Republicans Believe in Magic

[SoDesuKa]

At the end, Rev. John Danforth honoured Reagan as "a child of light."

"He was aglow with it. He had no dark side, no scary hidden agenda. What you saw was what you got and what you saw was that sure sign of inner light, the twinkle in his eye."

http://www.cbc.ca/cp/world/040611/w061174.html

I've been wondering how the Republicans can give Reagan credit for bringing down the Soviet Union without offering facts or other evidence as to how he did it. They claim he drew the Soviets into a ruinous spending spree - but Soviet military spending actually went down during the Reagan years, not up.

Reagan brought down the Soviet Union by the magic of his personality. Perhaps the words Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall so enervated the Soviet leader that he couldn't get out of bed and face the day in the morning. Reagan was more than the cheerleader-in-chief, the Divine Light shone through his eyes. No wonder the Soviets gave up; they knew they were licked.

He made us feel good about ourselves. He restored our self-confidence. Yea, though we walked through the valley of the shadow of death, we feared no evil because Ronnie was Our Leader.

The truly scary part of this is that Bush thinks he's got it, too.

[pauliedangerously]

1. "Magic," another word...

for children and fools.

[RandomKoolzip]

2. A "what?" of light?!

Reagan, a "child?" Fuck, even a child would have fessed up to Iran-Contra.

[Fenris]

3. He was the oldest "child" ever elected President.

[Love Bug]

4. This has nothing to do with "magic" however you define it

It's just one more example of people seeing what they want to see rather than the truth. It's kinda like lovers, who, in the first blush of passion, don't see each other's faults.

Everyone has a dark side, fer cripes sake.

[Sandpiper]

5. Perhaps the biggest lie ever told about St. Ronnie

He had no dark side, no scary hidden agenda.

Iran Contra, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Grenada...

Mr. Danforth, you are full of shite.

[Outlaw420]

6. Fact's?????????????

I've been wondering how the Republicans can give Reagan credit for bringing down the Soviet Union without offering facts or other evidence as to how he did it. They claim he drew the Soviets into a ruinous spending spree - but Soviet military spending actually went down during the Reagan years, not up.

No one really knows how much was spent During that time i Russia

Defense costs, furthermore, were eating up an inordinate portion of Soviet expenditures. Because of the difficulty in measuring the Soviet GNP it was not always clear what percentage was being spent to this end. Experts now claim the West routinely underestimated the numbers. It is now believed that in years just prior to 1991 as much as 30 percent of the economy went toward the defense sector putting an enormous burden on the average citizen in terms of delayed consumer satisfaction. Then there were the costs incurred by shoring up overseas adventures such as those in Africa, not to mention the drain of the war in Afghanistan and the expense involved in maintaining Castro's lifeline.

http://www.raleightavern.org/lovell.htm

[newyawker99]

12. Hi Outlaw20!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[EdGy]

7. pathetic but typical

conservatives need someone to save them. they need a "dear leader" because they're too weak to think for themselves.

This is a truly sad and telling statement.

[Hunter_1253]

8. Maybe Reagan used…

His Jedi mind tricks on Gorby. It ties in with his whole Star Wars defense system.

[Outlaw420]

9. Seems to me

That actual Facts are not the issue here. What i see is nothig but a thread to bash a dead man. this is truely pathetic

[Exgeneral]

11. That's right. Only good should be spoken of dead men

no matter how desperately his cronies want to forget the evil he created that ended with the attacks of 9-11.
Reagan was Good all right. Good at ufcking this country over at the expense of the weak and powerless, kinda like *.

[SoDesuKa]

13. Bashing a Dead Man

I must disagree that correcting the record is bashing Reagan. Reverend Senator Danforth is clearly implying that Reagan had some kind of divine light guiding his actions. What an obnoxious claim!

I believe that respect for the dead requires a certain modesty in the claims made for that person, so as not to provoke a backlash. The Republicans clearly went over the top in calling Reagan divinely inspired, a beloved man of the people, the savior of freedom, etc. I remember Reagan as a guy who gave a good speech but was so disengaged that he avoided impeachment for Iran Contra by playing dumb.

Don't tell me about the light in his eyes. What bullshit.

[lanparty]

10. Gorbachev ...

... ended the Soviet Union. It was collapsing in on itself and needed reform. The thing was just unsustainable.

Reagan actually DELAYED the end of the Soviet Union. He made the Russian Generals scream bloody murder and made Gorbachev's Glasnost reforms harder to implement!!!!!

[spanone]

14. and he leaveth us with OLIVER NORTH on faux tv no less.

[Jade Fox]

15. Here's his dark side....

According to his adopted son Michael, Reagan gave young Michael the
nickname "Schmuck", which means jerk, more or less, in Yiddish. Poor
Michael had no idea what it meant, and fondly told people that was his
Dad's nickname for him, until someone finally explained the definition of
the word.

True story, told by Michael himself in his pre-conversion tell-all book.

What a guy. What a father.

[SoDesuKa]

16. Sounds Like Bush

Bush gives mean nicknames to his underlings. For instance, Karl Rove is called Turd Blossom.