The left hates success and worships failure. Thus they hate Reagan, hate the war on terror, hate supply side economics but love Barack Obama, FDR, and the welfare state.
I've never seen a complete argument against Reagan. It's always in the context of something that says....he was somehow controlling everything.
Whatever else may have happened, he took a country that was reeling under the whimp leadership of Jimmy Carter and showed it where it's backbone lie.
Things got better and a lot of people were better off. There is no question that we developed some bad habbits in terms of government spending during that time....but some of it (such as bailing out Carter's 30 year fix to SS that lasted only about ten months) were not anything Reagan could do anything about.
Most people don't recall...but the press was pretty hard on the man during his time in office. Even his own party could be pretty tough. But, since his terms ended it has only become apparent he was a great leader in many ways and we, as a country, were darn lucky (and undeserving) to have him.
Well-articulated post. Thanks.
I'd be interested to know why, after all these years, some are compelled to try to assassinate the legacy of the best leader the US has had in living memory. I cannot believe that many regret the fall of the Soviet Union. Further, I don't think that the same wish that the era of peace and prosperity of over two decades which began and followed his administration hadn't happened.
What we are left with is the contrast to the ineptness of the countries current leadership or the long-standing damage done to left wing ideologues. Few blame Carter, Bush I or Clinton for America's contemporary problems, but it seems to be almost an article of faith on the left that Reagan (and Bush II of course) are to blame.
"best leader" WOW. See Post # 72, 73, 74, 77, 79, 83, and especially
111.
"era of peace and prosperity of over two decades which began and followed his administration" ? >>
1. Second Gulf of Sidra incident (1989- Libya)
2. Invasion of Panama (1989–1990)
3. Persian Gulf War (1990–1991 - Iraq)
4. Iraqi no-fly zones conflict (1991–2003) Part of the Iraqi–Kurdish conflict
5. Operation Restore Hope (1992–1994) Part of the Somali Civil War
6. Bosnian War (1993–1995) Part of the Yugoslav Wars
7. Operation Uphold Democracy(1994–1995 - Haiti)
8. Operation Infinite Reach (1998 - al Qaeda, HUM, NIF))
9. Kosovo War (1998–1999) Part of the Yugoslav Wars
10. War in Afghanistan (2001–present) Part of the War on Terror and the
Conflict in Afghanistan
11. Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines (2002–present) Part of the War on Terror and the Moro insurgency in the Philippines
12. Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (2002–present) Part of the War on Terror and the Somali Civil War
13. Second Liberian Civil War (2003)
14. Iraq War (2003–2011) Part of the War on Terror
15. War in North-West Pakistan (2004–present) Part of the War on Terror
16. War in Somalia (2006–2009) Part of the War on Terror and the
Somali Civil War
17. Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara (2007–present) Part of the War on Terror and the Insurgency in the Maghreb
18. Al-Qaeda insurgency in Yemen (2010–present) Part of the War on Terror
19. Libyan Civil War (2011) Part of the Arab Spring
20. Operation Neptune Spear (2011) Part of the War on Terror and the Death of Osama bin Laden
21. 2011 NATO attack in Pakistan (2011) Part of the War in Afghanistan and Pakistan-United States skirmishes
22. LRA insurgency (2011–present)
And this list is just a list of wars and conflicts involving the United States, after Reagan's term in office. It doesn't include all those WHILE he was in office.