The American Spectator : Everybody Loves Reagan

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Everybody Loves Reagan

By Ryan L. Cole on 1.31.11 @ 6:06AM

On the eve of his 100th birthday, liberals don’t just revise the 40th president’s record — they practically claim him as one of their own.

The arrival of Ronald Reagan’s 100th birthday will be accompanied by a chorus of fond reminiscences and misty-eyed appreciations.

In fact, the tributes are already underway. And, they are not just coming from Dutch’s ideological descendants. President Barack Obama, writing in USA Today, gushed about the 40th president’s fondness for change and compromise.

There was a time when a love letter from a liberal leader to Reagan would be surprising. No longer. Death, the hindsight of history, a sympathetic public, and a handful of dedicated historians and opportunistic politicians have turned this once divisive and controversial leader into a bipartisan reminder of our better angels.

This may cause Reaganites to rejoice, but as Gipper-appreciation goes mainstream there is a real risk that his accomplishments, beliefs, and importance will be obscured. And, perhaps worse, appropriated.

The growing consensus on Reagan’s greatness, the direct result of the fall of the Soviet Union and the lifting of the national funk brought on by the painful sequence of Vietnam, Watergate, and Jimmy Carter, is warranted.

And his apotheosis, seen in the proliferation of Ronald Reagan fields, streets, boulevards, turnpikes, peace gardens, bridges, and even a bust in a McDonald’s in Alabama, should be welcomed.

Formerly an amiable dunce, he has become a transcendent visionary lauded by Republicans and Democrats alike.

It’s a not a singular transformation.

Abraham Lincoln, once the “Ape Baboon of the Prairie,” is now the Great Emancipator; Franklin Delano Roosevelt, so-called traitor to his class, is credited with carrying us through the Great Depression; Harry Truman, the former “senator from Pendergast,” is now every would-be president’s beau ideal of a statesman.

The problem with this type of posthumous approbation is that it inevitably shears the prickly partisan edges from the object of adoration and turns them into an all-purpose folk hero, open to subjective interpretations.

Obama for example, constantly searching for a grand political figure to define himself by, seems to have set his sights on Reagan. A lengthy feature in Time laid out the President’s Reaganesque blueprint for the remainder of his term — which of course immodestly replaces the immodest Lincolnesque, and then Rooseveltian ambitions he has already digressed through — while pointing out the (tenuous) similarities between the two men.

Obama’s choice of Reagan as a role model is nothing new. During the 2008 campaign he professed that it was Reagan, rather then Bill Clinton, who matched his transformative vision. Around this time, other Democrats were retrenching as well.

John Kerry and Al Gore positioned Reagan as a foil to the detested George W. Bush by praising his diplomacy and newly-discovered environmental record.Rahm Emanuel confessed to Politico “I never thought I’d say this, but I long for the pragmatism of Ronald Reagan.” Harry Reid told the same publication “[Reagan’s] kind of leadership is missing today. That’s what the American people want back.”

This new, warm and cuddly (and generally non-idelogical) Reagan is not just the exclusive property of politicians. In Ronald Reagan: Fate, Freedom, and the Making of History, the late historian John Patrick Diggins’s postulated that Reagan was not even a conservative. According to Diggins, “Far from being a conservative, Reagan was the great liberating spirit of modern American history.… Reagan’s relation to liberalism may illuminate modern America more than his relation to conservatism…”

In these new narratives, Reagan is a hero and a great president, but the emphasis is on his pragmatism, diplomacy, and generally unconservative behavior. It’s increasingly difficult to find the conservative who generated histrionic levels of disgust from Democrats.

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About the Author

Ryan L. Cole writes from Indiana.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (63) | Leave a comment Leave a comment

JimH| 1.31.11 @ 6:59AM

Most positive comments about President Reagan emanating from the left seem to have more to do with the style, manner and, dare I say, civility with which he acted. Rather than what he actually accomplished, namely, saving the American economy and causing the end of the Soviet Union.

