Conservative columnist calls for GOP to remember Reagan. And this response is priceless!!

[proud2BlibKansan]

Yeah, I DO remember Reagan
Submitted by mommadillo on May 2, 2009 - 12:08pm.

He signed a treaty banning torture. Said something along the lines of:

No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.

and:

An order from a superior officer or a public authority may not be invoked as a justification of torture.

and:

Each State Party shall ensure that all acts of torture are offences under its criminal law. The same shall apply to an attempt to commit torture and to an act by any person which constitutes complicity or participation in torture.

Thanks for reminding me. Sometimes I forget there used to be Republicans with actual principles. And yes, the modern-day GOP could certainly use a few more of those.

The column he was responding to: Remember Reagan? GOP needs optimistic leaders again

[jobycom]

1. While Reagan is the opposite of a person with "actual principles," good response. nt

[MindMatter]

33. Reagan had a principle. Selfishness

Ushering in 28 years of narcissism and arrogance.

[judesedit]

46. Ha ha

[sufrommich]

2. Reagan certainly believed in torture by proxy though.

Ask anyone who was alive in Central America during his administration.

[alfredo]

3. Death squads and trading with the enemy.

[sufrommich]

4. Yep, he was a true "patriot" . nt

[alfredo]

5. Naw, Reagan wanted to be part of the patrician, but

to them he was new money and not worthy. Decades of sucking up to them only allowed him to be a useful idiot to the landed gentry. He was always on the outside looking in. It was rather pathetic.

[AllentownJake]

18. Just like Nixon

[AlbertCat]

21. And Bush....because he WAS a real idiot, useful or not.

Reagan is the PR president....the fake leader while GOP operatives do the real work behind the scenes. Reagan....the distraction. And he was good. He was after all an actor. (I thought the GOP hated Hollywood actors....but then they worship one)

Bush was PR president 2.0. But with typical GOP hubris, they didn't even bother too much to cover the fact others were really in charge. Others whom no one voted for. And they had to go to "plan B" involving the stealing of the election using the Supremes because they almost fucked that up. But after Clinton won a 2nd term, there was no choice.

Now they got nothing....just look at 'em!

[AllentownJake]

23. Bush was part of the Patritian class

Nixon and Reagan were both guys who came from the middle class. Nixon and Reagan both had a complex about it.

Bush I assure you had an entirely different set of complexes about who he was.

[alfredo]

38. bush Sr didn't like Reagan. I still find it odd that a bush family friend

tried to assassinate Reagan.

[alfredo]

25. They turned their back on the working class from where

they came. They were embarrassed by their humble beginnings.

[onager]

41. Yep. A movie quote fits Reagan best, which figures...

In My Favorite Year, the actor Alan Swann (Peter O'Toole) falls off a high balcony and manages to grab a curtain or something.

Falling at 32 fps/ps, he goes whizzing past a dinner party of NYC stuffed shirts and precariously stops under their balcony--hanging many stories above the sidewalk and about to fall.

One Stuffed Shirt looks down and sees his predicament:

Stuffed Shirt #1: "Alan Swann is beneath us!"
Stuffed Shirt #2: "Of course he is. He's only an ACTOR."

:rofl:

[alfredo]

42. Great movie, great quote.

[ProfessorGAC]

48. Fantastic Reference!

I love that movie.
GAC

[maryf]

36. School of Americas (Assassins)

Moved to Fort Benning Georgia from Panama in 1984 during Reagan's tenure; the "school" teaches rape, torture, and murder techniques... http//www.soaw.org

[Historic NY]

6. Ron Who?

[Maccagirl]

7. The post was semi-lucid until she said "I forget that there used

to Republicans with actual principles.' Reagan had an idealogy-that's not the same as principles. I also agree that he was more of a "useful idiot" for his puppet-masters than a true believer, but that doesn't excuse the harm he did.

[izquierdista]

8. "I forgot"

What could be more Reagan-like than that?

[corpseratemedia]

9. Reaganite selfishness and fucking over vets and their families, college students

the mentally ill, the poor, central america, etc. etc. are not principles at all.

The modern GOP is at the dead-end Reagan created.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Exactly

That's when the beginning of the end of the GOP began.

[AlbertCat]

22. Nah...Nixon is.

[AllentownJake]

24. Nixon today would be considered a RINO by those in the party

He's an asshole and a thug but policy wise he wasn't as stupid as this new brand of rat fuckers.

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. Nixon was a liberal

[demosincebirth]

10. Reagan didn't even know he was president.

[Name removed]

44. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Some other great responses to this column:

He trashed the unions, thereby contributing to the destruction of the middle class.

He closed the mental hospitals, and our streets filled up with homeless people.

He had an agriculture secretary who wanted to make ketchup a vegetable to save money on school lunches.

His attorney general said "If a person is innocent of a crime, then he is not a suspect".

