You know what?

[kyburg]

Reagan might have been a meat puppet with Alzheimer's - but at least he had class.

Comments

[kali-ma.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's scary when I find myself actually missing Reagan.

[riverheart.livejournal.com]

I actually find myself missing the Nixon administration!

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Never. But I was using it as a measuring stick for this one.

Not anymore. *shivers*

[riverheart.livejournal.com]

Compared to Bush, Nixon was a liberal - this posited by none other than the late confirmed Nixon-hater Hunter S. Thompson.

The Nixon administration was actually more liberal, in policies passed, than the Clinton administration, let alone the Bushists. It was also corrupt as all get-out, but not nearly as corrupt as this administration. This administration has clearly surpassed the Harding administration as the single most corrupt in U.S. history.

[luscious-purple.livejournal.com]

Amen to that!

[lostboydv.livejournal.com]

Reagan ended the Cold War. Bush has started a whole new one, but his is with everyone in the world. Including his own country's citizens.

I've just looked up quotes by Reagan. Man, he was a joy to listen to. Remember when he took over, in place of Carter? That Carter was boring as hell and was on TV connnstantly. @_@ But Reagan was brief, to the point, and usually funny. :)

Some stuff Reagan said:

"Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first."

"The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them away."

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, 'I'm from the government and I'm here to help.'"

And this one... well, Reagan said it... and although he didn't say it about G.W. Bush, it sure fits: "To sit back hoping that someday, someway, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last--but eat you he will."

And finally... Reagan's oopsie: "My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes."

[unclemilo.livejournal.com]

Well... Reagan didn't end the cold war... he just out-spent the Russians to the point that they said "to hell with it". Furthermore, many Americans still hate Russia all the same as if nothing ever happened... and Reagan also misrepresented the danger that Russia posed to us just to get contracts to military companies that helped support Reagan.

You know... I wish I could remember the actress who said this on Bill Maher, but I believe it applies... "If you had a doctor... would you want one who was really good at his job, but really boring in all other respects or a a complete incompetent who was really fun at parties?"

Reagan was a disaster for our economy and a NIGHTMARE to our Educational department (as the joke goes... Smart Bombs and Dumb Children)

Just because G.W. is an even worse president than Reagan does not forgive him of his legacy.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Reagan was an incredibly polished Hollywood actor. He could make the phone book sound good.

And he had a lot of very talented help to make sure nothing ever sounded really bad. Never. Just go watch "Dynasty" on television and sleep well, America. Oh. Don't have a television? Sucks to be you. C-YA.

I can remember Kennedy. And I remember how much we all missed him, all through both Johnson administrations. He wrote as well as he spoke - and won a Pulitzer for the work - go pick up a copy of Profiles in Courage, if you can find one.

And say what you can about Ike, he wasn't half bad either.

I'm amazed whenever I hear Clinton speak - that he IS that good. Bush would be getting away with a whole lot more if he was half as convincing.

It's the blatant "I can spew whatever half-baked baloney I'm selling today to get your attention off the things that will get me in trouble - and you'd better believe me...." stuff that just pisses me off.

Reagan was funny. But Reagan was a back-stabber from the old school (yes, we in California remember him from the McCarthy Era) - and my thumbprint remains his stance on AIDS, and considering adding ketchup as a vegetable to the school lunch programs. Because, well, yanno. Is it, isn't it?

[tomlemos.livejournal.com]

And say what you can about Ike, he wasn't half bad either.

I'm amazed whenever I hear Clinton speak - that he IS that good. Bush would be getting away with a whole lot more if he was half as convincing.

It's the blatant "I can spew whatever half-baked baloney I'm selling today to get your attention off the things that will get me in trouble - and you'd better believe me...." stuff that just pisses me off.

The thing with Ike and Clinton is that they both had people who knew how to write for their president.

I have yet to hear Bush give a decent speech.

I'm still waiting.

I think I'm gonna have a long wait.

[foogod.livejournal.com]

Well, to be fair to the speechwriters, I think it helps if the person you're writing for has enough between their ears to actually be able to read and talk at the same time...

Obviously...

[tomlemos.livejournal.com]

you don't watch much television news, do you? at the local level?

Ever see the movie, Anchorman? :)

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

The speech he presented at the memorial service after 9/11 was inspired.

First, last and only one I think I approved of.

[7leaguebootdisk.livejournal.com]

Well, thinking back to the school lunches of my youth, you might eat the ketchup, unlike so many of the other things they called "vegetables".

Reagan had principles, and believed we had rights (hey, he personally spiked the idea of a national ID card, because he believed that we had the right not to show ID on demand). Outspending the USSR was a deliberate stratagy, have a look at "The Strategy Of Technology" published in the late 1960s, and used in at least the Air Force Acadamy.

Frankly, anyone who can get the job and wants it is going to be a scumbag.

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

Dude, the meat was scary enough.

And outspending and outproducing has been an American staple since WWII - though today, I don't know that we could manage it again. We make *everything* outside the country today. We could bring the labor back from offshore and start manufacturing inside the borders again...but gee, those jobs at McDonald's are good enough, aren't they?

*snark*

Really, I think government service should be mandatory for everyone - pick a span. Two weeks a year? Two years broken up into pieces? But nobody makes a career out of it.

[7leaguebootdisk.livejournal.com]

I always figured that for military, patrol cops, legislators, etc, not for the whole thing.

Half the time, I'm against the idea entirely. The other half of the time, I think it would save us.

[nagasvoice.livejournal.com]

Some of us does do it in the government for a living.
We *know* how hard people work (or don't.)
I'm sure teh librarians and teachers in the crowd have both hands and foot or two up waving in the air, wanting to say a few sharp things about the current administrations at various levels. Sigh. We tend to have a different vp on seagulls like Ahrnie.
So glad to know that other people think Bush is a meat puppet, and we're pretty sure the fingers making all those really rude gestures don't belong to a friend...

[kyburg.livejournal.com]

One of the things that hit me living in Switzerland was how much of their civil service was 1) part-time, and 2) mandatory. Everyone did part of it - everyone had time to do part of it, and continue to function in their daily lives.

A government of the people - that really IS of the people - does work better, methinks.

[cecerose.livejournal.com]

Yup. That be true.