I am not moved one way or the other by the recent "Reagan made racist statements" headlines.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

I always thought he was a bad actor, a delusional old fuck who morphed into the poster child for a generation of delusional Republicans.

All of the insane crap about how he transformed our world and made it a better place and his jagoff shining city on the hill...all I can say is "BITE me, Gipper."

He's gone now, and I'm a Christian, so what happened and where he went is none of my business.

But the racism "controversy?"

It's just one more layer of nuance on a guy who was a shit actor, an "Iran Contra Affair" president, and FAR from someone I respected or acknowledged as "my" president.

:patriot:

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. He Opened His Campaign In Philadelphia, Mississippi

That's where Chaney, Schwerner, and Goodman were martyred...

[Taverner]

2. Yes. And his declaration that he believes in State's Rights

Which, in this case, means the right to deny blacks the vote.

[Vickers]

3. Brace yourself for a bunch of replies from folks that didn't read your entire post.

:thumbsup:

[TomInTib]

5. That always blows me away.

They break out the flamethrowers and chainsaws, never having bothered to read the body (or article) of/in the post.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

8. Well, Tom, you've always been one of the voices of reason here...

...and I'd like to take a moment to salute you for that. You AND Vickers both.

:patriot:

[TomInTib]

10. Thank you so much, A V.

But I have posted some pretty off-the-wall stuff here (usually regarding my personal experiences), as well.

The knee-jerk idealistic responses I see all too often sometime dishearten me, as regards our Party and Movement.

I do appreciate your kind words.

And I read every one of your posts that I encounter.

Tom

[Amerigo Vespucci]

7. I brace myself every single time I post, my friend...

...but thank you for the caveat.

I have received many replies in other threads from people who don't read my posts and don't get the message. I fondly refer to them as "children."

:evilgrin:

[TomInTib]

4. Just piling bad on awful.

That sorry old fuck is already resting on the bottom.

Every time St Ronnie pops up, the crazies go all a-flutter.

Ene here, so many DUers went off the charts when some of us said less-than-flattering things about Nancy the Harridan during the old bastard's funeral.

[Democrats_win]

6. I think it's more than nuance. His presidency and his racism are deeply connected.

The nuance exists in the fact that we need to read between the lines as one poster suggests ("State's Rights").

The most significant part of his campaign occured well before he ran for president. He went around the country on General Electric's dime telling a lie about a welfare queen. His base of racists was solidified. No President would ever have a more solid base.

DUers may not recognize that the Republican party largely consists of racists. Why would people shoot themselves in the foot economically? But their racism will insure that they remain Republican. They will never admit it, but it is the only truth about the Republican party.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

9. True. I guess what I'm trying to say is...

...if Reagan WAS a racist...I'm not "bowled over with a feather."

He was a hard-line, old money prick. There's not a lot of money to be found in dealing with people of color, from an old-school GOP point of view. That's also referred to as "GOP Family Values."

Reagan a racist?

Is a duck's ass water-tight?

:patriot:

[BlueJazz]

11. Even my Grandfather used to say (When I was a child in 1981).....

"Reagan's nothing but another Phony Hack...There's not a Sincere bone in his body"

'ol Grandpa was pretty perceptive.. :)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

14. The world looks for a shell, not substance...

...how else can you explain a "president" like George W. Bush, who is essentially a child of privilege from a Connecticut family that made its bones by propping up Nazi Germany, re-invented as a tough-talkin', rough-ridin', no-nonsense cowboy who's scared to death of horses?

The single moment that has amused me the MOST so far in "Campaign 2008" is the GOP's desperate and unfortunate desire to mold Fred Thompson into the "Gipper Reborn." It didn't work. 2008 lacks a Gipper. The world never actually HAD a "Gipper"...just a bad actor in a cowboy hat who called his wife "Mommy."

Might be time for a president from the Democratic party, don't ya think?

:patriot:

[jgraz]

12. Reagan's racism is key to understanding his politics

His election was the climax of the Repug's Southern Strategy. His racist leanings need to be thrown in the face of anyone who tries to name yet another public space after him.

Just wait. 10 years from now, they're going to be whining for a Reagan Memorial on The Mall. Pointing out that he was a racist fuck is the one thing the Rethugs can't just brush off.

