Ronald Reagan's Birthday and the Myth of Reagan

[JoeB131]

It's easy to understand why Republicans need the MYTH of Ronald Reagan. He was the only Republican since Ike who wasn't voted out of office, forced to resign, or left the country in shambles of war and recession. So we get treated to the mythological Reagan who was a paragon of conservative virtue, ignoring the guy who actually was president from 1981 to 1989.

To quickly recap- The Real Ronald Reagan:

Tripled the National Debt.
Engaged in huge public spending programs.
Negotiated with Terrorists and traded arms for hostages.
Raised Taxes after cutting them.
Gave amnesty to 3 million illegal aliens.
Compromised with the Democratic Majority to expand social security.
Reached agreements with America's adversaries.
Appointed moderates to the Supreme Court
Rarely went to church and believed in Astrology

That was the REAL Ronald Reagan, and he was a good president because he was a PRAGMATIST, not a ideologue. An ideologue was George W. Bush, who kept to his policies even when they FAILED.

What we won't get is a real discussion of what the implication of his policies were, such as the undermining of the middle class through free trade and deunionization of the private sector.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

Without Reagan, we would still be fighting the Soviets. If you could go back in time, would you take a chance on ANY other president who may or may not have taken the hard steps to weaken the Soviet Union to the point of collapse? That is all that matters.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Without Reagan, we would still be fighting the Soviets. If you could go back in time, would you take on chance on ANY other president who may or may not have taken the hard steps to weaken the Soviet Union to the point of collapse? That is all that matters.

More reason to implement a US holiday honoring President Yeltzin than Reagan. Look it up if ya don't get it, I'm not being paid to educate YOU.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

Without Reagan, we would still be fighting the Soviets. If you could go back in time, would you take on chance on ANY other president who may or may not have taken the hard steps to weaken the Soviet Union to the point of collapse? That is all that matters.

More reason to implement a US holiday honoring President Yeltzin than Reagan. Look it up if ya don't get it, I'm not being paid to educate YOU.

Yeltsin came to power only as a consequence of the pressure Reagan applied.

 

[TheOldSchool]

Reagan could also leap tall buildings in a single bound.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Without Reagan, we would still be fighting the Soviets. If you could go back in time, would you take on chance on ANY other president who may or may not have taken the hard steps to weaken the Soviet Union to the point of collapse? That is all that matters.

More reason to implement a US holiday honoring President Yeltzin than Reagan. Look it up if ya don't get it, I'm not being paid to educate YOU.

Yeltsin came to power only as a consequence of the pressure Reagan applied.

Every US, Soviet, and likely European owes their life to President Yeltzin.

During an early warning snafu, a false US nuclear attack was registered on Soviet systems. President Yeltzin was alerted, given their version of the nuclear launch briefcase, it was opened, and ready for Yeltzin's final 'go' command. Yeltzin said no. Rather than trusting technology, or giving in to bloodthirsty desire for conquest one person said this doesn't make any sense. I'd rather wait for confirmation of a nuclear detonation.

By comparison the neatest thing Reagan ever did was mention aliens in a speech.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

Without Reagan, we would still be fighting the Soviets. If you could go back in time, would you take on chance on ANY other president who may or may not have taken the hard steps to weaken the Soviet Union to the point of collapse? That is all that matters.

More reason to implement a US holiday honoring President Yeltzin than Reagan. Look it up if ya don't get it, I'm not being paid to educate YOU.

Yeltsin came to power only as a consequence of the pressure Reagan applied.

Every US, Soviet, and likely European owes their life to President Yeltzin.

During an early warning snafu, a false US nuclear attack was registered on Soviet systems. President Yeltzin was alerted, given their version of the nuclear launch briefcase, it was opened, and ready for Yeltzin's final 'go' command. Yeltzin said no. Rather than trusting technology, or giving in to bloodthirsty desire for conquest one person said this doesn't make any sense. I'd rather wait for confirmation of a nuclear detonation.

That has nothing to do with the topic.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

By comparison the neatest thing Reagan ever did was mention aliens in a speech.

Reagan forced the Soviets to commit too many resources to their military and nukes which was what bankrupted them and caused the internal transformation.

 

[rightwinger]

By comparison the neatest thing Reagan ever did was mention aliens in a speech.

Reagan forced the Soviets to commit too many resources to their military and nukes which was what bankrupted them and caused the internal transformation.

That had happened long before Reagan took office


Might as well thank Ike

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

By comparison the neatest thing Reagan ever did was mention aliens in a speech.

Reagan forced the Soviets to commit too many resources to their military and nukes which was what bankrupted them and caused the internal transformation.

That had happened long before Reagan took office


Might as well thank Ike

Of course, collapse doesn't happen in only 8 years, but the critical part is at the end.

 

[Mr Natural]

By comparison the neatest thing Reagan ever did was mention aliens in a speech.

Reagan forced the Soviets to commit too many resources to their military and nukes which was what bankrupted them and caused the internal transformation.

