Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I agree with the core sentiment and there are two sad facts in all of this.
1) Yes, Reagan had way more class and poise than Trump....most everyone does. Reagan dealt with things with wit, not wah.
2) Todays press is nothing like it was when Reagan was president. Obama and Hillary plus many forum posters have complained about "Faux News" and called them biased, fake, unfair etc. Trump has ratcheted up the hyperbole but at it's core...both Obama, Hillary and Trump are correct to some degree that corporate for-profit media often try to create the news these days instead of report the news.
Of course Ronald Reagan would have never stood for Trump’s nonsense. He was a true conservative and as such he was a fierce guardian of the American way of life. Shame on Trump and those who support him. They are an embarrassment to those who have given their lives for freedom of the press.
Conservatives and democrats back then were so much different than they are today....
now, I wouldn't give you a plug nickle for any of them....
His daughter does not know how her father would re act since the media has changed since the 80's. How would Reagan re act to today's cut throat partisan media of today? Would he roll over and just become a punching bag for the media?
Being a (R) punching bag is what is Bush,McCain,Romney all did. Trump has decided to turn the tables the media is the punching bag. Which method shows leadership?
I agree that the media is very different today, but when I watch clips of those rallies it is really ugly. I know a lot of people seem to like them, but I find them highly disturbing with the chanting, the calling out of people. It's just bizarre.
The rallies and the tweeting are what is preventing Trump from getting any respect for the actual good things he does (and he does do them). Neither one can be blamed on the media. That's all on him.
Reagan was pretty good at ignoring a great deal of the pettiness out there. When he responded, he tended to employ a bit of wit and brevity. Thus he came back at the press pretty well without appearing like a madman.
There also wasn't Twitter or any "fat person with a computer" (referring to whom Trump said could have hacked Hillary instead of the Russians) have a news blog when Reagan was around either.
Disparaging the press was a tactic that goes back to Nixon and Agnew. It was a favored tactic when the facts were embarrassing, a 'shoot the messenger' type of logic.
This continued through the Reagan administration and both Bush presidents, but never in such a horrendous fashion as Trump has done.
It is certainly one thing to argue that reporting is inaccurate, that the perspective is skewed or all of the facts are not known and therefore we have the wrong impression. Such arguments can be made at times.
It is quite another to call the press an enemy of the people, or to imply that journalism is somehow evil. It is not, and most Americans know that it is not. It is a valued service provided to the citizens of the republic, keeping them informed.
I should also state that in my lifetime I had never seen a mob encouraged in this way, nor such a reaction. To have the president of the United States tolerate and even encourage such a vicious reaction out of ordinary citizens is disgraceful. These are dark times.
Reagan never had to deal with a media anywhere near as vile, petty, ignorant or hate-filled as Trump. Back in the 80s there was at least some attempt at professionalism and civility on the part of the press. The hate filled monkeys they employ now? Not so much.
More and more people are coming to understand that Reagan was the start of something really bad.
But even people who think that Reagan was a disaster in the long run have to admit:
1. He had governing experience, unlike Trump.
2. He had essentially a sunny, genial outlook, unlike Trump
3. He was, as you post, civil and restrained.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
