Five myths about Ronald Reagan

[oxcoug]

[quote=Borderline Divine;528043]

I love this liberal revisionist history about Reagan. Everything they called GW Bush, they called Reagan.

Ah bullshit. I was alive, adult and politically aware during the Reagan years. Nobody called him stupid.

W? Yeah, well even I called him stupid.

Sorry, BD, you're wrong on this, no question. My dad worked for Reagan and my brother teaches courses on the history of the presidency they're here watching the game with me so I thought I'd read them this exchange. My brother laughed and my dad looked incredulous when I read them your comment.

Tons of people called him stupid and they went on doing it years after his presidency. The difference bt Reagan and Bush is that Reagan actually was extremely intelligent while GWB is ... much less so. But people called him stupid. You just didn't hear it I guess.

[Green Monstah]

I read an article about 18 months ago about how Clinton out-Reagan'd Reagan. It was in interesting read...I'm sure it's out there somewhere.

[Borderline Divine]

[quote=oxcoug;528113]

Sorry, BD, you're wrong on this, no question. My dad worked for Reagan and my brother teaches courses on the history of the presidency they're here watching the game with me so I thought I'd read them this exchange. My brother laughed and my dad looked incredulous when I read them your comment.

Tons of people called him stupid and they went on doing it years after his presidency. The difference bt Reagan and Bush is that Reagan actually was extremely intelligent while GWB is ... much less so. But people called him stupid. You just didn't hear it I guess.

I remember him being called shrewd, canny, ruthless, etc. There is no question he suffered from some dementia later on, but his work in the WH was mostly caretaker by then.

I don't doubt that extremists called him names, but believe me Libs and Dems never for a minute underestimated him.
or what he was capable of doing.

Look how hard they didn't try to unseat him the second time. Walter Mondale? Everybody knew he was unbeatable.

But this mythical God he's being portrayed as by acolytes now...well he wasn't that either.

[byu71]

[quote=Borderline Divine;528173]

I remember him being called shrewd, canny, ruthless, etc. There is no question he suffered from some dementia later on, but his work in the WH was mostly caretaker by then.

I don't doubt that extremists called him names, but believe me Libs and Dems never for a minute underestimated him.
or what he was capable of doing.

Look how hard they didn't try to unseat him the second time. Walter Mondale? Everybody knew he was unbeatable.

But this mythical God he's being portrayed as by acolytes now...well he wasn't that either.

Christopher Hitchens said he (Reagan) was as dumb as a stump. I don't know if Hitchens is an extremist. I am sure if you tried hard enough you would find plenty of the so called "intellectual elite" saying similar things.

[Babs]

Am I the only one that finds the centennial celebration a little, I don't know, excessive?

[Babs]

Christopher Hitchens said he (Reagan) was as dumb as a stump. I don't know if Hitchens is an extremist. I am sure if you tried hard enough you would find plenty of the so called "intellectual elite" saying similar things.

lol. I love Hitchens and Harris. They're so good at what they do.

[marsupial]

Am I the only one that finds the centennial celebration a little, I don't know, excessive?

No. I agree.

[il Padrino Ute]

I think a lot of people believe the "5 myths", but I don't think they are really myths. Reagan and Obama have more in common than either side would like to admit. Unpopularity, big spending, big government, and high unemployment are the big ones.

The difference between Reagan and Obama when it comes to big spending is that Reagan spent a whole lot of money on national defense while Obama spends even more money on wasteful social programs. Reagan's spending was necessary during the cold war, while Obama's spending is reckless at best.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

[quote=creekster;528109]

Well, I suspect I could easily trade years with you and I recall many people calling Reagan stupid. IN fact, that was one of the favorite attacks of his opponents. In fact, they even went farther than that and asserted he was delusional, living his life in a movie.

It goes farther back then that. They called President Eisenhower stupid. Apparently every GOP president after Herbert Hoover, except for Richard Nixon, has been an absolute moron to every democrat/liberal. Apparently being full of shit and aimlessly pontificating on things you don't know anything about (Gore, Kerry) means you're intelligent as opposed to that bumbling fool Bush. Of course, we already had a president like this and his name was Jimmy Carter.

