On what would have been his 99th birthday, here are the Gipper’s lessons for restoring American greatness–and the keys to winning the next election.
What Would Reagan Do? What would our 40th President do if he became, through some miracle, our 45th President? Ronald Reagan, born on this day, February 6, 1911–Happy Birthday Mr. President, wherever you are!–passed away in 2004, but this question is still important to answer–as our thoughts turn to the future, to the next president after the 44th.
Because we know we don’t want Barack Obama in the Oval Office for more than a single term.
For conservatives and libertarians–and, after the recent elections, independents and independent Democrats–there’s not much more to be said about the incumbent. From the audacity of hope to the reality of deep disappointment, his decline and fall compressed itself into just a year.
We know that Obama and his liberal-left policies have damaged our economy, degraded our national finances, and insulted traditional values.[...]
Today’s Reagan would think long and hard about Islam, just as the original Reagan thought long and hard about communism. The original Reagan read Whittaker Chambers and consulted with Alexander Solzhenitsyn; the new Reagan would be similarly learning from experts and survivors. And so once he was in the White House, the new Reagan would gather the best and most clear-eyed advisers, before determining the best course of action.
George W. Bush thought he could change the culture of Islam through military force. Obama thinks he can change the culture of Islam through the force of words, including a lot of “I’m sorry” wording–and a little bit of bowing. Our Reagan would do better. Mindful of the stubborn realities of human nature, he would work with key allies to craft a comprehensive strategy for protecting the West. And he would seek, when and if possible, to advance security and freedom for the rest of the world.
To do so, he would cheerfully think outside of mental boxes he might have inherited from narrower-thinking predecessors. Always genial, but never naive, Reagan would dispense with illusion and credulity, pursuing instead missile defense and credible arms control. Indeed, in today’s proliferated world, it’s hard to think of a better idea right now than missile defense. Reagan thought so, too–and said so, from the Oval Office, back in 1983. If we had made steady progress on missile defense over the last three decades, America and her allies would be safe now from rogue regimes in Iran, North Korea, and Lebanon.
[...]
Read the rest: What Would Reagan Do?
Tags: Ronald Reagan
Happy Birthday Mr. President.
You are sorely missed. We need you more than ever
I never knew he was soooooo funny or delightful.
Wow just compare him to the shallow, boring, narcissistic, idiot Zero.
Doppelganger wrote:
We really do need him more than ever.
The Islamist threat isn’t the only think he’d do differently. Under him you wouldn’t have seen this porkulus, he wouldn’t be trying to nationalize health care and outlaw industry.
chickadee wrote:
Didn’t you see his teleprompter?
In my mind the Gipper was the last real President.
He is most assuredly a Republican icon. The difference between the respect given to Regan & the hysterical allegiance of the Obama supporters is that nobody thougt that Regam was a Deity, just a good guy & a great president.
He was a gentleman, he was a leader, and he was devoted to his wife (and she to him).
To me his funniest line was, “It’s true hard work never killed anybody, but I figure, why take the chance?”
snork wrote:
That was amazing wasn’t it. Such a confident man, not arrogant.
He had such great principles and he spoke from the heart.
Zero is like a wisp of foul air next to Ronald Reagan.
RIX wrote:
I think it’s simpler than that. Zero is a messiah to some, but he’s neither a leader nor a manager. Reagan was a delegator as a manager (probably his biggest fault) and not a messiah, but what he was was a leader. Before him, you have to go back to Ike to find another leader like him. LBJ was an effective motivator, but his agenda was too controversial for me to consider that leadership.
chickadee wrote:
BUT HE WENT TO HARVARD!!!
The Gipper didn’t need a teleprompter to tell you what he had for lunch
OT, because I’m tired of posting on dead threads.
snork wrote:
In other news: CJ now endorses the pejorative* “teabagger” term for supporters of the Tea Party movement. He’s refered to the ongoing Tea Party Convention as TeaBagCon in the titles of three separate posts during the last 24 hours.
He’s always ignored (i.e. allowed, approved of) use of the term in comments, but I hadn’t seen him use the term until now.
I guess he’s still trying to establish his bona fides with his new friends.