Alan Brooks| 1.31.11 @ 10:44AM

"liberals don't just revise the 40th president's record -- they practically claim him as one of their own."

No, they miss a president who didn't say "read my lips, no new taxes."
or
"I'm the decider."

Steve A| 1.31.11 @ 10:56AM

Wait a minute, I'm confused. I thought raising taxes was good for the economy but now you tell me Bush Sr's tax increase caused a huge recession that Clinton had to fix. Please explain for me. thanks in advance

Alan Brooks| 1.31.11 @ 12:04PM

I don't know if raising taxes is good for the economy, or was good in the early '90s.
But Bush broke his promise.

Steve A| 1.31.11 @ 12:30PM

Ok, so then what was it that Clinton did that was such a winner?? He raised taxes on "the rich" & passed welfare reform due to Repub Congress pressure?? Is this the magic formula for success??

PS: Oh, hey, didn't your idol Obam promise to:
1: Close Gitmo
2: End Iraq
3: Reverse Bush Tax Policy
4: Not raise taxes 1 penny on those less than 250K then raise cig tax & pass Obamacare & call the mandate to purchase a "tax" in legal appeal.

I'm just askin.....

PJ| 1.31.11 @ 1:03PM

Since I remember Clinton's presidency vividly, I can honestly say he did nothing substantial on his own. Any good legislature that he signed was forced on him by the republican congress. (Yes, Newt did some good. ) Clinton slithered his way out of problems w/Dick Morris's help.

IMO, R. Emmett Tyrrell is absolutely correct on his take of Clinton.

Clinton is almost as despicable as Obama! Hillary is not too far behind.

Anthony| 1.31.11 @ 1:59PM

Well, as has been said in the past, Bill Clinton governed small. In fact, in addition to being the 1st black president, he was also the 1st governor of the U.S.
Clinton and Algore gave us 100,000 new cops, (not) wired schools to the internet, in time for online porn, and lastly, gave us the precuser to Obozo's shovel ready jobs..... midnight basketball.

Alan Brooks| 1.31.11 @ 5:24PM

Maybe the GOP could run OJ Simpson when he is paroled in 2016- he's tanned, rested and ready.

Brad| 2.1.11 @ 11:06AM

No, Asshat. OJ is yours.
Reagan is ours.

Timothy L. Pennell| 1.31.11 @ 7:42AM

The Left is something akin to throwing up in your mouth. And I don't mean, just the taste. I mean the smell, the sick hot texture that it has. Everything.
They will SAY and DO, ANYTHING, EVERYTHING, if they think that there is even one scintilla of a chance, they they can fool you in to putting them back in power.
Ronald Reagan? They're all Ronald Reagan fans, now?
Cause I've READ what the Kenyan Son of the Marxist, Muslim, DRUNK wrote about Reagan. There wasn't any "Admiration" in there.
I remember the FAT DRUNK, who left that young woman ALONE, to DIE in his submerged Car, sending out Cables to Soviet Premier Andropov, offering his 'services', that he (Andropov) might defeat Ronald Reagan. Kennedy admired Reagan so much, that he was willing to commit TREASON (which he did) and help our ENEMY. at the height of the Cold War.
But, they think we're stupid, because their BASE is stupid. Anyone who would give these SCUM, the time of day, let alone POWER, is Stupid.
We have a man in the Oval Office who HATES THIS COUNTRY. That's how he was raised. That's how he was brought up. That's ALL HE KNOWS.
But, he likes Ronald Reagan.
Like Hitler liked the Jews.

Larry| 1.31.11 @ 8:16AM

Reagan and Obama have nothing in common. Comrade Golfer's use of him as a role model is nothing more than a feeble attempt on his part to garner 2012 votes.

Hey Barry, where's the birth certificate?

