"Reagan did a lot of good things." I ask them "Name one."

[maveric]

Had a couple of arguments about the drooling prez. I told these clowns that Reagan is overrated and di more damage to this country than he is given credit for. Then they always chime in with "Reagan did a lot of good things." I then ask them to name at least one "Good thing".
You know something? They can never come up with anything. I hear "Well he did many but I cant think of one right now."

Can you name any "Good things" that Reagan is responsible for?

[BooScout]

1. He singlehandedly defeated Commies....

Don't ya know?:P

[trotsky]

5. With his heat-vision powers!

Wasn't he just the greatest?!?

[Poll_Blind]

7. Cue the video!!!!

Land of Confusion

PB

[datasuspect]

78. he is the man who invented the wheel

who built the eiffel tower out of metal and brawn . . .

[NYCGirl]

2. I know the one they always say (as I've heard it a few times before) —

"He caused the fall of the Soviet Union." The freepers LOVE that one.

[lumberjack_jeff]

45. Yeah, I know I felt lots safer...

knowing that Kzakhistan instantly became the world's third-largest nuclear power.

[NYCGirl]

56. LOL! NT

[tridim]

3. I usally get, "He won the cold war"

Which of course is total bullshit.

[ComerPerro]

67. yeah. I always hear that one

[Poll_Blind]

4. The bromide I hear repeated without any other examples is...

...the destruction and break-up of the Soviet Union. This is weak, at best. I think the strongest thing you can say is that Reagan spent so much damed money on the military that the Soviets bankrupted themselves trying to match us. Even that, as I said, is pretty damned weak and full of holes.

PB

[trotsky]

14. Yes, and another item I've heard regarding that...

is that the SU was close to collapsing even before Reagan took office, but his sabre-rattling scared Soviet citizens enough to let the old guard stick around a little longer. It's entirely possible that Reagan prolonged the Cold War.

[blm]

19. Ted Turner deserves most credit for that - his idea for INTERNATIONAL NEWS

used satellites more effectively than they had ever been used before.

Citizens of the world can see firsthand that their governments were lying to them - Russian citizens and American citizens realized that their "enemies" were more like them and not the evil monsters depicted by their leaders.

[ProfessorGAC]

22. Not Only That, But. . .

. . .that information flow was proliferating because Turner showed one could make a profit. I actually got an LTTE printed in the Chicago Trib about 10 years ago that made the same case! Turner won the cold war and Reagan was just there.
The Professor

[ProfessorGAC]

20. Even That's Not True

The Soviet economy was in implosion mode before Reagan ever took office. If you remember, one of the problems they had in Afghanistan was morale caused by the fact that the gov't couldn't afford to pay the families of the soldiers. The soldiers were facing firefights, knowing that the gov't wasn't even giving their families back home enough to live off. The oil embargo, and the subsequent impact on energy prices in the early to mid-70's had a devastating effect on the soviet economy. They never recovered.

Since they had spent ridiculous sums of money on weapons building and space research in the 50's and 60's, they were wholly unprepared for the energy shock. While that caused pain in the western economy, the damage in the USSR was untenable and irrecoverable.

Reagan spent all that money trying "outspend" the soviets and their economy was collapsing anyway. There is zero evidence that the soviets tried to keep up with the United States military spending during the 80's. They DID NOT HAVE THE MONEY! They could not even try to keep up. So, that is a myth as well.
The Professor

[NewJeffCT]

62. great points, as always... also should add

That as far back as the Nixon White House, people in the US that knew the ins & outs of the Soviet economy knew that it was not sustainable for much longer. It was only a matter of time before their whole economy imploded. Heck, some people in LBJ's White House might have known that...

There is even a school of thought that Reagan's hard line rhetoric actually made the Cold War last longer than it had to, as the harsh tone gave new resolve & purpose to hardliners in the Kremlin - put their backs against the wall, if you know what I mean. If they backed down, they'd be humilated. If Reagan had taken a gentler approach, it might have allowed the Soviets to save a little face when they opened up their country & their economy. Of course, hindsight is 20-20 and who knows what would have happened?

