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 Happy Birthday, Reagan

 Author:  Topic:  Posted:
Feb 06, 2002
 Comments:
He won the cold war, he gave America back its pride, he was the first President I voted for. God, I miss him.
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Yeah, I know. The liberals are going to chew me up and spit me out now. Have at it. Just keep in mind you suck.


The real question is.. (4.00 / 1) (#1)
by DG on Wed Feb 6th, 2002 at 11:01:21 PM PST
Does he know it's his birthday?

Reagan was good in someways, i'll give you that
� 2002, DG. You may not reproduce this material, in whole or in part, without written permission of the owner.

I doubt it (5.00 / 1) (#2)
by osm on Wed Feb 6th, 2002 at 11:12:14 PM PST
I've heard he's in pretty bad shape as far as the disease goes. But still, 91, hell! I'll be lucky to make it half that.

We're all just lucky that... (none / 0) (#17)
by elenchos on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 03:52:41 PM PST
...the Alzheimer's didn't begin until he left office. Typically the degenerative progression begins much earlier, but fortunately Regan remained as sharp as ever right up until 1987. Can you imagine how it would have been to have a senile President? Whew! Close one...


I do, I do, I do
--Bikini Kill

I hear you (5.00 / 1) (#18)
by osm on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 04:02:27 PM PST
that would almost have been as bad as a President who would rather stick a cigar up some nasty chick's smelly trap than do anything worthwhile.

 
The memories (none / 0) (#3)
by zikzak on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 03:23:11 AM PST
I remember way back in 1981 when Ronnie was battling Jimmy "Peanuts and Liver Pills" Carter for the office of US presedency. I was just a wee lad in those days, still working my way towards that prestigious diploma in Elementary School Fundamentals.

Our scholastic academy ran a mock election amongst the student body a few days before the real election. Carter won by a landslide, most likely because he was the only person on the ballot we had ever heard of. I was convinced that this meant Jimminy "Hostage Crisis" Carter was going to be re-elected.

When the official results (those generated by actual, registered voters) came in, I was shocked and dismayed at who the American people had chosen to lead this great nation of ours. I was totally incapable of understanding why the adults had made this decision.

Twenty some-odd years later, full of knowledge and understanding pertaining to the electoral process and the will of this nation's voters, I have come to several inescapable conclusions:

1: If you're still awake at 5 AM, you should go to bed.
2: If you're awake and drunk at 5 AM, you should really go to bed.
3: If you're awake, drunk, and posting comments on Adequacy.org at 5 AM, you are probably an editor.

Thank you, and God bless.

funny (none / 0) (#10)
by osm on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 12:51:23 PM PST
1: If you're still awake at 5 AM, you should go to bed. 2: If you're awake and drunk at 5 AM, you should really go to bed. 3: If you're awake, drunk, and posting comments on Adequacy.org at 5 AM, you are probably an editor.

I've made the exact same observations. Well, except for 2, since I don't drink.

 
*HE* won the cold war? (1.00 / 1) (#4)
by PotatoError on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 05:13:03 AM PST
hahahhahahahahaahahhaaa
<<JUMP! POGO POGO POGO BOUNCE! POGO POGO POGO>>

Well (none / 0) (#5)
by Right Hand Man on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 06:52:00 AM PST
With the help of God.


-------------------------
"Keep your bible open and your powder dry."

hahah (none / 0) (#19)
by PotatoError on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 07:12:23 PM PST
why the fuck would god care about some little dispute between soviet union and united states?
<<JUMP! POGO POGO POGO BOUNCE! POGO POGO POGO>>

 
There's Something Eerie (5.00 / 1) (#6)
by Trollaxor on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 07:41:09 AM PST
...about Reagan, Bush, and Dubya.

They all seem to have an absent, vacant air about them.

It is my theory that they are all one in the same person, namely our greatest president ever, FDR. FDR has been having mindswap procedures into carious bodies to he can continue to rule out country.

The one sticking point in my theory is that he was a *good* president and had a lot of good qualities Reagan, Bush, and Dubya completely lack.

Hmmm.