*I had a hard time selecting an adjective: pejorative, derogatory, insulting, demeaning, libelous, cynical, slanderous, defamatory…
chickadee wrote:
“Peanuts, popcorn, cracker jacks?” lol!
goddessoftheclassroom wrote:
Actually, as far as we know, the current president is also devoted to his wife. Could you imagine how things would be if Edwards were elected???
RIX wrote:
Exactly.
Opilio wrote:
Homophobic?
Doppelganger wrote:
He hardly even looked down at his notes. He didn’t have to.
He knew what was in his heart and he was proud of his love for his country.
m wrote:
Funny and so fitting.
Reagan was pure genius on almost every level: His domestic and foreign policies were wildly successful. He also formed a deep emotional bond with (enough of) the American people, which trusted him to do the right thing. And of course his well known ability to play off the opposition like so many buzzing flies. Reagan also understood that a nation must be respected before it can be “liked”. We all felt safe with him because we knew he would not put up with any nonsense. From anyone.
@ chickadee:
Indeed. The formula for success is not some complicated narrative taught at Harvard.
I think that Regan recognised his own strengths & limitations.
He acted accordingly & in my mind that made him a great leader.
Charles Homophobe Johnson
snork wrote:
He went to Harvard. Let us not forget then,Khalid al-Mansour.OPEC attorney.Tied to Islam. Connecting the dots. No wonder people are birthers etc. No wonder people believe President Wee is muslim.
BUT EVERYBODY WHO GOES TO HARVARD IS A GENIUS!!!
@ snork:
Especially the proteges of Khalidi.
At RRs inauguration.
Thats, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massatoositts, according to Teh Won.
snork wrote:
Did you say “Harvard” ?
Legitimating Nazism: Harvard University and the Hitler regime, 1933-1937.(Adolph Hitler)
The Harvard University administration during the 1930s, led by President James Bryant Conant, ignored numerous opportunities to take a principled stand against the Hitler regime and its antisemitic outrages, and contributed to Nazi Germany’s efforts to improve its image in the West. Its lack of concern about Nazi antisemitism was shared by many influential Harvard alumni and student leaders. In warmly welcoming Nazi leaders to the Harvard campus, inviting them to prestigious, high-profile social events, and striving to build friendly relations with thoroughly Nazified universities in Germany, while denouncing those who protested against these actions, Harvard’s administration and many of its student leaders offered important encouragement to the Hitler regime as it intensified its persecution of Jews and expanded its military strength.
Snip
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Ronald Reagan’s letter to the American people
Nov. 5 1994
My Fellow Americans,
I have recently been told that I am one of the Americans who will be afflicted with Alzheimer’s Disease.
Upon learning this news, Nancy & I had to decide whether as private citizens we would keep this a private matter or whether we would make this news known in a public way.
In the past Nancy suffered from breast cancer and I had my cancer surgeries. We found through our open disclosures we were able to raise public awareness. We were happy that as a result many more people underwent testing. They were treated in early stages and able to return to normal, healthy lives.
So now, we feel it is important to share it with you. In opening our hearts, we hope this might promote greater awareness of this condition. Perhaps it will encourage a clearer understanding of the individuals and families who are affected by it.
At the moment I feel just fine. I intend to live the remainder of the years God gives me on this earth doing the things I have always done. I will continue to share life’s journey with my beloved Nancy and my family. I plan to enjoy the great outdoors and stay in touch with my friends and supporters.
Unfortunately, as Alzheimer’s Disease progresses, the family often bears a heavy burden. I only wish there was some way I could spare Nancy from this painful experience. When the time comes I am confident that with your help she will face it with faith and courage.
In closing let me thank you, the American people for giving me the great honor of allowing me to serve as your President. When the Lord calls me home, whenever that may be I will face it with the greatest love for this country of ours and eternal optimism for its future.
I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life. I know that for America there will always be a bright dawn ahead.
Thank you, my friends. May God always bless you.
Sincerely,
Ronald Reagan
@ RIX:
Kinda makes hopenchange sound tinny, doesn’t it?
Yeah, it sure does. I recall reading this for the fisrt time.
