era. He hated communism. I was 10 when he was elected, and 18 when he was succeded by Bush.
When I turned 18 I voted for Ron Paul, a libertarian who got 1% of the vote. He wanted to legalize drugs and I thought was cool back then. It wasn't. Ron Paul is currently criticizing the government over the Iraq fiasco.
I don't think drugs should be legalized anymore. Now I think they should hand them over to me for safe-keeping. I hate communism when it comes to people sharing my drugs. After all, they belong to me.
When I turned 18 I voted for Ron Paul, a libertarian who got 1% of the vote. He wanted to legalize drugs and I thought was cool back then. It wasn't. Ron Paul is currently criticizing the government over the Iraq fiasco.
I don't think drugs should be legalized anymore. Now I think they should hand them over to me for safe-keeping. I hate communism when it comes to people sharing my drugs. After all, they belong to me.
REAGAN'S NICKNAME FOR HIS OWN SON: SCHMUCK
Read this in the paper today:
_______________________________________
"Reagan's adopted son grew up bitter, angry
When Michael Reagan was a boy, his father called him a 'schmuck'.
The loved-starved youth was so proud and happy that his pop had bestowed a nickname on him, he insisted everyone call him schmuck. Then he discovered what the word really meant.
Whether or not the future president realized he was calling his troubled boy the Yiddish equivalent of "jerk" is not clear. {considering how out of touch Reagan seemed while he was in office, I wouldn't exactly rule this out} But the fact remains that the adopted son of Reagan and Wyman grew up bitter and angry."
Next to Dubya, Reagan was nothing. But then it is true, too, that during his presidency I was too young to fully understand many of the issues and didn't make any particular effort to understand them the way I do today. All I knew was there was all this really cool rebellious punk rock music that trashed Reagan, and I knew I was on the Democrat side of things anyway.
Read this in the paper today:
_______________________________________
"Reagan's adopted son grew up bitter, angry
When Michael Reagan was a boy, his father called him a 'schmuck'.
The loved-starved youth was so proud and happy that his pop had bestowed a nickname on him, he insisted everyone call him schmuck. Then he discovered what the word really meant.
Whether or not the future president realized he was calling his troubled boy the Yiddish equivalent of "jerk" is not clear. {considering how out of touch Reagan seemed while he was in office, I wouldn't exactly rule this out} But the fact remains that the adopted son of Reagan and Wyman grew up bitter and angry."
Next to Dubya, Reagan was nothing. But then it is true, too, that during his presidency I was too young to fully understand many of the issues and didn't make any particular effort to understand them the way I do today. All I knew was there was all this really cool rebellious punk rock music that trashed Reagan, and I knew I was on the Democrat side of things anyway.
Much like Sloth, I was about 10 when Ronny was elected, and had very little understanding of or desire to understand politics, but I liked him. He was smooth and sounded like he knew what he was talking about, and he could stir the patriotic leanings of an impressionable suburban boy. This was before we heard about the falling asleep in the Oval Office and before I understood that presidents are almost always puppet mouthpieces for someone like Rumsfeld's agenda, but I liked him just the same.
I know it isn't in favor among those who are politically liberal or socially enlightened to say anything nice about Reagan, but I do think he brought something to the country that no one has in a long time...he made it ok to be proud of the USA. Maybe it was for the wrong reasons, maybe on closer inspection we shouldn't have been proud at all, but it just seems like there is so much to be ashamed of now, I miss the innoncence of that pride.
All we do now is criticize. There seems to be only finger pointing and anger. The left hates the Bushies, the right hates the left, the right hates France, the left hates big business, almost every other country in the world has at least a strong dislike for America. It makes me sad to see those Normandy memorials, where people say nice things about how the US helped France in WWII, and how despite everything it won't be forgotten, and yet there are very few kind words for the US out of Europe, or anywhere else for that matter.
I grew up in a world where I thought the US was respected...maybe I was naive and wrong, but as a child during the Reagan years, I developed my views on many things. Some of them have changed as I learned the truth about the world, but the most basic remains: Pride is a good thing. Although it can lead to arrogance and disregard for the feelings of others, it does not have to. It can also lead to a sense of duty, to bring out the best in others. It leads to a positive view of self and country that can spread to the rest of the world. If America could regain that sense of pride, and lose the sense of arrogance and entitlement that many have now, or the sense of shame that some of us have, we could be a positive force in the world, instead of such a divisive one.