Curly Smith| 1.31.11 @ 8:27AM

It's odd, for Republicans the "Era of Reagan is over" while for Democrats the "Era of Reagan is now". Then again, Reagan did say that he didn't leave the Democratic Party, that the Democratic Party left him. So it's reasonable to assume that as the Democratic Party embraced it's virulent, hate-filled minority and moved to the Right that Reagan would seek solace in the reasonable and thoughtful left-leaning GOP. Once the Death Panels kill off everybody who lived through the Carter and Reagan Presidencies then the past can be fully written.

Rob| 1.31.11 @ 9:22AM

The Reagan legacy, as told by many conservatives today, simply does not resemble the real Ronald Reagan. Reagan WAS a pragmatic politician who had a strategic vision of where he thought the nation should be. But he was no ideologue like modern conservatives today. Reagan understood that getting what you want requires compromise, especially when your party is in the minority. He also understood that politics is not a life and death struggle between patriots and America haters. As one who came of age during Reagan's first term and heartily supported his reelection in 1984, I think Ronald Reagan would be extremely uneasy with the anger and hatred spewed by many so-called conservatives today. Though they have placed him on a pedestal, they do not honor his legacy nor do they have anything in common with him.

Steve A| 1.31.11 @ 9:29AM

Rob, Please provide some examples of the "anger & hatred spewed by many so-called conservatives today."

Further, if Regan were in position, today, to take down Obama in 2012, the attacks from the Left would make those launched on Palin look like the kiddie game. Gimme a break.

Anthony| 1.31.11 @ 9:45AM

You got that right Steve. But what fireworks!!! Reagan would say with that smile of his; I once proclaimed that communism would be relegated to the ash heap of history, unfortunately, Mr. Obama is hell bent on stoking the fire to bring it back to life.
The howls from the left would be deafening. What fun indeed. Sister Sarah has the guts to say the same thing, I bet she'll have some sharp remarks on this when the time comes. Can't wait for her to smack down the left and Obozo yet again!!!

Steve A| 1.31.11 @ 9:49AM

I would pay big bucks just to see her call him out, to his face, in a televised debate. She would absolutely demolish him in a debate & they know it. Hence the attacks. They fear her the most.

Anthony| 1.31.11 @ 10:13AM

Amen!!!! If only some of our weak kneed brothers and sisters on the right would get this point through their heads.
Palin scares the hell out of the left, Obozo, and the R establishment, she's hit the trifecta. There is a reason she does, but some Rs just don't get it.
She can storm Washington in 2012 like Sherman did Atlanta, yet it will be our own who will ultimately determine she cannot get the nomination. And Obozo and the left will let out one huge sigh of relief. The party of stupid may hand Obozo his second term on a platter.

Steve A| 1.31.11 @ 10:30AM

It's just surprising that more do not see it. The left desperately wants Romney. They will crush him on Mass. Romneycare.

They can only run on Palin as a dunce & when she gets massive exposure up against Obama & cleans his clock, the worm will have turned. She is the only one out there with the guts to call these guys out directly.

Anthony| 1.31.11 @ 10:49AM

The darling of the left, "The One", can't even get Iraq and Afghanistan right. He makes this huge blunder and the MSM says nothing to see here. If Sarah made the same comment, it would be headline news 24/7 for a week. Katie, Krauthammer, Andrea Mitchell and the rest of the media jabberwalkies would be having a field day.
Oh well, looks like we conservatives are going to be the ones to plow the left, Obozo, and the tepid Rs, right off the road. Jackets on, get the trucks started, lower the blade, it's time to roll!!! Clear the road to 1600 Penn. Ave.

KDB| 2.1.11 @ 2:54PM

Palin is an intellectual lightweight with a cursory command of the issues, making her a poor spokesman or symbol for conservatism in America. Palin is not, nor will she ever be close to Ronald Reagan in representing and articulating conservative ideas. The sooner conservatives get that through their heads, the sooner we can set our sights on finding a leader who can defeat Obama and put the country back on a positive track.

Frank K| 1.31.11 @ 10:03AM

Reagan's words would be called 'vitriolic' today. "Hate filled" would be another. He called em like he saw em.