(interesting how history repeats itself - sort of like how Iran was slowly inching towards a more open society and then gets labeled as part of the Axis of Evil by Herr Bush, setting back the slow progress by 20-30 years!)

[terrya]

24. I think Gorbachev had more to do with the breakup of the Soviet Union

But that's flying in the face of devout Reagan worshipping by the likes of George Will, so what do I know?

[Lydia Leftcoast]

55. Not to mention the fact that the USSR was ready to fall apart

anyway.

While capitalism certainly has its drawbacks, the Soviet alternative, a command economy (Bureaucrats in Moscow decreeing that Factory A will produce 100,000 pairs of gloves during the year, no more no less, with no way to respond to rises or declines in demand) leads to both shortages and ridiculous surpluses, a lot of black market activity, and extreme imbalances in what was available in different parts of the country.

(This was widely written about in the 1970s, and friends of mine who studied in the Soviet Union during that period confirmed that, for example, they could never count on any given food being available in the university cafeterias, with the exception of bread, potatoes, yogurt, and cabbage soup, and sometimes eggs, tomatoes, or apples, unless they went to the dollar stores, where everything imaginable was available.)

Of course, what the Chicago School economists, led by Milton Friedman, did to the Russians was unforgivable. They decreed that a country in which no one had owned a business for 70 years should suddenly go completely laissez-faire capitalist. You may remember the news stories about people selling their furniture to survive.

[Dob Bole]

79. He increased the quality of ketchup..

It went from being very liquified stuff that you put on French fries, to being a vegetable.

[AndyA]

6. I guess you just want examples of good things during his Presidency...

I can only think of things BEFORE his Presidency. Like those movies with the cute Chimp. But then again, they really weren't all that great.

Other than the fact that he didn't declare war on a sovereign nation that hadn't done us harm, I really can't think of a single thing the man did that was good...

[reichstag911]

27. Didn't declare war, but...

...he did invade Grenada to cover the Beirut embassy bombing and subsequent cut-and-run embarrassment.

[BooScout]

8. Tear down that wall....

I need the bricks for my ranch.:evilgrin:

[whistle]

9. Here is a partial list of the things that happened under Reagan's watch

<snip>
The crimes of Ronald Reagan
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CRIME

BETWEEN THE BIG THIEVES AND THE LITTLE THIEVES; IT'S THE BIG THIEVES WHO
RULE THE LAND, WITH ONE HAND.

THE BIGGEST ROBBERY OF A NATION IN ALL HISTORY,OCCURED DURING THE REAGEN
ADMINISTRATION. IT HAS BANKRUPTED THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. IT HAS BANKRUPTED
MANY STATES,COUNTIES AND CITIES. IT HAS BROKEN BUSINESSES BANKS S&L'S,
TENS OF THOUSANDS OF SMALL BUSINESSES AND MILLIONS OF INDIVIDUALS.
ALL, THE ROBBERY AMOUNTS TO $3 TRILLION OR MORE.
HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MIDDLE CLASS AND UPPER CLASS INDIVIDUALS
PERSONALLY PROFITED FROM THE GENERAL CORRUPTION.

9L OF REAGENS PEOPLE WERE INDICTED. A HANDFUL WERE PROSECUTED.
THEY RECIEVED LITTLE OR NO PUNISHMENT.
IN THE BUSINESS WORLD LESS THAN 3 DOZEN HAVE BEEN PROSECUTED.
LESS THAN A DOZEN HAVE BEEN IMPRISONED OR FINED.

DURING THE DECADE OF THE EIGHTIES
MAJOR $CANDALS OCCOURED INNVOLVING THE
PENTAGON, THE GENERAL ACCOUNTING OFFICE, THE GENERAL SERVICES
ADMINISTRATION,CONGRESSMEN,SENATORS, CONTRACTORS AND CONSULTANTS.
THEY CONCERNED FRAUD, BRIBERY,KICKBACKS, EXTORTION, EMBEZZLEMENT,
FORGERY, OVERPRICING,PRODUCT FAILURE,FAKING TESTS, LYING.
ALL THE PEOPLE INVOLVED ARE STILL EMPOWERED RIGHT
WHERE THEY HAVE ALWAYS BEEN.