[MADem]

13. Don't you UNDERSTAND why this is GREAT NEWS?

It pulls the rug out from under those candidates who want to tout their "Reagan connection." They all do the "I'm like Reagan" thing.

Now, being like Reagan will include being a racist fuck.

This is BRILL!!! Great news for the Dems!!!!

Bob Herbert pushed the envelope with an angry column on Wednesday which started, “Let’s set the record straight on Ronald Reagan’s campaign kickoff in 1980.”

He charged: “Reagan was the first presidential candidate ever to appear at the fair, and he knew exactly what he was doing when he told that crowd, ‘I believe in states’ rights.’

“Reagan apologists have every right to be ashamed of that appearance by their hero, but they have no right to change the meaning of it, which was unmistakable. Commentators have been trying of late to put this appearance by Reagan into a racially benign context.

“That won’t wash. Reagan may have been blessed with a Hollywood smile and an avuncular delivery, but he was elbow deep in the same old race-baiting Southern strategy of Goldwater and Nixon.

“Everybody watching the 1980 campaign knew what Reagan was signaling at the fair. Whites and blacks, Democrats and Republicans — they all knew. The news media knew. The race haters and the people appalled by racial hatred knew. And Reagan knew. ...

[inthebrain]

15. He also laid a wreath on Nazi graves in Bittburgh

Reagan was an asshole of the highest oreder.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

17. Yes, but it inspired the Ramones to immortalize that moment in song...

Youve got to pick up the pieces cmon, sort your trash
You better pull yourself back together maybe youve got too much cash
Better call, call the law when you gonna turn yourself in? yeah
Youre a politician dont become one of hitlers children

Bonzo goes to bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on tv somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

Shouldnt wish you happiness, wish her the very best fifty thousand dollar dress
Shaking hands with your highness see through you like cellophane
You watch the world complain, but you do it anyway who am i, am I to say

Bonzo goes to bitburg then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on tv somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town for an extended foreign policy
Pick up the pieces

My brain is hanging upside down I need something to slow me down

:toast:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

16. Yes, I do, I'm simply reacting personally.

I get 100% of what you're saying.

All I am saying is that I'm not "disillusioned" or "enlightened" by this news. I thought Reagan sucked ass, from "Bedtime To Bonzo" straight through to his funeral.

:patriot:

[MADem]

20. Hell, Ronnie was always "that way" after he switched from D to R.

He may not have tossed around the 'knicker' phraseology like an old school southern cracker might have, but he knew damn well that a rising tide lifted all boats, and he preferred the GOP 'Haves' to not have to go sailing with the dusky 'Have Nots.'

I thought his funeral was grand, though. Seriously--and not in a mean way. But that was down to Nancy, really--she planned it. They make Presidents submit a funeral plan in event of death, and it can be updated periodically. It's plain she updated. It could have been much worse--at least he didn't do a fifty state tour in the box. She did it with decent taste.

The only objection I had (and this was not her fault) was that Dick Cheney left a half blind, elderly, frail and mourning woman in little high heels on that scarily slippery rotunda floor to make her way, alone, to the casket. Fat miserable bastard. He should have been holding her up, by her elbow, until he got her to the box, and then stepped back like a mensch.

Even son Ron was OUTRAGED by that, as he had every right to be.

[oasis]

18. I never thought of Reagan as being anything other than a racist and bigoted asshole.(eom)

[CyberPieHole]

19. Excellent post, Amerigo Vespucci...

I always roll my eye when I hear people expound on the brilliance of St. Ronnie. He brought down the wall and therefore defeated communism, he brought us trickle down economics, and the poor were better off because of it (never mind that he had ketchup declared a serving of vegetables so that his image would be preserved)...etc. The racism is par for the course for fucks like him. Republicans want the country to return to the good old days when Mamie Eisenhower was a be-gloved first lady and gay was an adjective best used to describe a floral bouquet. Separate but equal was a theory they clung to as Brown Vs. Board of Education and Plessy Vs. Fergusson were being scheduled for court. The 50's idealized era of America Apple Pie and Chevrolet is mired in racism, sexism and homophobia. Ronnie was a repressed old prig and I am sure that racism was just one of his (less known) qualities.

:kick: and recommend

[ChipperbackDemocrat]

22. We knew what it was about....But...

Instead of being upset about the past....Lets roll for the future..