I know it isn't in favor among those who are politically liberal or socially enlightened to say anything nice about Reagan, but I do think he brought something to the country that no one has in a long time...he made it ok to be proud of the USA. Maybe it was for the wrong reasons, maybe on closer inspection we shouldn't have been proud at all, but it just seems like there is so much to be ashamed of now, I miss the innoncence of that pride.
All we do now is criticize. There seems to be only finger pointing and anger. The left hates the Bushies, the right hates the left, the right hates France, the left hates big business, almost every other country in the world has at least a strong dislike for America. It makes me sad to see those Normandy memorials, where people say nice things about how the US helped France in WWII, and how despite everything it won't be forgotten, and yet there are very few kind words for the US out of Europe, or anywhere else for that matter.
I grew up in a world where I thought the US was respected...maybe I was naive and wrong, but as a child during the Reagan years, I developed my views on many things. Some of them have changed as I learned the truth about the world, but the most basic remains: Pride is a good thing. Although it can lead to arrogance and disregard for the feelings of others, it does not have to. It can also lead to a sense of duty, to bring out the best in others. It leads to a positive view of self and country that can spread to the rest of the world. If America could regain that sense of pride, and lose the sense of arrogance and entitlement that many have now, or the sense of shame that some of us have, we could be a positive force in the world, instead of such a divisive one.
I'm no christian but isn't pride a sin? Pride is a dangerous word. It is a great thing to feel good about yourself but inevitably (particularily in this competitive reality tv / sports america) the second you feel good about yourself, your team, your country; you begin to feel better than everyone else. And that is really the root of our capitalistic society. Competition. If you want to be "proud to be an American" than you need to do things to turn America into the kind of country you could be proud of. It's daunting but you can't have it any other way...
So I don't know, I was a little Alex Keaton when I was a kid growing up in the eighties. Don't hate me when I say I was one when Reagan was elected. But strangely I was really into politics when I was like 5. I even had a goldfish named Ronald Reagan. Coincidentally it's dead too. Now I can't say I was "in" to politics, but quite obsessed witht he figure heads. I wanted to be president, make tons of money, send the children of my country to run across mine fields until they reached heaven. Wait, that was the Ayatola... News can really confuse little kids.
two more things... (1) Communist Russia was going to implode anyways, and all those that say Reagan won the cold war can suck it cause he wasted a ton of money on bull shit and nobody ever thinks about there brothren.
and (2) 5 day of memorial? What the fuck? This is a huge convenient distraction for the Bush administration. I had to go to Al Jezeera to find out some peers of mine died in the dessert again. When the flags aren't waving they pull out the dead president, then we wave them again.
god bless us all.
So I don't know, I was a little Alex Keaton when I was a kid growing up in the eighties. Don't hate me when I say I was one when Reagan was elected. But strangely I was really into politics when I was like 5. I even had a goldfish named Ronald Reagan. Coincidentally it's dead too. Now I can't say I was "in" to politics, but quite obsessed witht he figure heads. I wanted to be president, make tons of money, send the children of my country to run across mine fields until they reached heaven. Wait, that was the Ayatola... News can really confuse little kids.
two more things... (1) Communist Russia was going to implode anyways, and all those that say Reagan won the cold war can suck it cause he wasted a ton of money on bull shit and nobody ever thinks about there brothren.
and (2) 5 day of memorial? What the fuck? This is a huge convenient distraction for the Bush administration. I had to go to Al Jezeera to find out some peers of mine died in the dessert again. When the flags aren't waving they pull out the dead president, then we wave them again.
god bless us all.
Just a thought
Never be proud of anything just be thankful.
damn. i'm pretty well impressed with the quality of discussion on this thread, guys.
i mean, this is as good or better than most anything that has been written elsewhere.
some examples. there was christopher hitchens' piece in Slate in which he pointed out that reagan was, in his core, a stupid and mean man. he made his point well, but if reagan's personality was the problem then why does hitchens like dubya?
or take what jj cramer wrote in thestreet.com, in which he said reagan was a great guy because he made it easier for people to get rich, and to feel good about it. huh? is that the job of the head of state and chief executive -- to enrichen the top 20% cohort and give everybody a warm fuzzy feeling about it?
i mean, this is as good or better than most anything that has been written elsewhere.
some examples. there was christopher hitchens' piece in Slate in which he pointed out that reagan was, in his core, a stupid and mean man. he made his point well, but if reagan's personality was the problem then why does hitchens like dubya?
or take what jj cramer wrote in thestreet.com, in which he said reagan was a great guy because he made it easier for people to get rich, and to feel good about it. huh? is that the job of the head of state and chief executive -- to enrichen the top 20% cohort and give everybody a warm fuzzy feeling about it?
