Republicans Fail the Reagan Litmus Test
Reagan tripled the national debt
Reagan raised taxes 11 times
Reagan expanded the size of government
Reagan supported the "socialist" Earned Income Tax Credit
Reagan negotiated with terrorists in Tehran
Reagan sought to eliminate nuclear weapons
Reagan gave amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants
Reagan approved protectionist trade barriers
Reagan signed abortion rights law in California
Reagan eventually debunked AIDS myths Republicans continued to perpetuate
Labels: GOP, Reagan, Republicans
Reagan Didn't End the Cold War -- Leftist Intellectuals Did
By Stephen Zunes,
AlterNetPosted on November 20, 2009, Printed on November 21, 2009
The 20th anniversary of the 1989 Velvet Revolution that overthrew the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia was one of the most impressive civil insurrections in history. It was not the military might of NATO, but the power of nonviolent action by ordinary citizens which brought down the system. The popular uprising against the repressive system that had ruled their country for much of the previous four decades -- along with comparable movements, which came to the fore that year in Poland, Hungary and East Germany -- marks a great triumph of the human spirit.
These movements were largely led by democratic socialists who mobilized workers, church people, intellectuals, and others to face down the tanks with their bare hands. Yet here in the United States, we are told that it was a result of President Reagan's militarism and the supposed inherent superiority of capitalism. It is this false narrative that has played such a major role in shifting discourse to the right in subsequent decades and has been used to discredit those struggling for a more just and egalitarian economic system and a more sane and less imperialistic foreign policy.
President Reagan's verbal support for democracy had little credibility in many of these countries. For example, while he denounced Poland's martial law regime, he was a strong supporter of the more repressive martial law regime then in power in NATO ally Turkey and scores of other dictatorships. In challenging left-wing governments in the Third World, Reagan gave little credence to nonviolent action and instead backed insurgents with ties to U.S.-backed dictatorships and -- in the case of Afghanistan -- even Islamic fundamentalists.
More...Labels: Cold War, hypocrites, Reagan
Second Worst President in History Gets Centennial
Obama caves to Wrong Wing... Nancy Gets Ronnie's CentennialUPI.comU.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday created a panel to plan events in honor of the late President Ronald Reagan on what would have been his 100th birthday.
"President Reagan helped as much as any president to restore a sense of o
ptimism in our country, a spirit that transcended politics," Obama said as he signed the legislation with former first lady Nancy Reagan at his side. "President Reagan had the ability to communicate directly and movingly to the American people; to understand both the hardships they felt in their lives and the hopes that they had for their country."
Obama also praised Nancy Reagan, saying she redefined the role of first lady and has "taken on a new role, as an advocate on behalf of treatments that hold the promise of improving and saving lives."
"There are few who are not moved by the love that Ms. Reagan felt for her husband -- and fewer still who are not inspired by how this love led her to take up the twin causes of stem cell research and Alzheimer's research," Obama said. "In saying a long goodbye, Nancy Reagan became a voice on behalf of millions of families experiencing the depleting, aching reality of Alzheimer's disease."
The panel Obama established will have 11 members and plan events for Feb. 6, 2011.
"I was delighted to be back at the White House today and even more delighted to be part of the Ronald Reagan Centennial Commission bill signing ceremony with President Obama," Nancy Reagan said. "I look forward to working closely with the commission and the Reagan Foundation to honor Ronnie in 2011 for his 100th birthday." If this ends up being an acknowledgement that Ronnie would have been 100, then, heck. It's not so bad. He would have been. But, if it ends up being a year of tributes around the nation to RayGun, then I'm almost to the point of giving up on President Obama.
We need a Democrat in office!
Just kidding, Barack. I'm not giving up, yet. But, you're making it hard.
Labels: Obama, Reagan
Havana calling...
President Obama
lifted travel restrictions to Cuba on Monday.
There was no mention in the Executive Order regarding the number of Cohibas that can legally be brought back in to the States.
The Wrong Wing, of course will be in partial melt down after White House Latin American policy adviser Dan Restrepo spoke in Spanish from the Press podium. It seems it may be the first time a foreign language was uttered in the Press Room... not counting some of comments made by President Bush, of course.
Labels: Cuba, Obama, Press Corps, Reagan, White House
The ethical company
Guitarist/Philosopher Robert Fripp, himself a victim of various record company shenanigans vis. his royalties and finances in general over the course of almost fifty years on the Front Lines, has this to say about corporate ethics:
Recognisable features of the ethical company involve these attributes:
transparency;straightforwardness;accountability;owning-up;honesty;fairness;common decency;distributive justice.
Recognisable features of a company whose base is ethically challenged are these:
dissembling;use of threats;unkindness to employees;a widespread use of gagging orders;an inequitable distribution of company income;
A company which:
would rather conduct its business verbally (particularly with regard to disputed issues) instead of committing its views to writing; commonly resorts to litigation, or employs the frequent threat of such; employs gagging clauses as standard policy;pays its directors highly disproportionate sums in comparison with its employees;
is suspect and should be avoided wherever possible.
It is a sad commentary on current business and public life that this needs to be written or debated.
transparency + straightforwardness = honestyaccountability + owning-up = responsibilitydistributive justice + fairness = equitycommon decency = goodwill
The Four Pillars of The Ethical Company:
Honesty, Responsibility, Equity, GoodwillIt is my fervent hope that with the apparent death of Reaganism in the recent election, that perhaps government can set a tone more in keeping with the Four Pillars than with a denial of fraternal stewardship-because we are, whether we like it or not, the keepers of our brothers and sisters. A society is only is strong as its weakest link.
Labels: Ethics, Reagan, Robert Fripp
The Reagan Diaries
'A moment I've been dreading. George brought his n'er-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida; the one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I'll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they'll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work.' From the REAGAN DIARIES------entry dated May 17, 1986.Which is more embarrassing: having this quote said about you by the Republican icon, or knowing we let this bastard take the oath of office twice?
Labels: George W. Bush, Reagan, Republicans
