The best thing about Reagan is that he is, finally, dead.

Myrrander:
Yeah....It seemed as if he was made of plastic (a la Dick Clark).

Yeah....It seemed as if he was made of plastic (a la Dick Clark).

And in that you are wrong.  He did not ignore aids, the magnitude was unknown when he was elected.  He did not neglect the starving in Africa any more than any other president, but most of the starving is due to warms, and you cant feed people when you are getting shot at.

What made him great was several things.  Not the least of which his bringing down the USSR. Beyond that, you have to go back to the 70s.  We had Watergate, Vietnam, Double Digit Inflation and Unemployment.  And marginal tax rates of 70%.  He dropped the tax rates, which increased revenue (that is a matter of public record) and restored faith in the greatness of America.  He made America feel proud to be American again.  Plus he killed inflation and got America back to work.

Enough accomplishments for you?  Those were the highlights, but there were many more.

did not ignore aids, the magnitude was unknown when he was elected.

It became an epedemic in 1984....I do believe he was president from 1981-1988...

I was asking what made him a great president, not what he did before he was elected.

Exhibiting obvious signs of Alzheimer's while still in office...fake evangelical...by the time Reagan said "AIDS" in a speech, thousands had died from it...Grenada...Iran-Contra...and somehow this loon gets more credit for the end of the USSR than Mikhail Gorbachev.

But the right will worship teflon Ron forever. Because they seem to have a thing for crazies, idiots, and madmen.

It became an epedemic in 1984....I do believe he was president from 1981-1988

Then check out the funding for Aids in the Budget for the years from 84 onward.  You will be surprised, hopefully not sadly so.

And I gave you the reasons.  You can also choose to ignore them or deny them, but since I was around and voting then, I speak from experience, not ignorance as some of your posters seem to be doing.

I think the term "plausible deniability" came to fruition during his administration. As long as he could shield himself from the actual goings on in the White Wash, I mean House, by allowing Bush and Co. to do his dirty work, then he could just deny any knowledge of wrongdoing on the part of his administration. Does Iran-Contra ring any bells?

I think righties hang onto this made up image of what Ronnie was, so he could appear to be great. Kind of like what they're doing today with dubya. Elevate him and his failed policies on some kind of fantasy pedestal.

I agree with Myrrander. The best thing about Ronnie is that he's no longer president, but he really did die mentally a long time ago, likely while still in office.

dabe:
Very insightful....next thing you know Dubya will be the greatest thing to happen to the GOP (shudders)

Very insightful....next thing you know Dubya will be the greatest thing to happen to the GOP (shudders)

No he wont.  But it is apparant your question is rhetorical and not inquisitive.

I like how compassionate liberals are happy that a man is dead. And they say liberals aren't compassionate loving people!

With this, and the open-minded article that pigeonholes millions of people into two terrible stereotypes, it's a shame that people don't understand how super enlightened you guys are.

Alright...Let me post another one about Clinton and let's see if you guys are willing to keep an open mind.

Reply #11 By: alison watkins - 1/26/2005 6:02:11 PM Alright...Let me post another one about Clinton and let's see if you guys are willing to keep an open mind.

For ALL his faults Reagan never lied under oath.

JFK did the same thing and everyone thinks he's so great.....

Reply #13 By: alison watkins - 1/26/2005 6:15:58 PM JFK did the same thing and everyone thinks he's so great.....

Show proof of this please. And don't post someones opinion. I looked and looked and found nothing to substantiate your claims. Plenty of opinions but no verifiable proof.

Fake Doc #1: 'For ALL his faults Reagan never lied under oath.'

Actually, he did:

On 1-26-87 President Reagan told the Tower Commission (under oath) he approved the arms-for-hostages sale in advance. This opened up Don Regan to perjury charges.

On 2-11-87 President Reagan told the Tower Commission (under oath) he had a talk with Don Regan and this caused the president to change his story. Now Reagan tells the commission he did NOT approve the arms-for-hostages sale in advance. So President Reagan lied - and that's a pretty big lie - to protect his buddy from perjury.

Not to mention that if you believe all of those permutations of plausible deniablility ("I can't recall", "I have no recollection", "Mommy is it time for bed?", etc.) he told the Tower Commision, then I have a poker game I'd like to invite you to.

Getting back to the actual point of this blog, the guy was senile, a blind man can see that. Here in the reality-based community, having a mentally incompetent head of state is somewhat of a bad thing.

Crediting Reagan with the fall of The Wall, which is often cited as his greatest "accomplishment", is like crediting the rooster with the sunrise; correlation is not causation. Fiscally, he dragged America so deep into deficit it took years - and a Democrat - to fix it. Lloyd Bentsen said it best: "You know, if you let me write $200 billion worth of hot checks every year, I could give you the illusion of prosperity too."

David St. Hubbins