No one in our lifetime said it better, or more accurately...

[Quick Karl]

http://www.youtube.com/embed/rKsW6c_CgFY?feature=player_detailpage

I am just glad that I got to live when the last real American President, lived.

[paladin1991]

http://www.youtube.com/embed/rKsW6c_CgFY?feature=player_detailpage

I am just glad that I got to live when the last real American President, lived.

Fucking A Skippy.

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

Good times, good times.  I miss the parodies the most.

[paladin1991]

Good times, good times.  I miss the parodies the most.

What do you mean?  Every Presidency since then has been a parody.

[Gd5150]

http://www.youtube.com/embed/rKsW6c_CgFY?feature=player_detailpage

I am just glad that I got to live when the last real American President, lived.

Fuckin A Bubba

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

Personally I liked Reagan, even though it wasn't a very popular opinion at the time -- at least not that I was aware of.  Being a teenager, mostly I think I liked the impersonations people did of him.  I'm just mystified how he has posthumously risen from village idiot to demi-God status.

[Yorkshire pud]

Personally I liked Reagan, even though it wasn't a very popular opinion at the time -- at least not that I was aware of.  Being a teenager, mostly I think I liked the impersonations people did of him.  I'm just mystified how he has posthumously risen from village idiot to demi-God status.

Billy Connolly joked that he didn't allow his old man the remote control for the TV so why did Reagan get the nuclear button.

[PB the Deplorable]

Personally I liked Reagan, even though it wasn't a very popular opinion at the time -- at least not that I was aware of.  Being a teenager, mostly I think I liked the impersonations people did of him.  I'm just mystified how he has posthumously risen from village idiot to demi-God status.

He did win 2 electoral landslides - he carried 44 states in 1980 (51% of the popular vote to Carters 41%), and 49 states in 1984 (59% of the popular vote to Mondale's 41%). 

In a national election each party is probably always going to get at least 40%, so 1984 - after the first 4 years of his Presidency - was a popular landslide in addition to being an electoral landslide. 

People liked Reagan.  They liked the way he was handling the economy (especially after the wretched Carter years), the way he handled foreign policy (especially after the wretched Carter years).  Unemployment was down, employment was up, energy prices were down, inflation was down, interest rates were down, business growth was up.  They liked his humor, and they liked his optimism.  He appointed good people and handled issues with competence.

The usual suspects didn't like him - Big Media, academia, bureaucrats, Democrats.  He got nearly every other vote.  And for good reason.

Not everything was perfect, not everything worked out.  The Democrat Congress fought him on everything every step of the way.  But compare his Presidency to the current amateurs in the White House.  The comparisons are staggering.  It would be an extreme compliment to suggest the Obama Administration even rises to the level of a JV team, to use his phrase about ISIS

The fact is, Conservative policies work, they work well for individuals, and they work well for the nation as a whole.  What doesn't work well is Liberalism, Socialism, Fascism, Progressivism. 

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

http://www.youtube.com/embed/rKsW6c_CgFY?feature=player_detailpage

I am just glad that I got to live when the last real American President, lived.

Fuckin A, fuckin B, fuckin C...

[b_dubb]

You guys are so vulnerable to propaganda.  "Taking candy from babies" comes to mind. 

[paladin1991]

You guys are so vulnerable to propaganda.  "Taking candy from babies" comes to mind.

No candy fm this baby.  I packs a 357.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

No candy fm this baby.  I packs a 357.

Oops.  I posted that bit of condescending internet commenter snark bullshittery.  I forgot I was posting it under my b_dubb handle, and it's too late to change it now.

[aldousburbank]

http://www.youtube.com/embed/rKsW6c_CgFY?feature=player_detailpage

I am just glad that I got to live when the last real American President, lived.

Fortunately and surprisingly, no one here is enough of a dick to make the pointless and not funny observation that the last "real" president played an "actor" in real life.

[b_dubb]

Fortunately and surprisingly, no one here is enough of a dick to make the pointless and not funny observation that the last "real" president played an "actor" in real life.

an actor who played a PUSA in real life

[StabWound]

I'm not a Doctor, but I play one on TV Commercial 1986 with Peter Bergman Vicks Formula 44

"Im not a President, but I play one on TV...."

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

I'm just mystified how he has posthumously risen from village idiot to demi-God status.

It need not be a mystery at all.  Reagan, like most successful politicians, realized that most people, on both sides if the aisle, don't want to listen to long, complex policy proposals.  They want simple solutions to complex problems.  They want to hear a proposal that (a) they can understand, so they can feel like they are involved and support, and (b) seems simple enough to effect an unqualified and conclusive solution.