 
Give me a break! (1.33 / 3) (#7)
by Anonymous Reader on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 07:50:38 AM PST
Reagan won the Cold War? Give me a break. There was a whole progression of Cold Warrior U.S. Presidents, starting with Harry S. Truman, who led this country during that time period. Rappin' Ron was just lucky enough to be in office when Soviet-style Communism collapsed under its own weight. A chimpanzee would have done just as well (or perhaps arguably better; there is no evidence that a chimpanzee would have openly sold arms to a hostile terrorist nation or run up trillions of dollars in national debt that is unlikely to be paid off in any of our lifetimes.)

Reagan may have been a personable and likeable guy, but giving him sole credit for the collapse of the Soviet Union while ignoring the contributions of Presidents for the prior 40 years (as well as the structural problems of the Soviet Union itself) is as ridiculous as Clinton taking credit in 1996 for the fact that no more ICBMs were targeting American soil. He wasn't a poor President, but the recent attempts to deify him have been soul-wrenchingly sickening.

A chimpanzee (none / 0) (#23)
by fluffy grue on Sun Feb 10th, 2002 at 01:16:10 AM PST
It was a chimpanzee. I thought everyone knew that Reagan was just a figurehead to hide the fact that it was his much more intelligent long-time co-star Bonzo who was in charge.
--
meep

 
Reagan Presidential Questions (5.00 / 1) (#8)
by doofus on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 11:30:57 AM PST
Yeah, I was a wee lad of 19 when Ronald Reagan won his first term. I dutifully registered for the draft, too.

What I do not understand about conservatives is why they in fact just utterly love this man. He is the perfect president as far as they are concerned and yet he stood for almost nothing that true conservatives believe.

1. He never submitted a balanced budget to Congress.

2. His government spending was breath-taking, especially on the truly awful piece of shit B-1B bomber (and I am not just talking out of my ass here, I have first-hand knowledge.).

3. He began the process of radical nuclear arms reduction on both sides of the MAD equation.

4. His Attorney General was rabidly committed to examining every piece of reading material in every law-abiding American's home. How is that "getting the government off the backs of the people?"

5. He presided over one of the biggest stock market collapses ever (granted at that point he was not really in charge, but his name was still on the stationery).

I guess I don't understand why a Democratic President who actually reduced government spending and paid down a portion of our enormous national debt is vilified, but the guy that set this country on that initial and questionable economic course is deified.

But, since I lost a dear grandmother to Alzheimer's, I do feel very deeply for his family and for him. Any human deserves a better end than that.


Well (none / 0) (#9)
by osm on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 12:47:10 PM PST
1. He never submitted a balanced budget to Congress.

He was fighting a war. Reagan's military build-up was a key factor in the Soviet collapse.

2. His government spending was breath-taking, especially on the truly awful piece of shit B-1B bomber (and I am not just talking out of my ass here, I have first-hand knowledge.).

The executive branch is not responsible for spending. That is the responsibility of the congress. The Democrat-controlled congress' government spending was breathtaking.

3. He began the process of radical nuclear arms reduction on both sides of the MAD equation.

And there's something wrong with that?

4. His Attorney General was rabidly committed to examining every piece of reading material in every law-abiding American's home. How is that "getting the government off the backs of the people?"

Hmmmm. Nobody examined the reading material in my home. As far as getting the government off the backs of the people: how about telecom deregulation, which made it LEGAL for people to "tamper" with their own telephone equipment? Have you ever used a modem? Thank Reagan.

5. He presided over one of the biggest stock market collapses ever (granted at that point he was not really in charge, but his name was still on the stationery).

He also presided over the largest peace-time economic expansion.

I guess I don't understand why a Democratic President who actually reduced government spending and paid down a portion of our enormous national debt is vilified

The Republican-controlled congress reduced government spending. As I pointed out earlier, congress is responsible for spending.

Also, Clinton didn't pay down anything. He "balanced" the budget by removing the Social Security fund from the calculation. Unfortunately, the Republican congress mostly went along with the charade.

but the guy that set this country on that initial and questionable economic course is deified.

That's not true at all. See above. Not to mention that Reagan was a strong leader. Don't you remember what things were like during Carter's administration? The long lines at the gas pumps? The hostages? A country still bleeding from Vietnam?

But, since I lost a dear grandmother to Alzheimer's, I do feel very deeply for his family and for him. Any human deserves a better end than that.

Indeed.

 
Yes, And I Agree (none / 0) (#11)
by doofus on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 01:26:03 PM PST
Don't you remember what things were like during Carter's administration? The long lines at the gas pumps? The hostages? A country still bleeding from Vietnam?