To hear Obillion laud him now is sickening, and no one's buying it.

Reagan: he wanted gays to get AIDS, remember that one? Remember he wanted to start WW3 (with Pershing missiles in Europe). Remember that one?

Its hilarious. He was a great man. A great conservative.

You can't have him, Obillion. he's ours.

Ken (Old Texican)| 1.31.11 @ 9:36AM

Rob,
I sincerely do NOT agree with you. In fact you are dead wrong.
Mr. Reagan was first and foremost a conservative ideologue.
Try "evil empire" on for size.
try "government Is the Problem" on for size.
Try "there you go again." on for size.
Try "We win. They lose" on for size.

The problem still is, we DO have American principle haters in the Whitehouse today.

Sorry, Rob, we just don't have the medicine to cure Stupid here......stupid.

Karl| 1.31.11 @ 5:18PM

President Reagan inherited the FY 1981 budget from Carter, added tax cuts and spending increases, and we set a post WW II record for spending as a % of GDP. We set another record in FY 1982 and a 3rd consecutive record in FY 1983. Reagan spoke about small government, but did the opposite. In today's Tea Party led Republican party, Reagan would be a RINO.

Dagney| 1.31.11 @ 11:20PM

CONGRESS spends the money, not the President. Reagan had a Democratic Congress. Facts are a terrible thing to a progressive.

richard ryan| 1.31.11 @ 11:16AM

Got any examples of the "anger and hatred??" Reagan could work some deals with the democrats of the 1980s, but he probably would have been totally disgusted by Pelosi, Reid, and their slack-jawed followers.

Seek| 1.31.11 @ 11:22AM

I couldn't have said it better myself. As a Reaganite myself, Ronald Reagan really represented the right end of Cold War liberalism, as opposed to radical conservatism. He was not a Christian fundamentalist either, though in appealing to them (as political necessity required) he sometimes came off as one.

Reagan was a fine and visionary president. But the truth is, had he not compromised on strategic points, he never would have gotten elected president in the first place.

Anthony| 1.31.11 @ 9:33AM

What cheeky bastards the left are. They will glom onto anything that fits the political template of the moment.
They all hated Reagan, including and especially Obozo, who the hell do they think they're kidding?
I guess this means Ronnie Reagan's book that slams his father will not get rave reviews from the D hacks on the hill. Oh, tooooo bad.
Maybe the Rs in Washington will also see this as an opportunity to get back on good graces with the Reagan legacy.
Only in politics can this happen, and with a straight face to boot.

Leslie Schwartz| 1.31.11 @ 10:15AM

Why is Ronald Reagan one of the worst American Presidents?
The article follows explaining how Reagan put the nation on its current ruinous path, here are some of the bullet points.
1) Privatized the CIA, leading ultimately to 9/11/01, and leading to a permanent situation of a covert state mechanism without congressional or public oversight
2) Promoted idea that importing cheap goods had no downside in domestic employment
3) Greatly reduced taxes on the wealthiest Americans, which increased national debt, and produced no ‘trickle down’ benefits to average income earners
4) At the same time Reagan promoted tax cuts for the wealthy, he allowed an explosion in government deficit spending, increased government spending well beyond its means
5) Reduced oversight of Wall Street, and promoted Wall Street and financial services deregulation, appointed regulators who did not believe in financial regulation of Wall Street, resulting in the S&L disaster, prevalence of corporate funding via junk bonds, and corporations favoring gains thru financial schemes over manufacturing, all of this lead to the latest financial disaster under GW Bush, including CDOs, Hedge Funds, Credit Default Swaps, Wall Street functioning as a casino
6) Promoted acceptance of huge salaries for financial insiders, corporate C level employees, unfettered from performance evaluations
7) Deliberately and viciously attacked and weakened labor unions, including Air Traffic Controllers which resulted in several high death toll air disasters
8) promoted the concept of victimization of a white majority, which blames all social welfare programs as the instrument of white majority suffering
9) treated energy independence as a joke, for example removed solar energy panels from the White House
10) removed all fuel efficiency requirements on Detroit vehicles, leading to increased dependence on imported oil
11) Allowed drugs to be sold on the streets of American cities to fund covert interventions against democratic movements around the world, including in Latin America. funded despots who murdered and terrorized their own populations as a means of promoting their dictatorships, HW Bush as VP was America’s drug czar and covert drug programs coordinator in the White House
12) Set the US on the path of disastrous interventions in the Caspian Basin
http://readersupportednews.org.....time-bombs

