He went for folksy and charming intentionally (which was part of his mass appeal), but could also transition to powerful and confident. He had great range.>>>
Reagan was an Actor, what did you expect? I did like Reagan though, I voted for him twice, I just couldn’t stand the people he chose to have around him…Bush41, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Jim Baker, Caspar Weinberger, George Shultz…the same old gang Bush43 has around him…
Joe
He[Bush] is getting progressively better with his speeches.
He (Bush) should be getting better, he’s been repeating th same speeches for years…he is getting a lot worse though iwhen it comes to answering questions, of course today he doesn’t have as many shills in the audience to ask him the questions he has already been given the answers to…
Mario, even his handlers recognize it is a flaw and admit to this day (just last Thursday on air) that he is poor (not even a fair - they said poor).
When you have trouble constructing arguements or reading pre-printed text, you have to expect that you will come under attack for being dim.
Fortunately, we only have to listen to two more years of this. I say that not as a Bush-basher (although I think he is a mediocre to poor president), but as a lover of prose and great speeches.
Excuse me but no where did imply that Bush is an eloquent speaker. But often his speech is very good. I suspect a fair number of those on this board may well come across as less that “smart” if we where in his position.
However, countless comedians and politicos question Bush’s intelligence on a regular basis. They make him out to be and “idiot” that just doesn’t have the “gravitas”(remember that gem?) to be president. I contend you don’t get to the top of the heap if you don’t have it upstairs.
Think about the legacy that Reagan has and compare it with the legacy of the most recent Democratic president. History will be the judge in the end.
And on this issue alone you deem bush far right?
Isn’t that rather one dimensional?
If other’s where to use a different single issue as the measure of “leftedness” or “rightedness”, Bush would be considered “far left” on the illegal immigration issue.
Think about the legacy that Reagan has and compare it with the legacy of the most recent Democratic president. History will be the judge in the end.>>>
You think a Legacy of Deceipt, Illegal wars, selling weapons to Terrorists, the Iran Contra Affair, and leaving Office with, at the time, a Record Deficit is better than being Impeached over a Blow Joband leaving Office with a Balanced Budget, a $100+ Billion Surplus, and an Iraq that had no WMD’s and no Military Power, and who’s “Military Strength had been so degraded as not to be a threat even to its neighbors”…Conolicia Rice spring of 01’…Clinton also left Office with a 66% approval Rating…today he has a 55% approval rating, Bush is at 37%
In a poll over who was the best president since WWII, only Reagan was rated better than Clinton…
"Thinking about the United States presidents we have had since World War II – [see below] – which one would you consider the best president?"
[RIGHT] .[/RIGHT]
% ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
** Ronald Reagan** 28 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
** Bill Clinton** 25 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
** John Kennedy** 18 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
** Harry Truman** 7 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
** Jimmy Carter** 5 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
** Dwight Eisenhower** 5 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
** George W. Bush** 3 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
** George Bush Senior** 2 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
**Gerald Ford** 1 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
**Lyndon Johnson** 1 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
** Richard Nixon** 1 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
No opinion 4 ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** http://www.pollingreport.com/wh-hstry.htm
Reagan was a good President, whether you agreed with him or not very few people doubted that what ever he did, he believed he was doing it for the good of the Country, few believe that anything Bush43 does is for any one other than his rich buddies, Big Corporations, and the Religious Extreme…History will look at Bushs time in Office as one of the most dangerous to the U.S. Constitution and Democracy, it will, and already does, look at the Clinton Impeachment as an attempted Coups…
I would trade Bush43 for Reagan or Clinton any day, hell, I’d rather have his father back in Office
Sure you can get to the top of the heap with daddy’s name and money. History is replete with dim presidents.
The statement I responded to said “do you thik he is as portrayed?”
Yes - he is a bad speaker. Poor speaking ability lends itself to jokes and/or questions about your intelligence. It is a simple fact. The fact that a staffer wrote a great speech has no bearing at all on the way he delivers it. I cringe (having written speeches) imagining the way his writers must feel watching him deliver the State of the Union speeche they wrote.
As for gravitas - I think what was being portrayed in taht comment is that he lacks the persona that is respected on an international stage. Tony Blair - GREAT speaker, widely respected even when he is frequently disagreed with. Bush - not at all the same. Partisans with blinders disagree (of course) but it is an image problem that handlers have battled (and acknowledged) for his entire presidency and does lend itself to jokes and derision.
I don’t think his poor speaking ability makes him a bad president. It hurts his image. Comedians didn’t make him fumble for words or mispronsounce things - they just make fun of his propensity to do it.
Reagan pushed for a balanced budget amendment.
Without one - Clinton produced record surplusses.
Under Bush we are again facing trillion dollar deficits.
Under Reagan - cold war ending.
Under Clinton - peace accords in the middle east and ireland.
Under Bush - entire mid-east at war, N. norea testing nukes, and only Britain as an ally.
History will indeed be the judge.
It certainly will Joseph.
Question for you.
Is the “War on Terror” legitimate?
Cool,he will remember it for ever.
I remember waving to the Queen of England in Aberdeen Scotland as she made her way to Balmoral circa 1982, she must be doing something right as she is still in office.
