Great read, as always. So enjoy your wrapping our nation’s history into today’s news.
And what sad news it is. My son stated recently he’s watching the decline of a once great nation. The Republicans are following the instructions of a man who had multiple bankruptcies.
Great read, as always. So enjoy your wrapping our nation’s history into today’s news.
And what sad news it is. My son stated recently he’s watching the decline of a once great nation. The Republicans are following the instructions of a man who had multiple bankruptcies.
When did Republicans replace Russia as the number one enemy of America. In my lifetime, I nominate Ronnie, who still gets credit for saving us from Communism. He did no such thing, but he started the ball rolling for the dismantling of our administrative state, and, more importantly, the unleashing of the propaganda machine to wrap it all in the flag. I, for one, doubt that even he had an inkling of how far the greedy bastards would go with it. Like chump, just another useful “celebrity” to play the part of a Dorian Gray, obsessed with filling his own emptiness. By whatever means.
Reagan (who, BTW, had actual governance experience as the head of a powerful union and governor of California) may have put the key in the ignition, but the car wouldn't have gone anywhere if it weren't for Newt Gingrich. He set the destruction of the administrative state into hyperdrive
1970, Governor Ronald Reagan was hostile to university students who wanted a day of memorial for the innocent victims at Kent State. Governor Reagan had no reverence for the dead and needlessly forced the universities to forge ahead as if nothing had occurred.
Governor Reagan took the best public university system in the country, with affordable schools such as UCLA and Cal-Berkeley that rivalled the Ivy League, and launched a movement to self-sustainment of universities that became an albatross around the necks of future, heavily-indebted students.
Governor Reagan -- the union man -- helped launch the movement that destroyed unions as a major force.
In 1960, this twelve-year old could name the top three labor leaders: Jimmy Hoffa, Teamsters, Joe Meany, AFL/CIO, and Walther Reuther, Automakers.
Who can name the top three union leaders now.
The GOP has followed Reagan's lead to destroy labor in the ironically named "Right-to-Work" laws.
The union-busting and undermining of the universities are part of the same demonic system.
Reagan also dismantled the mental health system by closing the hospitals and releasing the patients to neighborhood care, i.e. the streets. And thus began the homeless crisis.
And yet....and yet, this is the man revered by the Republican Party and many uniformed Democrats! The start of the air traffic controllers strike was the beginning of the end for the union movement!
The evil genius of Reagan (though I'm not sure to what degree he was just the enthusiastic mouthpiece) was to ridicule and demonize democracy and the common weal, but mislabel it "big government"; (as in "Right to Work", "Citizens United", "Patriot Act", "Defense of Marriage Act", and on and on, "GOP" Orwellian language). The Republican mission since Reagan has been to shut down promotion of the general welfare, and convert it into cash cows for wealthy clients. Behind the curtain, "Supply Side Economics" cloaked warmed-over quasi-feudalism, in all it's glory. Even corrupt Nixon was not so narcissistic.
Promoting cynicism about "government" destroys public engagement in government, and public engagement in government is the essence of "government of the people, by the people, for the people", and there is no shortage of eager would-despots rushing in to fill the vacuum.
I second the motion Jill. The man was literally a soap salesman (Borax) on old market TV and a shill for General Electric (GE) on the Free Lunch corporate schedule not to mention Ronnie's infamous stint as the head of the Screen Actor's Guild from his Malibu "ranch" home. Later Ronnie attacked the University of California undergrad/grad system when I was a freshman at UCLA. Tuition more than doubled for those of us who worked while attending the University. I saw Ronnie close up at a UCLA Regents' Meeting that was declared an "illegal assembly" by police unknown.
Ah, yes! "Death Valley Days" and 20-Mule Team Borax, whatever the hell that meant! I despised Reagan as that voice over; despised him even more as a pretend president. He never got off the stage. He was a lousy actor; worse as a PINO.
Thank you. Now, as the late Paul Harvey might say, "I know the rest of the story." I assume the mule team reference meant how strong the soap was to get the dirt out? This article is very informing. 👏👍😊
Sometimes I think Roger Stone’s reason for existing is to avenge Nixon’s downfall. And I suspect there are others in Trump’s sphere who share that motivation.
Some children have parents who read them bedtime stories. Instead of Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood my father regaled me with the perfidy of Richard Nixon, who started his dirty campaigning in 1946 when he ran against Democratic Congressman Jerry Voorhees then moved to the sliming of Helen Gahagan Douglas.
Yes the disgusting dirty tricks began with Nixon but he was a megalomaniac and expanded the size of the government enormously. He also thought government could solve problems so he established the EPA and proposed a form of National health insurance similar to the ACA! He was a lunatic and had a list of enemies and thought he was above the law but came from a responsible branch of Republicans.
Nixon promoted social division with "The Silent Majority" and badlyabused the powers of his office, but did not repudiate the very concept of democracy in the same way. Some of his speeches on environmental protection and pubic interests seem surprisingly insightful.