Reagan's genius was understanding that once you propose that simple solution, you immediately lose about half of the public, depending upon its ideological basis.  Instead, Reagan abstracted the discussion to talking about ideals, principles, and aspirations.  Nearly all of us want to feel proud of our country and our heritage; a sense of optimism about the future; and that the solutions to our problems lie within ourselves, and therefore are within our control.  By appealing to cultural universals, and leaving the details TBD, he was able to rally a majority of Americans to support him.  Then he had his underlings proceed with whatever misguided simple solution they had come up with to the complex problem at hand.  Rather than fight that solution, his critics were distracted by the need to discredit him and undermine his support.  They did this by casting him as a simpleton and a puppet.  This sapped the opposition of energy and resources, further strengthening his hand.

This technique made him a great leader.  I say this as someone who didn't support the policies of his administration.  It also wore well over time.  A lot of the bad feelings in life tend to soften with distance, while stuff like is in this video becomes rosier, nostalgic, and uncomplicated.  Particularly when held up against the Bush II and Obama administrations, where it's mostly about partisanship and appeals to universals rarely occur.  And that's really sad, particularly for the Republicans.  They show little videos like this of Reagan so that they can relive fond memories, while the Dems dismiss it as hero worship, which it is.  Better would be someone who employed the same technique himself (or herself) and fuckin LEADS us.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

Fortunately and surprisingly, no one here is enough of a dick to make the pointless and not funny observation that the last "real" president played an "actor" in real life.

I'm not sure why people make such a fuss about this.  Reagan's background and talent as an actor gave him presence and a sense of timing.  Take Rand Paul, by comparison.  He might have some good ideas, but the fact that he comes off as a stuttering prick wearing a merkin on his head distracts an audience from whatever merit is in his message.  Like it or not, a President who communicates to the public through the media is going to be more effective if he is media-friendly.  George V made the same point, albeit somewhat differently, in "The King's Speech."

[aldousburbank]

I know, not fussing, just effing around, and of the opinion that a great leader/president would by necessity be a great actor. Of course.

I thought your previous point was well made btw. I happened to grow up on the left side of the picket line from Governor Reagan and in my youth, imagined his hard-line alliance with "the growers" was positioned with malice, but as I throttled through the Reagan presidency I could never justify disliking a man who just always managed to play better political chess than we no-good, unbathed Alinsky types.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

I thought your previous point was well made btw.

You mean...you agree with me?

[attachimg=1]

Another soul absorbed into The Collective.

[aldousburbank]

You mean...you agree with me?

[attachimg=1]

Oh crap no, just barely disagreeing with a well made point.  :

[VtaGeezer]

Yep, President Peggy Noonan.  The guy with the Brylcreem hairdo was just her camera shill.

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

It need not be a mystery at all.  Reagan, like most successful politicians, realized that most people, on both sides if the aisle, don't want to listen to long, complex policy proposals.  They want simple solutions to complex problems.  They want to hear a proposal that (a) they can understand, so they can feel like they are involved and support, and (b) seems simple enough to effect an unqualified and conclusive solution.

Reagan's genius was understanding that once you propose that simple solution, you immediately lose about half of the public, depending upon its ideological basis.  Instead, Reagan abstracted the discussion to talking about ideals, principles, and aspirations.  Nearly all of us want to feel proud of our country and our heritage; a sense of optimism about the future; and that the solutions to our problems lie within ourselves, and therefore are within our control.  By appealing to cultural universals, and leaving the details TBD, he was able to rally a majority of Americans to support him.  Then he had his underlings proceed with whatever misguided simple solution they had come up with to the complex problem at hand.  Rather than fight that solution, his critics were distracted by the need to discredit him and undermine his support.  They did this by casting him as a simpleton and a puppet.  This sapped the opposition of energy and resources, further strengthening his hand.

This technique made him a great leader.  I say this as someone who didn't support the policies of his administration.  It also wore well over time.  A lot of the bad feelings in life tend to soften with distance, while stuff like is in this video becomes rosier, nostalgic, and uncomplicated.  Particularly when held up against the Bush II and Obama administrations, where it's mostly about partisanship and appeals to universals rarely occur.  And that's really sad, particularly for the Republicans.  They show little videos like this of Reagan so that they can relive fond memories, while the Dems dismiss it as hero worship, which it is.  Better would be someone who employed the same technique himself (or herself) and fuckin LEADS us.

That's what I meant to say.. um, keyboard problems... letters getting stuck together and stuff... you understand.

[PB the Deplorable]

So Reagan had been an actor before getting involved in politics?  So what?  Is that really the only thing the Libs have on him?  (I mean they certainly aren't going to admit he was a good President, that's for sure)

Instead of 'an actor', should we prefer another hack lawyer?  Another clod who spent their entire adult life in government?

