The Reagan Revolution

[zorba1010]

My question to anyone and everyone is this: how on earth did Ronald Reagan become such an icon in the republican attack machine? All I hear from republicans on talk shows is ''the Reagan Revolution''. Are they referring to the ''trickle down economics'' which made the rich even richer, and created more poor out of the middle class than ever before? Or maybe it's the fact that Reagan tripled the national debt in his eight years as President? There was also the deregulation of the savings and loan industry which brought that industry to its knees, and precipitated one of the great stock market crashes in U.S. history. In 1982, Argentina's brutal military junta unleashed an attack on Britain's Falkland Islands. The Brits lost 1700 servicemen in that war. Reagan did not assist Britain, because Argentina was our friend. Republicans never met a dictator they didn't like. Reagan's invasion of Grenada was also lauded by republicans because, in Reagan's words, ''there are Cubans on the island''. Reagan should have invaded Miami if that were the reason for war.
Iraq invaded Iran and Reagan was right there supplying Saddam with arms, and when the Iraqis used chemical weapons against the Kurds and Iranians, killing thousands of them, Reagan continued to embrace the dictator, despite the outcry from around the world. During that war Reagan committed the crime called "Iran/Contra'', selling arms to an enemy and giving the money to a brutal rebellion force in Nicaragua. But Reagan was still their hero, so Reagan suffered no consequences.
Early in Reagan's term, the Soviet Union shot down a Korean Airliner because it had strayed into Soviet territory. Reagan was outraged, went on television and condemned the act, as well he should have. But in 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down an Iranian airliner with 290 aboard, killing all including 30 children, just a few miles from Iranian territory. The captain of the ship lied about the incident and no American paid for that crime. Reagan said nothing.
Now, republicans like to say that Reagan defeated the Soviet Union because ''we outspent them''. They will never believe anything else. In 1978 I bought a book by Helene d'Encausse, titled ''Decline of an Empire'', detailing how the Soviet Union will collapse. We had nothing to do with their collapse. It was primarily nationalism. I will not lend this book to a republican for fear of its destruction.
So, why is Reagan so revered in the republican party? My take on this phenomenon is this: back in the 1920's the great playwrite George Bernard Shaw said, with his finger pointing at the conservatives, ''a 100% American is 99% idiot!" In 2004 when they announced that George W. Bush won a second term, the headline in a leading newspaper in London read, ''How can 55 million people be so dumb?" And I say this,''there are no more Americans. Liberals are too smart to be American. Conservatives not smart enough.''
Simplistic, but true!

[Bolo Boffin]

1. A couple of good books to check out:

Both from Rick Perlstein.

The first is "Before the Storm: Barry Goldwater and the Unmaking of the American Consensus."

The second is like a sequel, "Nixonland: The Rise of A President and the Fracturing of America."

But the short answer is that Reagan made it OK to be a conservative again after Nixon. He did it by trotting out his Goldwater impersonation one more time while Carter was pinned to the wall by Iran and (I hate to say it, but it's true) Ted Kennedy. And by maintaining the strict posture that every president since Truman had held against the Soviets, Reagan and we watched as the USSR declined, finally self-destructing in Bush 41's term. So for conservatives, it was like utter validation. Because they held true, Reagan was able to destroy the evil empire. That's how I think Reagan became such an icon.

[deutsey]

2. Although Reaganites take credit for the downfall of the USSR

I think the assertion is questionable.

Reagan's cold war policies certainly contributed (while also undermining our own economy), but I see dissident movements like those in Poland and the former Czechoslovakia as huge factors along with the corrupt and aging Kremlin leadership. Also, when the USSR finally fell, the CIA and Bush administration were completely taken by surprise.

[Bolo Boffin]

4. Reagan has as much credit as Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, Carter, and Bush 41

And we share it with groups like you mentioned.

But Ronnie's best Goldwater impression was "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" And a few years later, it came down. For the simple minded, that's all the cause and effect they need.

[deutsey]

6. Agreed

[deutsey]

3. Another good book is Sleepwalking Through History by Haynes Johnson n/t

[Bolo Boffin]

5. That one looks really good!

The Amazon preview has the prologue and first four pages. Very nice!

[SheilaT]

7. What others have said. I would like to add

that too many people aren't willing to think critically. They'd rather watch some reality TV show, and only pay brief attention to snippets of news. As we all know, if they watch Fox news they are singularly uninformed.

I can recall quite clearly an article in either Time or Newsweek in the summer of 1984, which profiled several voters. The article actually pointed out that some of those planning to vote for Reagan that time were voting against their own self-interest, although it didn't bother to analyze WHY the voters would do that.

Reagan got an incredible pass from the Press, probably the greatest pass before or since. Trust me, not reporting JFK's sexual indiscretions was absolutely nothing compared to what Reagan got away with. People actually believed his b.s. about things like welfare queens driving Cadillacs, in no small part because the press didn't bother to debunk such crap. Reagan could not distinguish between movies he'd made and what happened out there in real life, and come to think of it, a lot of people I know can't tell the difference between movies and reality.

