Ronald Reagan: Was He Really that Dumb? (a warning from history)

[Mr. Sparkle]

"I never knew anything above Cs."
--President Reagan, in a moment of truthfulness, describes his academic record to Barbara Walters, November 27, 1981

"They told stories about how inattentive and inept the President was.... They said he wouldn't come to work--all he wanted to do was to watch movies and television at the residence."
--Jim Cannon (an aide to Howard Baker) reporting what Reagan's underlings told him, Landslide: The Unmaking of the President: 1984-88

"Reagan's only contribution throughout the entire hour and a half was to interrupt somewhere at midpoint to tell us he'd watched a movie the night before, and he gave us the plot from WarGames, the movie. That was his only contribution."
--Lee Hamilton (Representative from Indiana) interviewed by Haynes Johnson, Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years

"This President is treated by both the press and foreign leaders as if he were a child.... It is major news when he honors a political or economic discussion with a germane remark and not an anecdote about his Hollywood days."
--Columnist Richard Cohen

"What planet is he living on?"
--President Mitterand of France poses this question about Reagan to Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau.

"During Mr. Reagan's trip to Europe...members of the traveling press corps watched him doze off so many times--during speeches by French President Francois Mitterrand and Italian President Alessandro Pertini, as well as during a one-on-one audience with the Pope--that they privately christened the trip 'The Big Sleep.'"
--Mark Hertsgaard, On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency

"He demonstrated for all to see how far you can go in this life with a smile, a shoeshine and the nerve to put your own spin on the facts."
--David Nyhan, Boston Globe columnist

"an amiable dunce"
--Clark Clifford (former Defense Secretary)

"Poor dear, there's nothing between his ears."
--British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

"...like reinventing the wheel."
--Larry Speakes (Reagan's former press secretary) describing what it was like preparing the President for a press conference, Speaking Out: The Reagan Presidency from Inside the White House

"The task of watering the arid desert between Reagan's ears is a challenging one for his aides."
--Columnist David Broder

"He has the ability to make statements that are so far outside the parameters of logic that they leave you speechless"
--Patti Davis (formerly Patricia Ann Reagan) talking about her father, The Way I See It

"This loathing for government, this eagerness to prove that any program to aid the disadvantaged is nothing but a boondoggle and a money gobbler, leads him to contrive statistics and stories with unmatched vigor."
--Mark Green, Reagan's Reign of Error

"President Reagan doesn't always check the facts before he makes statements, and the press accepts this as kind of amusing."
--former president Jimmy Carter, March 6, 1984

"Ronald Reagan is the first modern President whose contempt for the facts is treated as a charming idiosyncrasy."
--James David Barber, presidential scholar, On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency, Mark Hertsgaard

"His errors glide past unchallenged. At one point...he alleged that almost half the population gets a free meal from the government each day. No one told him he was crazy. The general message of the American press is that, yes, while it is perfectly true that the emperor has no clothes, nudity is actually very acceptable this year."
--Simon Hoggart, in The Observer (London), 1986

-----------------------------------------------------------

Uncommon Wisdom from "The Gipper"

"A tree's a tree. How many more do you need to look at?"
--Ronald Reagan (Governor of California), quoted in the Sacramento Bee, opposing expansion of Redwood National Park, March 3, 1966

"I don't believe a tree is a tree and if you've seen one you've seen them all."
--Governor Ronald Reagan, in the Sacramento Bee, September 14, 1966

"All the waste in a year from a nuclear power plant can be stored under a desk."
--Ronald Reagan (Republican candidate for president), quoted in the Burlington (Vermont) Free Press, February 15, 1980. (In reality, the average nuclear reactor generates 30 tons of radioactive waste per year.)

"I have flown twice over Mount St. Helens. I'm not a scientist and I don't know the figures, but I have a suspicion that one little mountain out there, in these last several months, has probably released more sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere than has been released in the last ten years of automobile driving or things of that kind."
--Ronald Reagan, quoted in Time magazine, October 20, 1980. (According to scientists, Mount St. Helens emitted about 2,000 tons of sulfur dioxide per day at its peak activity, compared with 81,000 tons per day produced by cars.)

"Growing and decaying vegetation in this land are responsible for 93 percent of the oxides of nitrogen."
--Ronald Reagan, quoted in the Los Angeles Times, October 9, 1980. (According to Dr. Michael Oppenheimer of the Environmental Defense Fund, industrial sources are responsible for at least 65 percent and possibly as much as 90 percent of the oxides of nitrogen in the U.S.)

"Approximately 80 percent of our air pollution stems from hydrocarbons released by vegetation. So let's not go overboard in setting and enforcing tough emission standards for man-made sources."
--Ronald Reagan, quoted in Sierra, September 10, 1980

"I've said it before and I'll say it again. The U.S. Geological Survey has told me that the proven potential for oil in Alaska alone is greater than the proven reserves in Saudi Arabia."
--Ronald Reagan, quoted in the Detroit Free Press, March 23, 1980. (According to the USGS, the Saudi reserves of 165.5 billion barrels are 17 times the proven reserves--9.2 billion barrels--in Alaska.)

"Why should we subsidize intellectual curiosity?"
--Ronald Reagan, campaign speech, 1980

"Trains are not any more energy efficient than the average automobile, with both getting about 48 passenger miles to the gallon."
--Ronald Reagan, quoted in the Chicago Tribune, May 10, 1980. (The U.S. Department of Transportation calculates that a 14-car train traveling at 80 miles per hour gets 400 passenger miles to the gallon. A 1980 auto carrying an average of 2.2 people gets 42.6 passenger miles to the gallon.)