I was struck by his courage & his devotion to the Ameican people.
He had great dignity.
It is impossible to compare Reagan with the Zero, other than to say that they both are fantastic communicators. All similarity ends there. Reagan was a man of principle who knew where he stood at all times and inspired confidence in the American people. Obama is an empty suit who divides the country by race, income, education, social status, ideology, and many other things in order to foster an entitlement mentality in Americans. It is destructive to the country and only serves to create votes for the democrat party. It is sad and despicable.
Wasn’t it Crist recently referred to himself as someone akin to reagan?
It was some liberal republican.
Notice that CJ uses “Teabag”
He leaves a couple of things out, Palin is donating her fee back to the organization & unlike Obama & the rest of the Dems, the tea Partiers welcome the Cspan cameras.The rest of the Weasels of course piled on
@ RIX:
That paragon of journalistic integrity, Charles “no correction” Johnson is omitting facts? The hell you say //
Difficult to believe, I know.
@ RIX:
They did more to keep things transparent and open than the administration, and they catch hell for it.
And, would Reagan say “I haven’t left the Republican Party. The Republican Party left me.”
@ RIX:
Yes, a model of civility, Charles likes to call people (like me and Zombie among others) “creeps”, but he is the one who truly meets that appellation. And a loathesome creep he is. Truly vile.
Of course, Charles is more open and transparent than the administration. Heh
That is the irony. CJ is now bashing the tea Partiers for denouncing
‘Birthers.” I’m serious, Husky Blogger questions their sincerity, cause you know he has special powers
RIX wrote:
Bearish, not Husky.
I resemble that remark.
True, the guys very existence is an affront to personal hygene.
He really needs to clean up.
He also is clearly not a slave to physical exercise, truthfulness & critical thinking.
@ Iron Fist:
Someone was crapping on Zombie earlier today, they can’t let it go.
Check out the pic of one of the teabagging racists at Instapundit. I wonder if this guy (who happens to be black) knows he is a racist, or if he’s one of those stealth racists who hides it from himself to better fool others? Damn, LGF has become such an awful place I am embarrassed to have ever been associated with it. CJ did me a favor when he erased all of my posts.
Ok, I’m going with Bearish, Husky Blogger.
It says it all.
@ Iron Fist:
+10
Funny guy, that Hoosier Hoops. He should be a comedian.
He cribed it from this Onion piece
Christ Turns Down 3-Year, Multimillion Dollar Deal To Coach Notre Dame | The Onion – America’s Finest News Source
SOUTH BEND, IN—Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Savior of All Mankind, and current defensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State, said Monday that He would not accept Notre Dame’s 3-year, $5.6 million offer to coach the Fighting Irish. “I love Notre Dame and respect their football legacy, but no matter what you’ve accomplished before coaching there, once you’re a Golden Domer, the expectations, frankly, are unrealistic,” said Christ, whose family has been involved with the university since its founding. “I’ve had people turn on Me before, and it really put Me through hell. But even more importantly, I’ve made a commitment to stay with the Blue Raiders through 2015.” Christ denied asking Notre Dame to remove His likeness from the building overlooking their stadium, saying He liked a good joke as much as anybody
Both Bush and Obama don’t understand Islam. Reagan would of studied and implemted policies to counter act this movement.
@ tunnelrat:
LGF is starting to make DKos look sane. It is amazing to me thatpeople can so completely change their principles following a blogger (Teablogger?) on the Internet. We’re not talking minor shifts in opinion here, but complete remakes of their public personalities into something pretty loathesome. Of course, most of us didn’t make the change and were cast out of “paradise”. Too bad for us, right?
@ RIX:
I’m partying in South Florida while The Jazz ARtist hides in his home!
@ Rodan:
Blair was the one who had the real hardon about nation building. That part of it may have been the price Bush had to pay to get Blair on board. I don’t think most of our people were all that excited about it, but Blair may have convinced Bush.
Rodan wrote:
His gated community where un-Mata Hari feeds him fruit and water? I’m picturing un-Mata Hari as Nurse Ratched. And I wonder what’s in the fruit and water?
