Ronald Reagan - 1911-2004

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http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/05/reagan.health/index.html

Godspeed Mr. President. Our prayers are with your family. Thank you for your service to our country. Few can say they lived as significant a life as you did. Though some may disagree with your policies, no one can doubt the love you had for your country or your many valuable contributions.

(Considering who Reagan was, I figured the Alley was more appropriate than Whatnots for this.)

 

God Bless you, Mr. President.

 

A very sad day indeed. Even his most vigorous opponents said he always stood for wanting things to be better (not just from a Republican viewpoint)....but truly stood for what was good. His Presidency was certainly tumultuous -- but he never walked away from the blame, but instead faced it head on. Whether you liked him or not, I think most people thought he was a man of honor, willing to take the consequences of his mistakes. He made a tremendous impact on the US and the world and I think we are all less, with his passing.

 

Aye and indeed.

That a man who was the world's most powerful politician for almost a decade should live his final decade in decay, betrayed by his own body...should give us all an extra measure of humility.

Reagan reminds us of the greatness and weakness of every man. Even in death, the Great Communicator had one final lesson for us all.

 

Well yes, he's dead, but considering his illness that might as well have been a blessing.

I'm not absolutely persuaded that he was all that a great politician (Nicaragua; Iran-Contra; support for Saddam's war on Iran), he sure had a massive influence on the end of the cold war. But at least he had a spine and wasn't such a bloody coward as Bush was. He stood for what he did and when **** happened he dealt with it, and didn't utter: "What scandal?"

Plus, he was able to actually say "nuclear", but then, that was a time when that was still an urgent issue.

However, he deserves praise for resisting neo-con paranoia who wanted to persuade (and when that failed bully) him that they had found out during their weed-aided analysis of the russian mind that the Russians were only playing weak, and actually at the peak of their strength - and that they only hid it with masterful maskirovka - and that they were about to doublecross and backstab the sorry little, naive idealist Reagan*. Like an imminent threat, you know.
They also lambasted him for trying to keep Russia together instead of breaking it up, for generally failing to roll back communism (that to Reagan , and that at a time it was collapsing anyway )

I remember an anecdote by Eduard Shevardnaze, Gorbachevs secretary of state, about what Gorbachev told him after he met Reagan at Reykjavik: "I've just met a caveman," Gorbachev said.

I actually think that under Reagan's massive armament program NATO became much more agressive. Reagan's tough line and massive armament of NATO (that was the time of Pershing II and GLCM and the 300 ship navy) scared the Russians ****less so that they expected a NATO first strike during NATO's 1983 Reforger exercises - they were then iirc on their counterpart to Defcon 1.
I don't even want to think about what might have happened had he heared on the neo-cons and their "even-harder"-line bull****.

*PS: Any masochist who wants to find out more can try Richard Perle's silly little book, or read this critique on "Hard Line" ...

[ June 07, 2004, 10:45: Message edited by: Ragusa ]

 

Removed contents due to respect for Hacken Slash and his opinion that, this is not the right place, to start a discussion like this. My apologies. And RIP to old Mr. Reagan, even though I did not like him.

[ June 10, 2004, 01:20: Message edited by: Firestorm ]

 

Ronald Reagan was a great President. I especially appreciated his inability to separate reality from the movies he made. Furthermore, his reliance on Nancy's astrologer was rather agreeable.

 

Some people simply can't seem to stop yappin' away while all there really is to say is "rest in peace". Is that so hard ?

 

Rest in Peace

 

yeah, bedtime for bonzo...

 

Yes, like Firestorm said, what is all the fuss about?

 

Ummm...study the history of the second half of the Twentieth Century...then make a comment that's informed.

 

Sorry - apparantly I should have said "Americans Only" when I started this thread.