-
mccutcheon
- New York Scribbler
- Posts: 4996
- Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2000 8:01 am
- Location: NYC
- Contact:
It is in America, Martino.
Reagan made America the conservative shit hole it is today. Conservatives used to be little old ladies who saved their pennies and crossed the street when they saw a person of color coming their way. Reagan made Americans feel good about getting rich at any cost and made it okay to be outwardly racist. A fundamental difference between America and socialists countries of Europe is- American government is set up to help the top 10% of society get richer, while socialist countries are set up to help the lowest 10% survive.
They say Regan gave America back to Americans. That is true if you were a rich white guy.
Regan made the whole country conservative and the after effects still stand true today. He made republicans right wing. He created this prissy phrase ‘Regan Democrats'. It was because of Regan that a liberal president like Bill Clinton passed a tough welfare law, because the conservative senators handcuffed him within his own party. It was because of Regan a great president like Bill Clinton, that is right you read that correctly, Bill Clinton was a great president, well it was because of Regan the American people gave more of a shit who he fucked in the White House, then their own quality of life. Fucking puritans look at the life you got now. Look at how great the God fearing born again Christian is sodomizing you to hell.
Regan was personable. He could tell you to go fuck yourself with a smile on his face. The whole American military machine started with Regan. “Build an Army for peace,� bullshit and Star Wars- the one without Hans Solo.
But it can be argued that he did end the cold war. I have to give him that. The debate at least. I have respect for the mourners.
Reagan made America the conservative shit hole it is today. Conservatives used to be little old ladies who saved their pennies and crossed the street when they saw a person of color coming their way. Reagan made Americans feel good about getting rich at any cost and made it okay to be outwardly racist. A fundamental difference between America and socialists countries of Europe is- American government is set up to help the top 10% of society get richer, while socialist countries are set up to help the lowest 10% survive.
They say Regan gave America back to Americans. That is true if you were a rich white guy.
Regan made the whole country conservative and the after effects still stand true today. He made republicans right wing. He created this prissy phrase ‘Regan Democrats'. It was because of Regan that a liberal president like Bill Clinton passed a tough welfare law, because the conservative senators handcuffed him within his own party. It was because of Regan a great president like Bill Clinton, that is right you read that correctly, Bill Clinton was a great president, well it was because of Regan the American people gave more of a shit who he fucked in the White House, then their own quality of life. Fucking puritans look at the life you got now. Look at how great the God fearing born again Christian is sodomizing you to hell.
Regan was personable. He could tell you to go fuck yourself with a smile on his face. The whole American military machine started with Regan. “Build an Army for peace,� bullshit and Star Wars- the one without Hans Solo.
But it can be argued that he did end the cold war. I have to give him that. The debate at least. I have respect for the mourners.
yeah, i agree Mc. The Reagan years pretty much crushed the liberal voice. He made it so popular to be rich and lame. I think part of this was a the baby boomers feeling regret and shame for what they did in the 70's. I mean when you consider the amount of swinging that was going on. inevitably swinging is really not a good idea if you are a happily married couple. So the 80's roll in and now you are pious and you bury and forget all the fun you had in the 70's and your growing years in the 60's.
People join religion out of guilt and selfishness. I cringe when I hear people say "Well I don't want to go to hell." All this "I" shit. Fuckin' eighties...
People join religion out of guilt and selfishness. I cringe when I hear people say "Well I don't want to go to hell." All this "I" shit. Fuckin' eighties...
In the blogwurld, the subject of Ronald Reagan and his legacy has been highly debated. Here's what I had to say:
On Ronald Reagan
When Ronald Reagan took the office of the Presidency of the United States of America I was thirteen years old. My dad was a truck driver at the time and my mom a stay-at-home wife taking care of four sons (and yes, she's still sane today). It's ironic that my dad is a fairly staunch conservative now though at the time he always espoused the opinion that Reagan's "trickle down economics" never made it down to families such as ours. He was right. The only thing that trickled down to us was from my dad's hard work and sweat.
