US darling Ronald Reagan called black people "monkeys"

pearljammr78 said:

I’ll quote Killer Mike on this one. 

I got got four words for you. 
I’m glad Reagan’s dead!

brianlux said:

jeffbr said:

brianlux said:

bbiggs said:

brianlux said:

bbiggs said:

I don’t know of any President that did everything right. To be fair, I think Reagan did a lot of good during his Presidency as well.  An unpopular opinion in these parts, no doubt.  I’m sure I’ll be asked to elaborate. If so, I’ll have to do so at a later time.  Just taking a couple minute break while at work. 

At your leasure, b., but yes, I'd be interested in hearing what you thought Reagan did right. 

Reagan had fans or partial fans who were not all right wing republicans, including Neil Young:

AMSTERDAM INTERVIEW - 1989

INT: You have been known to support Reagan, which a lot of fans thought you were going right wing, and then I think in Rolling Stone you said you weren't very fond of Bush. I was wondering why you apparently changed political views?

NEIL: Because that's only an apparent thing. I don't have a view, I have an opinion that changes because everyday is a different day. I'm not a liberal or a conservative. I'm not like that. With Reagan, some things he did were terrible, some things he did were great. Most people tend to take a president and say you hate...he does one thing you really don't like. Like he builds excessive amounts of warheads or something. So you write him off completely. Which I think is completely stupid. And I think, is very narrow minded.

Anyone can have an opinion and be right, like you don't want warheads on earth. I agree with that, but that is a decision that he made to do that and I disagree with that. On the other hand there are other things that he did that I agreed with. And because I had the ability to say what I feel, people only write part of it, because its news that I would agree with Reagan. So they say Neil Young supports Reagan, so fuck 'em, I don't care what they do.

I respect the right of others to think he was OK as long as they respect my right to think otherwise (which I would guess you do, bbiggs )

Interesting Neil Young interview there, Brian. Pretty cool. And I absolutely respect your opinion.  You’re one of the biggest class acts on the forums, so you definitely get my respect. 

I was just about to turn 8 years old when Reagan’s second term ended, so my views are more based on what I’ve pulled from history than my first hand accounts as a little guy. Although, I do have fond memories of him as President and remember having a sense of pride that he was the leader of our country. 

To get to the point though, I give him credit for his part in ending the Cold War, first and foremost.  Second, I do think his economic policies had a positive impact overall. He inherited near-record inflation levels and successfully brought them down along with unemployment.  Millions (16ish?) of jobs were added on his watch. It was mentioned that he contributed to widening the wealth gap. I haven’t seen the metrics on this, but I’d like to see how that gap stacks up to today. Not just under Trump, but under Obama as well, to be fair.  I feel there was more of a middle class in Reagan’s era than we’ve had in the last 10 years. 

To sum it up, I think he carried himself with dignity as President (despite the recent comments that surfaced), which doesn’t mean shit for his accomplishments, but it sure beats the alternative of the behavior of the jack ass in office today.   

Thanks for kind words, b.  I often feel like my jerky side shows up to often so I keep trying to be better.

What's kind of sad to me about Reagan is that even back at that time, I really wanted to like the guy.  He had a nice smile, a warmth to his voice, a pleasantness to his demeanor much of the time.  I kind of felt like if he had come from a different time and place and had different influences throughout his life, maybe he would have been someone who truly did do great things. It's like I want to like him in a different dimension or an alternate universe.   But his record stands and as a public figure I think he was (at least mostly) a failed leader.  But outside public life- who could ask for a better dad or mate? 

History is funny, isn't it? I know why Reagan was elected and I voted for him for his first term. It was my first time voting. It was a super easy decision. We had a bumbling peanut farmer who created a malaise in this country. As I high school kid I never thought I'd own a home and worried about affording anything. Inflation and interest rates were both double digits with no relief in sight. There was gas rationing, and long lines to get gas. That isn't something I was happy about as a kid just getting ready to become an adult. So I pulled the trigger for a guy who restored respect and enthusiasm in the country. The country exhibited pride and strength rather than the doom, gloom and weakness that hung over it previously.

Looking back, I now have nothing but respect for Carter. He was out of his element as president, didn't understand how to delegate, etc... but he was a good man with a big heart. He has turned into a tremendous statesman and I have the utmost respect for him. History hasn't been quite so kind to Reagan in my opinion. He was clearly suffering from dementia toward the end of his presidency, his trickle-down economic theory (aka Reaganomics)  has been shown to be voodoo economics, as his former VP once called it. But I, like you, agree that he was probably a great dad and loving spouse. He was definitely misguided in many ways, and as others have said, we're still paying the price for some of that.

You are so right, Jeff, Carter was a bit out of his element.  I think he would have gotten better if he had a second term but of course we'll never know.  But his life-work deserves nothing but respect.  Lots of love here for Jimmy Carter.