In addition, history is very badly taught in our high schools. And has been at least going back fifty years, to when I was in high school. All too often the history teacher is a coach who has to teach a few classes a day, and history is considered harmless. But even many of the actual trained-to-be-history-teachers are singularly ignorant. Add to that bland textbooks, a desperate fear of offending anyone, and it's a wonder students retain anything at all.

[zorba1010]

11. IS THE CONSERVATIVE IDEOLOGY SICK? WRITTEN IN 2007

THE SICKNESS OF THE RIGHT


A couple of weeks ago, minority leader in the House of Representatives John Boehner was sobbing uncontrollably as he begged his colleagues for an answer to his question, "when are we going to fight back in Iraq?". A few days later, Michael Reagan (the President's adopted son) said this "we should close down the media, and let the troops do what they're supposed to do--kill Iraqis and kick down doors." Two million Iraqis, or more, displaced, two million in refugee camps, hundreds of thousands killed and wounded, destruction of the Iraqi infrastructure, and a republican congressman wants us to fight harder, and a conservative talk show host wants us to kill more (even though we don't know who the more are), and shut down our media! "Shut down our media", now that sounds like a plan. The thirty percent who are still with Bush would love to shut our media down. There is no question that FASCISM is alive in America. I accused the conservatives of being
stupid and ignorant, but it's much more complicated than that. Nine of the ten republican
candidates in the debate think it's acceptable to use nukes against Iran. There isn't a country on the face of the earth, including Israel, who would be amenable to this insanity. Bush wants to build a missile shield in eastern Europe, and tells Putin that it is to protect these countries against an attack from Iran or North Korea. Only an American conservative could possibly believe this garbage. These conservative lunatics want another war. Really! We went to war with half of a small country, and they fought us to a stand-still. Again we went to war with half of a small country, and they won. So to regain our self-esteem, we invade a tiny island nation, and then another tiny nation...hey, to hell with this. Let's make it a good one this time. Let's invade China. China has nukes, China is enlarging their military, China is threatening Taiwan, China is a Communist dictatorship, China is hurting our economy and is holding a trillion American dollars. Listen up, you conservatives, stop watching John Wayne war movies. It's not that damn easy.
In the republican debate last week, the question of evolution was asked again. This upset some of the candidates, and when they were asked if they believed that the earth was six thousand years old, one of them stepped forward and said, ''I don't know how old the earth is. I wasn't there. But I do know that God loves us, and that we are made in His image." Now how does he know that; he wasn't there. He said so. As he spoke those words, the conservatives in the audience were nodding their heads like a bobbing doll on a car dashboard. For you conservatives who nodded your heads, here is a simple question, does God love the people in Darfur, or Iraq, or the people devastated by the tsunami and Katrina, or the people living in tornado alley? Now if he loves these people, what the hell would happen to these people if He hated them? That scares me to even think about it. And how does this congressman know that we are made in God's image? Nobody's ever seen God. So allow me to dispel any notion that we are made in God's image with these indelicate questions: if God has the same physiological make-up as we do (for instance, a penis), then are they functional like humans are? If not, then what are their functions? Don't be offended. It's a legitimate question. Today, the House passed a bill to finance embryonic stem-cell research. The President said he would veto it. Now this is my wish: every person who agrees with the President should contract diabetes, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, or all of them at the same time. Shocked? Not as shocked as I am that Americans are so willing to raise barriers to prevent scientists from finding cures for these diseases. So who are these Americans? They are the conservatives--the same kind of people who put and kept Hitler in power. They will cling to this President to the death, and not because of the "stupidity and ignorance" argument, which is partly the reason, but, like the conservatives in Nazi Germany, there is a flaw in their genetic make-up that makes them indomitably resistant to reason. There is no other explanation, but if any of you conservatives have one, I'd be more than willing to listen.

R.T.

[Curmudgeoness]

8. The biggest reason that I see is how little these people know about history.

In a timeline, Reagan said "tear down this wall", and the wall came down instantly, all because of him. The things that you listed are things that none of the "Reagan Revolution" crowd even remember.

Add to that the problem that this crowd listens to the talking heads who are idolizing Reagan and giving them a revisionist history of his legacy, and you have a new idol.

[BillStein]

9. also recommend

"Tear Down This Myth" by Will Bunch.... good anaysis of how the myth grew.

[SayIt]

10. Why do they call it 'revolution'

I'd like to know.

[zorba1010]

12. HOW TO KNOW WHEN YOU ARE AN IDIOT

1. If you think Sarah Palin is smarter than you, you are and idiot.
2. If you think contraceptives should be banned, you are an idiot.
3. If you thought the bail-out of the auto industry was a bad idea, you are an idiot.
4. If you still think the bail-out of the auto industry was a bad idea, you are a double idiot.
5. If you think the universe is 6000 years old, you are an idiot.
6. If you believed there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and still do, you are an idiot.
7. If you think the "Personhood Amendment'' is a good idea, you are an idiot.
8. If you think teaching ''Creationism'' in public schools is a good idea, you are an idiot.
9. If you believe embryonic stem-cell research should be banned, you are an idiot.
10. If you think God can grow an arm on an amputee, you are an idiot.
11. If you believe in ''trickle-down economics'', you are an idiot.
12. If you believe in keeping brain-dead people alive for years, you are an idiot (unless you're thinking about self-preservation, in which case you're only a half-idiot).
13. If you think war is good for the economy, you are an idiot.
14. If you believe the President is not a citizen, you are an idiot.
15. If you voted for George W. Bush twice...