"It's silly talking about how many years we will have to spend in the jungles of Vietnam when we could pave the whole country and put parking stripes on it and still be home by Christmas."
--Ronald Reagan (candidate for Governor of California), interviewed in the Fresno Bee, October 10, 1965

"I have a feeling that we are doing better in the war than the people have been told."
--Ronald Reagan, in the Los Angeles Times, October 16, 1967

"...the moral equal of our Founding Fathers."
--President Reagan, describing the Nicaraguan contras, March 1, 1985

"Fascism was really the basis for the New Deal."
--Ronald Reagan, quoted in Time, May 17, 1976

"I know all the bad things that happened in that war. I was in uniform four years myself."
--President Reagan, in an interview with foreign journalists, April 19, 1985. ("In costume" is more like it. Reagan spent World War II making Army training films at Hal Roach Studios in Hollywood.)

"They've done away with those committees. That shows the success of what the Soviets were able to do in this country."
--Ronald Reagan, quoted in the Washington Times, September 30, 1987. (Reagan longs for the days of Sen. Joseph McCarthy and the HCUA witch hunts.)

"We think there is a parallel between federal involvement in education and the decline in profit over recent years."
--President Reagan, quoted in USA Today, April 26, 1983

"What we have found in this country, and maybe we're more aware of it now, is one problem that we've had, even in the best of times, and that is the people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless who are homeless, you might say, by choice."
--President Reagan, defending himself against charges of callousness on Good Morning America, January 31, 1984

"I favor the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it must be enforced at the point of a bayonet, if necessary."
--Ronald Reagan, Los Angeles Times, October 20, 1965

"I would have voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964."
--Ronald Reagan, Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1966

"If there has to be a bloodbath, then let's get it over with."
--Ronald Reagan (Governor of California), quoted in the San Francisco Chronicle, early morning edition, May 15, 1969. (Reagan reveals how he intends to quell student protests in the city of Berkeley, California. Protesters were teargassed and fired upon with buckshot, killing one, blinding another, and wounding 128. Reagan would later declare a state of emergency in the city and send in 2,700 National Guard troops.)

"Today a newcomer to the state is automatically eligible for our many aid programs the moment he crosses the border."
--Ronald Reagan, in a speech announcing his candidacy for Governor, January 3, 1966. (In fact, immigrants to California had to wait five years before becoming eligible for benefits. Reagan acknowledged his error, but nine months later said exactly the same thing.)

"...a faceless mass, waiting for handouts."
--Ronald Reagan, 1965. (Description of Medicaid recipients.)

"Unemployment insurance is a pre-paid vacation for freeloaders."
--California Governor Ronald Reagan, in the Sacramento Bee, April 28, 1966

"We were told four years ago that 17 million people went to bed hungry every night. Well, that was probably true. They were all on a diet."
--Ronald Reagan, TV speech, October 27, 1964

"But I also happen to be someone who believes in tithing--the giving of a tenth ."
--Ronald Reagan, from The Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, February 8, 1982. (He may believe in tithing, but he doesn't practice it. Reagan's total charitable giving of $5,965 did not approach 10% of total income. It was more like 1.4%.)

" until now has there ever been a time in which so many of the prophecies are coming together. There have been times in the past when people thought the end of the world was coming, and so forth, but never anything like this."
--President Reagan revealing a disturbing view about the "coming of Armageddon," December 6, 1983

"History shows that when the taxes of a nation approach about 20 percent of the people's income, there begins to be a lack of respect for government.... When it reaches 25 percent, there comes an increase in lawlessness."
--Ronald Reagan, in Time, April 14, 1980. (History shows no such thing. Income tax rates in Europe have traditionally been far higher than U.S. rates, while European crime rates have been much lower.)

"Because Vietnam was not a declared war, the veterans are not even eligible for the G. I. Bill of Rights with respect to education or anything."
--Ronald Reagan, in Newsweek, April 21, 1980. (Wrong again.)

"Politics is just like show business. You have a hell of an opening, coast for a while, and then have a hell of a close."
--Ronald Reagan to aide Stuart Spencer, 1966


First Reagan, and then Bush. And now Palin is next up on the hot seat for the Repugs. I cant help but feel that their is some organisation that goes looking for the dumbest candidate that looks the part for the head of the republican party.

[el_bryanto]

1. And diminishing returns

Reagan had obvious problems, but he was a clear step up from George W. Bush. I suspect if we get Palin, she'll make W look slightly less horrible by comparison.

Bryant

[HowHasItComeToThis]

29. THEY ARE MOCKING DEMOCRACY

ALL THEIR CANDIDATES ARE CLOWNS OR FREAKS

[applegrove]

32. Yup. The powers that be in the conservative movement like pawns.

[el_bryanto]

33. I can tell you have a forceful argument because you printed it in all caps nt

[dorkulon]

50. THIS IS A TRULY EFFECTIVE WRITING TECHNIQUE

!!!1111!!!! ;-)

[KakistocracyHater]

114. CapsMaster=Kanye

how dare you try to take his place:sarcasm:

[Lasher]

127. Caps lock

[KakistocracyHater]

139. BUT-do you have a button on your bellybutton?

?

[Lasher]

140. NO OF COURSE NOT.

WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT?

Oops, all better now.

[WildEyedLiberal]

122. Dude, can I steal your Data avatar?

That is awesome.

[Naturyl]

146. Yeah. It's hard to imagine anyone worse than Bush

But if anyone could make Bush look good, it would be Palin. She is dumb for the sake of dumbness.

