News & Current Events

[andy]

That sounds like bad management, doodler.

[kathy]

I always was an independent, and I always liked Pres. Reagan.  He grew on me and made me smile.  In my eyes, he was never mean nor condescending like cheney-bush were/are to other peoples with different cultures and histories around the world, and he wasn't a warmongerer/ liar like them.  Also, he didn't engage in certain types of sex acts in the oval office with an intern as clinton did.  Oh, real role models they were.   

Maybe I was or thought I was happy during those eight years of Reagan. Seeing him on TV, his speeches, going to the helicopter, etc., and especially in 1984 when the beautiful Princess Diana, HRH, made her visit (with that cheating husband).  He was natural, likeable, and really a great communicator.  Of course he made mistakes, who of  them doesn't?  But bowing down to the military/industrial/cia complex wasn't one of them!  (He also almost died from that bullet fired by hinckley; james baker's life was ruined forever). 

Bush I was next with his war, clinton next with his co-president big-mouth wife and intern, then eight dictatorship years of cheney/bush II with their two wars.   Now there's this one who broke every campaign promise he made to get elected, and is following exactly what cheney/bush did.  Nice. 

p.s.  Also thought he was a good actor too.  Oh well.  To each his own. 

 
   

[CellarDweller115]

Now there's this one who broke every campaign promise he made to get elected, and is following exactly what cheney/bush did.  Nice. 

Hiya Kathy.

Not trying to get into a big political debate here, but perhaps this site should be seen.

http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/

This site states that they're tracking the more than 500 promises that President Obama made on the campaign trail.

Of those promises, he has kept 113 of the promises.  He has compromised on 34 of them.  He has broken only 19. 253 are in the works, and 82 have stalled.

Here is a link to the promises kept.

http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises/rulings/promise-kept/

[kathy]

   Thx, chuck.
I'll look them up.
kathy 

[Ellen (tellyouwhat)]

I still like Hillary Clinton.

I still like Obama too.

Never liked Reagan, but it's true he was more of a patriot than George W. Bush.  I mean, I didn't agree with Reagan, but I believe he would have put the long range goals of the U.S. ahead of the short range political gains.  The Bush/Cheney crowds were not patriots.

So I was happier in the Reagan years because that was before politics became turbo-polarized, and we got to rest in between elections.

I liked Bill Clinton too.  Still do.

[BayCityJohn]

So I was happier in the Reagan years because that was before politics became turbo-polarized, and we got to rest in between elections.

i was happier in the Reagan years because I eas getting laid. Well and often.

But not nearly as happy as I was during the Carter years.

[chapeaugris]

^^    Is that why they say politics is local?

[andy]

Does that mean you were getting laid twice as much in the Carter years, John?

[janjo]

I still like Hillary Clinton.

I still like Obama too.

Never liked Reagan, but it's true he was more of a patriot than George W. Bush.  I mean, I didn't agree with Reagan, but I believe he would have put the long range goals of the U.S. ahead of the short range political gains.  The Bush/Cheney crowds were not patriots.

So I was happier in the Reagan years because that was before politics became turbo-polarized, and we got to rest in between elections.

I liked Bill Clinton too.  Still do.

From the UK point of view.

I liked Bill Clinton.
I like Hilary Clinton.
I love Obama.

When I think of Ronald Reagan I just remember the "Spitting Image" animation "The President's Brain is Missing," which is rather unkind, in light of the fact that he ended up with Alzheimers Disease.
But there it is, that's the thought that comes to my mind.

[BayCityJohn]

Does that mean you were getting laid twice as much in the Carter years, John?

at least.

[doodler]

That sounds like bad management, doodler.

It's the US government.

[doodler]

As far back as 1999, BP told the truth...
This is an actual ad:

[Rosewood]

I still like Hillary Clinton.

I still like Obama too.

Never liked Reagan, but it's true he was more of a patriot than George W. Bush.  I mean, I didn't agree with Reagan, but I believe he would have put the long range goals of the U.S. ahead of the short range political gains.  The Bush/Cheney crowds were not patriots.