Wrong, Bush’s stand on Immigration is far right, he is not backing “Comprehensive Immigration” out of any sense of Humanity or Human Rights like the Left wingers say they are, he is backing open Borders and Amnesty because it provides CHEAP LABOR, its not just the “cause” that determines whether a policy is Liberal or Conservative, it the reasons behind the the policy, again Bush is Far Far to the Right of Conservatism which calls for Nationalism and Strong Borders…which any National Security Policy should also provide, instead 5 years after 9/11 millions still enter the U.S. Illegally across the Borders Bush Refuses to Secure…selling out Americas Security for Cheap Labor is way beyond Far Right, it enters the area of Corporatism…a Blending of the State, Corporations, and the Church, which Mussolini called Fascism…
Again from Bush’s New Bill:
"Subsection 4(b) (26) of section 950v. of HR 6166 - Crimes triable by military commissions - includes the following definition.
“Any person subject to this chapter who, in breach of an allegiance or duty to the United States, knowingly and intentionally aids an enemy of the United States, or one of the co-belligerents of the enemy, shall be punished as a military commission under this chapter may direct.”
Why would a Terrorist or Forieng Enemy Combatant owe any Alligience to the United States? Who is this paragraph relly directed at. How many Times ahs Bush/Cheney/ Rumsfeld etc. said that those who do not support Bush’s Policies are giving Aide to the Enemy?
Here’s another little tidbit:
A couple of days before the Enabling Act was passed in Germany in 33’, which portions of Bush’s New Bill are very similiar, Hitler signed a Decree which**“allowed for the establishment of special courts to try political offenders. These courts were conducted in the military style of a court-martial without a jury and usually with no counsel for the defense.”
**A Decree very similiar to the section of Bush’s “military Commisions Act of 2006”, but don’t worry both Bush and Hitler told their people that “”“The government will make use of these powers only insofar as they are essential for carrying out vitally necessary measures…The number of cases in which an internal necessity exists for having recourse to such a law is in itself a limited one.” and we all know how Hitler kept his promise
I support BUSH…Voted for BOTH BUSH’s
Do I like the way the war is going…NOPE…but I can’t blame (1) man…takes more to fire the shots than (1) finger on the trigger.
Hmmm…I may have been TOO young to vote for Reagan…but I would have…
And regardless of what I think of W… it is VERY cool to take the boy to see him! Good job John O.!
I was going to see Cheney this coming Thursday here in Coeur d’Alene, but I’d probably get thrown out or arrested because I have a Democrats Campaign Poster in the window of my truck…I’d probably have to lie and promise the local RNC my first born to get the tickets anyway, the last time he was around, you had to sign a loyalty oath to get the tickets…if I went to see him I’d feel like a Hypocrit seeing as when either he or Bush come on TV I always hit the button and change channels…Its being called a Victory Party…gotta give those Republicans credit for being optimistic, Victory PArties a week before the election and $20 Million set aside for the Victory in Iraq Party, I’ve generally found Optimists and Folls to be very much alike.
To me Ronald Reagan made Americans remember what it meant to be an American. He never let anyone doubt the greatness of the Human spirit regardless of their nationality. He believed that with the freedoms we enjoy in this country anyone could achieve anything. We had wandered too far off the farm and he brought that back. He was a member of the greatest generation and he brought that back to memory as well. He saw first hand what this country was capable of doing when everyone was pulling in the same direction and had a common enemy. As someone said. He made us keep our eye on the ball. The politics in Washington today makes the average American that is paying attention sick to their stomachs. Both sides of the aisle have lost sight of what we sent them there to do. We are guilty as well for allowing the politicians to become elitists ruling class and we treat them like royalty. We have no royalty here and it get about a foot and a half up the crack of my bo-hieny whenever I hear about the Kennedy’s…America’s Royalty. Hogwash! John Kennedy would be rolling over in his grave if he could see what has happened to his Party and his country. We have become a nation of victims, whiners and loafers. Our schools are producing imbeciles who can’t read but manage to graduate…etc. Ronald Reagan brought everything back into focus and he didn’t apologize to anyone for being proud of his nation. We could use about 10 more just like him. If he said something, you could take it to the bank. One of his greatest leadership traits was he didn’t care who got credit for doing something right just as long as it got done. I hate it he spent the last years of his life the way he did. He was truly a great man.
He truly was.
Reagan was an excellent reader, that’s for sure. :twisted: He had nice hair too.
Reagan made the phrase “I do not recall” famous, its been a staple of the Republican Party ever since. I liked Reagan, but a Great Man would never had allowed the Iran Contra Affair to Happen, if it hadn’t and the Arms for Hostages scandle hadn’t followed, and ishortly after leaving Office the Savings and loan Fiasco hadn’t occured, then I would agree with you that he was a Great Man, he was a good President, but not a Great one, he was a much Better Man than he was a Presidnet also, but then so is Jimmy Carter…
Reagan might have had a chance to be great if he had chosen not to surround himself with the people he did, which happen to be the same people that both Bush41 and Bush43 surrounded themselves with…but Presidents don’t usually have much choice in their Vice Presidents
I still think Nixon was a better President than Reagan, if Watergate had not happened Nixon would be known as one of the greatest Presidents in History, he served when the Soviet Union was really powerful and Nuclear War was a real danger, when Reagan came in the Soviets were already in deep decline, Reagan’s brilliance was that he recognized that and kept the finacial and Military pressure up, in fact he increased it dramatically. I was in the Army then, and although I liked Reagan he really didn’t do much for our Military, for much of the 80’s we couldn’t get parts, training equipment or money for training, the early 80’s saw some of the worst recruits coming in that I ever saw, and instead of going after Hezbollah and the Syrians after they killed 240+ Marines in Beruit, he sent us to Grenada, which was an improvement from where I’d been shortly before
So, Lewis, how often does your militia meet for training?