Associated Press...August 17, 2008

Kucinich: THE SOUTH WILL RISE FOR AMERICA

Philadelphia, Miss. (AP) -- Democratic presidential nominee Dennis Kucinich began a massive post-convention swing of the south in Philadelphia, Mississippi with a rousing speech calling for southern voter to reject the GOP's "Southern Strategy". In remarks at the Goodman-Chaney-Schwerner National Monument, Kucinich attacked the GOP for what he called, "A naked anti-American attempt to win based on fear."

"27 years ago Ronald Reagan came to this sacred ground where patriots died for a better America, and desecrated it with racism, intolerance and indifference," Kucinich said. "Today, I come here to send a message and a challenge to the South to rise again for America."

Kucinich blasted the GOP, especially the GOP Fred Thompson-Milt Romney ticket, who also campaigned in the south this week, for touting a call for what Thompson called in a recent campaign stop in Georgia, "A return to state's rights"

"We all know what state's rights means," Kucinich told a crowd of 10,000, "State's right means 'blacks need not apply' State's rights means 'Jim Crow'. State's right mean denying humanity."

"State's rights also means a Gulf Coast that is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina...and that was three years ago. That's what state's rights also means...and that hasn't been good for the state of Mississippi and its not good for the United States of America."

Hitting just as hard is Democratic running-mate John Edwards, who campaigned in South Carolina, where Kucinich is running neck-and-neck with Thompson.

"The GOP's Southern Strategy mocks the South because it believes in division," Edwards said. "Our Southern Strategy believes in multiplication of hope, faith and opportunity."

[CyberPieHole]

23. If only it could be so, ChipperbackDemocrat...

I'd love to see Kucinich in the White House. He would be tremendous! Kucinich is our strongest candidate on issues of civil rights. I donated to his campaign. And as soon as I can afford it, I will send him a bit more dough.

Welcome to DU.:hi:

[ChipperbackDemocrat]

27. Thanks Cyber :)

Election Day 2008....


Welcome back to CBS News continuing coverage of Campaign 2008....Live from CBS News Election Headquarters....Katie Couric and Walter Cronkite...

"Good Evening....It is 9pm across the East Coast...and so far the headline of the evening has been....Upset!"

"Dennis Kucinich 61-year-old congressman from Ohio is currently shocking the political establishment..."

--click to ABC--

"Kucinich opened the night by sweeping New England, George...that was not entirely expected..."

"No it wasn't...Not even Bill Clinton did that when we ran in 1992...And look at the margins....Vermont went for Kucinich 64%....Rhode Island 62%....Massachusetts, the home of GOP vice-presidential candidate 61%...Duval Patrick was a big part of that with a massive voter registration drive.."

---Click NBC--

"NBC News projects that the state of West Virginia goes for Kucinich....Virginia and Texas...have gone for Thompson.....

---Click CNN---

"Much of the south is still razor-thin especially states like Tennessee, Thompson's home state...Mississippi and Louisiana....also Arkansas, Georgia and Florida are very close....We are now talking to Jesse Jackson from Chicago...Jesse, so far..Kucinich is winning 4-to-1 among urban voters....'That shouldn't be a surprise...Dennis Kucinich has been to the cities..and he has a plan for cities...Fred Thompson's plan for our cities has been ignoring them."

--Click Fox News--

"Fox News Projects...nothing for Thompson...but don't worry we will soon...Thompson currently has 75 electoral votes...but soon a number of southern states will be call for...

---Click CBS---

"Bob Schiffer in with us...Bob? Why is the GOP Solid South looking less south? Three things, Walter...Hurricane Katrina...people didn't forget.....Excuse me Bob...CBS News Projects Mississippi and Louisiana to Dennis Kucinich by large margins......Secondly, Walter...The black vote is the highest since 1992....Excuse me again...CBS News Projects Kucinich carries Arkansas.... And third...White southern voters massively rejected Thompson's calls for State's rights and his disdain for fair trade...themes Kucinich touched on that touched voters in the south.....

---Click NBC---

"NBC News projects that John Edwards brought home the bacons...Kucinich carries North and South Carolina... Kucinich leads 132-75...."

--Click ABC News--

"President Clinton, what is your thoughts on Kucinich's victory margin in Arkansas....Well, George I am speechless...and I am pleased...A united Democratic campaign is...