So I was happier in the Reagan years because that was before politics became turbo-polarized, and we got to rest in between elections.

I liked Bill Clinton too.  Still do.

Me too, Ellen.
I am in Obama's camp.

I also liked the Clintons then and still like them now. Nobody's perfect. And honestly, they don't have to be for me to like or admire them.
There are many things about Bill Clinton to dislike, but on the whole, I think there is more to like. He is a brilliant man with
weaknesses. Well, why is that not a surprise? As I said, nobody's perfect. If we're to discard all men with weaknesses (or women,
for that matter) then we'd never elect anyone to anything.

I also like and admire Hillary Clinton. Did then, do now.

And while I'm at it, I think I'll bring this into the picture:
Your word, patriot, made me think, Ellen.
As an actor, Ronald Reagan often played soldiers and/or men of action and 'patriotic' purpose (this is how, I believe, he solidified
his act as President), and yet he NEVER served his country in any war. Though he often implied that he had and people bought
into it. It infuriated me at the time and it still does.

Not that I'm saying that you HAVE to have served in the military to be a true patriot.
But don't, for God's sake, imply that you have and imply that THAT gives you a right to be commander-in-chief.
Don't imply that you 'understand' the soldier if you have never been but just played one on tv.
Don't imply grandiosity about yourself when all you are is some kid from the midwest who grew up lucky
enough to jump from B-movies to the White House because people bought into your cheap myth-making abilities.

And don't for God's sake, imagine that you did then have ANYTHING to do with the collapse of the Soviet Union,
a monolith that was brought down by the weight of its own corruption and hubris.

[Ellen (tellyouwhat)]

^^^^

Regarding military service -- what you could have almost forgotten, while Clinton was president, was that Reagan had never served.  Every time you turned around we were reminded by the other party that Clinton had not served in Vietnam.

Hmmm well if that is the litmus test, then don't turn right around and glorify George W. Bush against Al Gore or John Kerry.

Very frustrating, these narratives.

To explain, what I mean by patriot is certainly not a high interpretation of the word.  I mean, merely, somebody who would possibly NOT get involved in Iran/Contra, for example, unless he truly believed it was in the national interest over the long term. 

I am not saying he was right or wrong, and in the case of Reagan, do you remember the Saturday night live skit where he was depicted as saying all his lines, and then he asked the guys around him -- "say how long are we going to be making this movie, anyway?  This is going on almost as long as that movie when I was governor of California."

But even an actor can be a patriot in the basic sense that he would, if necessary, sacrifice (perhaps not his life) but at least his own whims if he thought it was good for the United States of America.

Bush/Cheney threw all of that aside, and ran the country like CEOs looking for the short-run advantage.  Get in, get out, get yours.  What happens next is not their problem.  That is what I mean when I say they are not patriots.

[Lyle (Mooska)]

There are many things about Bill Clinton to dislike,
but on the whole, I think there is more to like.

I'm on the more to dislike side.

Your word, patriot, made me think, Ellen.
As an actor, Ronald Reagan often played soldiers
and/or men of action and 'patriotic' purpose (this is how,
I believe, he solidified his act as President), and yet he NEVER
served his country in any war.

Not that I'm saying that you HAVE to have served in the military to
be a true patriot.  But don't, for God's sake, imply that you have and
imply that THAT gives you a right to be commander-in-chief.  Don't
imply that you 'understand' the soldier if you have never been but
just played one on tv.

Regarding military service -- what you could have almost forgotten, while Clinton was president, was that Reagan had never served.

Unless you guys have some different definition of "served your country
in any war" or "never served" you are mistaken that Reagan was not in
the military.  He served as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserve
from 1937-1942; served in the United States Army Air Forces during
World War II, attaining the rank of captain. Was barred from combat
because of poor eyesight.  Was assigned to the Army Air Forces Motion
Picture Unit.  

If you mean "seen action" then you are correct, but neither did Carter
who was never sent to Korea or Grover Cleveland, who actually was
drafted for the Civil War, but under a legal option at the time, "paid"
someone else to serve his duty.