Most of the blogs that I read on a daily basis are written by individuals who lean toward the liberal slant of American ideology. So I wasn't surprised when the majority of points of view that were posted following Reagan's death weren't particularly kind to him. Which is fine. On reflection, I can't honestly say that at the time that I hated Reagan. Not in the way that I now despise former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich or current Majority Whip Tom Delay. I was simply to young at the time to have firmly developed my own ideologies. I know at the time that the country was in a near state of communal depression over the hostages in Iran, a bad economy (inflation), and high gas prices. See any parallels to the current state of affairs in the nation?
So just what did Ronald Reagon's policies do for the country that he governed? On the positive side, he undeniably did help usher in the end of the cold war and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union and it's "Iron Curtain" of eastern European satellite states. It's also reasonable to argue that had fate had not coupled him with another leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, who was equally willing to move past the old ways of the world, he would not have been so successful. Reagan's optimistic personality also did help bring much of the U.S. out of the collective funk that they were in from the 70s going all the way back to Watergate. On the negative side, Reagan's administration was nearly as corrupt as Nixon's and his assertions that he had 'no knowledge' of the diversions of money from illegal arms sales to Iran over to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua is hard to believe to this day. Socially, Reagan was clearly beholden to big business ... a legacy that lives on in our current President. Reagan did little to help the average man and woman though I truly believe that he truly believed that his trickle down economics would make it to the little guy. Unfortunately, that really didn't happen.
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Aids. Caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV. I graduated from a small, public high school in 1985 from a total senior class of less than 260 students. In 1980, there were 31 deaths from AIDS. By 1985, 22,996 cases of AIDS had been diagnosed in the U.S.; 12,592 had died. Many do not remember this but AIDS was initially called "Gay Cancer" and then "GRID ("gay-related immune deficiency")". The term AIDS was not used officially until 1982. The large increase of infections and deaths from 1980 to my graduation in 1985 should have been enough to alert any rational minded person that this was not something to be taken lightly. Not something that would go mildly away like the weather from season to season. However, at this time, the President of the United States of America had yet to utter the word "AIDS" in public nor made mention of the growing epidemic. By 1987 when Reagan first mentioned AIDS in a public speech, 71,176 AIDS cases had been diagnosed in the U.S.; 41,027 people are dead, including actor Rock Hudson and entertainer Liberace. When Ronald Reagan left office in 1990, he apologized for having neglected the AIDS epidemic. Unfortunately by this time, 198,466 AIDS cases had been diagnosed in the U.S. with 121,255 having died. What was taken as an apology from the ex-President came during a public service announcement for the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Ryan White, a hemophiliac teenager who had contracted AIDS from a tainted blood transfusion died during this time. This is extremely telling to many people, including myself. It is not hard to argue that had AIDS been a disease that primarily on it's inception affected heterosexuals, Reagan and other world leaders would have attempted to eradicate on first notice. It was ignored because it was thought of as a gay disease. An aberration for those who followed an aberrant lifestyle. Compare the reaction to AIDS to that of the recent outbreak of SARS. Very few deaths with SARS and the entire world was in a panic.
So what does this tell us about Ronald Reagan? Was he evil? I don't think so. He was a product of a time that had even less tolerance for the gay lifestyle than does that of modern day Mississippi. Does that excuse the apathy that he and his administration gave to the AIDS epidemic? Certainly not. It is inexcusable how wontonly the politicians of the late 80s treated the outbreak of AIDS. There may have been a lot of lives saved had they acted earlier in treating and maintaining the disease. Of that there is absolutely no doubt. I can not necessarily blame Reagan for it all, though. He was an overly optimistic man who surrounded himself by a lot of advisors who led him down bad paths and others of ignorance. Much like the man we have in office today. Doesn't make him evil. It does make the likelihood of his legacy being judged much less rosy by history than what we are seeing in the mainstream media today.