--Click Fox News---

"Time for a Bill O'Reilly talking point...I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT WE CAN'T FIX THIS....
Louisiana is too close to call..Thompson trails by only 20 points."

10:30pm ET

--Click CBS---

"The upset continues...A shocker in the midwest....as Dennis Kucinich rolls across the upper midwest in the plans...Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota all in the Kucinich column....

--Click NBC--

NBC News Project Ohio for native son Dennis Kucinich...unless the South can save Fred Thompson..Dennis Kucinich is on his way....

---Click CNN---

"We are know talking to Albert Gore live from Nashville...Albert, your thought on what has been a surprising night...with Dennis Kucinich on the threshold....'Well, unless they find a billion butterfly ballots...they can't take it from him Wolf....Excuse me Mr. Vice President...CNN Projects your home state and Fred Thompson home state of Tennessee as going into the Kucinich column...You can now call him President-Elect Dennis Kucinich..You can also add Georgia and Florida to the Kucinich column.."

--Click Fox News--

"Dennis Kucinich has 273 electoral votes unofficially but there is no reason for Fred Thompson to concede...we have not projected Kucinich the winner....."

---Click ABC--

Another shocking result as North Dakota, South Dakota and Nebraska go to Kucinich...

The Next Morning

---Click CBS--

"President-Elect Kucinich wins in a coast-to-coast Landslide"

--Click NBC---

"The Ohio Congressman won in every geographic region of the United States...but did heavy damage in the South."

--Click ABC--

"Louisiana and Mississippi both gave Kucinich more than 60% of their states votes..our polling confirmed that the GOP response to Hurricane Katrina heavily factored in voter decisions as Kucinich won 438-100 in the electoral vote column.."

--Click CNN--

"Dennis Kucinich carried each of the 40 largest cities in the USA by an average margin of 17 percent."

--Click Fox News--

"The race for President is still too close to call at this hour, we expect the trend to lean toward Fred Thompson being elected."

[msedano]

21. california, short-handled hoe joke

shithead ronnie caught my attention early in his political career. in california, farmworker advocates joined cesar chavez' campaign to outlaw use of the back-breaking tool that forced workers to double over all day every day to weed the furrows.


reagan's quip, to wit, "what are they complaining about, they're built close to the ground anyway" showed his complete disregard for worker health, not to mention human dignity. btw, we won that skirmish, but there's more where that comes from.


(edited to add this: Ester Hernández (born 1944) Sun Mad Raisins, 1982. serigraph. 55.9 x 43.2 cm (22 x 17 in.) Smithsonian American Art Museum, gift of Tomás Ybarra-Frausto
© 1982 Ester Hernández

this is all stuff to stockpile next october/november when mitt guiliani desperately works for the latino vote. we'll remember the reagan legacy and hold his spiritual offspring accountable.

mvs

http://labloga.blogspot.com
http://readraza.com

[CyberPieHole]

24. Reagan's quip made my skin crawl, msedano...

I spit on Ronald Reagan and all his filthy racist and bigoted followers.

That is not a quote I was familiar with. I will be sure to use it if I come across some sap who sees reagan as a political hero.

Welcome to DU.:hi:

[Amerigo Vespucci]

26. There aren't a lot of lettuce pickers on Wall Street...

...and that was Saint Ronnie's world.

I come from a working class family, and bust my OWN ass to make a living.

I never worked in the fields and I never washed dishes and never changed bed sheets in a hotel, but I also NEVER considered myself "superior" to the people who DO.

Ronnie really IS alive and well. Just look at the celebratory headlines on MSNBC, Fox, CNN every time the Dow jumps a couple of points.

Never mind the working class families that have to choose between heating their home, filling their gas tank or putting food on the table.

"Bush's Base"...who SOME call "the elite"...are happier than the pigs in slop that they ARE.

[Skittles]

25. Reagan was a disgusting piece of garbage

his legacy will always be for me that he exposed exactly how many ignorant Americans could fall for his silly act

[madrchsod]

28. yes he turned into the delusional old fuck

as soon as he forgot who he was and where he came from..he` was always a suck up to the rich when he was in high school and it never ended until he died.
the only difference between the black kids he grew up with is that he was white thus he could get through the front door rich white folks homes. the rest of his family were not invited. my dad grew up with him and had a few choice words for ronny,his favorite was "he was a dumb mick from the southside of dixon and he`s never changed"