squalis| 1.31.11 @ 10:30AM

His policies ended the cold war, caused the greatest peacetime economic expansion of the last century, and completely reversed the Carter "malaise."

Michael Tomlinson| 1.31.11 @ 7:26PM

Wait till Thune, Daniels, Pawlenty or Romney reverses the Obama depression. With the new Republican Congress 2013 will be "a new day in America."

Jack London| 1.31.11 @ 10:32AM

Exactly. The trouble with the far right, like most of the frothing mouths on this site, is that they are also completely anti-history as they erase the truth from their brains. Ask them for example if Reagan cut the federal budget and they'll parrot 'of course' when the opposite occurred.

It is Reagan (and Bush x2) that we have to thank for the collapse of the gains for the middle class.

When Clinton came in the federal budget deficit was at a historic high of $290 billion, 10 million Americans were out of work and our economic growth rate under the outgoing Republican administration was the lowest in more than half a century.

He did well (including raising taxes for the rich, of course).

Then we got Bush mark II.

Anthony| 1.31.11 @ 11:42AM

Hey Jack, Speaking of anti-history and erasing truth from their brains, in a few days, we hope to see that fat rodent, Puxatawney Algore, rise from from some masuse's table long enough to proclaim, "the earth still has a temperature".
You and your buddies will nod like bobblehead dolls and agree wholeheartedly.
However, there is bad news for you and the left. Seems the real Puxatawney Phil will see the shadow of leftism in America and there are only 22 months left before Obozo and the left are history in America.
Oh well, back into your hole pal, and do stay warm.

Michael Tomlinson| 1.31.11 @ 7:23PM

Jack we owe the collapse of the middle class to the Reid/Pelosi Congress and Barack Obama who in 4 short years doubled the national debt by $7 trillion, collapsed the housing market, destroyed whole layers of the economy and jobs and created a failed foreign policy that has the potential of turning the entire Middle East into Iran. While Obama joyously laps up Chines "excrement" he's not fit to clean dog poop from Ronald Reagan's shoes.

Ken (Old Texican)| 1.31.11 @ 12:26PM

Leslie,

Thank you for your communist, (pardon the shorthand), twist of reality.

You sir are a liar and a troll for the murderers.
Go peddle your BS somewhere else. Maybe a kindegarten?

coal carrier| 1.31.11 @ 1:15PM

When Ronald Reagan was elected, the Feds were collecting $600,000,000.00 in revenue. When he left office they were taking in 1.2 trillion. He doubled the revenue with an across the board tax cut, which stimulated the economy, increased jobs and production output. That wasn’t enough for Tip O’Neill and the rest of the progressives. No, they spent $1.25 for every dollar that they took in. The socialists, the progressives or the liberals, whatever you want to call them, all they know is tax & spend. That’s my money, your money, and our money, not their money. You people on the left will never get it.

Rob| 1.31.11 @ 2:51PM

Your numbers are a distortion of reality. The correct figures are (in constant 2005 dollars to control for inflation):
1981-$1.25 trillion
1989-$1.49 trillion

Revenues to the treasury after the Reagan 'across the board tax cut in 1981 went down $49 billion (constant $) in 1982, down $89 billion in 1983, before rising again in 1984-89 (during which time Reagan approved TWO TAX INCREASES). The increase in revenue during the Reagan presidency was marginal (about 20% over 8 years) and largely attributable to economic growth, not tax cuts.