Ike showed admirable integrity, but a lot of creepy stuff occurred on his watch. There have also been ongoing big lies throughout the US's existence, but the sustained use of big lies as the #1 tool of the Republican Party seems to me to have begun with Reagan.
We're actually watching the decline of a once-great species. Unless the world can come together to make the earth healthy again, we will all be in the same plight as my friends in Fort Myers.
Jeff - you hit the nail on the head. Bam! There once was a time where rugged individualism to the point of belligerence, or whatever you want to call the USA's personality (I call it freedum), was what the world needed. Like freeing the world from Fascism come hell or high water 80 something years ago. That time is long past. Now, that very characteristic is standing in the way of humanity's greatest threat of all time - dramatic altering of the worlds climate. And our government, set up along those same characteristics, is flatly unable to deal with it. Not with the minority-protecting machinery in place which enables the MAGA types to stall anything they don't want. Meanwhile we continue to barrel down the road of climate disaster and all that entails. I solidified this conclusion when I saw what happened in this country when the Covid pandemic began. It is a perfect microcosm of our climate response (or lack thereof).
I sadly agree with your son's perspective. I think that at first the r's were following the instruction of a mad man. I now believe they are using him to keep control of their racist, bigoted and poorly educated followers to turn America into a nation based on evangelical christianity and fascist rule.
As the corrupted Supreme Court reconvenes we may well witness the end to secure elections, democracy as we know it, clean air and water, etc. We will witness the implementation of the Federalist Society's agenda which cannot survive in a democracy.
We cannot give up or give in! We must VOTE and help others to do so, as well. We are fighting the good fight and cannot forget that good does triumph over evil. It may take some time. It may even cost more lives. As an active member of the resistance movement I see Gen Z waking up to what could be their future if they do not engage now. I see women registering to vote in never before seen numbers. I see a resurgence in democracy, not a decline. There is hope...just don't give up!
Does anyone here doubt that today’s GOP wouldn’t gleefully force the government into default and then blame Democrats for the financial calamity that ensued?
Great read, as always. So enjoy your wrapping our nation’s history into today’s news.
And what sad news it is. My son stated recently he’s watching the decline of a once great nation. The Republicans are following the instructions of a man who had multiple bankruptcies.
When did Republicans replace Russia as the number one enemy of America. In my lifetime, I nominate Ronnie, who still gets credit for saving us from Communism. He did no such thing, but he started the ball rolling for the dismantling of our administrative state, and, more importantly, the unleashing of the propaganda machine to wrap it all in the flag. I, for one, doubt that even he had an inkling of how far the greedy bastards would go with it. Like chump, just another useful “celebrity” to play the part of a Dorian Gray, obsessed with filling his own emptiness. By whatever means.
Reagan (who, BTW, had actual governance experience as the head of a powerful union and governor of California) may have put the key in the ignition, but the car wouldn't have gone anywhere if it weren't for Newt Gingrich. He set the destruction of the administrative state into hyperdrive
Reagan destroyed the CA university system.
Selina Sweet: Totally true.
I was there.
1970, Governor Ronald Reagan was hostile to university students who wanted a day of memorial for the innocent victims at Kent State. Governor Reagan had no reverence for the dead and needlessly forced the universities to forge ahead as if nothing had occurred.
Governor Reagan took the best public university system in the country, with affordable schools such as UCLA and Cal-Berkeley that rivalled the Ivy League, and launched a movement to self-sustainment of universities that became an albatross around the necks of future, heavily-indebted students.
Governor Reagan -- the union man -- helped launch the movement that destroyed unions as a major force.
In 1960, this twelve-year old could name the top three labor leaders: Jimmy Hoffa, Teamsters, Joe Meany, AFL/CIO, and Walther Reuther, Automakers.
Who can name the top three union leaders now.
The GOP has followed Reagan's lead to destroy labor in the ironically named "Right-to-Work" laws.
The union-busting and undermining of the universities are part of the same demonic system.
Reagan also dismantled the mental health system by closing the hospitals and releasing the patients to neighborhood care, i.e. the streets. And thus began the homeless crisis.
And filling prisons.
And yet....and yet, this is the man revered by the Republican Party and many uniformed Democrats! The start of the air traffic controllers strike was the beginning of the end for the union movement!
Tells you everything you need to know...
The evil genius of Reagan (though I'm not sure to what degree he was just the enthusiastic mouthpiece) was to ridicule and demonize democracy and the common weal, but mislabel it "big government"; (as in "Right to Work", "Citizens United", "Patriot Act", "Defense of Marriage Act", and on and on, "GOP" Orwellian language). The Republican mission since Reagan has been to shut down promotion of the general welfare, and convert it into cash cows for wealthy clients. Behind the curtain, "Supply Side Economics" cloaked warmed-over quasi-feudalism, in all it's glory. Even corrupt Nixon was not so narcissistic.
Promoting cynicism about "government" destroys public engagement in government, and public engagement in government is the essence of "government of the people, by the people, for the people", and there is no shortage of eager would-despots rushing in to fill the vacuum.
Amen. You nailed Reagan to a T.
