They all stood in the shadow of Reagan...

[kentuck]

One of the most hyped Presidents of our lifetimes and also, one of the worst. But not one Republican out of a million would admit to Reagan's failures.

Ronald Reagan was the leader in preaching lower taxes and less government. Deficits were never a problem until Reagan ran them through the roof. He believed in the superiority of the American military, also, until 246 Marines were blown up in Beirut. It was tragic. But Americans tend to overlook the Reagan policies that have hypnotized the Republicans for 3 decades now and has turned the Republican philosophy into the Gospel of Saint Ronnie.

No one can rationally explain the Republican Party's affinity for Ronald Reagan. They needed a hero and Ronnie came riding by on a white horse at just the right time. He lassoed their hearts and captured their loyalties.

Unfortunately, it is a false and destructive legacy. The reason we are so far in debt today can be directly traced to the low taxes and big spending philosophy of Ronald Reagan. He believed if you could spend enough, then there would be nothing left for social programs. He hated big government. Present-day Republicans still believe this and have taken our country to the edge of bankruptcy and collapse. Worse still, they want to continue Reagan's ideas.

Every candidate on the stage last night tried to out-Reagan everyone else. It was rather pitiful that the only straw they had to grasp was the illusion of Ronald Reagan. Reality shall never interfere with their governance.

[baldguy]

1. Our leaders have to stop praising Reagan

but just bury him.

[kentuck]

2. They can't stop the Republicans from worshipping him but....

They can tell the truth about his destructive ideology.

[Historic NY]

3. Only one had good enough hair!

[MarianJack]

4. The Reason They Don't Look at the failures is two-fold.

1. If a republican does it, it's OK. It might even be wonderful!

2. They don't remember the POLICIES when they think of Saint ronnie. They look at the image. Remember how large a part of the 80s the "image is everything" mindset was? They are thinking of the cowboy actor who rode in on his horse, rounded up the baddies and rode off into the sunset to become the national grandfather (who didn't remember who his son and grandchildren were at a White House event).

To illustrate that reagan was all about image, I remember seeing poll after poll during thew 1984 election campaign that showed, issue for issue, the public was very close to Walter Mondale's views, sometimes substantially. In spite of this, the race was never even remotely competitive, even after the first debate where reagan was CLEARLY senile.

Of course, it also didn't help that the "liberal" media was pining for a reagan landslide from late 1983.

My point is, the current republican "confederacy of dunces" doesn't care about reagan policies, they want to emulate his image.

PEACE!

[MisterP]

5. don't forget the 300K in Central America: he's like America's Milošević