When people bring up Reagan being an 'actor', somehow they never seem to mention the fact that he was governor of California for 8 years.  Had been active in politics for years, and worked his way up - including time as president of the Screen Actors Guild.  They don't mention he was hugely successful and led the country out of Stagflation and out of the Cold War either.  And set the economy on the path of growth that lasted 25 years (1982-2007).

No, what is important is that he had been an actor.  And he had to have been terrible because the Democrats and Big Media say so. 


Down the road when we are picking through the ruins of this truly shoddy Obama Administration, what are we going to say about his life before the Presidency?  That he had no experience in anything?  That he was completely unaccomplished?  That his worldview was so out of touch and just plain wrong that he never even had a chance to get anything right? 

Maybe we'll be talking about the same people mocking Reagan as 'just an actor' gave us the worst possible person on the planet as their top choice to be President - an America hating Marxist who was essential to the spread of Islamic terror.

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

Maybe we'll be talking about the same people mocking Reagan as 'just an actor' gave us the worst possible person on the planet as their top choice to be President - an America hating Marxist who was essential to the spread of Islamic terror.

Give it a rest already. For crying out loud, Obama isn't an "America hating Marxist" or any of that other tripe any more than Reagan and the Bushes were Nazis and fascists.  Anyone who makes any of those idiotic accusations does not deserve to be taken seriously.

[b_dubb]

http://www.susmitkumar.net/index.php/reagan--great-president-or-f-grade-president

[PB the Deplorable]

http://www.susmitkumar.net/index.php/reagan--great-president-or-f-grade-president

What a load of horseshit. 

'Dr' Kumar was still in India when Reagan's term ended, but has learned and can parrot the Democrat mantra on Reagan well.

Sorry, 'doctor', I lived through those years and remember them well.  I also remember the Carter years, which give them context.  How the fuck can you authoritatively comment when you weren't even around, and have only your Left-wing political science professors at Penn St and some biased archived articles from the New York Times and Washington Post to rely on?  Idiot.

[b_dubb]

Do you remember Reagan falling asleep during cabinet meetings?

[PB the Deplorable]

Give it a rest already. For crying out loud, Obama isn't an "America hating Marxist" or any of that other tripe any more than Reagan and the Bushes were Nazis and fascists.  Anyone who makes any of those idiotic accusations does not deserve to be taken seriously.

Well, there was the 20 years sitting in Rev Wright's church listening to him rant about such things as 'the USA of White America', and 'god damn the KKK of America', etc. 

Then there's his friendship with a long list of America haters - unrepentant s bomber Bill 'I wish we'd done more' Ayers, Wright again, Moslem Brotherhood members, CAIR, Rashid Khalidii.  Tons of Leftists fill his Administration, starting with Valerie Jarrett.  He sure can pick 'em.

How about all those diseased kids flooding the border, that have now been sent all over the country to infect our kids and us?  Now this person is doing exactly nothing to prevent the spread of Ebola into the US.  No other President would have taken these same actions and inactions.

What about people's healthcare plans that he declared illegal?  Lower wage people, some with very sick family members, kicked off of their health care plans.  And more to come in January, as he cynically pushed the worst of ObamaCare out past the mid-terms.

If he loved the country why was he so insistent on 'fundamental change'?  That doesn't sound like someone who loves his country.  Why was Michelle never proud of her country before - and being sure to make a point of saying it publicly during the campaign?

Why is he so intent on undermining the Constitution, and why does he thumb his nose at the law, at court decisions, at the Congress?

What was with the comment about people 'clinging to their guns and religion'?

How about the serial lying?  If he's truly doing his best for the country, why not just explain what he's doing and why?


No President has ever acted like this.  Not even the Lyin' King, Bill Clinton. 

This guy either hates the country, or has deep psychological problems, or both.  And these are just a few items that came to mind immediately.

So let me ask you this:  Do you not think there are people in this country that despise it?  If not, what's up with the flag burning and the denouncing of the US at rallies?  You realize it is the Left holding the events were this occurs 100% of the time, right? 

Is it possible none of these people or their supporters hold political office?  Is it impossible that one of these hard core Leftists could be the Democrat nominee?  Is it that you refuse to believe you could have been among those fooled into voting for one? 

Perhaps you could post a short list of what Obama has done for the good of the country.  Maybe I missed them.

[PB the Deplorable]

Do you remember Reagan falling asleep during cabinet meetings?

I don't recall any disasters occurring because of it.  Reagan was very good at finding good people that understood and agreed with his policies, and delegating to them.  How else could an entity the size of the Federal government be managed.

Compare and contrast that with Obama going to only 40% of his daily National Security briefings.

Then telling us he didn't know about this that or the other until he read it in the paper.  Or just this Sunday on 60 minutes blaming the intelligence community for not informing him about the true threat ISIS posed. 

Reagan was a great President and Obama is a piece of shit weasel.  And that's a fact.

[b_dubb]

It's an opinion.