18:34:53 - myke- Category: Society - Link - No comments
On Ronald Reagan
When Ronald Reagan took the office of the Presidency of the United States of America I was thirteen years old. My dad was a truck driver at the time and my mom a stay-at-home wife taking care of four sons (and yes, she's still sane today). It's ironic that my dad is a fairly staunch conservative now though at the time he always espoused the opinion that Reagan's "trickle down economics" never made it down to families such as ours. He was right. The only thing that trickled down to us was from my dad's hard work and sweat.
Most of the blogs that I read on a daily basis are written by individuals who lean toward the liberal slant of American ideology. So I wasn't surprised when the majority of points of view that were posted following Reagan's death weren't particularly kind to him. Which is fine. On reflection, I can't honestly say that at the time that I hated Reagan. Not in the way that I now despise former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich or current Majority Whip Tom Delay. I was simply to young at the time to have firmly developed my own ideologies. I know at the time that the country was in a near state of communal depression over the hostages in Iran, a bad economy (inflation), and high gas prices. See any parallels to the current state of affairs in the nation?
So just what did Ronald Reagon's policies do for the country that he governed? On the positive side, he undeniably did help usher in the end of the cold war and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union and it's "Iron Curtain" of eastern European satellite states. It's also reasonable to argue that had fate had not coupled him with another leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, who was equally willing to move past the old ways of the world, he would not have been so successful. Reagan's optimistic personality also did help bring much of the U.S. out of the collective funk that they were in from the 70s going all the way back to Watergate. On the negative side, Reagan's administration was nearly as corrupt as Nixon's and his assertions that he had 'no knowledge' of the diversions of money from illegal arms sales to Iran over to the Contra rebels in Nicaragua is hard to believe to this day. Socially, Reagan was clearly beholden to big business ... a legacy that lives on in our current President. Reagan did little to help the average man and woman though I truly believe that he truly believed that his trickle down economics would make it to the little guy. Unfortunately, that really didn't happen.
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Aids. Caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV. I graduated from a small, public high school in 1985 from a total senior class of less than 260 students. In 1980, there were 31 deaths from AIDS. By 1985, 22,996 cases of AIDS had been diagnosed in the U.S.; 12,592 had died. Many do not remember this but AIDS was initially called "Gay Cancer" and then "GRID ("gay-related immune deficiency")". The term AIDS was not used officially until 1982. The large increase of infections and deaths from 1980 to my graduation in 1985 should have been enough to alert any rational minded person that this was not something to be taken lightly. Not something that would go mildly away like the weather from season to season. However, at this time, the President of the United States of America had yet to utter the word "AIDS" in public nor made mention of the growing epidemic. By 1987 when Reagan first mentioned AIDS in a public speech, 71,176 AIDS cases had been diagnosed in the U.S.; 41,027 people are dead, including actor Rock Hudson and entertainer Liberace. When Ronald Reagan left office in 1990, he apologized for having neglected the AIDS epidemic. Unfortunately by this time, 198,466 AIDS cases had been diagnosed in the U.S. with 121,255 having died. What was taken as an apology from the ex-President came during a public service announcement for the Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Ryan White, a hemophiliac teenager who had contracted AIDS from a tainted blood transfusion died during this time. This is extremely telling to many people, including myself. It is not hard to argue that had AIDS been a disease that primarily on it's inception affected heterosexuals, Reagan and other world leaders would have attempted to eradicate on first notice. It was ignored because it was thought of as a gay disease. An aberration for those who followed an aberrant lifestyle. Compare the reaction to AIDS to that of the recent outbreak of SARS. Very few deaths with SARS and the entire world was in a panic.
So what does this tell us about Ronald Reagan? Was he evil? I don't think so. He was a product of a time that had even less tolerance for the gay lifestyle than does that of modern day Mississippi. Does that excuse the apathy that he and his administration gave to the AIDS epidemic? Certainly not. It is inexcusable how wontonly the politicians of the late 80s treated the outbreak of AIDS. There may have been a lot of lives saved had they acted earlier in treating and maintaining the disease. Of that there is absolutely no doubt. I can not necessarily blame Reagan for it all, though. He was an overly optimistic man who surrounded himself by a lot of advisors who led him down bad paths and others of ignorance. Much like the man we have in office today. Doesn't make him evil. It does make the likelihood of his legacy being judged much less rosy by history than what we are seeing in the mainstream media today.
18:34:53 - myke- Category: Society - Link - No comments