Halifax2TheMax said:

brianlux said:

jeffbr said:

brianlux said:

bbiggs said:

brianlux said:

bbiggs said:

I don’t know of any President that did everything right. To be fair, I think Reagan did a lot of good during his Presidency as well.  An unpopular opinion in these parts, no doubt.  I’m sure I’ll be asked to elaborate. If so, I’ll have to do so at a later time.  Just taking a couple minute break while at work. 

At your leasure, b., but yes, I'd be interested in hearing what you thought Reagan did right. 

Reagan had fans or partial fans who were not all right wing republicans, including Neil Young:

AMSTERDAM INTERVIEW - 1989

INT: You have been known to support Reagan, which a lot of fans thought you were going right wing, and then I think in Rolling Stone you said you weren't very fond of Bush. I was wondering why you apparently changed political views?

NEIL: Because that's only an apparent thing. I don't have a view, I have an opinion that changes because everyday is a different day. I'm not a liberal or a conservative. I'm not like that. With Reagan, some things he did were terrible, some things he did were great. Most people tend to take a president and say you hate...he does one thing you really don't like. Like he builds excessive amounts of warheads or something. So you write him off completely. Which I think is completely stupid. And I think, is very narrow minded.

Anyone can have an opinion and be right, like you don't want warheads on earth. I agree with that, but that is a decision that he made to do that and I disagree with that. On the other hand there are other things that he did that I agreed with. And because I had the ability to say what I feel, people only write part of it, because its news that I would agree with Reagan. So they say Neil Young supports Reagan, so fuck 'em, I don't care what they do.

I respect the right of others to think he was OK as long as they respect my right to think otherwise (which I would guess you do, bbiggs )

Interesting Neil Young interview there, Brian. Pretty cool. And I absolutely respect your opinion.  You’re one of the biggest class acts on the forums, so you definitely get my respect. 

I was just about to turn 8 years old when Reagan’s second term ended, so my views are more based on what I’ve pulled from history than my first hand accounts as a little guy. Although, I do have fond memories of him as President and remember having a sense of pride that he was the leader of our country. 

To get to the point though, I give him credit for his part in ending the Cold War, first and foremost.  Second, I do think his economic policies had a positive impact overall. He inherited near-record inflation levels and successfully brought them down along with unemployment.  Millions (16ish?) of jobs were added on his watch. It was mentioned that he contributed to widening the wealth gap. I haven’t seen the metrics on this, but I’d like to see how that gap stacks up to today. Not just under Trump, but under Obama as well, to be fair.  I feel there was more of a middle class in Reagan’s era than we’ve had in the last 10 years. 

To sum it up, I think he carried himself with dignity as President (despite the recent comments that surfaced), which doesn’t mean shit for his accomplishments, but it sure beats the alternative of the behavior of the jack ass in office today.   

Thanks for kind words, b.  I often feel like my jerky side shows up to often so I keep trying to be better.

What's kind of sad to me about Reagan is that even back at that time, I really wanted to like the guy.  He had a nice smile, a warmth to his voice, a pleasantness to his demeanor much of the time.  I kind of felt like if he had come from a different time and place and had different influences throughout his life, maybe he would have been someone who truly did do great things. It's like I want to like him in a different dimension or an alternate universe.   But his record stands and as a public figure I think he was (at least mostly) a failed leader.  But outside public life- who could ask for a better dad or mate? 

History is funny, isn't it? I know why Reagan was elected and I voted for him for his first term. It was my first time voting. It was a super easy decision. We had a bumbling peanut farmer who created a malaise in this country. As I high school kid I never thought I'd own a home and worried about affording anything. Inflation and interest rates were both double digits with no relief in sight. There was gas rationing, and long lines to get gas. That isn't something I was happy about as a kid just getting ready to become an adult. So I pulled the trigger for a guy who restored respect and enthusiasm in the country. The country exhibited pride and strength rather than the doom, gloom and weakness that hung over it previously.

Looking back, I now have nothing but respect for Carter. He was out of his element as president, didn't understand how to delegate, etc... but he was a good man with a big heart. He has turned into a tremendous statesman and I have the utmost respect for him. History hasn't been quite so kind to Reagan in my opinion. He was clearly suffering from dementia toward the end of his presidency, his trickle-down economic theory (aka Reaganomics)  has been shown to be voodoo economics, as his former VP once called it. But I, like you, agree that he was probably a great dad and loving spouse. He was definitely misguided in many ways, and as others have said, we're still paying the price for some of that.

You are so right, Jeff, Carter was a bit out of his element.  I think he would have gotten better if he had a second term but of course we'll never know.  But his life-work deserves nothing but respect.  Lots of love here for Jimmy Carter.

I wonder how many houses he’s helped build with Habitat for Humanity? Also, first POTUS to refuse secret service protection upon leaving office saving US taxpayers some coin.