Some idiot in his administration thought the Beach Boys were a subversive group and shouldn't play on the White House lawn.

Then there was Iran Contra.

Yep, I remember Reagan. Good idea. Bring him back. Then even more Americans will understand why the GOP has lost its way and this didn't just begin with the last president.
===========================================================

Ahhh the Reagan years...
Submitted by dacme on May 2, 2009 - 1:17pm.

1. The savings rate went down drastically.
2. Taxes were shifted from the rich to the middle and working class.
3. The national debt increased ten fold and the US went from the world's largest creditor to the world's largest debtor.
4. The number of federal employees went up by 300,000.
5. Government spending increased.
6. Foreign aid increased.
7. The economy grew by little more than the post WWII average.
8. An we launched a new era in international terrorism by running away from Lebanon with our collective tail between our legs.
=========================================================

Move over GOP...
Submitted by Jimdandy on May 2, 2009 - 1:44pm.

Too bad about the Republican Party. But I say good riddance! John McCain made a travesty of the last election by appealing to what is worst about Republicans, human beings actually. He chose Palin. He chose negativity. He chose fear. He chose dishonesty. I guess he did not get the message that people are tired of all of that. It is obvious that the GOP is still on the same course and will bury the rest of its body now that its head is deep in the sand. I hope they do not wake up but instead a new second party emerges with ears and eyes open and with the point of view that you need to serve everyone all at once not just the few.
========================================================

GOP takes position on flu
Submitted by kcpundit on May 2, 2009 - 2:35pm.

GOP today criticized the new President for ordering more vaccines be produced and medical alerts to try to contain the spread of this possibly deadly flu. Their solution---tax cuts!
It cures everything.
Do they ever answer the question---Clinton raised taxes on the wealthy and we had the best economy in history and turned deficits into surpluses.

http://voices.kansascity.com/node/4455#new

[BrklynLiberal]

13. I thought this was a great response as well..

I remember him too
Submitted by apop on May 2, 2009 - 12:28pm.

He trashed the unions, thereby contributing to the destruction of the middle class.

He closed the mental hospitals, and our streets filled up with homeless people.

He had an agriculture secretary who wanted to make ketchup a vegetable to save money on school lunches.

His attorney general said "If a person is innocent of a crime, then he is not a suspect".

Some idiot in his administration thought the Beach Boys were a subversive group and shouldn't play on the White House lawn.

Then there was Iran Contra.

Yep, I remember Reagan. Good idea. Bring him back. Then even more Americans will understand why the GOP has lost its way and this didn't just begin with the last president.

[8 track mind]

27. Hmmmmm...

Some idiot in his administration thought the Beach Boys were a subversive group and shouldn't play on the White House lawn.

Wasn't it that super mega-boob James Watt? That dumb ass made sticking your foot into your mouth a freaking art form.

[proud2BlibKansan]

40. Yes I think it was him

Wasn't he the ketchup is a vegetable guy too?

He really was a major boob. :rofl:

[LuckyLib]

45. "The number of federal employees went up by 300,000. This from a Prez who wanted to get "gubmint"

out of our lives. Ha!

[pacalo]

14. This is a keeper.

I like the other comments you posted in #12, as well.

Charisma should never justify stomping on the middle-class & poor to benefit the rich, but this is where the kool-aid drinking began & middle-class voters were mesmerized into voting against their own interests.

And then came the mini-me version of John Wayne: we'll smoke 'em out, dead or alive...bring it on....

Small, non-thinking minions eat this stuff up.

[Quantess]

15. The writer seems to be a disgruntled, former Republican.

That's the way it looks, anyway.

[Bondor]

16. great post

hit the nail on the head!

[progressoid]

17. Some good rebuttals there,

that'll come in handy for those Rah Rah Reagan emails I get.

[proud2BlibKansan]

19. I just checked that thread

and the pukes have yet to respond. LOL

Too funny.

There are a bunch of them there and I can't believe they are not jumping all over this one.

[omega minimo]

20. Yeah Reagan knew how to deliver his Big Lies so convincingly................

[keitai]

28. I will paraphrase Bill Maher here.

If the G.O.P. wants to become relevant again, they need to stop pretending the party began in 1980. Rush Limbaugh likes to constantly crow about how liberals 'are constantly reviewing their principles and constantly reinventing themselves' but doesn't evolution say that those who do not adapt to their environment become....
Whoops, my bad. Evolution.

[bjobotts]

29. Freat response. Now if only the GOP sees it or it get on MSM. Thanks. it was great

[Optical.Catalyst]

30. Of course the Republicans want to remember Reagan, the sure don't want to remember Bush the lesser

They don't stand a chance in the 2012 elections if little George is anywhere near their campaign.

<>

[Prophet 451]

31. Didn't you get the memo?

He wasn't a real conservative.