[kenfrequed]

2. Important to remember

We must counter the Great Golden Gipper myth as often as possible. Some Democrats did a piss-poor job of this... some of these self-same Reagan Democrats went on to form the DLC.

[Greyhound]

51. Just look at the founders.

Al From, Chuck Robb, Lawton Chiles, Sam Nunn, Dick Gephardt, and the closest thing to a "token" liberal, Bruce Babbitt.

And where does this august body hail from?

LA, VA, FL, GA, MO, and AZ.

Is it any wonder they are frequently confused with Republiks?

Edit: Got Sam in there twice.

[MNDemNY]

3. Reagan sells crack!

[peekaloo]

4. equal part dumbass/heartless asshole = Republican Icon.

[rurallib]

5. When Reagan was pres, some friends and I would discuss

whether he had Alzheimer's or was just not interested in being president. I have read that Reagan would be dressed and sent out to read a speech before some noontime crowd. For these addresses he would be looking sharp and sentient. The rest of the day he would watch TV. Or he would head a cabinet meeting, then back to the TV.

[csziggy]

52. The guy who investigated the Iran-Contra Affair said by the time he interviewed Reagan

Reagan was so obviously not all there he (the prosecutor) decided there was no point in bringing charges. This was in an interview a long time back on NPR.

The problem I have with this comment is that was at least two years before the end of Reagan's second term if I have the timeline right. And this prosecutor KNEW that the President was incompetent but did nothing. AND he let off Reagan and any other high ups that were involved in the Iran-Contra Affair because Reagan could not be prosecuted.

I never thought Reagan was the least bit competent, Alzheimer's or not. To me he was a talking head, a paid spokesman, and a front for people like Bush I. Reagan gave them plausible deniability and charges rolled off Reagan's back since he was so completely incompetent Alzheimer's could be claimed at any point in his presidency.

[omega minimo]

64. great post. And the public was told he was "too popular" to be impeached.

[csziggy]

75. Reagan was good box office - but nothing more - and the Republicans loved that

And that is what they see in Palin. She's good box office, puts forth a 'pleasing face' that can talk the talk. But she is nothing more and they don't want any more.

And the same as Bush II, I am not sure impeaching Reagan would have done any good since that would have left the real movers in place to keep doing whatever they wanted. I really wonder if in both cases that is actually the primary reason they were not impeached - impeachment would not have changed anything and no one wanted to go far enough down the chain of command to find a clean link.

Impeaching Clinton, on the other hand, gave them a wedge issue that rallied their base and disillusioned enough Democratic voters to give them the semblance that Bush II had been elected.

[omega minimo]

94. Wouldn't investigations and impeachment have touched them also?

That's why you turn over the rock. No one knows who or what will slither out.

[csziggy]

102. They might have been touched but the real powers that be would have still been in place

Sure we could hope that the real baddies will be found out, but I'm not holding my breath. I gave up on the truth coming out with Noxin. I can hope but I'm pessimistic. I do have enough hope to sign up on sites agitating for investigations, but that is about all I expect, lots of petitions with nothing coming of them.

[omega minimo]

104. I don't share that assumption

On the deepest level I understand and agree and yet, I don't assume the upper levels of slime and maggots would not be uprooted.

"I gave up on the truth coming out with Noxin."

The truth did come out. The truth that there is a process for the nation to go through and the lesson in civics provided by the experience.

[csziggy]

106. But who got punished? The little guys not the guys on the top

Noxin got off, thanks to Ford. And look how many of the Noxin era maggots have crawled back to the top of the heap to do further damage to our country. Cheney was one of them. Rumsfeld, Buchanan, and more.

As for the truth coming out with Noxin, not really. Yeah, some know, but ask the vast majority of Americans alive at the time and many of them are still in denial, the same as so many are still in denial of the crimes of the Bush II administration.

We can keep trying, but the older I get the less I am able to believe that the slime and maggots will be gotten rid of - just like weeds unless they are burned thoroughly they will re-root or come back from their evil seed. We just have to keep hacking away at them.

[omega minimo]

111. Do not misunderesitmate the power of the American system in action

:thumbsup:

[okieinpain]

129. and who did that, well the liberal media of course. and that was before

the corporations had bought up everything.

[omega minimo]

138. You're right, except political influence was already there and the corporate buyup had already begun

[Optical.Catalyst]

80. Reagan was also shot, and almost bled to death in 1981

He body was cold, and almost out of blood. It is quite possible that he had some brain damage from lack of oxygen. Still, rather than step down, the Republican powers kept him as a figurehead, even though there was nothing in his head.

[csziggy]

123. Long before that Nixon called Reagan 'limited' in mental capacity

So I don't think Reagan's stupidity was all from being shot. Look for the thread with the quote from James Garner made while Reagan was head of the Screen ACtor's Guild and Garner was VP of it. Reagan was just stupid.

[lfairban]

121. The Curse of Tippecanoe is still intact!!

Ronny didn't really finish his second term.

The lights were on, but there was no body home.

[JHB]

137. You might want to read up a bit more on Lawrence Walsh (the I-C special proescutor)...

...before you dump the failure to prosecute as his feet.

Walsh and his investigation was the target of a full-court smear & obstruct campaign by movement conservatives and the expanding right-wing spin machine. It was a preview of what they turned against Bill Clinton, including many of the same people.