I will say this -- Bill Clinton is exceptionally bright. I think Obama is bright, but his lack of experience and his inability to look experienced when something like the situation in Egypt is happening may turn him into a one termer.

[Borderline Divine]

[quote=Color Me Badd Fan;529726]

It goes farther back then that. They called President Eisenhower stupid. Apparently every GOP president after Herbert Hoover, except for Richard Nixon, has been an absolute moron to every democrat/liberal. Apparently being full of shit and aimlessly pontificating on things you don't know anything about (Gore, Kerry) means you're intelligent as opposed to that bumbling fool Bush. Of course, we already had a president like this and his name was Jimmy Carter.

I will say this -- Bill Clinton is exceptionally bright. I think Obama is bright, but his lack of experience and his inability to look experienced when something like the situation in Egypt is happening may turn him into a one termer.

I notice you've kept Jerry Ford completely out of this discussion

[Color Me Badd Fan]

[quote=Borderline Divine;529766]

I notice you've kept Jerry Ford completely out of this discussion

Yeah, Ford is indefensible because he played football without a helmet. Good grief.

I thought John Kerry was a moron (and in reality his SAT scores were lower than Bush's and his academic record was far from sterling), yet he was rarely called on it. John Edwards was supposed to be an expert on his feet in the debates and Dick Cheney cleaned his clock.

Gore was smarter than Bush, but far from a genius, and I think he's still a guy who's full of shit and does not realize the limits of his intelligence.

[Borderline Divine]

I agree that Kerry was/is a moron and was about as poor a candidate as the Dems have fielded in many election cycles. And that includes Dukakis.

[woot]

[quote=Color Me Badd Fan;529783]

Yeah, Ford is indefensible because he played football without a helmet. Good grief.

I thought John Kerry was a moron (and in reality his SAT scores were lower than Bush's and his academic record was far from sterling), yet he was rarely called on it. John Edwards was supposed to be an expert on his feet in the debates and Dick Cheney cleaned his clock.

Gore was smarter than Bush, but far from a genius, and I think he's still a guy who's full of shit and does not realize the limits of his intelligence.

It seems like politics tends to make people look dumber than they are. With few exceptions, even smart politicians seem to make stupid decisions and are frequently found saying stupid things or lacking understanding in important areas.

One of the issues is no doubt the wide range of fields that bear on politics. One has to have a working knowledge of history, government, economics, and to a lesser extent, science, philosophy, and other fields, all while being able to think on one's feet in a charismatic way.

For most experts, a question outside one's expertise can be deflected by declaring it as such. Politicians are forced to pretend, and often transparently.

Combine the extreme divisiveness and mindless hate and it really doesn't seem like a good career path. That's probably why the very few who could actually succeed in all these ways seem to stay out of it.

[Eddie]

Ah bullshit. I was alive, adult and politically aware during the Reagan years. Nobody called him stupid.

W? Yeah, well even I called him stupid.[/QUOTE]

Did you read the article?

The director even says that growing up there was a negative caricature of Reagan, and that many of his peers viewed Reagan as an "amiable dunce".

In your mind, what is the difference between calling someone stupid and calling them a dunce? It seems like the definition of a dunce is a stupid person.

So - if this director is referring to the impressions that he and his peers had as teens that Reagan was a dunce, do you really think they got this impression themselves without their views being influenced by media or other adults they interacted with?

In all fairness - I recall getting the same characterization of Carter when I was a kid living in Utah. I wouldn't say only the liberal side has done this.

[RobinFinderson]

Chris Hitchens recently wrote THIS article titled: Would America Have Been Better Off Without a Reagan Presidency?

I was young and mostly politically unaware during the Reagan years., so Hitchens' article is an interesting reminder of that time. For example, it is pretty amazing that a president whose post-service reputation has soared to legend status could have someone as careful with his words as Hitchens write the following:

He should certainly have been impeached and removed from office over the Iran-Contra racket, in which he was exposed as the president of a secret and illegal government, financed with an anti-constitutional hostage-trading and arms-dealing budget, as well as of the ostensibly legitimate one.