Revenue growth during the Clinton years was far more significant as it rose from $1.65 trillion to $2.25 trillion and left the government with a surplus. Growth in revenues under Clinton were about 38%...much better than Reagan.

The situation was far worse under W as real revenue declined from $2.25 trillion in Clinton's last FY to $1.9 trillion in W's last FY. And the national debt went from a bit over $4 trillion to $10.5 trillion. Tell me again how tax cuts increase revenue?

Not that it will do any good because the thing about arguing with ideologues is they don't recognize facts as being true, especially when they conflict with the ideology (facts are messy things, aren't they?)

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org.....?Docid=200

Ken (Old Texican)| 1.31.11 @ 4:49PM

Rob,
I will say it again. You, Sir are a Liar! Your links are communists, (pardon the shorthand), and you don't have a clue.
Again, sorry. We don't have the cure for stupid here.

edahsc| 1.31.11 @ 8:19PM

Most of the increase in federal government spending went to the Military. Programs for the poor were cut during the 1980's, which is partially responsible for the crack epedemic that hit major cities across the country and led to a dramatic increase in gang warfare. Much of this was due to putting at risk teens on the street by closing after school programs sponsored by the federal government. I saw a bit of this firsthand myself as a person in my 20's who had spent time in west LA, during the mid 80's.

coal carrier| 2.1.11 @ 8:01AM

So your answer is crack addition and gang warfare is because we, the taxpayer, didn’t give enough money for prevention. What ever happened to personal responsibility? I’ll tell you where it went, right out the window with all of the other socialist progressive give away programs that just perpetuates reliance on the government. You people on the left will never understand that you don’t solve problems by throwing money at it.

Sid Vicious| 1.31.11 @ 1:54PM

Privatized the CIA? Removed fuel-efficiency standards? Allowed drugs to be sold on the streets?

Seriously?

Buddy, this stuff is pathetic, even by the standards of Soviet agitprop. Try again once you have a real argument to offer instead of half-truths, painfully obvious distortions and outright bovine excrement, mmmkay?

Paul in Colorado| 1.31.11 @ 4:02PM

Leslie, where to start? I'll take the PATCO comment. Contrary to viciously attacking labor unions, prior to becoming Governor of California, Reagan was president of the actors union for many years. When he was sworn in the inflation rate was running around 15%, and the Teamsters had just negotiated a contract with 25% per year pay increases. PATCO wanted something similar, and when they tried to shut our entire economy down with an illegal strike, they showed themselves to be a great example of our out-of-control public unions. Whether Reagan was sympathetic to organized labor was entirely beside the point. What PATCO did was plainly illegal, and because of that he fired the strikers, while the American people cheered. As to the "several high death toll air disasters", there weren't any. Not one. Military air traffic controllers took the place of the fired PATCO strikers until new controllers were trained, the planes kept flying, and the people understood that their new president - unlike his predecessor - was no chump. If President Obama wants to channel Reagan, a show-down with the public unions would be a great start.

Michael Tomlinson| 1.31.11 @ 7:29PM

What has currently hurt America are the policies of the Reid/Pelosi Congress and Barack Obama who in 4 yrs doubled the national debt by $4 trillion, empowered avaricious labor unions and surrendered the world stage to China and Islamic extremists (2 groups Obama admires). Instead of living in the past you need to open your eyes and see the reality of the failed Carter II/ Obama Admn.

squalis| 1.31.11 @ 10:24AM

Prior to my great awakening during William Jefferson Clinton's 1st term (and I thank you Bill), I was a die-hard lib, raised in a staunchly Democrat family in suburban NYC on Long (emphasis on the "g") Island. I clearly remember the hatred I, and others of my shared political brethren, reveled in for President Reagan. I now often wonder how I could have been so wrong. I wish I had voted for the man, at least once.

Steve A| 1.31.11 @ 10:33AM

squalis, Don't be so hard on yourself. At least the light bulb has gone off. Heck, I voted for Perot & was ready to follow that wacko over a cliff. Live & learn!