A FEW GET SCAPEGOATED FOR THIER PEERS. THIS ROBBERY AND CORRUPTION
PERMEATED EVERY LAYER OF UPPER ECHELON GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS.
THEY ALL PROFLTED PERSONALLY. THEY REMAIN IN POWER, THE ROBBERY AND
CORRUPTION CONTINUES UNABATED.
EVERYONE OVER AGE 12 KNOWS THERE IS A TOTALLY HYPOCRITICAL AND IMMORAL,
AMORAL DOUBLE STANDARD CONCERNING THE LAW; AND CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN
AMERICA. THE RICH AND POWERFUL ARE TREATED WITH WHITE GLOVES.
THE POOR ARE PROSECUTED AND
PERSECUTED INHUMANLY. THIS GROSS INJUSTICE MAY BE THE GREATEST
OUTRAGE OF ALL
IN AMERICA. IT IS CERTAINLY THE BASIC MIS-STANDARD BY WHICH AIL OTHER
WR0NGS ARE GENERATED AND MEASURED.

THE AMERICAN POOR AND WORKERS ARE PAYING FOR THIS NOW,AND WIIL PAY
FOR YEARS TO COME. THEY PAY THROUGH INCREASED PERSONAL HARDSHIP,
SUFFERING AND EVEN DEATH. THIS IS TOTALLY INTOLERABLE TO ANY INTELLIGENT
MAN OR WOMAN.

WITHIN THE RARIFIED UPPER STRATA OF SOCIAL CRIMINALITY BASED ON GREED
AND ARROGANT POWER YOU SEE NO JUDICIOUS EFFORT TO POLICE ITSELF,FOR THE
GOOD OF ALL.
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE HEARD NO INTELLIGENT OR REASONABLE EXPLANATION
FROM ANY OF THE EDUCATED AND SUPPOSEDLY PRINCIPLED PEOPLE OF WEALTH AND
POWER ABOUT HOW OR WHY THIS HAPPENED. THEY REMAIN HIDDEN AND SILENT
BEHIND THE VEIL OF PRIVILEGE.

SO, THE CRIMINALITY OF THE WEALTHY AND POWERFUL CONTINUES FULL SPEED.
THEY MAKE IT PAINFULLY CLEAR THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE REAL LAW BY
WHICH PEOPLE IN AMERICA SHALL BE JUDGED. THAT IS: DON'T GET CAUGHT.
THIS IS THE FALSE STANDARD THE RICH & POWERFUL HAVE SET.

THEY,WHO ARE MOST EDUCATED, THEY WHO SHOULD BEST UNDERSTAND
THE NATURE AND THE NEED FOR HIGH PRINCIPLES AMONG PEOPLE IN SOCIETY.
IT IS THEY WHO FAIL THIS NATION AND ALL ITS PEOPLE FIRST AND
FOREMOST BY LACK OF HONEST HUMAN PRINCIPLE.
THE BIG THIEVES CONTROL THE HALLS OF GOVERNMENT,BUSINESS,THE MILITARY
AND THE NATIONS SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS. THE LITTLE THIEVES AND CRIMINALS
CONTROL THE DARK STREETS AND ALLEYS. THE PEOPLE DESIRING A DECENT AND
HONEST HEALTHY LIFE ARE CAUGHT AND LOST BETWEEN THE TWO.

<more> http://www.totse.com/en/politics/political_spew/crime1.html

[louis-t]

30. Spellcheck, spellcheck, jeez.

It is very hard to take seriously any tirade that is full of mis-spellings.

edit: ReagAn not ReagEn, i before e except after c.

[BuhByeChimp]

10. This is why I liked Reagan.

The following is a quote, not my words.