Iron Fist wrote:
Is that the part of Genesis that ended up on the cutting room floor? The part about Adam and Steve living hippily ever after?
You must be between parties?
MrPaulRevere wrote:
The Undead One is thriving, with regular articles appearing at PJM, a site with far more readers than CJ’s shriveled-up bloggie.
Breaking with LGF was the best thing that could have happened to Zombie, and the venomous lizards resent it mightily. Heh.
I bet the place is nuts this week. Great time huh?
Whoa dude. I wonder if the groovy chubby is into bong water?
RIX wrote:
There’s reason to, given the polls I’ve seen. That, and the standing ovation. No special powers needed.
@ Rodan:
So what’s the plan to watch the “Game”? Are you one of the chosen people with a ticket into the Super Bowl? Penthouse suite with a wide screen and babes? Buckets of Perrier’ Jouet?
I want VIDEO dammit!
WTF? Now there’s a real fan. “I feel strongly both ways.” *wink*
RIX wrote:
kind of like when Chucky’s pals on the left denounce terrorism. I doubt it since Chucky’s pals are all cozey with Hamas and Al aqsa martyr’s brigades
that’s right chucky, you are a terrorist enabler. That’s teh funny thing about guilt by association , innit?
RIX wrote:
Since when is NOLa America’s city?
Don’t get me wrong, I love NOLa, but America’s city it sure as Hell ain’t
That is Charlies logic. If you are a Conservative whose brother may or may not have gone to the same college as a white supremacist, you are a racist.
If you are a Progressive like Van Jones & claim that you were Marxist, you were never a Marxist.
tunnelrat wrote:
Vile scumbag hoosierhoops. you pathetic POS!!!!
These people you are painting with a broad brush are the backbone of this country, you vile little cocksucker. The guilt by association you are latching onto ( copying the groupthink of a fat man in a pony tail who never had an original thought in his life ) is so far off target.
you are maligning every American with this trash talk. You piece of shit!
I like the place too, but Americas city it ain’t.
Hoops is just trying to keep ir real & be Kewl
because of Katrina.
@ Doppelganger:
New Orleans is America’s City like Rudy is America’s Mayor.
Just rhetoric to make people seem unamerican for not liking them or not caring about them.
New Orleans is a city filled with corruption, crime, dependence on government, mindless dependence and a small tourist trade.
RIX wrote:
That’s it. That’s the right name.
@ RIX:
New Orleans is going to be milking Katrina 50 years from now. How is it the rest of the Gulf Coast made it through the AGW Caused TerrorStorm™ and has recovered without a few billion in aid (and major whining for the last five years)? I’m sick of it. You don’t see that shit anywhere else major disasters occur.
@ ChenZhen:
Ah! A Kos Research poll— of self-identified Republicans, BTW, not Tea Partiers! Good source!
/////
In all seriousness, these general attitude polls have to be taken with a truckload of salt, even when done by more reliable outfits. Do you really think, for example, that over 35% of self-identified Democrats in 2008 believed either GWBush or the Joooooos were behind 9/11? Or that a solid majority of Democrats were Truthers of one kind or another? I don’t, and yet I remember seeing polls to that effect.
That poll was commissioned by Kos. It is the same organization that called the Brown /Coakley race a dead heat the day before voting.
Every other poll predicted Brown.
That poll was commissioned by Kos as well.
You pay for a poll & you can get the results you want if you are so inclined.
I don’t know about the standing ovations, since I didn’t see it.
The point is that the organizers denounced Birtherism & Charlie has no way of knowing their sincerity.
Right , I had sympathy for them , but enough!
All the Bush bashing while Mayor Nagin refused to evacuate the city & said that New Orleans would remain a ‘Chocolate” city.
No racism there./
Alright! Let’s run with it.
Reagan would refuse to have a battle of wits with Obama- why would he fight someone who was only half-prepared?
@ RIX:
The Birther thing bothers me very little. All Obama has to do is release his Birth Certificate anyway, and the whole thing is done. But that’s beside the point.
I’d rather have a bunch of “birthers” who are for limited government, hard work, obeying the law, having high morals, being fiscally respinsible, than a bunch of Progressives who are spending this nation into financial ruin!
