Reagan

[Ronin]

Are we talking about the real guy or the "deified" version the American right wing made up in following years?

[drone]

When compared to his predecessor, Reagan was a superb president.

Bush 41 was better though, looking back I think he was probably the best one in my lifetime (Nixon to present).

[Skullheadhq]

When compared to his predecessor, Reagan was a superb president. .

What's wrong with Carter anyway?

[drone]

What's wrong with Carter anyway?

He's history's greatest monster!

All joking aside, Carter (the person) is fine. The Carter administration was less than successful.

[a completely inoffensive name]

When compared to his predecessor, Reagan was a superb president.

Bush 41 was better though, looking back I think he was probably the best one in my lifetime (Nixon to present).

Carter was more intellectual and had better ideas (still does) about where America should be investing for its future. Some of his speeches are brilliant. The problem of his administration was mismanagement, he was too hands off because he didn't want to be characterized as another Nixon controlling everything. Also he was voted as an outsider looking to change the way Washington operated from Nixon and before in secrecy so the establishment immediately had to make sure any of wishes were promptly printed out and then put in the shredder.

Reagan had no good policies, he committed borderline crimes but he had the best PR machine of any president ever to date. So everyone thinks he was great. He stood "strong" and was "defiant" against enemies. Carter tried but couldn't do ****. Reagan took us backwards and fed us lots of **** along the way.

[ELITEofWARMANGINGERYBREADMEN88]

Sound like Thracter and Reagan are despised in thier respective nations I seen over the years and now in this thread 'bout Ronny.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Sound like Thracter and Reagan are despised in thier respective nations I seen over the years and now in this thread 'bout Ronny.

No, the majority of Americans still love Reagan.

[drone]

No, the majority of Americans still love Reagan.

Indeed. Which should come to no surprise considering how thoroughly he steamrolled Mondale in 1984. Reagan got "results", good things happened on his watch. How many of these good things can be attributed to his actions is up for debate.

[Ice]

Indeed. Which should come to no surprise considering how thoroughly he steamrolled Mondale in 1984. Reagan got "results", good things happened on his watch. How many of these good things can be attributed to his actions is up for debate.

It bothers me when people link the end of the communism directly to Reagan and his military spending. They act like he USSR was performing excellent until Reagan came along and kicked some commie ***.

It also bothers me that his retreat from Lebanon and his sponsership of right wing death squads in Latin America is also overlooked. I could go on, but I'll stop here and agree that his PR machine was excellent while the actual man was far from it.

Edit:

While I disagree with a one or two, the rest I think are spot on:

[PanzerJaeger]

Sound like Thracter and Reagan are despised in thier respective nations I seen over the years and now in this thread 'bout Ronny.

This board skews highly toward the Left. I would be wary of making any judgments about the American consensus from the Backroom.

It also bothers me that his retreat from Lebanon and his sponsership of right wing death squads in Latin America is also overlooked. I could go on, but I'll stop here and agree that his PR machine was excellent while the actual man was far from it.

The very existence, not to mention the extent, organization, allegiance, and direct US knowledge/funding of the supposed ‘death squads of Nicaragua’ are all, of course, highly debatable and should be viewed in the context of the greater Cold War.

[Strike For The South]

I would like to point out every president commits "borderline crimes" you only happen to look the other way if it's your guy.

Reagan was what America needed at the time, someone to inspire enough confidence to push over the top and finally shake the Russkies. A great president? who knows. A man who surrounded himself with comptent people and played the game with the best of them? Sure.

ICE your cartoon fails to mention that most of those slides were standing US policy since the late 40s

[Furunculus]

I would like to point out every president commits "borderline crimes" you only happen to look the other way if it's your guy.

Reagan was what America needed at the time, someone to inspire enough confidence to push over the top and finally shake the Russkies. A great president? who knows. A man who surrounded himself with comptent people and played the game with the best of them? Sure.

ICE your cartoon fails to mention that most of those slides were standing US policy since the late 40s

good summation, i'm with you on this.

[jabarto]

The very existence, not to mention the extent, organization, allegiance, and direct US knowledge/funding of the supposed ‘death squads of Nicaragua’ are all, of course, highly debatable and should be viewed in the context of the greater Cold War.

I can't believe I just witnessed apologetics for the torture and murder of a quarter-million people. I seriously have no idea how to respond to this.

[PanzerJaeger]

I can't believe I just witnessed apologetics for the torture and murder of a quarter-million people. I seriously have no idea how to respond to this.

How about with some proof.

2. Charlie Wilson exacerbated it by funding the Mujahideen in Afghanistan.

Charlie Wilson's war was going nowhere fast until someone personally approved sending hundreds of Stinger missiles to the Mujahideen. Guess who that was?

Casey's visit was a prelude to a secret Reagan administration decision in March 1985, reflected in National Security Decision Directive 166, to sharply escalate U.S. covert action in Afghanistan, according to Western officials. Abandoning a policy of simple harassment of Soviet occupiers, the Reagan team decided secretly to let loose on the Afghan battlefield an array of U.S. high technology and military expertise in an effort to hit and demoralize Soviet commanders and soldiers. Casey saw it as a prime opportunity to strike at an overextended, potentially vulnerable Soviet empire.

It takes a master in ideological gymnastics to try and separate Reagan from the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan.

The problem, Cannistraro said, was that as the Soviets moved to escalate, the U.S. aid was "just enough to get a very brave people killed" because it encouraged the mujaheddin to fight but did not provide them with the means to win.

Conservatives in the Reagan administration and especially in Congress saw the CIA as part of the problem. Humphrey, the former senator and a leading conservative supporter of the mujaheddin, found the CIA "really, really reluctant" to increase the quality of support for the Afghan rebels to meet Soviet escalation. For their part, CIA officers felt the war was not going as badly as some skeptics thought, and they worried that it might not be possible to preserve secrecy in the midst of a major escalation. A sympathetic U.S. official said the agency's key decision-makers "did not question the wisdom" of the escalation, but were "simply careful."

In March 1985, President Reagan signed National Security Decision Directive 166, and national security adviser Robert D. McFarlane signed an extensive annex, augmenting the original Carter intelligence finding that focused on "harassment" of Soviet occupying forces, according to several sources. Although it covered diplomatic and humanitarian objectives as well, the new, detailed Reagan directive used bold language to authorize stepped-up covert military aid to the mujaheddin, and it made clear that the secret Afghan war had a new goal: to defeat Soviet troops in Afghanistan through covert action and encourage a Soviet withdrawal.

The new covert U.S. assistance began with a dramatic increase in arms supplies -- a steady rise to 65,000 tons annually by 1987, according to Yousaf -- as well as what he called a "ceaseless stream" of CIA and Pentagon specialists who traveled to the secret headquarters of Pakistan's ISI on the main road near Rawalpindi, Pakistan.