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Post by superxsoldier on Feb 21, 2014 2:27:37 GMT -5
I know a lot of democrats who respected Reagan, although few liked him then or now. Respect and Like are two very different things our leaders once appreciated the difference in. They don't anymore and they're happy if they're liked ...respect they consider a 'meh' type of thing. Appearances, for lack of a better word, used to matter. Reagan was among the last to care, even that much. He did care though.
He's also the man who sent checks from his own checking account on occasion, and as recounted by Secret Service agents in the years since, to hard luck letters he'd get. He really read some of his own mail. I wonder if Obama ever has, outside of political cherry picking stories for public announcement? Bush too, for that matter...and likely either of them.
The Bush's had a better reputation among staff and agents than Clinton and absolutely better than Obama. The Reagan family engendered respect on a personal as well as political level, IMO. Heck.....Reagan was among the last of the US Presidents who actually COULD still work with the other side, either side, in good faith. All that is gone now.
Did Reagan screw up? OH yeah.. I cuss his name on some issues, like the dismantling of US Mental Health systems in 1980/81. Iran/Contra did more damage to help create the troubles of today than people give credit (Who was recently re-elected in Central America..for instance? One of those LA quakes was Reagan rolling in his grave..lol). The hostages releasing within an hour or so of his inauguration ...wasn't merely a kind gesture by Iran to say 'Hi' to a new President either. Reagan had his problems..and a troll of a V.P. to boot. No one's perfect...
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Post by kat on Feb 21, 2014 9:20:41 GMT -5
Who cares about appearances and perceptions? What did he actually *do?* As a politician, I can't stand what he did. As a person, I can not judge him (therefore my perceptions of him, personally, are irrelevant).
But you know what is even MORE annoying? These days everything, and I mean EVERYTHING, is about perceptions and appearances. As you say, respect went out the window, but that was only feigned respect back in the day anyways. But what a person actually *does* is irrelevant to. It is all about what it *appears* to be. People need to stop trusting their perceptions. Look at Snyder's recent state of the state address if you have the time. This is a perfect example of what I am talking about. Pay attention to the voice he uses. It's almost as bad as Obama's (almost).
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Post by bond009 on Feb 21, 2014 10:07:19 GMT -5
Who cares about appearances and perceptions?
That's precisely the problem today with Obama and the one before him, particularly. No one does care at the top and when the top doesn't care, what comes down lower cares even less in direct proportion to how far from the top they get. It's always been that way, of course, but when appearances matter at the top, there is SOME decorum maintained on the way down the chain. The opposite holds equally true as anyone who has served in or been a part of complex management can attest to.
As far as what he did? I'm not speaking Russian today, in part and perhaps large part, due to 8 years of Reagan. Carter made this nation a laughing stock and paper tiger no one on Earth respected much. Similar to the situation we find ourselves in today, as a matter of fact. By the end, the Soviet Union admitted to leveraging debt beyond it's ability to manage further in the race to maintain place with us militarily and otherwise. That economic disaster that developed, again in large part, over the 1980's is what helped push their side over the edge (and perhaps not far ahead of our own side....had the cold war gone on much longer).
So, indeed...having lived the memories to recall now, I do credit Reagan. Not entirely, but he was there for the coup de grace and the most important final stages that determined which nation fell first.....and yeah..I do think it may well have been that close a thing, had it gone on many more years at 80's levels of commitment.
Getting back with the thread....these are all things that happened with a leader focused outward on action and really not focused on media of public attention like the absolute 7 day a week appearance rock star we've had for 5+ years now. Now that we're in perpetual campaign mode (Political Scientists credit Clinton largely with starting) and perpetually chasing the 24hr news cycle (I'll go with Bush for $100 there), control of the media is paramount and these nice minders Reagan would have screamed at the very thought of.....are apparently going to become a fixture. 1984 wasn't....but 2014 sure is.
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Post by Apollo_18 on Feb 21, 2014 10:42:51 GMT -5
However, isn't there a chance that if not for trickle down economics, the media would not be completely controlled by, I think it is, 9 corporations who have instituted a complete information blackout and made real journalism a thing of the past?
Cliche alert: Power corrupts...Absolute power corrupts absolutely I can't credit Reagan for me not speaking Russian. I can credit a lot of propaganda for being propaganda.
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Post by flipthecoin on Feb 21, 2014 11:11:32 GMT -5
With all due respect, I wish you'd put this in the Hoax Bin!
What is going to happen? I'm watching "Game of Thrones" and my "smart tv" will just switch to MSNBC because I didn't receive my daily allowance of "information"?
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