In 1983, I was confined to an eight-by-ten-foot prison cell on the border of Siberia. My Soviet jailers gave me the privilege of reading the latest copy of Pravda. Splashed across the front page was a condemnation of President Ronald Reagan for having the temerity to call the Soviet Union an "evil empire." Tapping on walls and talking through toilets, word of Reagan's "provocation" quickly spread throughout the prison. We dissidents were ecstatic. Finally, the leader of the free world had spoken the truth – a truth that burned inside the heart of each and every one of us.

At the time, I never imagined that three years later, I would be in the White House telling this story to the president. When he summoned some of his staff to hear what I had said, I understood that there had been much criticism of Reagan's decision to cast the struggle between the superpowers as a battle between good and evil. Well, Reagan was right and his critics were wrong.

[baldguy]

35. Natan Sharansky is a PNACer.

Not the best source for an objective view.

[tanyev]

36. And who will have the temerity to call George Bush's America

an "evil empire"?

[lumberjack_jeff]

48. I'm sure the prisoners sitting in gitmo cells...

... will tap on the walls to spread the joyous news when that happens.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

51. Was there a link there? Why isn't there one now?

By the way, "evil empire" is redundant. Even the least evil of empires is still evil.

Edit: I googled part of a sentence. See the result for yourselves:

http://www.google.com.br/search?hl=pt-BR&q=%22prison+cell+on+the+border+of+Siberia%22&btnG=Pesquisa+Google&meta=

[Democrat 4 Ever]

11. The neocons will spout that he "beat" communism but really

they defeated themselves, he just happen to get the photo op moment on "tear down that wall." They like to say he "beat" labor unions but all he did was lower the standard of living for middle America. He lowered taxes than raised them when his trickle down economics didn't work (while making sure he and his buddies got rich in the process and raising the national debt to record heights). He was an actor - and a not very good one - that met the needs of the neocons and the only way they can justify the man is to exalt him over and over again to push their agenda. St Ronnie was a horrible (and vacant, empty suit) president but they will never admit it. This is the same bunch who keeps saying that Chucklenuts will be revered in 20 years. In their dreams, on their best night but that is as close as it will ever come.

The only thing that Raygun ever did even remotely good was that he signed the law establishing the EPA - and watch the freepers' heads explode when you mention that one.

[louis-t]

28. EPA was Nixon.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

43. Thanks for the correction - I should have known that - well, then

it is settled - Raygun did NOTHING good. Glad we got that cleared up!

[JHB]

46. Right. Look up "Anne Buford"...

...Reagan's wrecking-gal at the EPA.

[liberal N proud]

12. there was...

No he didn't do that either.

No, I can't think of any

[ChairmanAgnostic]

13. he raised taxes in his second term

he was nice to puppies.
He always wore a suit and tie in the oval office
he always wore his right shoe on his right foot and vice versa
he correctly pointed out that trees are the biggest polluters
he put great minds and thinkers like Cheney, rumsfeld and wolfowitz into power
he never smoked crack in the Oval office
he never personally robbed a bank while in office
he successfully invaded the threat to global piece called Grenada
he personally solved the AIDS crisis by ignoring it - out of sight, out of mind
he did his part to chop down evil, polluting trees

[rniel]

15. He liked to eat jellybeans

I can't think of anything else.

[Fierce]

16. He singlehandedly broke the powerful air-traffic controllers union.

Heh.

[BooScout]

17. OK........I thought of a real one...(stem cell research)

His death by Alzheimers brought much needed attention to stem cell research.

[terrya]

18. Supposedly America was "standing tall again"

after he became President. Or some such shit.

There was also something about a "Shining city on the hill" that he had something to do with.

All bullshit to me.

[datasuspect]

82. kinda like a black velvet painting of reagan, john wayne, and jesus

all riding horses into some desert sunset.

ahhh.

[no_hypocrisy]

21. He singlehandedly tore down the Berlin Wall!!

Yeah!!! Take THAT, Gorby!!

[ChairmanAgnostic]

26. with his bare hands!

rah!

[lumberjack_jeff]

50. I'm remembering laser beams from his eyes...

... but maybe I've watched too much tv news.