The principles of the Tea Party movement are those of our founders! I’ll stand with the founders over Icarus and his Flounders any day!
Opilio @ 13:
And cj’s lunch in packaged in a jockstrap.
I think that Regan would say something like “Let’s meet armed with teleprompters at 20 paces.”
Back on January 23rd, ChenZhen had a Blogmocracy post that asked, in summary:
So I did an analysis of LGF in January 2010 (31 days) and the statistics are:
Days: 31 (January 1-31, 2010)
Posts: (35488 thru 35683)
Comments: 81,536
Deleted comments: 182
Unique commenters: 866
Commenters by average comment rate:
1 comment/month: 248 (29%)
<=1 comment/week: 467 (54%)
<=1 comment/day: 660 (76%)
And the answer is…
Lots of other interesting stats too.
Chuckie has absolutely no clue what the tea parties are all about. The concept of concerned Americans protesting huge deficits and an intrusive government is totally lost on him. The fact that he tries to demonize his opponents with labels (fascist, tea-bagger, racist, etc…) rather than debate them shows him to be a childish and petty person.
Opilio wrote:
Wow!
Quite an amusing Opiliofact™ !
@ Opilio:
But that does not factor in the sudden absence of Sharmuta and her usual 50 or more comments per day.
@ Opilio:
Nil Stooge has a lot of stats and charts on that.
@ Beltfed:
Prolly don’t need it for anything else.
Opilio wrote:
I’ll wager that at least 5 of them are socks of Chuckles!
@ Opilio:
Also, you see a similar pattern with visits, if you look at the Quantcast stats. 44% of the visits come from 2% of the visitors.
Doppelganger wrote:
I’d rather be a sock on a rotting corpse
tunnelrat wrote:
She only posted 131 comments all month (putting her in 116th place), but only 1 after January 21st.
wow. ten people at 1.0 account for 1/3 of the comments!
pathetic!
Opilio wrote:
Nil Stooge did some work
Obama instructing donkeys as to where to get their news:
“You know what I think would actually make a difference, Michael? I think if everybody here — excuse all the members of the press who are here — if everybody here turned off your CNN, your Fox, your blogs,” Obama said, before being interrupted by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-CA, who piped up, “And MSNBC!”
What’s up with Boxorox and MSNBC?
@ RIX:
Better way would be ‘speeches WITHOUT teleprompters at 20 paces.’ Reagan would mop the floor with him. Even today.
@ RIX:
Sincerity is always open to question. Concern about his own apparent sincerity has cause the Wally to swear the blood-and-spit-oath of fealty to the progressives. Fanatics cannot have their sincerity questioned. Moderates can. Fanatical moderates wind up dancing on a pin-head: extremely sincere about not being extreme. The extremes squeeze in ever-closer: Horowitz, Spencer, Steyn, Krauthammer must be branded as extreme. Eventually, the center will contain a single whirling wagon driven by …Sharmuta.
Opilio wrote:
Which IIRC was about the time the NYT article came out.
Doppelganger wrote:
Don’t know about that, but CJ was the 52nd most prolific commenter on his own site, slightly ahead of Cato (55th), but not quite as high as Jimmah (48th).
One of the best vids to be found at YouTube
OT … I now have experimental proof that a standard-sized dachshund can disappear, except for nose and tail-tip, in 12″ of snow. I dug him a bigger potty area.
@ Opilio:
Interesting. My guess was a much higher %, but to say that nearly half of the comments were left by the top 24 doesn’t refute what Dee was saying. I can see why CJ didn’t want to present the data that way.
In fact, Dee said “two dozen or so“, so it’d be interesting to see what the stats would look like for, say, the top 30 posters.
In addition, if you could somehow eliminate the “Hi, I’m a newbie” posts from the calculation (as Dee was specifically referring to actual discussions and how they were dominated), I think it’d be clear that Dee was pretty accurate in his assessment.
#46 Iron Fist
Damn, LGF has become such an awful place I am embarrassed to have ever been associated with it.
It’s a safe bet that thousands of others think the same.
Sorry, make that #48.
