Why is Ronald Reagan such a hero to the right?

[bl4ckfl4g]

Here are some of the things he did. I'm sure there's more but these are the things I remember. I have a hard time understanding why the man is so revered. Is it just for the collapse of the Soviet Union?

- Cut and run when terrorists bombed the Marine dorms in Lebanon.

- Sponsored terrorism in Central America.

- Gave amnesty to the illegal aliens

- Tripled deficit while cutting taxes

- Clasifying ketchup as a vegetable (ok this one is here for the lols)

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Here are some of the things he did. I'm sure there's more but these are the things I remember. I have a hard time understanding why the man is so revered. Is it just for the collapse of the Soviet Union?

- Cut and run when terrorists bombed the Marine dorms in Lebanon.

- Sponsored terrorism in Central America.

- Gave amnesty to the illegal aliens

- Tripled deficit while cutting taxes

- Clasifying ketchup as a vegetable (ok this one is here for the lols)

Why does everyone focus on this instead of the fact he sold fucking weapons to our enemies in Iran? In my book that single act makes him a traitor.

 

[her209]

- Osama bin Laden

- Saddam Hussein

 

[Red Dawn]

- Osama bin Laden

- Saddam Hussein

Well you can blame his wifes astrologer for not having the foresight to see that happening.

 

[spidey07]

Mainly because of ending the cold war and cleaning up Carter's mess. People's lives greatly improved during the Reagan years like no other time before. That and his staunch defense of the freedoms America stands for.

 

[bl4ckfl4g]

Mainly because of ending the cold war and cleaning up Carter's mess. People's lives greatly improved during the Reagan years like no other time before. That and his staunch defense of the freedoms America stands for.

But we ended up paying later because of the deficit he created.

Well my main issue with him is that those marines were murdered by terrorists and he was too weak willed to respond. It makes me angry to this day.

 

[StageLeft]

Had some awesome talking points. Did contribute to the end of cold war. Began a huge campaign of wicked deficits and corporate takeover of Washington, too.

 

[Genx87]

I'd say he a hero to the sean hannity types. You know, big gov conservatives who like to yammer on about limited govt when a democrat is running the show. Only to bow before a republican for expanding govt by double in 8 years.

My personal view of Reagan is he did what needed to be done at the time. Restore a sense of national pride and implement policies that ended the cold war and cleanup the economic mess left from the 1970s.

I would not hold him up as a hero in terms of limited responsible govt.

 

[MotF Bane]

I've never been able to figure that one out either.

 

[Deeko]

The problem is, while he did some good stuff, that's not what he's usually praised for. The right acts like he is a perfect conservative and a model of economic discipline...which is one thing he definitely did not have. Yes, he cut taxes, but he also drastically drove up the deficit, bailed out social security, so on and so forth.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Benedict Arnold was a hell of a general. Let's just brush that traitor business under the rug. Maybe if he was President we'd have named a carrier after him too.

 

[Phokus]

Because he destroyed the middle class and murdered brown people in latin america, of course he's a hero to the right.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Well you can blame his wifes astrologer for not having the foresight to see that happening.

<snicker>




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[Pens1566]

Revisionist history. I don't recall ...

 

[PokerGuy]

He certainly had his faults, but he did some great things. The greatest thing he did was restore a sense of confidence and belief in America and it's people. After Carter turned it into a crappy country full of doubt in itself, Reagan came back and brought back the American spirit.

He also was largely responsible for ending the cold war without any violence or bloodshed, and he crushed the air traffic controller union.

That's why many overlook some of the bad stuff, like amnesty, big government spending, weapon sales to Iran etc.

 

[CallMeJoe]

He may not have been a great President, but he did play one on TV for eight years...

 

[Vette73]

Mainly because of ending the cold war and cleaning up Carter's mess. People's lives greatly improved during the Reagan years like no other time before. That and his staunch defense of the freedoms America stands for.

He did not end the cold war, he was just there when it fell apart. You right wing nuts can try and re-write history all you want but it won;t work.

And I guess when you say fix you mean break out the Credit Card and go crazy and stick the kids of that time with the bill. Then yea he "fixed it".

 

[ayabe]

Why does everyone focus on this instead of the fact he sold fucking weapons to our enemies in Iran? In my book that single act makes him a traitor.

Right and GE and Halliburton also did illegal business with Iran and our enemies.

No biggie though, small fine and they don't have to admit to guilt.

 

[PokerGuy]

He did not end the cold war, he was just there when it fell apart.

He wasn't just "there" at the time -- he was a major contribution to it. By spending so much on defense and convincing the Soviets that Star Wars was real and that he was going to keep funding it, he helped push the Soviet system to collapse.

 

[CallMeJoe]

He wasn't just "there" at the time -- he was a major contribution to it. By spending so much on defense and convincing the Soviets that Star Wars was real and that he was going to keep funding it, he helped push the Soviet system to collapse.

The Soyuz was already well on the way to collapse before Saint Ronald took office. How great an economic power was it when the finest hotels catering to the international trade couldn't even manage a reliable supply of toilet paper?

 

[CallMeJoe]

He certainly had his faults, but he did some great things. The greatest thing he did was restore a sense of confidence and belief in America and it's people. After Carter turned it into a crappy country full of doubt in itself, Reagan came back and brought back the American spirit.
He also was largely responsible for ending the cold war without any violence or bloodshed, and he crushed the air traffic controller union.
That's why many overlook some of the bad stuff, like amnesty, big government spending, weapon sales to Iran etc.

Lying to Congress, breaking laws, fleeing from middle eastern terrorists, selling weapons to America's sworn enemies, supporting Central American terrorists and sponsoring their drug trade, running record deficits - why worry about the little things when he made the Right feel better about themselves?

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

The Soyuz was already well on the way to collapse before Saint Ronald took office. How great an economic power was it when the finest hotels catering to the international trade couldn't even manage a reliable supply of toilet paper?

It was? Were you in the KGB keeping it asecret from everyone?
The deficiet spending on the defense industry is what led to the fall of the Soviet Union. They just couldn't compete.

And if you bitch and moan about the deficiet spending then, you have no f'ing right to support Obama now.

 

[cubby1223]

I always find it interesting, why is "the left" always more fixated on Reagan than is "the right"?

 

[QuantumPion]

While government spending increased a large amount during Reagan's admin, it did not change much by percentage of GDP since the economy grew due to the tax cuts and other reforms.

 

[PokerGuy]

blah blah blah leftist bull snipped for brevity

You can think whatever makes you happy. The OP asked a question, I provided an answer.

The Iran-Contra scandal essentially went away because the people supported the contra's (as opposed to the usual group of idiots in DC). The public did not approve of how they were funded.

I guess the best thing about Reagan was watching the stupid leftist media and other leftist groups agonize over how to bring him down, and yet fail miserably. They tried every single day to bash him on TV, provide nothing but negative coverage, tell the voters how bad he was, only to get crushed again when election time rolled around.

He was not called "the great communicator" for nothing. He was able to convey ideas to the general public very effectively, and the media could not stand the fact that he could do that without needing them.