The greatest American? Lincoln? Einstein? No - it's Ronald Reagan

[emad]

The greatest American? Lincoln? Einstein? No - it's Ronald Reagan

Jamie Wilson in Washington
Tuesday June 28, 2005
The Guardian

As an actor he had a sidekick called Bonzo. And as politician, he never quite lived down his quip to start bombing Russia in five minutes. But in life Ronald Reagan was forgiven most of his faults, and in death America now regards him as the greatest of them all.

Edging out Abraham Lincoln, the man who abolished slavery and guided the country through civil war, Reagan, the B-movie star whose presidency is commonly regarded as having brought down the Soviet bloc, won the popular vote to be crowned the greatest American ever.

While assassinated civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr came third, just ahead of George Washington, the country's first president and the man considered father of the nation, some of the most notable names in US history - the Nobel prize-winning scientist Albert Einstein; the inventors of the aeroplane, Orville and Wilbur Wright; and the first man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong - did not make it into the top 10.

However, George Bush and his predecessor, Bill Clinton, secured sixth and seventh places respectively, while the talk show host Oprah Winfrey can claim the title of greatest American woman after taking ninth spot, just behind Elvis Presley. Reagan, who died last year after a battle with Alzheimer's disease, is often derided in Europe as a cowboy and intellectual lightweight.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1516261,00.html

MORE like greatest KGB officer ever to reach high public office and (almost) get away with it..........

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

1. If that's not an ass-backwards list, I don't know what is. (nt)

[emad]

2. Quite....

!

[GreenArrow]

3. and who says the American public isn't stupid.

.

[Grooner Five]

13. Are you exempting yourself?

I find that people who make blanket generalizations about the stupidity of Americans usually do.

[GreenArrow]

17. of course

I'm exempting myself. I've been called many things in my life, but stupid is seldom one of them -- not that I haven't been guilty of it.

Don't like "stupid"? How about ignorant? Uninformed? Incurious? Anti-intellectual? Naive? Maybe those blanket generalizations are more accurate then "stupid."

[Al-CIAda]

24. Americans are ALL of the above, without a doubt -this poll is but

more to the mountain of evidence. A nation of dumbasses.

[Grooner Five]

25. Except for you, though...

Right?

[carlvs]

28. That's rich!

A 9/11 CTer calling people "dumbasses" because an easily manipulated poll didn't go the way he wanted.

What a joke!

[Grooner Five]

26. It must be so hard for you...

A mental giant in a sea of idiots. My heart bleeds.

[GreenArrow]

30. so lets try a different approach

Americans are the smartest, best educated, most intellectually curious, and sophisticated people in the world. Those who voted for Ronald Reagan in the poll made a clear, informed, and unbiased choice in voting for him. Not only that, each of them is exactly equal in his or her intellectual attainments/abilities. Happy now?

Here's a word from a true "mental giant" (something I have never claimed to be):

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe."

--Albert Einstein

[Grooner Five]

31. Are Nigerians or Mexicans stupid, too?

Because using your criteria of random polls for TV shows or any other worthless such thing, we could call the residents of just about any country "stupid."

Sorry to nitpick you on this, I just find the blanket self-loathing of Americans to be pretty stupid in itself. Americans are some of the most hard-working, good-hearted, and best-educated people in the world.

Calling them "stupid" en masse is no way to garner support or win elections, it just makes you look uneducated, hypocritical, and dishonest. IMO, anyway.

[indepat]

4. The sanctification process is complete: let deification proceed without

delay for how great the Gipper art.

[DanCa]

5. check out my sig for what i think of ron reagan (nt)

[Bill McBlueState]

6. argh.

I should expect it, but it's irritating that the result of a non-scientific poll by a TV show gets presented as though it's representative of how Americans think.

[jackster]

7. it's official....

we've become a nation of idiots.

Reagan over Lincoln? over Franklin? over Washington? over King? OVER ROOSEVELT?

The only greatest anything contest Raygun should ever win is one where he and George W. are the only contestants!

I'm ashamed....

[ET Awful]

8. And award for most freeped poll in history goes too .. . .

Sorry, but any poll that let's someone vote 3 times in a week like this one did (more if you clear cookies or change IP's) is not a valid voting system.

I don't buy those results for a second.

[emad]

9. This smells of utter desperation....like knowing that something

goddawful about Reagan/Bush1/Bush2 and Republican Party is about to break.

Why else all this etoilation?

[kentuck]

10. I never voted...

the power of right-wing propaganda.

[pansypoo53219]

11. but it could have been WAY fucking worse

GWBUSHIT.

[AntiCoup2K4]

12. I knew that show was rigged the minute I heard Skinhead Lauer was the host

Just more corporate mediawhore bullshit. And they probably took the Freeped online polls seriously.

[demo dutch]

14. Now I know Americans really are the dumbest in the world!

if in fact that's really how they voted.

[Fritz67]

15. Only one appropriate reaction:

:puke:

[theboss]

16. I would have voted for Sinatra

But that's just me.

[stopbush]

18. The studio audience was BOOING Reagan early in the show.

We watched only the final show (my kids wanted to see it). The "Final 5" each had a group of supporters in the studio with a designated spokesperson (Doris Plagariser Kearns Goodwin spoke for Ben Franklin) and some fat-assed white guy spoke for Reagan (not a minority to be seen in the Regan cabal). When the Reagan group was introduced, they were booed by the others in the studio. Lauer jumped in with a, "c'mon...they didn't boo your guy." Hmmm. Maybe that's because their guys didn't plunge the country into debt, fund the death squads that killed nuns in Central America, sell guns for hostages...and lead to the eventual installation of GWB and his illegal junta.

BTW - Al Roker made fun of Lauer on the show, saying that he was "being glib."

Further BTW - when I first heard about this USA-rip-off version of the original European show, I predicted that Reagan would win. What was it that Mencken said about not underestimating...

[leyton]

19. "often derided in Europe as a cowboy and intellectual lightweight"

He is also derided as such in the United States, if not by the majority.

Greatest American ever? I think not. Maybe third-best President of the 1980's, but that's about it. I can't believe we didn't choose MLK or George Washington.

[Gormy Cuss]

20. But a better cowboy and intellectual than W n/t

[Malingerer]

21. my vote...

Goes to Thomas Jefferson first,
James Madison second,
John Jay third.
Oprah shouldn't even be on the freaking ballot. She's a talk show host.... :eyes:

FDR should be on there... even though his 'New Deal' caused as many problems as it solved.

Truman cause he had the cajones to end WWII.

Reagan belongs on there too I believe.

[Malingerer]

22. Einstein

Wasn't Einstein a German who came to the US to flee the Nazis?

[bunkerbuster1]

23. Became a US citizen in 1940, though.

[H2O Man]

27. The Cinematic Concept

The idea of Reagan being voted as "the greatest American" is exactly as realistic as voting for "Billy Jack" as the greatest Indian leader in American history. It should be considered no more seriously than the old "Get Smart" series.

[ComerPerro]

29. Not at all suprising

While the sane people were split on the other Americans, the Reagan faithful and fanatics were all voting in lockstep for him, even if they knew it was dishonest.