I second the motion Jill. The man was literally a soap salesman (Borax) on old market TV and a shill for General Electric (GE) on the Free Lunch corporate schedule not to mention Ronnie's infamous stint as the head of the Screen Actor's Guild from his Malibu "ranch" home. Later Ronnie attacked the University of California undergrad/grad system when I was a freshman at UCLA. Tuition more than doubled for those of us who worked while attending the University. I saw Ronnie close up at a UCLA Regents' Meeting that was declared an "illegal assembly" by police unknown.
Ah, yes! "Death Valley Days" and 20-Mule Team Borax, whatever the hell that meant! I despised Reagan as that voice over; despised him even more as a pretend president. He never got off the stage. He was a lousy actor; worse as a PINO.
Borax was a good and necessary cleaning product. Too bad Reagan didn't stick with that.
LOL
Here ya go, twenty mule teams and the borax industry
https://www.nps.gov/deva/learn/historyculture/twenty-mule-teams.htm
Thank you. Now, as the late Paul Harvey might say, "I know the rest of the story." I assume the mule team reference meant how strong the soap was to get the dirt out? This article is very informing. 👏👍😊
Thank you Judy & the National Park Service history As you know, "Furnace Creek" is well named.
It started with Nixon. And it would be wise for us to remember that.
Sometimes I think Roger Stone’s reason for existing is to avenge Nixon’s downfall. And I suspect there are others in Trump’s sphere who share that motivation.
Think you are correct Susan hence Roger's infamous body tatoo fealty.
And that time he held his hands out above his head making two peace signs, a la Nixon.
Right, in Nixon's 1948 dirty tricks campaign against Helen Gahagan Douglas, House Rep & Actress.
Some children have parents who read them bedtime stories. Instead of Goldilocks and Little Red Riding Hood my father regaled me with the perfidy of Richard Nixon, who started his dirty campaigning in 1946 when he ran against Democratic Congressman Jerry Voorhees then moved to the sliming of Helen Gahagan Douglas.
Yes the disgusting dirty tricks began with Nixon but he was a megalomaniac and expanded the size of the government enormously. He also thought government could solve problems so he established the EPA and proposed a form of National health insurance similar to the ACA! He was a lunatic and had a list of enemies and thought he was above the law but came from a responsible branch of Republicans.
Nixon promoted social division with "The Silent Majority" and badlyabused the powers of his office, but did not repudiate the very concept of democracy in the same way. Some of his speeches on environmental protection and pubic interests seem surprisingly insightful.
Ike showed admirable integrity, but a lot of creepy stuff occurred on his watch. There have also been ongoing big lies throughout the US's existence, but the sustained use of big lies as the #1 tool of the Republican Party seems to me to have begun with Reagan.
Jeri, and filling their own pockets....sickening. Have a good weekend.....
Read. Andy Borowitz's book, "Portraits in Ignorance." Seems Reagan didn't have inklings period. Dumb as a rock.
My signed copy is awaiting me on my desk.
Cool!!!
Let us not forget Richard Nixon, who started the idea of not trusting our highest elected official (at least, in my lifetime).
Ronald Reagan gets the Oscar on this one.
We're actually watching the decline of a once-great species. Unless the world can come together to make the earth healthy again, we will all be in the same plight as my friends in Fort Myers.
Jeff - you hit the nail on the head. Bam! There once was a time where rugged individualism to the point of belligerence, or whatever you want to call the USA's personality (I call it freedum), was what the world needed. Like freeing the world from Fascism come hell or high water 80 something years ago. That time is long past. Now, that very characteristic is standing in the way of humanity's greatest threat of all time - dramatic altering of the worlds climate. And our government, set up along those same characteristics, is flatly unable to deal with it. Not with the minority-protecting machinery in place which enables the MAGA types to stall anything they don't want. Meanwhile we continue to barrel down the road of climate disaster and all that entails. I solidified this conclusion when I saw what happened in this country when the Covid pandemic began. It is a perfect microcosm of our climate response (or lack thereof).
I sadly agree with your son's perspective. I think that at first the r's were following the instruction of a mad man. I now believe they are using him to keep control of their racist, bigoted and poorly educated followers to turn America into a nation based on evangelical christianity and fascist rule.
As the corrupted Supreme Court reconvenes we may well witness the end to secure elections, democracy as we know it, clean air and water, etc. We will witness the implementation of the Federalist Society's agenda which cannot survive in a democracy.
We cannot give up or give in! We must VOTE and help others to do so, as well. We are fighting the good fight and cannot forget that good does triumph over evil. It may take some time. It may even cost more lives. As an active member of the resistance movement I see Gen Z waking up to what could be their future if they do not engage now. I see women registering to vote in never before seen numbers. I see a resurgence in democracy, not a decline. There is hope...just don't give up!
Does anyone here doubt that today’s GOP wouldn’t gleefully force the government into default and then blame Democrats for the financial calamity that ensued?
Can’t imagine anyone here would
Multiple bankruptcies is the kindest thing that can be used to describe...