Quote from dgabriel:
The idea that Reagan was the greatest American president is American Shahafism at its most florid.[/i]
I believe it's "Sahaf," not "Shahaf," but I agree that the statement is a bit overdone.
The demise of communism and the advent of Reagan is a happy
coincidence. Communism was a bankrupt, fatally ill system in the first place. On the precipice, the pinkos got a shove from Ronnie at best.
History does not reveal its alternatives. We have no idea how, say, four more years of Carterism, or Kennedyism, or any other policy alternative might have played out. No one individual, even the President of the USA, is solely responsible for any great event of history, but Reagan's "shove" may have hastened the fall of the Soviet Union. The Soviets themselves credit him with having convinced them that they would lose the arms race, and go bankrupt in trying to stay credible.
Just to give one example, I remember well - because I was on the other side politically (no, I wasn't running the USSR) - how Reagan stared down all the geniuses who were sure that the the American decision to place intermediate range nuclear missiles in Western Europe would take us to annihilation. Instead, contary to all the predictions of all the Trader556's, bungriders, msfe's of those days - who also thought Reagan was stupid, or insane, or evil, or whatever - the Russians backed down.
And in the Reagan era:
Authorized the trade of arms with Iran.
For a man who professed to seek to get government out of peoples lives, he put the brutal arm of government in many.
Underbelly to his tax reductions: Set loose the IRS on a collection rampage that destroyed 1000s of small businesses and lives.
Expanded and promoted asset seizure that went way out of control. Ed Meese ignored pleas to reign it in.
Spent too much, ran up an enormous deficit.
Willfully violated the Boland Amendment and flouted congressional mandates, violating his solemn oath of office.
Had a more scandal ridden Administration than Nixon.
Installed a judiciary and an Attorney General that systematically attacked civil rights legislation and civil rights legal precedents.
Was asleep during more cabinet meetings than the Japanese Prime Minister in Tokyo, whose clock is 12 hour different from EST.
Fought to allow assault rifles to not be regulated.
Apart from that he was the best, just like "apart from some technicalities, Iraq has achieved victory"
Absolutely the greatest president of the 20th century, of the screen actors guild.
What a bunch of warm beer: I doubt that even Boland, if he's still alive, is very upset about the possible violation of his dubious Amendment, and comparing the numerous small scandals of the Reagan Administration to Watergate is downright silly (even setting aside the questionable character of some of the accusations).
I think Reagan was flawed. I think his Administration and many of his policies were flawed. I don't think he was the greatest President ever, but I do think he was a strong leader - strong on charisma, strong in a few very important respects if weak in many other regards - and helped to re-awaken and re-vitalize the country at a time that many felt it had completely lost its confidence and sense of purpose.
As for the idiotic discussion of Bush that's taken place here, I think it's clear that, like most extremely successful politicians, he possesses genius-level emotional intelligence, and most Americans would much prefer what they see in his character - that he says what he means, and does what he says he's going to do, and that he doesn't care what his enemies are blathering about him - to the verbal intelligence of, say, Al Gore, Jr.
