This thought comes by way of listening to part of the latest Republican debate, just completed, having hoped to hear Romney try to beat the hell out of McCain. They did some of that, though old straight-talker McCain's speech was bobbin' and weavin' all over the place and Romney didn't seem to have it in him to put the smack down. He truly is an empty suit.
But the level of Reagan hagiography has reached limits far beyond what anyone should be forced to tolerate. His legend grows with every retelling. As far as I know he may have built the entire interstate highway system on his own, or assembled the space shuttle in his garage on the weekends. During the week he was too busy lifting up the mountains. Good grief, the sycophancy is mind-boggling.
Let's recall some rather salient facts about old demented Ronnie, ones that don't jive well with the current empty rhetoric spouting from the right.
- Talked endlessly about not raising taxes, but when the shit hit the fan, raised taxes.
- Presided over an almost universally shitty economy. Increased deficit enormously.
- When 240+ marines were killed in Beirut while on a peacekeeping mission, he immediately removed the remaining ones. The French suffered similar losses and stayed (of course, it was their former colony)
- All of his subsequent military actions were via proxy (think Contras - no not the video game) or Grenada, a country of 90,000 people (in 1985) with less military strength than a boy scout troop.
He gets a lot of credit for running the Soviet Union out of business, and our 'out of control' arms spending (which now seems quaint compared to Iraq) may have helped that along, but there's plenty of evidence to indicate Soviet-style communism was not long for this world anyway. The communist countries that survive are either small oppressive dictatorships, or China, and that's a vastly different enterprise.
The media really needs to put the smackdown, in whatever polite way is possible, on this crap. Just because the Republicans have two Bushes and a Nixon to look back on, doesn't mean they get to revise history to make them feel better about their shittiness.
7 comments:
I saw bits of the debate myself. I don't know. Now that Rudy is out - life just seems so hopeless.
OK and yes! what about the Reagan stuff lately. The repubs obviously trying to bolster their image, and as you suggested, nearly in the image of god --yikes the lap of Reagan. God should say as wife Nancy always said: "Just say no!" Anyway, what was it today - some controversy about the placement of another Reagan museum?
And of course Ed is out leaving double O and HR.
I noticed today Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa, of course) made a public statement that Obama will not be able to get the nomination, and that Hillary will be RNC nominee.
Well, of course, as a Republican, he'd want to make us all clear on that. This is clearly the hope of the RNC; Hillary will likely lose to McCain, should both be on the ballot in November.
I think that HRC motivates Republicans like no one else, seemingly more than Osama Bin Laden, but I don't know that it's enough to overcome the dread people have of R's. I've been wrong before of course, and may be on this one, but McCain really isn't a motivating factor amongst R's, and that's got to count against him in the general election.
He's also a terrible fundraiser and is at a serious money disadvantage to both HRC and BHO.
The think the Rs are in trouble. When, in your debate, you're reduced to accusing each other person of being the bigger "defeatist," or being the one who'll be willing to cover everyone with Healthcare, you've really got nothing. Both the Republican frontrunners are on the opposite side of the issue from 70% of America. Of course, that didn't stop America from re-electing W...
I do think every Democrat currently outpolls every Republican, but I, too, fear the almost supernatural aversion a large part of this country has to HRC. Sorry for the cliched sentiment, but if we're going to take GW to task for being a "divider, not a uniter," it would be pretty disengenuous to suggest Hillary is the antidote to that.
Another rumination: With each passing day, I hate Romey more. His entire candidacy is based on the fact that he "looks and acts presidential." Indeed, that's the only positive thing I've ever hear his supporters say about him. He stands for nothing. He's about the absolute nadir of political integrity.
Romney, as my former governor, was a bland figure who capitalized on the hype surrounding his Olympics experience and business acumen. He turned out to be sufficiently competent but by the time his first term was complete it was clear that he was using the MA governorship as a stepping stone to the presidency. If he had had residency in another state, we might not have been subjected to his ministrations.
In the end he threw us under the bus (mocking us as he pandered to Republican primary voters) but not before throwing his likely successor under the electoral bus. As Lt Governor she had been used as his campaign attack dog and so developed a terrible reputation so Mitt could remain squeaky clean.
Whatever managerial skills he may or may not have, it's clear that the last decade or so of his life has been devoted to becoming president, and now he has probably failed, and possibly because he doesn't have some minion to dish the dirt on McCain and is unwilling to get himself dirty in the process.
As for McCain, his presidential aspirations are also decades old and his maverick record in the senate doesn't live up to the hype, especially as he has wound up for the current run. Detainee Treatment Act anyone? Sucking up to the religious right, capitulating on immigration reform that he was a principal sponsor of, and permanent tax cuts? The whole thing is a pathetic house of cards that the press seems unwilling to smack down.
For all that, current polling does have either HRC or BHO beating McCain in a head to head matchup, but I would agree that over the long term, with the current set of facts (no unexpected events like terrorist attacks or similar catastrophes) Obama seems like an easier sale versus McCain, since Clinton's hawkishness is barely left of McCain's, a fact that HRC and company have kept very quiet.
Good lord, she cheered the surge at the State of the Union, while declaring it a failure at the last debate. What the hell?
Going back to my earlier post on the state of things - I did predict Giuliani would be out within the month, and I had a few days to spare.
Good call, dude!
Oh - and just listening to the Republican debate right now, and heard the whole "Ronald Reagan exchange." Hilarious!
It's like the party - having an absolute dearth of any notable figure to emulate from the past, is trying to invent one from nothing. Progressives have no end of influential figures of the past from which to draw. Republicans desperately need their own MLK. Hi-larious. And quite sad.
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