[mtnester]

57. I always thought it was with the power of his superhuman mind

but who am I

:)

[datasuspect]

83. he flew air force one into it

jumped from the flaming wreckage in slo-motion before the major explosion happened, yelled "THEY DREW FIRST BLOOD!" and started decapitating german punk rockers.

then he wailed, "WOLVERINES!!!!!" and the world was safe for democracy again.

anyone want to join me in thanking jesus for this?

[calico1]

23. Well, I thought he was a pretty

sharp dresser. And he never had a hair out of place. No doubt his Hollywood experience helped with this. As for what he did for the country his policies allowed us to go into recession, high inflation, unemployment. But then, isn't that what most Republican presidents have done?

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

25. He repopularized Jelly Beans.

At least temporarily.

[RaleighNCDUer]

59. Not necessarily.

I stopped eating jelly-beans for eight years. It was the least I could do.

[Fleshdancer]

29. He was better than W...and he was a better speaker than W too

I was very pissed off when the SCOTUS decided W should be President but I had NO idea then that I would be longing for the days when Reagan was in office. Sad isn't it?

[leftofthedial]

31. he made the world safe for PNAC

and the bush cabal

[baldguy]

32. Everything Bill Clinton did, Reagan only promised to do.

Cut the size of the Fed govt, balance the budget, "reform" welfare, NAFTA & GATT, expanding NATO, etc, etc...

Of course, in their blind hatred of Clinton & everything good and wholesome in the world, neocons refuse to believe the truth.

[porphyrian]

33. He helped a bunch of Christian White people feel good about...

...hating the homeless, being materialistically selfish, and believing lies.

[BuhByeChimp]

34. He solved the Rubix Cube in under 6 seconds.

[MidwestTransplant]

37. If you like Ketchup, he got it recognized as a vegetable. So that's good

if you like Ketchup.

[One_Life_To_Give]

38. Made people feel good

I knew alot of people who felt preatty bad after images of the fall of Saigon and then the aborted hostage rescue. He gave their spirts a lift and made it acceptable for them to say "*uck you Iran"

[RUZIK1]

39. zilch but the right

will tell you that he single handedly brought down the Soviet Union which they also call "Communism". I hear them say that he was the "great communicator" but I could not understand what he was doing let alone saying. He was a total puppet as have most Republican presidents been. They carry water for the Fortune 500.

[Individualist]

40. Trickle down economy

was good for people who enjoy getting pissed on. Personally, I'm not one of those!

[Sir Jeffrey]

41. He had an exit strategy for Lebanon and Grenada

[lumberjack_jeff]

53. Lebanon: "run the fuck away!"

Grenada: "where are some bad guys? Let's consult this here tourist map, perhaps that'll give us some insight.
Let's wait in the duty-free shop, I'm sure some evildoers will turn up."

[Sir Jeffrey]

64. Come on now...

You know Fidel had those college students imprisoned on that Carribbean Hellhole with Commie-Nazi missiles.

Seriously though, I thought that Clint Eastwood movie about Grenada was fiction until I got to college. Then I was like, "We really invaded Grenanda? No shit, really?"

[kentuck]

42. He united the right-wingers...

against those evil liberals and big government.

[Deb]

44. Ron, his son. n/t

[Javaman]

47. He signed the law to eliminate double hulled oil tankers...

which led to directly to the exxon single hulled valdez ecological disaster. Oh wait...

Well, he passed the law that allowed genetically modified seeds to be patented which is completely unconstitutional. Oh wait...

deficit spending. oh wait...

Sorry, other then the Iran-Contra affair...oh wait, damn, can't think of a thing...

Hey I got one: he was a crappy actor...

[underpants]

66. "My guardian says I can't talk."

July 10
Things that happened on this day that you never had to memorize in school



1984: Acting Pres. Reagan claims that his environmental record is "one of the best kept secrets" of his Presidency. When a reporter asks where former EPA head Anne Burford fits in that record, press secretary Larry Speakes steps forward and orders the lights turned off. Reagan, believed by many to be the most powerful man on the planet, stands behind his aide, saying, "My guardian says I can't talk." And so the secret was kept.