Robet Parry at ConsortiumNews has also highlighted conservative judicial maneuvering that hamstrung Walsh's investigation and later created Ken Starr's Whitewater circus. (An aspect I think is far too underreported, since it's and aspect of the Chief Justice's powers that usually gets overlooked, and in this case was arguably in violation of the special prosecutor law and, had this been pursued, might have established grounds for impeaching Rehnquist.)

http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/story10.html
-----------------
For the next six years, Walsh oversaw a serious-though-plodding probe of that scandal, infuriating Republican leaders, such as Sen. Bob Dole, who favored a tidy cover-up. Walsh's diligence also led to a behind-the-scenes power play by conservative federal judges to undercut Walsh's probe and turn the special prosecutor apparatus into another tool of conservative power.

This legal coup began when hard-line Reagan judges David Sentelle and Laurence Silberman overturned Walsh's felony conviction of Oliver North, by a two-to-one vote, in 1990. Sentelle, a protege of North Carolina's conservative Sen. Jesse Helms, was also part of the panel that reversed the guilty verdicts against North's White House boss, Adm. John Poindexter.

When Walsh moved to appeal the North ruling (which was based an unprecedented application of immunity rules), Walsh was supported by the Justice Department's career appellate division. But Walsh was opposed by Bush's solicitor general, none other than Kenneth Starr.

While the battle over the North case played out, conservative Chief Justice William Rehnquist was fixing the game at another level. He replaced the senior panel that traditionally picked special prosecutors with a new panel run by Sentelle. The revamped panel was in place when Republican Robert Fiske was ousted as Whitewater special prosecutor and was replaced by legal conservative activist Starr.
-----------------------------
Other links on the subject:
http://www.consortiumnews.com/1990s/consor42.html
http://www.consortiumnews.com/1999/c041799b.html
http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/090705.html

(and more: use the search tool on the Consortum home page and search for "Rehnquist", "Sentelle", "Silberman", or "Federalist Society", etc., and you'll find more articles.)

[omega minimo]

61. Well, his problem was

he could never finish his sentience. ;)

[theoldman]

6. With Reagan's acting background, he was the perfect stooge for the wealthy.

I think he was ignorant, not stupid. The mental problems made him easier to control. It's too bad that it took 20 years for Democrats to discover these facts. I knew them in 1980 and could not believe how many Democrats supported Reagan.

[Echo In Light]

30. Same applies to W. Chomsky outlined this tactic decades ago re shadow govt wanting 'dumb' candidates

[omega minimo]

63. Apparently they had Truth Fatigue

:thumbsdown:

[hadrons]

7. As much as I disliked him, I sort of think its cool he saw WarGames ....

"Reagan's only contribution throughout the entire hour and a half was to interrupt somewhere at midpoint to tell us he'd watched a movie the night before, and he gave us the plot from WarGames, the movie. That was his only contribution."
--Lee Hamilton (Representative from Indiana) interviewed by Haynes Johnson, Sleepwalking Through History: America in the Reagan Years

[Robb]

8. An oldie but a goodie

...from SNL:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/4174/saturday-night-live-president-reagan-mastermind

[crim son]

56. Bwahahahahahahah!

What a classic!

[GaYellowDawg]

120. I HATED that skit...

...because there had to be tons of Reagan voters who nodded to themselves and said, "yep, that's how it really is."

[Jennicut]

9. When I was a kid in the mid-80's we all used to joke that Ronnie was losing it

It must have been the Alzheimer's which looking back now is kind of sad. He was not the brightest man but some of his problems had to do with his illness.
I think being an actor, he could easily put on a show but there was little substance underneath.

[okieinpain]

130. hbo had a show on about Alzheimer's and one of the people on there

was like that. his wife would come and pick him up and take him to be with a singing group that he was in and he would perform like nothing was wrong. then as soon as the show was over he would go back to his Alzheimer's condition.

[RaleighNCDUer]

10. He certainly set the standard. And nobody has matched him yet.

Bush was as stupid, but not nearly as charming; Palin is sexier, but dumber.

[theoldman]

13. Bush set the standard for ignorance.

Palin, if elected, will set the new standard for ignorance. Reagan set the standard for con artist.

[tblue37]

15. I don't think Reagan was a con artist. I think he was ignorant and

dumb and suffering from the onset of dementia, but I also think he honestly believed in the crap he was promoting.

[omega minimo]

66. No. He was an absolute phony and a liar.

:puke:

[sabrina 1]

119. I agree ~

[Zhade]

95. You're wrong, of course.

NT!

[astroBspacedog]

89. I don't see Palin as sexy,-

As a matter of fact I'm afraid of her face, -- it really seems to give me a chill when I see it.
But yes I do feel she is more sexy the Reagan or Bush and I'm sure the freeps go totally erotico over her. They probably all have "Palin Pinups",--- similar to the Militia Girls in Bowling for Columbine.

[omega minimo]

91. She's like a Stepford Wife on meth

Her eyes are completely crazy and frightening. She's fiendish.

[Odin2005]

11. K&R

[Ikonoklast]

12. This should be a warning for anyone that thinks the opinions of an actor,

who is a member of any political party, are more valid or should carry any more weight than that of any other citizen.

Just because fame or good looks have given one a soapbax to stand on, doesn't automatically mean anything they say are the actual facts or truth.

Actors play a part, given to them by the people fronting the money for the production.

Reagan is but one example. Empty figurehead who let himself be willingly used by those both powerful and wealthy who stay in the shadows.

[tblue37]

14. I have a book published during the Reagan years entitled

The Clothes Have No President that compiles an endless series of such examples.