R.T.

[yurbud]

13. relentless marketing

[Shagman]

14. another interpretation

Reagan was an actor, pure and simple. They fed him lines and he delivered them. As the anti-Nixon he could say anything and get away with it. "Trickle-down" economics has never worked, but he sold it. He made conservatives feel good about America, even when he started kicking away the props that held it up.

As Don Henley put it at the time:
The cowboy's name was Jingo, and he heard that there was trouble
So in a blaze of glory he rode out of the west
No one was ever certain what it was that he was sayin'
But they loved it when he told them they were better than the rest

[booley]

15. Same way Obama become a secret Muslim Socialist from Kenya

It's not about facts or history.

It's about the mythology.

They need a Messiah: Reagan

And now they have their latest in a long line of boogyman: Obama

[Bill USA]

16. don't forget the 241 Marines killed at their quarters in Lebanon by a truck bomb, 1983

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1983_Beirut_barracks_bombing

The Beirut Barracks Bombing (October 23, 1983 in Beirut, Lebanon) occurred during the Lebanese Civil War, when two truck bombs struck separate buildings housing United States and French military forces—members of the Multinational Force in Lebanon—killing 299 American and French servicemen. The organization Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Suicide bombers detonated each of the truck bombs. In the attack on the American Marines barracks, the death toll was 241 American servicemen: 220 marines, 18 sailors and three soldiers, along with sixty Americans injured, representing the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima of World War II, the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States military since the first day of the Tet Offensive during the Vietnam War, and the deadliest single attack on Americans overseas since World War II.[1][dead link]
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[De Leonist]

17. intellectual laziness

I am by no means a Conservative and it's quite possible I am further to the left than even many here might find comfortable but one comment just sticks like a thorn.

"there is a flaw in their genetic make-up that makes them indomitably resistant to reason. There is no other explanation,"

Look I dislike the Reagan circle-jerking by Republicans as much as the next leftie but that's just down right intellectual laziness right there. Just writing off the the opposition as stupid doesn't help your case. If the left is supposed to be about science and intelligence than it's probably best if we don't use many of the same logical fallacies that they use.

[SheilaT]

18. For reasons I've never been able to comprehend,

Ronald Reagan has been treated like a saint almost since he took office in January 1981.

A lot of you are too young to remember, but context is ALWAYS important.

You need to look at the timeline. Nixon was elected in 1968, in no small part as a reaction to LBJ's war in Vietnam. He was actually a pretty popular president in his first term, and then was re-elected in 1972, in no small part because the Democrat running against him was George McGovern, personally a decent man, but politically a disaster. But the re-election also hinged on the entire Watergate break-in on June 17, 1972, which was entirely unnecessary, a complete overreach on the part of the Republicans. Worse, the break-in and the subsequent cover-up resulted ultimately in Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974. I'm inclined to say it's a given that a Democrat would be elected in 1976. The country was more than ready for a change.

Alas, the Democrat elected in 1976 was Jimmy Carter, a totally honest and decent man who, because of his honesty and decency was singularly unsuited to be President. Which is why Reagan won in 1980.

Reagan was "charismatic." He wasn't genuinely so, but he was sold as such. His background as an actor made him incredibly suited to playing the role of "President". He was also a man who genuinely could not distinguish between reality and fiction. He tended to tell stories of Hollywood movies as if they were real events. And the press corps NEVER once called him on that. Maybe they were still smarting from the relatively recent allegations of having given JFK a pass on his indiscretions. Maybe by then the press corps was mostly people who'd been co-opted by the powers that be, had learned that if they didn't play the game they wouldn't get to play at all. Maybe the press corps had begun to make too much money, had been too closely connected to power to be willing to challenge that power. I don't know, but it was right around 1980 that the press stopped asking the hard questions.

I was already an adult then. I was made crazy by what was happening. We didn't even have Fox news then, and already it was St. Ronald Reagan. To a very large extent critical thinking of any kind just stopped. No one bothered to fact-check Welfare Queens. If the President said it, then it must be true. But it wasn't.

Reaganomics, as it was called from the very beginning, was always seen as a fraud. But popular sentiment overrode reality. When Lane Kirkland, the President of the AFL-CIO stood with Reagan as he fired the Air Traffic Controllers, it was clear to anyone with half a brain that this was the death knell of unions. I have NEVER forgiven Kirkland's betrayal of organized labor, and I seem to be the only one who remembers.

Meanwhile, I constantly hear crap like, "Well, unions have gone too far." And this from people who treasure their 40 hour week, weekends off, paid vacations and holidays. The nearly complete lack of understanding of unions and the history of labor is completely appalling. But that's just one small part of how badly history is taught in this country.

So what we have today is Fox News and the Tea Party, two groups for whom facts are simply unimportant.