@ Opilio:
Wonder where she went? That’s a lot of time to fill in her day.
Suppose she’s lurking here? Come out come out where ever you are!
Sharmutas last comment in the thread “For Whom Does the Paperboy Toll?” 01/23/10
224 Sharmuta
1/23/2010 12:59:08 am PST 1downupreport
re: #48 Charles
I’m disgusted by this piece, and frankly quite glad to have been cut from this trashy piece of tabloid journalism.
——-
She has changed her avatar to this one and is all “all love and peace”
Sharmuta as St. Bernadette Soubirous *rofl*
amazing !!!
snork wrote:
Yes, I had seen that. Quite impressive. But I had already collected data for about 90% of the whole month of January, so I had to keep going. I don’t have any nifty charts. Just a pile of data for an occasional Opiliofact™.
just 5 people post 20% of the comments at 1.0!
@ Empire1:
Pictures or it didn’t happen.
Guggi:
No reason for her to be disgusted! I thought un-mata hari like was being generous.
There is absolutely no doubt.
@ mfhorn:
Speeches without teleprompters? I’d mop the floor with the Teleprompter Jesus’ ass.
That is a great line.
ChenZhen wrote:
Top 30 commenters: 52.2% of comments
Top 40 commenters: 60.1% of comments
Top 50 commenters: 66.7% of comments
OR
25% of comments: top 9 posters
33% of comments: top 14 posters
50% of comments: top 28 posters
66% of comments: top 50 posters
75% of comments: top 66 posters
80% of comments: top 78 posters
The birther thing is a silly irrelevancy to me, although I don’t see
why it’s so eeeeeeeevil to speculate about it.
OTOH, whenever people start talking too seriously about Obama not being Constitutionally qualified to be POTUS or about impeachment, I think their hearts are fooloshly looking for a quick, magical fix.
Ain’t gonna happen, and in any case, getting Obama out of the WH won’t kill the leftist movement. We have a longterm fight ahead of us.
Also, I’ll take our birthers over the left’s War-for-Halliburtoners, War-for-the-Joooooosers, and *&^%$ Truthers any day of the week.
@ Buckeye Abroad:
Well, I don’t go there any more, and couldn’t possibly care any less what’s going on there these days. And that used to be one of my favorite sites … :sigh:
The Weasel creature was frothing the other day about Sharmutas
avatar being responsible for persecuting her Irish ancestors & Jimmahas Scottish ancestors.
Saint Bernadette? I thought that it must be Cromwell or William & Mary of Orange. Saint Bernadette?
Guggi wrote:
I don’t think I’m easily offended, but that really offends me.
RIX wrote:
What????!!!
Maybe it was still the smurf! (Makes as much sense.)
wolfie wrote:
LOL.
That’s pretty rich coming from that miserable Kooz Iceweasel who spends her entire day persecuting everyone she encounters!
OT: VDH in solid form tonight
One of the sad characteristics of contemporary Western society is the tendency to embrace noble lies. These are assertions and acts that don’t square with reality, with what we see and hear—and are voiced for apparently noble social purposes. Here are a few politically-incorrect examples.
…
2) Israel. We are inundated with constant talk of the “Middle East crisis” and “the need to restart the peace process.”
…
The reality? Hating Israel as a unique aggressor is simply predicated on five unspoken truths: 1) rampant anti-Semitism (one can hate Jews by the loftier notion of being “anti-Zionist”; 2) fear of radical Islamic terrorists; there are apparently no radical Tibetans hijacking planes or blowing up Madrid train stations due to Spanish ties with communist China; 3) oil, oil, oil. The Cypriots cannot enlist the Greeks to withhold 500 billion barrels of oil in the Aegean from world markets. If such a fantasy were true, Nicosia would be on the front pages; 4) Israel is Western, like the U.S., and in a most un-Western neighborhood, so hating Israel is a mechanism of hating the U.S. on the cheap; 5) demography. If there were a billion-person Orthodox community energized by a half-billion Greek-speakers, we most certainly would wish to solve the “Cyprus crisis”.