Alex P. Keaton| 1.31.11 @ 10:44AM

Histrionic aptly describes it. I remember the endless crying, whining and moaning from Hollywood and the media on how awful this man was, not to mention endless bellyaching from whiny white guys in Rolling Stone on how we were on the road to WWIII. Anyone remember "Reagan No More In '84" at the MLK tribute at the Lincoln Memorial? Remember the endless droning on from PBS stoners about how "there went the last hope" when JFK was shot? Its too bad two of Reagan's own kids drank the "Big Chill" generation liberal kool-aid. They still think its sexy to rebel. Being a liberal is easy. You believe in everything. Same thing as saying you believe in nothing. I can't wait for the flower power generation to be OUT of power. I'd much prefer a Paul Ryan to a Pelosi or a Clinton or a Gingrich.

Petronius| 1.31.11 @ 11:29AM

The 80's were the best years of my life. For the first time I was able to improve my standard of living and still save some money. The cost of living dropped and I could afford trips to Europe every other year. I started an investment portfolio. Most of my friends who have post graduate degrees couldn't find full time jobs before 1982. one friend was barely making it as a girl friday @ $4.50 an hour. By the end of Reagans second term she had a good job @ $11.
And that's the big deal here. Our President Reagan believed that our Country should foster empire building at the Personal level. The Left hates that concept more than anything else on earth. That's why they adore Obama. He killed it after FrankenDodd drove stakes through the hearts of our major market and financial institutions. And we are serving notice. We want Reagan's policies back with a few additions. And we're not giving up.

Richard Baker| 1.31.11 @ 1:43PM

The Kenyan hates everything Reagan did and stood for and also thinks we must be stupid, I suppose. He definitely is the Fool on the Hill. Come on, 2012.

Sid Vicious| 1.31.11 @ 2:01PM

Here's another crucial distinction between the leaders of today and yesterday: The Tipper and the Gipper used to clobber each other on camera every bit as energetically as Itchy and Scratchy do on "The Simpsons," yet both men also knew when it was time to knock it off and have a drink or a relaxing round of golf together. That's why they got things done. Can you imagine the Mental Midget of the Midway enjoying a cordial round with anyone, whether at the bar or on the links?

Michael Tomlinson| 1.31.11 @ 7:15PM

This change began when Chuck Schumer in attacking Ronald Reagan's heir, George W. Bush, stated Reagan was the kind of conservative liberals could work with, because he compromised and raised taxes, adopted a Democrat "reform" that pushed Social Security's bankruptcy off till this generation and enlarged bureaucracies like the Departments of Education and Energy.

While liberals loved his tax increases (7 punitive ones) and expansion of government they never really liked his ideology of freedom being the right of all men and women in the world. On this point they share common ground with the anti-Reagan conservatives or paleocons like Pat Buchanan, Lew Rockwell and Mike Church.

Clint| 2.1.11 @ 12:08AM

Pat Buchanan was Ronald Reagan’s Director of Communications, a position he held for two years.

Michael Tomlinson| 1.31.11 @ 7:22PM

Jack London we owe the collapse of the middle class to the Reid/Pelosi Congress and Barack Obama who in 4 short years doubled the national debt by $7 trillion, collapsed the housing market, destroyed whole layers of the economy and jobs and created a failed foreign policy that has the potential of turning the entire Middle East into Iran. While Obama joyously laps up Chines "excrement" he's not fit to clean dog poop from Ronald Reagan's shoes.

