Obama is getting a bad rap for his Reagan comments

[bluestateguy]

All he said was that Reagan transformed politics for a generation in America. I agree with him. Obama did not praise Reagan's record, but rather, pointed out that Reagan's election and presidency transformed America in ways that still have an impact on us today. Richard Nixon did not govern as a conservative Republican, but rather, governed as a moderate in the tradition of Eisenhower. Both Nixon and Eisenhower knew that the America of their time was still shaped by the New Deal of the 1930's. Likewise, Bill Clinton governed as a moderate conservative because he realized that he was governing in what was still a conservative political era. Reagan made conservatism "cool" for many Americans, and Bill Clinton had to govern in that environment.

[Perry Logan]

1. Just imagine the stink if Hillary had said it.

[rodeodance]

9. Lordy Lordy--don't even imagine that one! pleaaase

[AndyA]

2. If you give them an inch, they'll take a mile.

Perhaps Barack didn't mean to be complimentary to Reagan, who knows. Considering how much damage we've all suffered due to Reagan's policies, it seems a bad example. But he should know that the reicht wing will spin it into something they can use if he's the nominee.

I look forward to the era when being progressive is "cool" in politics. We desperately need it to offset the dark ages conservative movement we've been stuck in for so long.

[sunonmars]

3. Exactly

The guy seems to be making a habit of doing mistakes that rookie politicians make.

His inexperience of national politics is frightening.

[rodeodance]

10. the is sobering.

[Tesha]

13. That's okay; we can still bet the fate of the country on him, right?

> The guy seems to be making a habit of doing mistakes that rookie politicians make.

That's okay; we can still bet the fate of our party and,
quite likely the country on him, right?

(Go Edwards!)

Tesha

[SammyWinstonJack]

22. ...

:scared:

[wyldwolf]

4. uh.. no. Here's what he said

"...He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like with all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s and government had grown and grown but there wasn't much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating..." - Barack Obama

Obama admires Reagan because he agrees with Reagan's basic frame that the 1960s and 1970s were full of 'excesses' and that government had grown large and unaccountable.

Those excesses, of course, were feminism, the consumer rights movement, the civil rights movement, the environmental movement, and the antiwar movement. The libertarian anti-government ideology of an unaccountable large liberal government was designed by ideological conservatives to take advantage of the backlash against these 'excesses'.

http://www.openleft.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=3263

[bluestateguy]

6. There were plenty of excesses in the 1960's and 1970's

Obama just didn't specify, so this article straw-manned his argument.

One excess that comes to mind of that era is skyrocketing rates of crime all over the nation.

[annabanana]

8. Sorry. . when you say "excesses" and "60' & 70's" in the same sentence...

It is NOT the crime rate that comes to mind first.
(unless you're talking about the 'crime' of recreational drugs)

[wyldwolf]

Obama has previously expressed his disdain for the boomers of the 60s. There's a pattern here.

[rodeodance]

11. The IP has translated it into paltable terms. Makes it easier to digest.

[bigtree]

24. exactly

. . . far more than some cursory acknowledgment of Reagan's political success, Obama has bought into the myth that Regan cared about 'government' excesses. Reagan wanted to, as Stockman put it, to squeeze the life out of the budget, give the bulk of the money to Defense and tax breaks for the wealthy, while giving short shrift to the working underclass who were used as scapegoats for the rhetoric about 'excess'. This is ANOTHER example of Obama's cute answers which contradict the very issues and concerns he says he cares so deeply about.

[farmboy]

26. Don't forget that nasty "excess" called the gay rights movement.

Stonewall was in 1969 and 70s saw more and more homosexuals deciding not to live in the closet anymore. That trend has continued in the last 2 1/2 decades and Obama's answer to this was Donnie McClurkin. And one of Reagan's claims to fame is that he wouldn't even say the word "AIDS" for years as thousands of (at that time) most gay Americans died around him. What a great visionary. Hmmmmmmm....