RIX wrote:
Uneducated idiots. Sharmuta picked her avatar from this site
wolfie wrote:
off-the-wall, isn’t it ?
@ Opilio:
hmmm….that may call for a follow-up thread.
I do fear that, while it does a better job analyzing what Dee was saying than the
fact checksmokescreen that CJ posted, it doesn’t portray a perfectly clear picture of who’s “dominating the discussions”.For that, I assume that we’d have to eliminate open threads (the silly beach pics, announced open threads, and the music videos), and stick with the actual “discussion” threads for the stats.
I know it may be asking a lot, but if it’s not too tough, go ahead and relay whatever you’ve got to me via my contact form, and I’ll take a look at it and see if I can whip up a thread sometime next week.
vagabond trader wrote:
LOL!! I was wielding a shovel, not a camera, but I doubt we’ll get much melting overnight, so perhaps I can get him to pose against the snow on the sidewalk.
#115 Empire1
Well, I don’t go there any more, and couldn’t possibly care any less what’s going on there these days. And that used to be one of my favorite sites … :sigh:
I was the same and stopped looking years ago.
I feel sorry for him to be honest. Chuck will find no peace.
I don’t see how it could have been Saint Bernadette.
Now that I think about it, Weasel claime to be offended as
an Irish Catholic. Catholic? she claims to be an atheist.
She is a vile creature..
@ ChenZhen:
I’ll try to send you something.
Opilio wrote:
Why do the percentages not reach 100%?
How did this become a thread about selrahC?
I did not appreciate RR when I was young. Now I realize how wrong I was.
That said, he made some devastating mistakes.
(1) He refused to take action against AIDS — or even use the word — until it had spread throughout the land. That the gay joke Ed Koch and the NYT ignored it almost as long is no credit to RR.
(2) He utterly failed to understand Islam. Consequently, he so no problem fleeing from Lebanon after several hundred marines were killed in a bombing.
Of course, most of what he did was very good, and the same cannot be said for his successors.
#129 sk (skzion)
(1) He refused to take action against AIDS — or even use the word — until it had spread throughout the land.
What sopping drama. Care to see how the rest of the world identified AIDS in the 80′s before it swept across the land? Of note, once you exclude those who particpate in needle sharing amongst drug users and homosexuals with multiple partners, take a guess how many Americans die from AIDS? Unless you are of the latter, you should worry more about cancer or heart disease.
(2) He utterly failed to understand Islam. Consequently, he so no problem fleeing from Lebanon after several hundred marines were killed in a bombing.
The choice was to occupy Lebanon or leave. Considering Lebanon’s history and what occurred after, I doubt the American people, and especially you, would have the stomach for the price tag for the long haul.
Shalom
Buckeye Abroad wrote:
If I were “of the latter” I would have no need to worry at all, being dead from AIDS. However, as I am gay, I suppose I do take R’s utter failure to promote public health on this issue–a proper role for government even for us small-government types–personally. Fortunately (for me, not for you), I did not mess around until most of the information finally got out. The problem with R on this matter is that when the information did get out, he did nothing, and he failed to make sure that the CDC did its job early on. An effective leader knows what is going on in his own bureaucracy. There was lots of blame all around, don’t get me wrong. I realize, though, that you do not view a dead gay American as much of a loss, so long as the majority are not affected. As for cancer and heart disease, they have been funded all along–and they are not contagious. The cost to America of AIDS could have been radically reduced. The buck stopped with the executive.
“Especially me?” Do you mistake me for a progressive? There was a third option: taking the fight to the enemy, i.e. Iran, Iraq, and Arabia, the three main Islamic piggy banks. If the USSR & the states it controlled could be an Evil Empire, surely the Dar al-Harb could be as well. When Carter was president, there were a few sane voices talking of seizing the Saudi oil wells after the Saudis participating in an oil boycott followed by quadrupling, then doubling of the oil prices, all of which occurred when the oil fields were illegally nationalized. R clearly cowed Iran’s Khomeini (hence, our hostages at the embassy were released), but he did not undo in the House of Islam what Carter facilitated happening. This can be compared with how R did undo other Carter mistakes.
