I grew up to witness the crack epidemic on my doorstep in the "Bad Lands" of North Philadelphia. My mom took me to Washington to march for school lunches, to chant "HELL NO, WE WON'T GO, WE WON'T FIGHT FOR TEXACO", and defend public education.
I remember my Grandma telling me how she used to like Reagan, and rued the day she voted for him. After years of addiction, my Mom helped to clean up the mess left by his administration's AIDS policies as a graduate from the first "AmeriCore" class and an AIDS hotline operator.
What informed me about Reagan the most was when my Grandma told me during the Iran/Contra hearings that "I bet you it was that "Bush" guy who did this, that dumb look on Reagan’s face should tell you all you need to know.
Remember that Reagan really didn't care much for Bush.
During the 1980 presidential campaign, for example, the History Channel reports that Ronald Reagan repeatedly expressed a distrust of secret societies and promised that Skull and Bonesman, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) member and Trilateral Commission alumni George Bush would not be offered a position in his administration. Yet during the Republican Convention, Reagan broke tradition by making a late-night dash from his hotel room to the convention floor and declaring George Bush his running mate. The Iran hostage situation was miraculously resolved the day Reagan was sworn in.
BuzzflashWhy did Reagan pick George I to be his running mate when he obviously couldn't stand him?
He was set up. Remember that George Bush was the CIA director for Ford. Reagan wanted Ford to be his VP, so much that he didn't look for anyone else. Ford delayed the negotiations while Bush operatives (CIA people) leaked the negotiation information to the press in order to embarass Reagan. Ford continued to delay until the very last minute when he told Reagan no. There had already been pressure on Reagan to pick Bush, at the very last minute, he basically had no choice. Ford later admitted that he had stalled in the negotiations in order to set up the situation to assist Bush in becoming the Vice President.
DU circa 2001You can always tell the Bushites apart from the Reagan Republicans. They always try to ride his coat tails with stuff like "he won the Cold War". I'll tell you one thing, There are many rank-and-file Reagan Republicans that think that the Bush administration are heiretics. These are the Republicans that will vote for a Democrat that they feel truly respects the historical significance of their hero. I'm not talking about a %51/%49 victory for the Democratic nominee, I'm talking a landslide of historic perportions; a true mandate.
Off all the things that Reagan fucked up during his two terms, he did manage to pull off two things. He got Democrats to vote for him, at least the first time. And together with people like Lec Walesa, and Pope John Paul II, the Soviet threat was neutralized. But Bush and his cronies have undone all of it. We now have a new Cold War brewing, at home and abroad.
Think about why Putin has backed off the Glasnost policy, he sees America as a threat. It's my opinion that when he saw the SALT treat broken, our aggressive moves in the Mideast for oil which started with the first Gulf War, continued thru the Clinton years, and culminated in a massive move under Bush Jr, and the Missile Shield push in Eastern Europe, he decided to revert and consolidate to offset a perceived American Imperialistic agenda. And Al-Qaeda didn't just get its hands dirty during the Soviet/Afghan war; they were in Bosnia as well.
Don't get it twisted, I love Bill Clinton, and voted for him twice, but I believe that the American Presidency is more than just an "Executive Officer". The President is the face of America. The person in the office needs to be an iconic figure, transcending the office itself. If we can not present a unified face to the world in the form of a President that transcends simple party, or special interest, and that the world sees as an honest representative of the people, how can we continue to call the person we sent to the Oval Office "the leader of the free world?"
So if Obama want's to give props to Reagan, I got his back. And I wouldn't be surprised if Ron Reagan Jr. decides to endorse him.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