[Ganja Ninja]

5. Ronald Reagan was to conservatism what the air plane was to

the Pacific island cargo cults. He was someone they worshiped purely out of ignorance.

[Dr.Phool]

17. I never heard it put better.

Reminds me of a time, 2 years ago when a Dem congressional candidate was talking about how great Reagan was at a DFA meeting. I pulled him aside pretty quickly, and explained that he's not gonna find any Reagan support here.

He dropped out not long afterward.

[acmavm]

7. Obama was a friggin' idiot to have said any of this. But I notice he

stumbles around a lot because he just can't unlodge that foot out of his mouth.

[indimuse]

12. it is what it is...

'Give them back to me or I'll"...It's too late there they are...and there they'll stay":rofl:

[MethuenProgressive]

14. He gets a pass? Why?

Oh, right. Because He is Him.
:puke:

[billbuckhead]

16. We now know the origin of the shallow Obama campaign

The lack of depth of the :+bama campaign is on purpose, an homage to one the most evil figures in American history.

[Echo In Light]

15. Yes, and that "impact" sucked shit then and still does. We need someone to smash that mold

[rodeodance]

18. So Cool to now have a DEM candidate Invoking Ronnie--Rush L will be proud.

[indimuse]

19. puke...

After watching Obama praises Reagan in this new video while insulting the Clinton Admin, People better WAKE UP!!

[lildreamer316]

20. He, and his advisors, should have known better.

I'm not having a problem with the comment itself, just the fact that they could have anticipated the fallout and advised him not say it in the first place, or maybe phrase his point differently? Used a different example, maybe. It's the price of doing political business in this media climate these days.
I hope they can work with this.

[Astrad]

21. Seems carefully calculated to me

He will lose almost no democratic votes for saying this and he might gain some repubs and independents. I think it's tactical.

[Clarkansas]

23. This Reagan thing is one of the biggest non-issues ever to earn 1000 threads on du.

I agree with your post.

[bettyellen]

25. he;s getting a bad rap for courting conservatives, first bigots, now Ronnie's naive admirers

you know- the fools who voted against their own best interests? the ones who hate liberals for their excesses- he is courting them.
and i'm embarrassed for him.

[Bluenorthwest]

27. It figures, the way I see Obama and the way I remember Ronny

Ah Reagan! No wonder Obama praises him, Reagan was the President as the AIDS crisis mounted. Insurance Companies, favorties of Ron and Barack, refused to cover treatments, Reagan refused to so much as say the word AIDS for most if not all of his administration. People were dying, at the highest rates were in black communities. Brave Ministers and the cream of the Gospel world rallied to raise money and educate people while the Reagan government remained frozen by prejudice.
Today, Obama seems to know none of that. He is apparently unaware of the churchs and famous figures who stepped up to the plate with courage during that very difficult time. He thinks having bigots like McClurkin around is some sort of 'out reach' in part because he is ignorant of the movement that came befor him, ignorant of the battles fought in his own community, by Gospel singers and ministers and congregations who took a stand when it mattered, a strong and inclusive stand.
Obama is my age, so I have to ask what Obama was doning back then that he would not know about the crisis that was killing our own, the crisis Reagan refused to acknowlege. Obama missed that I guess. I remember it. Reagan was among other things a huge contributing factor to the denial and fear around the AIDs crisis. That is of course very much in line with the Barack McClurkin school of thought, 'gays are trying to kill our children' McClurkin says. Of course the fact was this-" gays are our children and Reagan is helping to kill them."
So I remember Reaganism not as 'cool' but as murderous.

[Fire Walk With Me]

28. Hell yes, it "transformed" America. Horribly.

[terisan]

29. Reagan returned US to Nixon era and killed US human rights initiatives around the world

He hurt US workers financially widened the gap between rich and poor. He ran on fiscal conservatism and greatly enlarged the national debt.

He did it by convincing more Americans that he would lead them to the promised land. He lied. He was a con just like Bush.