edahsc| 1.31.11 @ 8:04PM

I'm an independent who was never fond of Regan. His biggest legacy is going to be as the Father of fiscal irresponsibility and the transfer of wealth from the working class to the wealthy, which has ultimately led to the reduction of the US as a whole within the World.
See The Triumph of Politics: Why the Reagan Revolution Failed written by Reagan’s Director of OMB David Stockman, the book provides the facts and the reasons for the debt increase we have now become accustomed to and for which we blame on recent administrations, Bush or Obama depending on your political party. When looking at politics, I blame the instigator not just the followers, and Regan is the father of big deficit government.
Stockman also provides the details on why Reagan coined the phrase trickle down, which was simply a marketing message to get the masses to buy into the tax policies that cut taxes for the rich and left the working class out in the snow. Today those same fat cats are richer than ever and now invest their money in emerging markets, communist, facist, or whatever country they believe they can make the greatest return. Meanwhile, the latest catastrophy of the policies started by the Regan presidency have required the working class bailout which carries a loan so big that their children and perhaps grandchildren will need to bear it as well, all because an actor from California was able to sell a bunch of economic baloney to the rest of you who wanted to believe you could live irresponsibly on the shoulders of future generations.
Oh, and by the way, I’m one of those fat cats and my taxes are only 15% (capital gains tax rate) because I retired at 48 and now live off my investments. It’s a great Country for the few of us who are in the position to take advantage of the laws that govern it.

Sam French| 1.31.11 @ 8:08PM

The LEFT, ever the elites, have always mocked Conservatives as not very intelligent stubblebums. Their early strategy is to make the conservative candidate a joke, then poeple won't vote for them. Still funing over 43, he also will eventually be embraced by the left in years to come, just like Reagan.

RetUSASFC| 1.31.11 @ 8:58PM

I remember when I was a young whippersnapper with the 82d Airborne Division, awaiting orders to 1/75 Rangers. It was the election year for President Reagan's second term. My buddies and I would ride our Harley Davidson's to the "midnight movie" in Fayetteville. Getting ready to watch another war movie, right there on the front row. I stood up one time and bellowed to the crowd "you all votin' Reagan, right?" The place erupted, crazy screaming and clapping; popcorn flying. Good memories. God Bless President Ronald Reagan.

John II| 2.1.11 @ 12:33AM

Good story. It would have been perfect if the midnight movie had been "Desperate Journey" (1942), in which Reagan plays flight officer Johnny Hammond shot down with his buddies (Errol Flynn, Arthur Kennedy, Alan Hale) over Nazi-occupied Poland, only to make monkeys out of the Nazis as the heroes wend their way back to the safety of England.

Reagan's fast-talking bamboozlement of the Nazi Major Otto Baumeister (Raymond Massey) prefigures his handling of the clueless Gorbachev 45 years later at Reykyavik. The rest is history.

Richard Baker| 2.1.11 @ 1:15PM

RetUSASFC:
I ETS'd in August 1980 and never served under President Reagan. Was embarrassed by questions from foreign military with whom I served and trained as to "What in Hell" Carter was doing. I sorta envy those of you who served under Ronald Reagan. Thank you for your service. Lead the Way, Ranger!
Richard Baker
ex-SSG Infantry
USA

FREE tea| 2.1.11 @ 11:16PM

---Reagan was the front wheeled in by the RED China sellout/world consolidation boys, with arch
Globalist Bush Sr. very much the man behind the scenes.

We now realize that even the Soviet collapse was
long-planned and in no sense except the most
superficial and theatrical ---'called out' by Reagan.

What was REALLY important during that period
was the first round of full-blown, ungrounded, unchecked
property and financial speculation (i.e. unashamed even celebrated biz-nihilism) and the rampant
cultural standardization, indeed, collectivization
---even obliteration at the hands of franchise-slummers, the RED China sellout borg WalMart, BOGUS fundamentalism --and, one of the most lastingly effective, 'empathetic' TV talk show 'culture' a la Oprah.

-------ENOUGH with these pre-processed
over-engineered 'icons'!

--ENOUGH--

PAY deep attention to that sinister 'continuity
of agenda' that so undeniably is running through it all...

-AMEN

MattZ| 2.3.11 @ 10:02PM

Not that I think that much of Reagan, but were he running for office today, he'd be running as a Democrat. Again, I'm not necessarily pleased by that thought.
MZ

Reebok | 8.11.11 @ 4:23AM

is good

العاب بنات | 4.11.12 @ 4:18PM

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