Is it me, or have some people on DU been MIA?

[Gothic Sponge]

Some of the people in the gallery are MIA.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/gallery/

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Yes, we do have some missing

Probably busy.

But mostly I write to say that your sigline photo montage is bloody brilliant!!

Reagan might have been an evil bastard, but at least when he spoke - even if he was usually lying - he managed to sound intellligent and profound.

And "Tear down this wall!" will live in history as a great moment of oration.

Sadly - or, really, quite hilariously in a "you deserve it you asshole fucking war criminal shitknocking selfish donkey raper" kindof way - "You forgot Poland" is about all that that asshole is gonna be remembered for. And "Is our children learning?" and that "Fool me once" debacle.

[opihimoimoi]

2. Our Bush has had a lobot... He is missing some brains

[miss_kitty]

5. I thought "Tear down this wall!" sounded phony and forced

You obviously missed out on truly great oration, which has the quality of being sounding heartfelt and spontaneous.

Reagan wanted credit for the result, not the essence of what it was. While he was mouthing phony-ass bullshit at the USSR ('The Evil Empire'-in his words) he was also seeing to cutting social and health services to the nation's most vulnerable-the poor and mentally ill. He oversaw budget cuts for the Department of Housing and Urban Development by three-quarters, from $32 billion in 1981 to $7.5 billion by 1988. He had no interest in making a better world, and that is what is needed to lend true profundity and intelligence to words like that.

"Tear down this wall!" was grandstanding-far from profound-more like profane-and makes me gag every time I hear it. Ronald Reagan was the worst President that ever happened to this country. Until the five clowns awarded the actual loser the office in 2000.

IMHO anyway, Rabrrrrrr :)

[Rabrrrrrr]

6. You don't need to read me a litany of the evil of Reagan.

I made no apologies for him in my post, other than that he spoke in sentences and at least didn't sound stupid (except for those who knew he was lying).

Please don't take me out of context and make me look some kind of Reagan apologist or Reagan-worshiper. I am most certainly not. But I'm honest and clever enough to admit that even people I despise have moments of clarity and substance and do good things.

And yes, I knew truly great oration.

And whether he was honest or lying or whatever, IMO, him standing at the wall and saying "Tear down this wall!" is one of those great moments, like "We'll never surrender" and "A Day that will live in infamy". He may have said it for the wrong reasons, and might have been an evil bastard, but he was right. That wall needed to be torn down.

[miss_kitty]

7. well I wasn't trying to put you down

It's just my opinion that reagan's oration sounded stupid, and was not profound. I feel "Tear down this wall!" is no where near "A Day that will live in infamy" in profundity, or in feeling. Totally different leagues. My opinion.

I realise you feel reagan was not a great president, and I humbly apologise if my post indicated I felt otherwise about your opinion.
that's why I put a smiley at the end of it.

[CanuckAmok]

3. I always liked that sombre painting of Kennedy...

That's the one that hangs in the White House, isn't it? It's very tasteful, and just smacks of unfulfilled dreams...

[lakemonster11]

4. I agree.

It's an amazing piece.

It reminds me of this classical Greek grave stele that I saw once in a museum. The sailor whose grave it marked is depicted sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking the Aegean, gazing sorrowfully out at the sea where he had died.

Both are incredibly poignant.