That had happened long before Reagan took office


Might as well thank Ike

Of course, collapse doesn't happen in only 8 years, but the critical part is at the end.

Which was well after St Reagan was out of office.

 

[rightwinger]

By comparison the neatest thing Reagan ever did was mention aliens in a speech.

Reagan forced the Soviets to commit too many resources to their military and nukes which was what bankrupted them and caused the internal transformation.

That had happened long before Reagan took office


Might as well thank Ike

Of course, collapse doesn't happen in only 8 years, but the critical part is at the end.

Reagans greatest contribution was that he didn't try to exploit the collapsing Soviet Union. It was a fragile nation that could have easily gone to war if it was viewed that the US was going to take advantage

 

[Delta4Embassy]

By comparison the neatest thing Reagan ever did was mention aliens in a speech.

Reagan forced the Soviets to commit too many resources to their military and nukes which was what bankrupted them and caused the internal transformation.

Reagan didn't force a Soviet breakfast order. Our intelligence then was much as it is today in the arab world, which is to say non-existant. Much of what we know now about the Cold War days is only known by way of historical analysis. When it was actually going on we didn't know much of anything.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

By comparison the neatest thing Reagan ever did was mention aliens in a speech.

Reagan forced the Soviets to commit too many resources to their military and nukes which was what bankrupted them and caused the internal transformation.

That had happened long before Reagan took office


Might as well thank Ike

Of course, collapse doesn't happen in only 8 years, but the critical part is at the end.

Reagans greatest contribution was that he didn't try to exploit the collapsing Soviet Union. It was a fragile nation that could have easily gone to war if it was viewed that the US was going to take advantage

Yes and no. While we known now with benefit of hindsight there were periods our nuclear capability vastly outclassed the Soviets and theoretically could have struck with little Soviet response, neither the US nor the Soviets were slobbering animals wanting that.

We have to conceed everyone in charge of things like nuclear arsenals probably has a pretty advanced education where someone pointed out if nukes go off things and people cease to exist so don't do it. No one even today would risk a nuclear exchange. Not even DPRK is that nuts. And compared to the North Koreans, Iran looks positively benevolent.

Soner we accept there's no good or evil in terms of nations, better off we'll all be.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

By comparison the neatest thing Reagan ever did was mention aliens in a speech.

Reagan forced the Soviets to commit too many resources to their military and nukes which was what bankrupted them and caused the internal transformation.

That had happened long before Reagan took office


Might as well thank Ike

Of course, collapse doesn't happen in only 8 years, but the critical part is at the end.

Which was well after St Reagan was out of office.

Less than 2 years.

Collapse of the Soviet Union - 1989-1991

The USSR officially ceased to exist on 31 December 1991.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

...Individuals willing to commit suicide to rack up a body count, on the other hand, are a concern.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

Reagan didn't force a Soviet breakfast order. Our intelligence then was much as it is today in the arab world, which is to say non-existant. Much of what we know now about the Cold War days is only known by way of historical analysis. When it was actually going on we didn't know much of anything.

There was no intelligence? What.

 

[Delta4Embassy]

By comparison the neatest thing Reagan ever did was mention aliens in a speech.

Reagan forced the Soviets to commit too many resources to their military and nukes which was what bankrupted them and caused the internal transformation.

Reagan didn't force a Soviet breakfast order. Our intelligence then was much as it is today in the arab world, which is to say non-existant. Much of what we know now about the Cold War days is only known by way of historical analysis. When it was actually going on we didn't know much of anything.

There was no intelligence? What.

If we'd known how far we'd advanced in ICBMs over the Russians when it was happening, we might not be discussing it. We learned about it only years later.

 

[bendog]

It doesn't do any credit to Reagan to play up the warrior myth. It's a fact that he did negotiate with terrorists in Iran. His military buildup may have given the aging soviet hawks pause, but it certainly could and nearly did lead to an nuke exchange. His and Thatcher's economics did result in a rapid expansion in western gnp, and that the soviets couldn't match. He had a near religious moral repugnance to nuclear weapons, and those weapons were the only really cost effective means the soviets had of maintaining military parity. When he seriously told Gorbachev that he wanted not just to dismantle them but to build a system that would shoot them down, the Russian Empire was finished because it couldn't economically compete.

 

[QuickHitCurepon]

By comparison the neatest thing Reagan ever did was mention aliens in a speech.

Reagan forced the Soviets to commit too many resources to their military and nukes which was what bankrupted them and caused the internal transformation.

Reagan didn't force a Soviet breakfast order. Our intelligence then was much as it is today in the arab world, which is to say non-existant. Much of what we know now about the Cold War days is only known by way of historical analysis. When it was actually going on we didn't know much of anything.

There was no intelligence? What.

If we'd known how far we'd advanced in ICBMs over the Russians when it was happening, we might not be discussing it. We learned about it only years later.

Yea, again it was those advancements that forced the Soviets to try to keep up and was a major part of bankrupting them.