I don't doubt that part of the problem was that Reagan was already starting to show signs of Alzheimer's, but there was a less than brilliant foundation to build on there in the first place. My mother dated him a few times when he was "Dutch Reagan," a sportscaster in Iowa. (She met him when she was a waitress at a coffee shop he used to frequent.)

My grandmother, a very smart women in her own right, one who really valued intelligence, told me that she fretted over Mom's interest in Reagan. "Ronnie was a nice boy," she said, "but he wasn't smart." She hated the thought that if their relationship turned serious, she might end up with dumb grandchildren.

My mother was smart, too, but she was only 17 when they were going out, and she was easily swayed by the idea of going out with a handsome local "celebrity."

[omega minimo]

16. "The Clothes Have No Emperor" - Great book - sounds like the OP borrowed heavily.

No credit?

[Berry Cool]

26. I have a copy of that book; it's a treasured part of my library.

I give the author all the credit in the world for doing the incredible amount of work it must have taken in the '80s, using '80s technology, to gather all the the news and video clips he did for every day of the Reagan presidency to compile a portrait of a guy who was completely out of touch. Must have been much harder in the days of no Web, but he did it.

And it saddens me to think that he did it all because he was terrified of--and wanted to make sure this country never made the mistake of--electing a mediocre, mentally out-of-it wealthy white guy to the highest office in the land ever again. Yep, his nightmare was that if we allowed the truth about Reagan to be forgotten, we just might elect someone as unfit for the job as...Dan Quayle.

And the sad part of it all is, we did (well, not really, but...). Only it wasn't Dan Quayle, is all.

[omega minimo]

27. Dedicated "For those who were paying attention."

We knew that if people bought that shit, they'd buy anything. (So did the perpetrators). And they have.

[pnorman]

109. "The Clothes Have No Emperor"

I had that book a while back, but have since lost track of it. But it's cheap enough at Amazon ("Used, Very Good"), so I'll probably order another copy: http://www.amazon.com/Clothes-Have-No-Emperor-Chronicle/dp/0671673394/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248153280&sr=1-1

Thanks for the reminder!

pnorman
On edit: This is probably one of the most useful threads I've seen here in quite a while!

[MidwestTransplant]

17. Because all the Freeper types care about is image. Nothing about substance. Put a cowboy had on an

idiot, have him praise Jesus a few times and he is presidential material to them.

[HowHasItComeToThis]

31. MEDIA HAS DUMBED AMERICA DOWN

[global1]

18. Are We Seeing A Pattern Here?......

All those comments that were made of Reagan could be made about G.W.Bush and now Sarah Palin.

This is the type of person that the Repugs want in power. Basically a populist name or figurehead - that can't think their way out of a paper bag; that is really more interested in themselves; that can be told what to do and what to say by the people behind them that really make all the decisions and run things.

The dumber and more popular - the better.

G.H.W.Bush broke this mold - only because they didn't have anybody ready and he had to take the reins himself. He'd rather remain in the background and pull the strings but couldn't - so he took the lead.

They didn't anticipate that he would lose to Clinton. If he would have been elected to a second term - there would have been no need for his son to run as they would have initiated all the things that Dubya did back in H.Dubya's second term. Clinton put a crimp in their plans - that is why they did everything in their power to discredit Clinton and get him impeached and out of office.

Clinton's eight year term - gave the Repugs/Neocons time to rethink their strategies and hone their plans to bring this country to its knees. When they stole the WH in 2000 - they had everything in place for Dubya (i.e., Patriot Act; wiretapping; wars; how to steal the oil; etc).

They really thought (like Rove predicted) that they'd be in power for a long time. Fortunately for us - Dubya did so bad a job and we had a candidate like Obama in the wings.

Now they are doing everything they can again to discredit Obama and the Dems and they are readying their next 'dunce' to put into power - so behind the scenes again they can continue on their plan of destruction of this country.

Anyway - that's my theory and I'm sticking to it.

[Ikonoklast]

20. Poppy Bush screwed the pooch for them

How can a president that wins a popular war, Iraq I, go on to fail so miserably in the very next election?

The crappy economy blindsided them, and they had no clue as to how to fix it.

'Dunce' is right. They are only running figureheads now. The real powers stay in the shadows.

[Adelante]

19. He was none too bright, that's for sure

But he did have the ability to speak in very simple terms to the fears of extraordinary numbers of Americans. He went into politics at a fearful and divided time, not unlike this one. He was extremely successful at consoling and fortifying Nixon's "Silent Majority" in a way Nixon himself couldn't do. I never bought into it. I couldn't stand Ronald Reagan then or now. But I saw it happen. I'd say he was just smart enough to let other people's brains do the heavy lifting while he tended to the stagecraft.

[Lasher]

21. If I may be so bold, a link to the source website would have been good.

And since I think it's such a great idea I will furnish it:

The Ronald Reagan Years: The Real Ronald Reagan Record (This is the home page; click on Reagan Quotes for the material in the OP)

Other good Saint Ronnie sites:

The Real Reagan Legacy: Debunking Myths About Reagan

Ronald Reagan: The Bonzo Years

Even Reagan Was No Ronald Reagan

More Gloss for the Gipper: The Myth of Reagan's Popularity

And finally here is a good DU article:

Mourning in America: The Reagan Years Were Enough to Make You Cry

[omega minimo]

68. Agreed. Thank you. Here's A Refresher in the Repulsiveness of Ronald Reagan

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=5006983

[VOX]

81. Terrific links. Thanks, Lasher. n/t

[WI_DEM]

22. He was no brainiac that's for sure, but he looked like a president

and that apparently went a long way. Jimmy Carter is one of the brightest men ever to be president, but he also didn't have Reagan's political skills.