Yes, double digit inflation (just like in Ford's administration - Whip Inflation Now by wearing this WIN button). God, I remember home mortgages at 16%(!). I remember gas lines and even waited in them in 1979 (odd or even license plate?).

I remember seeing a plane full of US embassy hostages take off from some airfield the same day Reagan was inaugurated. I remember feeling relieved because at least that was one less war I'd have to fight.

I remember the infamous press conference wherein he defended his "launch on warning" nuclear strike policy by saying, "Missiles can be recalled."

Gulp.

I remember that ketchup was a vegetable.

I was talking with my now-retired father last Saturday night. I joked with him that I'd made more money under 8 years of Clinton-Gore than I did under 12 years of Reagan-Bush and that's why Clinton was a great president to me. He responded good-naturedly that if that was the criteria then his favorite president was Carter.

"I got HUGE raises in the late 70's!"

As Dan Akyroyd once said as Jimmy Carter on Saturday Night Live, "Inflation is your friend."

Anyway, osm, thanks for triggering all those memories, good and bad.

Dan Aykroyd (none / 0) (#12)
by osm on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 01:42:14 PM PST
as Jimmy Carter was hillarious. SNL has never been the same since the original cast left.

And don't get me wrong... I think Carter is a great man. The things he's done after his presidency are terrific. I just don't think he was Presidential material. Though, he was partially a victim of circumstance.


 
Wait a minute. (none / 0) (#13)
by hauntedattics on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 03:00:32 PM PST
I thought you were about 25 or so. How the hell could you have voted for Reagan in either '80 or '84?

Admit it - you're older than I am, aren't you?



mmmm :) (5.00 / 1) (#14)
by osm on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 03:05:08 PM PST
Yeah, but I'm a male, so it doesn't matter.

osm is older... (none / 0) (#15)
by hauntedattics on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 03:20:40 PM PST
My respect for you suddenly increases tenfold.

(of course it was nil before, so...)



that's ok. (5.00 / 1) (#16)
by osm on Thu Feb 7th, 2002 at 03:23:39 PM PST
(of course it was nil before, so...)

I understand. It's the price I have paid for being an Editor on the Edge.

Edge of what? (none / 0) (#20)
by tkatchev on Fri Feb 8th, 2002 at 12:53:09 AM PST
Just curious.


--
Peace and much love...

 
Ronald Reagan was a good President (3.00 / 2) (#21)
by SpaceGhoti on Fri Feb 8th, 2002 at 01:08:27 AM PST
He followed through on quite a few of his campaign promises, which is more than the past few presidents can legitimately claim. He didn't succeed at completely "getting government off our backs" but he made a good dent. I consider it a shame that the airline industry almost immediately went to pot after the FAA lost their regulatory powers, but I honestly don't consider that Reagan's fault.

The fact of Reagan's illness doesn't disqualify him as a good president. F. Roosevelt was essentially bedridden and incapable of fulfilling his role as President during the Second World War, but the process of government continued in spite of him. It's my father's opinion that the Executive Branch was essentially run by Eleanor and Harry Truman, but I've seen some conflicting information about that period and I'm withholding judgement. Whatever happened at the end, what Roosevelt did before he was incapacitated earned him a place in history, and the same goes for Reagan.


A troll's true colors.

 
irony-free (2.00 / 3) (#22)
by johnny ambiguous on Fri Feb 8th, 2002 at 02:22:25 PM PST
Ronald Wilson Reagan. As a man, a repellent, idiotic, contemptible bastard. As a politician, a pathological liar ("I was present at the liberation of Buchenwald," when asan indisputable fact he spent the entire duration of the Second World War in the continental United States, mostly as a talent-free ornament upon various Hollywood movie sets), and the deliberate ruination of our national government's finances for a whole generation, and an unrepentant international terrorist, and a mass-murdering war criminal.

Oh, and do not either forget nor forgive, the President who thrust several billion dollars of our tax money into the purses of the very same psychopathic religious-fanatic swine who came to New York last year and murdered several thousand of our fellow citizens.

He, together with everybody who voted for him, should go straight to Hell as fast as possible.

Yours WDK - WKiernan@concentric.net


Getting into my Chevrolet Magic Fire, I drove slowly back to the office. - L. Rosen

 

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