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=17214#3

[Javaman]

70. Also if you recall, James Watt was part of his "team"...

"Remember James Watt, President Ronald Reagan's first secretary of the interior? My favorite online environmental journal, the ever-engaging Grist, reminded us recently of how James Watt told the U.S. Congress that protecting natural resources was unimportant in light of the imminent return of Jesus Christ. In public testimony he said, "after the last tree is felled, Christ will come back."

http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/bill_moyers.htm

Also my other favorite hair brained reaganism...

Ketchup is a vegetable.

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/040716.html

[underpants]

71. Printing out the Grist piece

if I am not mistaken I think it was the same hearings at which Watt was asked about the results of some action in 20 years or so and Watt answer "there is no guarantee we will be here in 20 years" which everyone laughed at too thinking it was a joke about their age and mortality and such. Well it wasn't. He was talking about Armageddon and such.

You should never underestimate the advantages of having a plan. It doesn't have to be a good plan in theory or reality but just having a plan when others don't, others not knowing they need a plan, others not aware that you have a plan is a great advantage. Man they spend a lot of time back in those dark rooms working on this stuff.

BTW- check out the Rolling Stone piece on the Dominionists ("The Crusaders" )if you haven't before. You may need to check in at your local school board every once in a while just to make sure they haven't gone batshitcrazy

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/7235393/the_crusaders/

[Javaman]

74. There actually was one batshit nut job on the board recently...

Tried to use various intimidation tricks to make the other fall in line with her screwy thinking, ahhh, but when the elections came around, out she went. I think it may have been the comment she made at her first appearance, stating, "when the rapture comes, what's more important, your children's education or your faith in God?", yeah, I know. That drew the silent response mouths agape.

She was a newbie without a clue.

I'll check out that link. Love Rolling Stone. Brilliant writers.

[Beelzebud]

49. Fuck Ronald Reagan. 2nd worst pres under W.

I don't care what anyone says about Reagan: Fuck him...

He is the one that injected the religious freaks into modern politics.

[peekaloo]

52. He liberated the nutmeg in Grenada!

[NNN0LHI]

54. He cut the hell out of AIDS funding. To them thats a good thing n/t

[valerief]

58. Oh, come on! The best thing he did in his entire life was

Bedtime for Bonzo.

[baldguy]

61. You've never seen "Knute Rockne All American"!

[valerief]

65. I don't like sports. I do like apes. n/t

[newportdadde]

60. He got federal workers a free 3 day weekend right?

Now my dad is holding his breath for Ford to deliver.

[fordnut]

63. I cant` think of one,but can think of many bad things

[ComerPerro]

68. His administration helped Saddam get WMD,

which turned Saddam into even more of a murdering asshole and caused him to kill thousands, including some of his own people.

This doesn't sound so good, but remember:

If Reagan hadn't propped Saddam up during the 80s, Bush couldn't have liberated the people of Iraq from him that month in 2003.

[no_hypocrisy]

69. He believed that the air controllers were too stressed because

of their job duties, so he gave them some needed R & R.

[LaPera]

72. Right, to break the union...Union busting fucking Reagan!

[EstimatedProphet]

73. He galvanized the Retarded Right

So now we know who they are

[Ivan Sputnik]

75. He made certain people feel good about themselves

Unfortunately, they were the type of people who tend to vote in droves.

[Vidar]

76. Gorbachev did a lot of good things Reagan took credit for.

[jeffrey_X]

77. He made it okay to be racist again....

mabye your friends would like that.

[datasuspect]

81. yes, "it's mourning in america"

kinda makes my bowels all warm and squishy.

[datasuspect]

80. for starters

when he was the supreme commander of the navy during wwII he undertook a mission to rid the seas of communist octupi and squid.

he did this singlehandedly with nothing more than a speedo and a pocketknife.

[Lindacooks]

84. Well, he cut the funding for Alzheimer's research.

:evilgrin:

[KamaAina]

85. "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

That was the only moment during the entire eight-year nightmare that I had a momentary queasy feeling that the SOB might actually have been right. Then I belched for a few seconds, and the moment passed.

And now his self-proclaimed spiritual heirs want to rebuild the wall along our own border with Mexico!