When Reagan was elected in '80, I had two hopes.

no_hypocrisy

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-16-11 10:02 AM
Original message

When Reagan was elected in '80, I had two hopes.

First, I hoped he would last only one term of four years.
Second, I hoped whatever policies his Administration promulgated, the rightwing stuff would be temporary and the republican party would return to the "moderate" stance. Not necessarily Nixon, but more toward Eisenhower.

I am chagrined to see that the republican party has gone to the far right of Reagan. I didn't count on the corporations and the far right Christian churches taking over and not letting anyone wrest control from them.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

cleanhippie

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-16-11 10:07 AM
Response to Original message

1. Well, I'm not sure how much can be done now about the corporations, but the "moderate" churches

could EASILY wrest control back from the evangelical ones, if they wanted to.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

valerief

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-16-11 10:33 AM
Response to Reply #1

2. And jeopardize their tax-free status? Not on your life. nt

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

cleanhippie

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-16-11 10:38 AM
Response to Reply #2

4. Of course. Money is so much more important than doing the right thing, I guess.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

valerief

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-16-11 11:09 AM
Response to Reply #4

5. If it weren't, the churches wouldn't accept a tax-free status. nt

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

cleanhippie

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-16-11 11:24 AM
Response to Reply #5

8. Very, very true.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

BlueCaliDem

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-16-11 10:37 AM
Response to Original message

3. Reagan should be made as an example why NO Democrat should ever vote for a Repub

again. No matter how moderate they appear when they campaign, or how wonderful their pre-polled, pre-tested, regurgitated B.S. is, once they get into government, they act like little Putins with Mussolini's attitude when it comes to how governments should be run.

Republicans (and some RepubliDems, too) want to realize Mussolini's vision for the perfect government - FASCISM. That should be crystal clear by now, and if you're not an American elite, Socialite, corporation, corporate head, or political leader, you're nothing but a cash cow (in taxes and consumer spending) to fund their ventures. .

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

TheKentuckian

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-16-11 11:19 AM
Response to Reply #3

6. Reagan didn't run as a moderate. Democrats that supported him willfully abandoned the New Deal

and actually wanted to reverse, to varying degrees, the social revolution of the past few decades.

Reagan's "bar" wasn't "moderation" but simply showing he wasn't too nuts to have the button.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

BlueCaliDem

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-16-11 12:03 PM
Response to Reply #6

11. Carter was the other choice, and not such a good one the way the media demonized him

and made him look weak. This was when we needed the Internet the most. Corporate media vilified Carter in the most subtle but hard-hitting ways, and Reagan coasted smoothly to the WH.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Arugula Latte

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-16-11 11:21 AM
Response to Original message

7. Your last sentence is one reason I feel strongly that "faith" should not be off-limits to criticism.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

madrchsod

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-16-11 11:28 AM
Response to Original message

9. my dad knew ron..my dad just shook his head when ron was elected.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

Ready4Change

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-16-11 11:35 AM
Response to Original message

10. I hoped there wouldn't be a nuclear war.

I'd grown up with the animosity between the US and USSR constantly in mind. It was the prism through which I viewed the world. I found it hard to imagine that animosity being resolved without war, and it was hard to imagine that war not spiraling into the use of nuclear weapons. Due to timing I assumed I and my friends wold likely be fighting that war, at least for as long as it remained a conventional war. I thought Carter was too much a pacifist, and that his stance emboldened the Soviets. I also thought he'd made poor economic choices which resulted in, or at least continued, stagflation. So my first POTUS vote ever went to Reagan.

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

jaysunb

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon May-16-11 02:58 PM
Response to Original message

12. You obviously didn't look at the people around him

or the corporations that created him... :shrug:

Printer Friendly | Permalink | | Top

DU AdBot (1000+ posts)

Tue May 07th 2024, 02:16 AM
Response to Original message

Advertisements [?]

Top

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators

Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.