[omega minimo]

67. Reagan's skills were only in lying. Carter's weren't. Reagan was a consummate liar. That's all.

[sabrina 1]

117. I don't think Reagan had 'skills'. He

didn't have integrity or honor, so he was willing to do things Jimmy Carter could not have anticipated. Otoh, I suppose you can call a criminal 'skilled' if he gets away with.

Jimmy Carter was undermined, possibly by treasonous acts, regarding the hostages which lost him the presidency. From all I've read about the 1980 election, I believe Reagan and his band of rightwing ideologues, did commit treason by undermining the efforts of a sitting president to get US citizens released from captivity. If that is true, and imo, it is from all I've read, I think that fits the definition of treason.

I can never understand the adulation of this man in this country. I especially do not understand Democrats who go along with it.

[Swede]

23. A casting call for an empty suit.

nt

[KansDem]

24. James Garner on Ronald Reagan

I read James Garner: A Biography by Raymond Strait (St. Martin’s Press: New York, 1985) a few years ago and remember an assessment of Ronald Reagan by James Garner:

Oh, Ronnie, Ronnie, isn’t he wonderful? Listen, I was vice-president of the Screen Actors Guild when he was its president, and we used to tell him what to say. He can talk around a subject better than anyone in the world. He’s never had an original thought that I know of, and we go back a hell of a lot of years. Do you realize I could have been your president?

(page 374)

President James Garner, a real Maverick! :patriot:

[Soylent Brice]

25. thanks for that

it cracks me up reading that, knowing full well that the dementia of one of our worst presidents ever has been documented.

[Kievan Rus]

28. Well, he was our worst President ever, IMHO

Even worse than Dubya.

[PSzymeczek]

112. It's kind of a tie. n/t

[nilram]

34. Thanks. Perfect timing -- I've been saying it's time to rename

Ronald Reagan National Airport to Michael Jackson National Airport.

I wonder if his behavior and lack of inquisitiveness was early symptoms of Alzheimer's? It would be interesting to compare his record as Governor of California to that of his time as President.

[Digit]

99. I call it National Airport and it will always be NA

Period!

[PSzymeczek]

107. Absolutely!

Washington National, and I shall never call it anything else.

[Ichingcarpenter]

35. This makes a great e-mail to send on a chain....

to all the Reaganites that we all know and have in our families, friends and acquaintances.

But most of us real progressives that had lived through Reagan in California already knew
what he stood for long before he got elected as prez.

Bedtime for Bonzo

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

36. It's "salt of the earth", "I'm just like you", populism at it's ugliest.

All of them boasted of their ignorance and complained about the "elites", the "intellectuals", the "know it all's", and glamorized the "common sense" of quick and easy solutions to complex problems.

It is the ideology of the sledge-hammer.

[progressoid]

37. You know, a lot of what is posted here is why the right LOVES him

I received an email from a RWer that praised Ronnie and sadly it read a lot like the quotes above.

Pathetic.

[Ikonoklast]

39. That's because they believe the stupidity in those quotes to be the truth.

Facts and evidence of the actual truth don't intrude very far into those type of people's lives.

[hunter]

38. I'll never get over it. I got to see him once during his second term.

He was an old man who hadn't a clue. He was like some old guy you'd meet wandering aimlessly around a nursing home. All he had left was his handlers and his acting, and it wasn't nearly enough.

But the teevee news and the local newspaper covered the visit as if it was real. They faithfully reported on the event as it had been scripted, not as it was. The papers said nothing of the hideous and overwhelming emptiness of the man, and the television clips were tightly edited not to show it.

I've seen jet lag, I've seen exhaustion, but this was "I don't know where the hell I am, what the hell I am doing here, and who the hell are these people?"

Hollywood camera reflex smile.

I might have felt sorry for him if he'd ever been a good man, a brave man, or an honorable man, but he wasn't. He was a shallow and venal man fading away.

[PSzymeczek]

108. Kind of reminds me of James Stockdale.

"Who am I? What am I doing here?"

[Ardent15]

40. Regardless of his intelligence, he was a puppet...

...who was used to sell the right-wing agenda to the American people, because he was a good actor.

[joeybee12]

41. These are amusing, and then I realzied...damn...this guy was prez

for 8 years.

[slay]

42. Yes, yes he really was that dumb

and the American people that foolish and gullible to ever have voted for that dumbfuck asshole who put us on the path that led to our current state of shittyness.

[santamargarita]

43. Hell yes! That Ape should have been feeding him the bottle

:bluebox:

[Fire Walk With Me]

44. Mistah Spahkoh Des!

Quite possibly the finest forum name I've yet seen :)

PS: Reagan sucks.

[Politicalboi]

45. One would think that

They were talking about Bush jr. We all know Poppy Bush was running the WH from 81-93. And had a hand in Jr. debacle. Poppy is the modern day Hitler.

[DutchLiberal]

46. Richard Nixon called Reagan "a dumb son of a bitch"...

Never thought I'd agree with Richard Nixon one day.

Really, wás Reagan acting president? Or was George H.W. Bush really pulling the strings? Like Cheney was really the one in charge?

[G_j]

47. a pleasure to K&R this

[swilton]

48. Never Over Estimate the Intellect of the American Public

I find that Palin's critics on the far left who so willingly laugh her off totally over estimate the intellect of the American populous at large a la creationists, et. al. and totally underestimate the workings of the main stream press corps. I totally agree with your last point. :hippie:

[Lugnut]

49. Bookmarking.

K&R :kick:

[rucky]

53. Not just dumb. He's also a prick.

That's a pretty lethal combination. At least Nixon had some intelligence to speak of.