(yes, I have had people say that to me. They always go on to fanatically defend him regardless)

[Joey Liberal]

32. Reagan should have been impeached n/t

[Echo In Light]

34. Greg Palast: KILLER, COWARD, CONMAN - GOOD RIDDANCE, RON REAGAN; MORE PROOF ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG

KILLER, COWARD, CONMAN - GOOD RIDDANCE, RONNIE REAGAN; MORE PROOF ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG
Sunday, June 6, 2004 by Greg Palast

You're not going to like this. You shouldn't speak ill of the dead. But in this case, someone's got to.

Ronald Reagan was a conman. Reagan was a coward. Reagan was a killer.

In 1987, I found myself stuck in a crappy little town in Nicaragua named Chaguitillo. The people were kind enough, though hungry, except for one surly young man. His wife had just died of tuberculosis.

People don't die of TB if they get some antibiotics. But Ronald Reagan, big hearted guy that he was, had put a lock-down embargo on medicine to Nicaragua because he didn't like the government that the people there had elected.

Ronnie grinned and cracked jokes while the young woman's lungs filled up and she stopped breathing. Reagan flashed that B-movie grin while they buried the mother of three.

And when Hezbollah terrorists struck and murdered hundreds of American marines in their sleep in Lebanon, the TV warrior ran away like a whipped dog ... then turned around and invaded Grenada. That little Club Med war was a murderous PR stunt so Ronnie could hold parades for gunning down Cubans building an airport.

I remember Nancy, a skull and crossbones prancing around in designer dresses, some of the "gifts" that flowed to the Reagans -- from hats to million-dollar homes -- from cronies well compensated with government loot. It used to be called bribery.

And all the while, Grandpa grinned, the grandfather who bleated on about "family values" but didn't bother to see his own grandchildren.

The New York Times today, in its canned obit, wrote that Reagan projected, "faith in small town America" and "old-time values." "Values" my ass. It was union busting and a declaration of war on the poor and anyone who couldn't buy designer dresses. It was the New Meanness, bringing starvation back to America so that every millionaire could get another million.

"Small town" values? From the movie star of the Pacific Palisades, the Malibu mogul? I want to throw up.

And all the while, in the White House basement, as his brain boiled away, his last conscious act was to condone a coup d'etat against our elected Congress. Reagan's Defense Secretary Casper the Ghost Weinberger with the crazed Colonel, Ollie North, plotted to give guns to the Monster of the Mideast, Ayatolla Khomeini.

Reagan's boys called Jimmy Carter a weanie and a wuss although Carter wouldn't give an inch to the Ayatolla. Reagan, with that film-fantasy tough-guy con in front of cameras, went begging like a coward cockroach to Khomeini pleading on bended knee for the release of our hostages.

Ollie North flew into Iran with a birthday cake for the maniac mullah -- no kidding --in the shape of a key. The key to Ronnie's heart.

Then the Reagan roaches mixed their cowardice with crime: taking cash from the hostage-takers to buy guns for the "contras" - the drug-runners of Nicaragua posing as freedom fighters.

I remember as a student in Berkeley the words screeching out of the bullhorn, "The Governor of the State of California, Ronald Reagan, hereby orders this demonstration to disburse" ... and then came the teargas and the truncheons. And all the while, that fang-hiding grin from the Gipper.

In Chaguitillo, all night long, the farmers stayed awake to guard their kids from attack from Reagan's Contra terrorists. The farmers weren't even Sandinistas, those 'Commies' that our cracked-brained President told us were 'only a 48-hour drive from Texas.' What the hell would they want with Texas, anyway?

Nevertheless, the farmers, and their families, were Ronnie's targets.

In the deserted darkness of Chaguitillo, a TV blared. Weirdly, it was that third-rate gangster movie, "Brother Rat." Starring Ronald Reagan.

Well, my friends, you can rest easier tonight: the Rat is dead.

Killer, coward, conman. Ronald Reagan, good-bye and good riddance.

Greg Palast is author of the New York Times bestseller, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. www.GregPalast.com

[proud2BlibKansan]

37. Great find

I love Palast.

[Echo In Light]

47. Like many, I hadn't heard of Palast until he helped break the 2000 election theft story

Been a fan ever since

[fasttense]

35. Yup, it was Ronnie Raygun who signed global Convention Against Torture treaty.

But it gets even better, it was Daddy bush who sent the treaty to congress for ratification.

"The Convention Against Torture prohibits its signatories from using cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of prisoners, and obliges them to ensure that any detainee is given certain minimum legal rights. President Ronald Reagan signed the treaty, President George H.W. Bush formally sent it to the Senate for approval, and the Senate ratified it in 1994."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/05/20/monitors_of_torture_treaty_rebuke_us/

[TankLV]

39. The Ray-gun years & philosophy in a nutshel: GREED IS GOOD.

nothing else really need be said...

[proud2BlibKansan]

43. POOR IS BAD