All the "fuss" is because Ronald Reagan was one of the more beloved figures of the 20th Century for many Americans. I wouldn't expect people outside the US to give a damn, so don't sweat it. I don't necessarily agree with all of his politics, and I certainly don't agree with those who consider themselves devout followers of his doctrines. But I personally wanted to show my appreciation to a strong American leader who made many valuable contributions to my country and the world, including helping to end the cold war, when he was in a position to do so.

I'm sure there will be similar "fuss" in your country when Margeret Thatcher dies, or the Queen Mum. Whether you care or not isn't really relevant, as there are many who probably will.

 

A beloved and fantastic man, and a decent president.

Hopefully, we will see such men of honesty and integrity holding office sometime in the future (although not necessarily the near future).

Fare thee well.

 

Then again, there's also this...

 

I Think the Queen Mum is already Dead But who can tell?

 

Well, I don't actually have anything to say in general about this guy. But I have actually read his autobiography. Yes, the public library, foundation of western civilization and place where you'll find the strangest books. And if you're like me, even read them. I liked the part in the beginning with the joke about the economists and all the do is create chaos. I liked his recollection of the depression of the thirties, being accused to be the most lazy person his boss has ever seen on the first day at work, as he has thrown away his shovel 5 to 12 to go to dinner with his dad. The parts about McCarthy and the way he tried to distance himself. The 60ies as governor of California, having to deal with demonstrating students. The jokes about LBJ, how he reacted as he got a ticket. The foundation of his political beliefs, describing how his father helped out neighbours in the depression. Many things about what he didn't like about the programs of FDR. Astoningshly, his great role-model isn't described in the interesting parts. The young radio DJ Reagan has learned very much indeed of the first "great communicator" (and still bigger) FDR. Then how everything was going down the drain in the 70ies and how he would rebuild the US Military.

And of course, the famous walk with Gorbatschow (write it in cyrillic if you don't like my spelling), just the two of them, ending the cold war because of Reagan's fluent Russian.

2 positive sides I personally see. That guy had the ability to tell jokes and saw that computers are good for kids. Doesn't make them dull and lazy, makes them react faster (to be used as pilots in fighter planes ?... uhm) and think harder.

As for his position as the great liberal role model that he seems to have... that would be another thread. Remember, I don't even think he was liberal at all(of course, "liberal" not in American English)

 

Friday has been declared a national day of mourning. As such all government offices are closed. I work for the government, and because I'm salaried, it's essentially a paid day off. WhooHooo! Thanks Ron!

 

Last night I was watching some of the T.V. coverage. I don't know how to describe it, but watching soldiers move a casket and then watching people walk by it was somehow captivating. The Mrs. and I watched for over an hour.

Of course it may be more of a reflection of the quality of T.V.

 

Historians may take a more critical look at his accomplishments. In an electronic media, where personality rates more than substance, he is certainly well-thought of by a good many Americans. Many middle-Americans like their presidents to be amiable, joke-telling and homespun media-type personalities.

But Reagan is a touchstone for serious ideologues on the right who have been trying to turn his amiable personality strengths into a continuation of the so called "Reagan Revolution."

Like Reagan himself, many of these politicians are disciples of Barry Goldwater and the reactionary conservative movement that has its origins in the resentment of the New Deal, Civil Rights and Great Society programs. The "Contract With America" program of Newt and other disaffected southern, protestant, males tried to continue the Reagan legacy of an anti-big government agenda. That is, until they discovered that they had become the big government of present day America. Now the bigger-the-better seems to be the conservative battle-cry.

For all practical purposes the "Reagan Revolution" has become nothing more than a hollow slogan to prop-up what is left of the old Goldwater scheme. Bush II represents a new type of conservative scheme that is very different from what Reagan and Goldwater envisioned, even that of the "contract with America" type fellow republicans. But the Republican leaderhip, Shrub's minions, if you will, have kept them pretty much in line.

A lot is being made of Reagan's character and integrity. That's a hard thing to judge in a politician. But I think that he did as well as any modern day politician can do in these times.

[ June 11, 2004, 16:26: Message edited by: Chandos the Red ]