[sasquatch]

54. Yes he was, that's why the Boomers loved him

[omega minimo]

69. the Punks hated him

[sasquatch]

74. That's why I love the punks

[omega minimo]

92. the tail end of the Boomers

:hi:


you've seen this?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5006983#5011083

[omega minimo]

97. .

[KamaAina]

55. And yet he's only the second-dumbest pResident in our illustrious history

[BlueMTexpat]

57. Yes. n/t

[Hissyspit]

58. In Search Of Reagan's Brain

[Celtic Merlin]

59. I lived through the Reagan years, and I can tell you that the man was...

...without question, the most inept dolt we ever had as president. Ever. Until George W. Bush came along.

Between them, Reagan and W couldn't generate enough brain power to operate a flashlight.

Reagan was a disaster from which we are still recovering. Bush simply prolonged the agony and made some parts of it even worse.

Celtic Merlin
Carlinist

[Senator]

60. Reagan: "They can impeach me if they want, visiting days are Wednesday.''

Weinberger's reply: "You will not be alone."

How http://www.fas.org/irp/offdocs/walsh/chap_24.htm">dumb can you get? And of course, his epitaph:

"A few months ago I told the American people that I did not trade arms for hostages," Reagan said in a 13-minute speech from the Oval Office. "My heart and my best intentions still tell me that is true, but the facts and evidence tell me it is not."

Glad he cleared that up.

--

[omega minimo]

70. The Big Lie in a nutshell

[specialed]

62. In hindsight...Sarah Palin now makes sense for the GOP...

They always love a fellow dumb ass.

[PatSeg]

65. What a great compilation

Seeing them all together is very powerful.

[omega minimo]

71. Almost as powerful as living through it.

[PatSeg]

82. For me, it is more powerful

While you are living through it, you see everything individually and don't always see the big picture. My memories of the Reagan years are a bit hazy, as I was more focused on trying to survive, than politics. Those were pretty harsh years for me and many of my friends. Guess all that prosperity never trickled down far enough.

[snake in the grass]

72. Too bad that even Dems play the game...

...of making Reagan out to be something more than he was, namely a blathering idiot, who bankrupted the country. Then again, I caught myself often thinking to myself during the Bush years, that the Reagan days were the good old days. The myth has been allowed to fester too long. Reagan doesn't deserve to be on Mt. Rushmore. At the most, they could name a garbage burning facility after him.

[Greyhound]

73. As you've amply demonstrated, yes. n/t

[rasputin1952]

76. The GOP goes straight to the veggie bin to pick candidates...

:eyes:

[IDemo]

77. The moment I remember:

Dutch and Nancy are standing on the tarmac in front of Air force One to take a few questions from the press.

Question - "What are you doing about the hostages (in Iran)?"

Raygun - silence ...........................................

Nancy (whispering from behind) - "We're doing everything we can."

Raygun - "We're doing everything we can."

[dorkulon]

84. I'll never forget that either.

Talk about scary.

[omega minimo]

93. Oh that's right. Good catch. That actually got some press attention.

:applause:

[SnakeEyes]

100. Which hostages?

I'm not here to defend Reagan or anything but the famous Iranian hostages were freed the day he took the oath of office.

[omega minimo]

115. Ignorance is bliss

:puke:

[Art_from_Ark]

124. I don't think that was about the Iran hostages

since they were released on the day he was inaugurated. But that's a whole 'nother story in itself.

[RoccoR5955]

78. K & R... We only got Reagan because John Wayne was dead! n/t

[HughBeaumont]

79. Does anyone else need to pick their jaw up from the ground?

I can vouch for the voting base that put this shittastic puppet in office. People were some bastards in the 80s. Grown adult strangers would insult you and threaten you with physical violence. Bullying in schools was epidemic and encouraged for the future in the workplace. People just generally sucked ass when met with something other than JC-Penney mannequin-looking white people. How many times did I hear the phrases "Grow up, asshole", "Cut your hair, faggot" or "Nobody fucking cares what you think, dick!"?

Reagan was their perfect president, because he was just like them - dumb as a fucking brick, reactionary, callous, cornpone, shallow, sub-moronic, racist, fundamentalpatient, loved to blame the "have-too-littles" for their problems and a warhawk.

Give Sarah Failin' time, though. I think she'll make enough dumb statements in her exposure that top even these two asswipes.

[PSzymeczek]

110. Reagan made me a democrat. n/t

[Naturyl]

147. It's true. I grew up in the 80's

And like everyone, I have a natural tendency to view that decade through rose-colored glasses at times. But in reality, it was a shitty decade. Just as you say, bullying in schools was epidemic and I got plenty of it. I'm no fan of how people behave these days, but it was worse in the 80's, if anything.

[NewJeffCT]

83. Is it any wonder that his presidency featured more

indicted & convicted criminals than all other presidents of the 20th century - combined?

now why do Republicans love this guy so much?

[VOX]

85. Those in CA who suffered St. Ronnie's mega-asshole governorship knew what was in store for the U.S.

Much of his "leadership" in California in the late 1960s was reprehensible, particularly in matters involving the University of California, issues involving freedom of speech, and the burgeoning anti-Vietnam war sentiment. He chose confrontational action on numerous occasions, which only made matters worse. Very dark times in the Golden State.

