"We've got to get over this Reagan worship!"

[xcalgal]

He brought down the
Berlin Wall without firing one shot. Cowboy or not, my hats off to that.

[Finn_Jarber]

Originally Posted by xcalgal

He brought down the
Berlin Wall without firing one shot. Cowboy or not, my hats off to that.

The Germans brought down the wall after Gorbatchov ended communism in USSR and especially after Hungary overthrew the communist leadeship and opened the border to East Germany. Thousands East Germans fled to Hungary, and E.German leader Honecer resigned. Then on October 25th 1989 Gorbachev announced each country was free to go its own way. At the time GWH Bush was US president, not Reagan.

You can give Reagan the credit for being in the office much of the time while history unraveled in east Europe if that makes you feel better.

[burdell]

Originally Posted by xcalgal

He brought down the
Berlin Wall without firing one shot. Cowboy or not, my hats off to that.

Wednesday, 10 June 2009
Lech Walesa honoured by Berlin mayor

Yesterday, former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa has received the highest honour of the city of Berlin, the Ernst Reuter badge, from Berlin's mayor Klaus Wowereit for his outstanding role in making possible the fall of the Wall in the divided city of Berlin 20 years ago.

Reagan was at best a factor, the stupidity of a wall to hold people in being the biggest factor in its fall.

[ringwise]

Originally Posted by burdell

My point, which I mistakenly believed would be obvious to a 12 year old, is the HYPOCRISY of the whining right who continually whine about Hollywood elite attempting to push their political agendas on the public while at the same time being prepared to deify one of the Hollywood elite pushing his own political agenda on the public.

Capisce?

There's a big difference between pushing an agenda on the public versus a former actor that was elected to the position.

[pvande55]

Both Reagan and Obama are being worshipped by followers (or being accused of it by their enemies). And they are both charismatic leaders who took office during a sever economic crisis. But I maintain that doing either is blasphemy.

[GregW]

Regan was a self centered actor (are there any other kind) that provided tax cuts for himself and his budies. We are reaping the rewards for is selfishness.

[odinloki1]

Originally Posted by momonkey

Average unemployment during the New Deal years was 18.3%. It was still 14.3% before the military draft was reinstated in 1940 drawing hundreds of thousands of young men out of the civilian work force. The stimulus that was enacted back then had the same effect as the current one. It created a larger roll for governments and a few temporary jobs, but it eliminated more jobs in the private sector than it created in the public sector. The effect of the New Deal spending programs was not missed by our current president nor his Democrat predecessors. It created dependency on the government by the citizenry. It took away their independence along with their income and all but assured scared and desperate voters would return to office the hand that fed them. Reagan knew this too, and he despised it. BO's charade is becoming all too clear as support for his power grabbing ruse wanes. We'll come to our senses and are already beginning to do so.

Where you view dependence on government as the supreme evil and the greatest threat to freedom, I view subservience to the rich and wealthy of corporate America as the biggest threat to our freedom. Disarming the government while giving the rich free reign will lead to a loss of freedom for the masses just as quickly as a little bit of government expansion.

In my day to day life, I feel my income and freedom more encroached upon by corporate America driving prices up to give their stockholders more money, or trying to rob me by encouraging me to sign contracts with 3 pages of fine print in order to get something for "free" than government charging me taxes and creating roads, water, sewage, power grids, schools for children, police and fire etc.

Personally if someone is in financial difficulty, what would you rather have them resort to? Government aid? Illegal acts? Jobs don't just appear out of thin air and a majority of businesses fail in the first few years. Would you rather people just sit by and starve to death? Giving someone government aid is certainly better than them resorting to payday loans with ridiculous interest rates which can lead to subservience to the rich.

I'm in favor of some moderation, not this extreme free market crap that is pushed by the right. Right now, we're so far to the right its just depressing (Clinton and Obama really aren't that liberal compared to leaders of some other nations), and we can't see straight. thanks Reagan and the conservatives for creating the mess we deal with now.

[GregW]

I have observed that government may occasionally, but rarely, be inept but big business is always inimical. Capitalism and free market competition will not be destroyed by government but will be eliminated as quickly as possible as international financial consortiums divide and assign the world's business.