What would Ronald Reagan think?

[carolinalady]

The Intelligence Identities Protection Act was signed into law in 1982. Unfortunately Vice President Bush could not be at the signing event, so I guess he never heard President Reagan's thoughts on the subject.

<snip>

Well, today I speak again of those heros, the men and women who are locked in a dangerous, sometimes deadly conflict with the forces of totalitarianism, the men and women whose best accomplishments, whose greatest deeds can never be known to their countrymen, but only to a few of their superiors and ultimately only to history. These men and women, these heroes of a grim twilight struggle are those of you who serve here in the Central Intelligence Agency.

Whether you work in Langley or a faraway nation, whether your tasks are in operations or analysis sections, it is upon your intellect and integrity, your wit and intuition that the fate of freedom rests for millions of your countrymen and for many millions more all around the globe. You are the trip-wire across which the forces of repression and tyranny must stumble in their quest for global domination. You, the men and women of the CIA, are the eyes and ears of the free world.

Like those who are part of any silent service, your sacrifices are sometimes unappreciated; your work is sometimes misunderstood. Because you're professionals, you understand and accept this. But because you're human and because you deal daily in the dangers that confront this nation, you must sometimes question whether some of your countrymen appreciate the value of your accomplishments, the sacrifices you make, the dangers you confront, the importance of the warnings that you issue.

<snip>
The Congress has carefully drafted this bill so that it focuses only on those who would transgress the bounds of decency; not those who would exercise their legitimate right of dissent. This carefully drawn act recognizes that the revelation of the names of secret agents adds nothing to legitimate public debate over intelligence policy. It is also a signal to the world that while we in this democratic nation remain tolerant and flexible, we also retain our good sense and our resolve to protect our own security and that of the brave men and women who serve us in difficult and dangerous intelligence assignments.

link: http://foi.missouri.edu/iipa/remarks.html

[Charlie Brown]

1. conservatives of that era were big fans of the Bill of Rights

They also claimed to oppose foreign wars and support keeping church and state separate.

I now know that Reagan was a corrupt demagogue supported by powerful business interests and aggressive foreign-policy hawks. Thankfully, these forces were held in check by a Democratic Congress and our then-revered Constitution. I think we've seen the true-face of Reagan's policies over the past five years, behind the patriotic rhetoric and jovial face. It's become a society of entitlement to the wealthy, military-expansion, and gutting all programs of relief and charity.

Reagan's entire legacy was built on lies.

[carolinalady]

2. What strikes me about this is the fact that "joe republican"-your

average "God, guns and country" guy worshipped the ground Reagan walked on. The contrast between him and Shrub is plainly evident when you read this speech. I just don't understand how they can give Shrub the same blind loyalty they afforded Reagan.

[Sinti]

3. In both cases they worship an empty vessel.

It's easy to close your eyes to the reality and fill such a blank slate with whatever you wish to put there. Plus, the church says they're good, therefore ...

[Charlie Brown]

4. I blame talk-radio and fundamentalism

I've noticed a lot of R supporters lack the capacity to form their own opinions, and rely on their pastors and the airwaves to provide opinions for them. Never mind the insanity of what the Administration has planned, as long as "God" and the propaganda machine tell the to support it, it's good enough for the "base."

[Sinti]

5. This is very true for many

My former boss couldn't say what he thought about anything political until he heard the talking heads opinion of it. It was kind of disgusting, a grown man 50+ unable to form an independent thought. Lazy I say.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

6. "Where's my keys?"