BTW, I’ve been dealing with nasty homophobes on another web site (Schlussel’s), whom I tolerate only because I admire Debbie so much. I’m not in the mood to bend over here.
#131
However, as I am gay, I suppose I do take R’s utter failure to promote public health on this issue–a proper role for government even for us small-government types–personally.
A public servant annoucnenment from President Reagan would have made you aware of an illness that would have personally altered your
behavior that, in effect, could have impacted your personal choices later? Hmmmm. Call me sceptical.
The problem with R on this matter is that when the information did get out, he did nothing, and he failed to make sure that the CDC did its job early on. An effective leader knows what is going on in his own bureaucracy. There was lots of blame all around, don’t get me wrong.
Yeah, with the soviets, inflation, economy, communist expansion etc… President Reagan didn’t focus on the issue the counted the most (according to your dick.. cough… cough). What an ogre.
I realize, though, that you do not view a dead gay American as much of a loss, so long as the majority are not affected. As for cancer and heart disease, they have been funded all along–and they are not contagious.
You do realize that contagious diseases are controllable through personal precautions? No? Gay and lazy. Bad combo.
The cost to America of AIDS could have been radically reduced. The buck stopped with the executive.
A contagious sexually transmitted disease through individual sexual intercourse is the fault of a head of state? I bet you blame your father for all your personal faults as well, but I am taking a shot in the dark.
“Especially me?” Do you mistake me for a progressive?
Yes
If the USSR & the states it controlled could be an Evil Empire, surely the Dar al-Harb could be as well.
Pick your battles with the resources you have available.
BTW, I’ve been dealing with nasty homophobes on another web site (Schlussel’s), whom I tolerate only because I admire Debbie so much. I’m not in the mood to bend over here.
Homophobe? No fear on this site. My advice– don’t bend over for anybody. You’re gay? So what.
Buckeye, do you know how intellectually lazy your reply is? Obviously not, or you would have written a different one. Let’s review.
(1) A rational individual cannot decrease risky behavior if he does not know that it is risky or lacks the information necessary to assess risk. Do you understand this basic conservative point about rational decision making? Markets cannot even function without proper information, which is why basic microeconomic models begin with an assumption of “perfect information.” Before AIDS, gay sex, just like straight sex, was low-risk, and nothing a shot couldn’t cure. The CDC did not do what it was equipped and tasked to do, which is to identify epidemics before they even land in the US. Given the lack of information, it is idiotic to complain about how AIDS victims were necessarily at fault. The early stages of this epidemic were horribly botched by the CDC, and the disease spread well before people figured out what was happening.
Thus, your discussion of AIDS is absurd, as my main point was, and has always been, the failure to act early by the executive, identifying the symptoms as a communicable disease, and then identifying how it spread. For example, if poppers cause what we now call AIDS, the solution is not to use poppers.
(2) I said the blame went all around. Let me be specific. In San Francisco, there was great resistance to closing bathhouses, even though, by that time, there was evidence that they were related to the epidemic. However, negligence by one group does not negate negligence by another group.
You suggest that I blame others and do not believe in personal responsibility. Ridiculous. It is you who refuse to hold governments responsible for malfeasance when the legacy of a popular president is at issue. You also depend on tired cliches. Talk about boring.
(3) Regarding Islam, I have pointed out what Reagan could have done, rejecting your straw man claim that there were only two choices. You have nothing to say except that presidents should pick their battles and use the resources they have. O Profundity! Reagan did not properly identify the Islamic enemy, and he did not use any of the resources he had against it. Reagan was indeed negligent regarding Islam. That every president since Reagan has been negligent as well, even as information was increasingly available, does not change anything. He had more access to information than anyone in the world, but he did not ask the right questions. If you seriously suggest that Islamic jihad against the West was not a worthy battle, perhaps you are on the wrong blog.
(4) Finally, it is tiresome to have to lecture you on Conservatism 101. My advice is that you think more carefully the next time.
#133 sk (skzion)
I see. Thank you for the enlighting discourse.
@ sk (skzion):
I never thought of it that way.
@ BBEV:
BBEV, just to repeat, I consider Reagan a great president–and we haven’t had his like since.