Thought I was off-base suggesting the Bushies would attempt to co-opt Reagan’s death for their own cynical re-election purposes?
Take a look at www.GeorgeWBush.com – “The Official Re-Election Site for George W. Bush” as of this moment.
Tacky? Extremely. Surprising? Not anymore.
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Ugh.
This should have been a link off his home page, not the other way around.
You think they’d have learned from the Dems. Wellstone disaster.
Wellstone funeral was a disaster and a political disaster yet Brad said they could do what they wanted. So [Reagan is a Republican and Bush is a Republican], why not honor Reagan?
"He was dying for years and the day came and somehow it came as
a blow. Not a loss but a blow. How could this be? Maybe we were
all of us more loyal to him, and to the meaning of his life, than
we quite meant to be. And maybe it’s more. … Ronald Reagan told
the truth to a world made weary by lies. He believed truth was the
only platform on which a better future could be built. He shocked
the world when he called the Soviet Union ‘evil,’ because it was, and an ’empire,’ because it was that, too. He never stopped
bringing his message to the people of the world, to Europe and China and in the end the Soviet Union. And when it was over, the Berlin Wall had been turned into a million concrete souvenirs,
and Soviet communism had fallen. But of course it didn’t fall.
It was pushed. By Mr. Know Nothing Cowboy Gunslinger Dimwit.
All presidents should be so stupid. … What an era his was.
What a life he lived. He changed history for the better and
was modest about it. He didn’t bray about his accomplishments
but saw them as the work of the American people. He did not see
himself as entitled, never demanded respect, preferred talking to hotel doormen rather than State Department functionaries because he thought the doormen brighter and more interesting. When I pressed him once, a few years out of the presidency, to say what he thought the meaning of his presidency was, he answered, reluctantly, that it might be fairly said that he ‘advanced the boundaries of freedom in a world more at peace with itself.’ And so he did. And what could be bigger than that?" –Peggy Noonan
Who said they couldn’t honor Reagan? What are you talking about, Paul? Honoring is one thing. Leeching onto his memory for one’s own political aggrandizement, especially since it’s so wholly inaccurate, is another.
Peggy Noonan said, and Paul, like the dutiful, uninteresting, predictable, unquestioning foot-soldier he is, copied and parroted:
"Ronald Reagan told the truth to a world made weary by lies. He believed truth was the only platform on which a better future could be built."
Which truth is that, specifically? When he said "we did NOT trade arms for hostages"? Or when he said that he would not pull out of Beirut (only to pull out shortly thereafter)? Or when he said he would "protect and defend the Constitution of the United States" before breaking the very laws of the United States?
Let me know! Thanks!
> Honoring is one thing. Leeching onto his memory for one’s own political aggrandizement, especially since it’s so wholly inaccurate, is another.
Go back to Wellstone and that Democratic Pep Rally which you approved of at the time. Can I say Hypocrite?
They celebrated his life and legacy. I don’t believe that any Democratic Candidate removed their own website in lieu of a Paul Wellstone page.
More to the point, I can think of any Democrats who attempted to co-opt Wellstone’s legacy in lieu of their own. Can you?
So, I’m sorry, what’s your point again in comparing this to Wellstone’s death? (Other than Rush was trying to do the same thing all day today? And you are genetically disposed to spreading his seed?)
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/...cle_4667.shtml
As the nation prepares to bury former President Ronald Reagan, Republican insiders fight among themselves over plans by the political team of President George W. Bush to use images of and speeches by Reagan in new television ads aimed at jump-starting a faltering campaign.
“They’re disgusting,” says one long-time Republican who participated in a focus group to preview the new television ads. “They dishonor the memory of Ronald Reagan and if President Bush allows these ads on the air I, for one, will not vote for him in November.”
The ads, ordered up by Bush political advisor Karl Rove immediately after Reagan’s death last Saturday, use images of Reagan and excerpts from his speeches in what one angry GOP conservative describes as a “callous attempt to tie George W. Bush to the legacy of Ronald Wilson Reagan.”
One proposed ad even goes so far as to show Reagan saying “George, go out and win one for the Gipper.” The clip comes from Reagan’s speech to the 1988 Republican National Convention where the former President’s request was to Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush, in his successful 1988 run for President.
Wow…stunning. You’ll already note the return of the clip from the old Bush clips (from a few months ago) "I’m an optimist at heart" and at the end accusing Kerry of being a "pessemist".
George W. Bush: Will say anything to be elected.
Another Reagan inconsistency (if not a lie): While running for President, he made statements to the affect that government can not spend more money than it takes in.
He then proceeded to cut government income while greatly increasing spending. The attempted bankrupting of America is something Bush and Reagan share in common. That and making Big Government bigger while cutting all the services that do Americans any good.
But the worst part of the Reagan legacy is that he convinced the people of this nation that the federal government was separate from and in opposition to the people of the United States.
A truly great U.S. President once hoped “…that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”
Ronald Wilson Reagan tried to convince us it already had.
Ever think you don’t like what our government is doing? Look in the mirror; you are the government.
I knew that someone named Paul had to be brilliant! Congratulations, you’ve restored honor and dignity to the name, Other Paul!
Other Paul,
I don’t see how "restoring government income" or as I like to call it, "taking my paycheck" will make things better.
I say cut spending, cut taxes, knock off all this government intrusion into the homes and bedrooms of America, let me watch and listen to what I want, when I want, and just leave me the hell alone.
Sadly, neither party can do this.
Keep that in mind, Teddy, as you’re driving to work on the potholed Government roads, driving over unsafe Government bridges, bringing your child to underfunded Government schools, and watching Americans die in Iraq (who, though underpaid, are at least able to get over there due to your tax dollars, or more appropriately, those of your grandchildren).
When you are otherwise willing and able to do without Police and Fire Departments in your town, let me know. Until then, I believe it’s perfectly appropriate to take some of "your paycheck" in order to preserve the freedoms you love, and supply you with the liberties and special benefits (like Libraries or Antibiotics when you enjoy your next whiff of Anthrax) that you’ve likely grown to take for granted and have forgotten how such things are here for your enjoyment in the first place.
Teddy, if only the Republicans WOULD cut spending. As it is, they just keep shovelling more and more of our money into the pockets of the President’s and VEEP’s billionaire buddies.
Of course, with both major parties running Billionaires for President, I don’t see that trend changing soon.
But what are we supposed to do, vote for LaRouche?
Touche, O.P.!
How many of those rabid Reagan Lovers out there actually understand that Reagan increased taxes over his term?
At this point, as the hagiography settles in, I doubt very many. Certainly not the F.P. ("First Paul")!
Congress controlled by Democrats. For every $1 we sent in, they spent $1.80. They promised to cut spending, but it never happened.
I see. And what are those numbers like in the 10 years since Republicans have controlled the entire Congress? Get back to me. Hypocrite.