As president, and with "Poppy" Bush at his side, he worked with many members of the same miserable crew that the cancerous Nixon administration spawned. This cadre (Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove, et al) went on to inflict multiple travesties during the eight long years of Bush II.

On edit: Was Reagan dumb? His acting days gave him a veneer and polish that Shrub never had. But the difference stops there. In office, they were both "suits" who, off camera, handed the ball to some serious criminals, with according results.

[MadMaddie]

86. Reagan the one leader in the free world that could have

unleashed the medical research to find and stop AIDS....but alas Reagan deemed it a gay disiese and didn't have time for it. How many gay and straight lives could have been saved if his administration would have had the courage to do something?

[geckosfeet]

87. That's his good side.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

88. "First Reagan, and then Bush. And now Palin..."

All come to pass because the money players have rigged the game with stooge politicians and mass media control.

An excellent compilation of quotes. K & R

[Historic NY]

90. The Alzheimer's & dementia began long before he left office,..

Mr. President here is your script for today.

[jimlup]

96. By the end of the presidency

they basically had to keep him under wraps because the Alzheimer's had progressed so far.

[mvd]

98. They like all image, no substance

That way they think they can get them elected and then they will do the bidding of big corporations/CIA/their contributors.

[upi402]

101. On Bended Knee: The Press and the Reagan Presidency (great book!)

Like Ted Bundy, an evil man with charm and persuasion, he was the paradigm for modern neocon leaders.
I read 'On Bended Knee' when it came out and watched TV hairdos go to the gala balls with politicians. Cronkite hated that too. And I love Cronkite. FTW

[pitchforksandtorches]

103. I thank His holiness the FSM that the Motherfucker is dead!!

n/t

[omega minimo]

113. the braindead branded "FSM" jackass mentality makes damn sure Reaganite BS is NOT dead.

:evilfrown: go run a shopping cart off a mall roof and tell us how that counters fascism.

[Patchuli]

105. Sick, twisted asshole

and Nancy makes me bilious. That is said as someone who got him as a gov and a sad excuse for a president. How about the one about how "Viet Nam vets are not eligible for benefits" mantra?!!

[caseymoz]

116. They have had an official party rule since 1980

That at least one person on their ticket has to be a lame-brain who is totally unqualified for the job. And, if elected, all of its constituency has to spend 4 years pretending there's nothing wrong with him/her.

They have become a national shame.

[Skittles]

118. he was a fucking idiot

biggest whitewash job in American history

[Mythsaje]

125. He called "ketchup" a vegetable...

while talking about school lunches.

I remember thinking--"Tomatoes aren't even a vegetable, you clueless moron."

[armyowalgreens]

126. Wow. K&R

[mwb970]

128. Reagan was a truly awful president.

The worst thing is, he laid the groundwork for the Bush Disaster and for the twit-worship of Sarah Palin. These two are even dumber than he was!

republicans, get a brain! Morans.

[Tsar_Bomba]

131. Conservatives are delusional

Many conservatives believe Reagan was a great President, this is completely false. Conservatives have over the years, lied and rewritten history as to declare Reagan a saint. This only shows that conservatives are unwilling to see the truth and must be prevented from participating in Government in any way. Our country and the hard working poor and middle class deserve a Government that works for them not rules over them.

[vincent_vega_lives]

132. Source please? (n/t)

[madrchsod]

133. my dad called him a "big dumb mick" back in his high school days

my dad just shook his head when Ronny was elected....

[valerief]

134. This is a fabulous collection. Thanks so much!

[YOY]

135. The dams on the Reagan Myth are easy to break down.

Just crack a history book and you start to see the lies put forth by the Republican party about this "legendary leader" and his "popularity".

Problem is everyone needs to have that dam broken down as it's been put in our collective minds that he was some sort of perfect president.

[MajorChode]

142. The reason why he is so loved by the right is because they can identify with his mediocrity

It's the same attraction as Palin or "Joe the plumber". The dipshits on the right want to be led by people who are just as dumb as they are.

What you have to remember is that the backbone of the right is rural America. In many of these communities, people with education and intelligence are shunned. Stupidity and ignorance are a virtue.

[ieoeja]

136. He tried to stop the expansion of capitalism into Russia.

Of course, that is a common Rightist flaw. National security issues are never more complex than a game of Risk. Nothing matters but the size of your military and the territory you control.

The Soviet Union was the enemy. Capitalistic reforms would help the Soviet Union grow stronger. So we must stop them from embracing capitalism.

You'd have thought at least ONE person in the Reagan White House would have pointed out why we were fighting the Soviet Union in the first place.

[comtec]

141. k for more reading later

and @ home

[pnorman]

143. Thanks. i've been looking for something like this for a while!

n/t

pnorman

[Naturyl]

144. For a lot of these people, the dumber the better.

Anti-intellectualism is an American tradition.

[dysfunctional press]

145. it is DISGUSTING and GALLING that many of us had to endure 8 YEARS of that lunacy...

and then ANOTHER 8 of the most recent slow-witted manchild.

what the fuck is wrong with this goddamn country?

[RFKHumphreyObama]

148. And yet America hero-worships him

He has an airport and numerous monuments named after him, there is a campaign to put his face on money and goodness knows what else. I can't help wondering, after the next Republican President gets into office, whether Washington DC will be named Reaganland for something like that. I wouldn't put it past them. And now they are planning to have a commemoration year in 2011 to mark the celebration of Reagan's 100th Birthday. Heck, even Lincoln and Roosevelt didn't get that!

[Douglas Carpenter]

149. indeed he was, but in comparison - George W. made hims almost seen insightful