Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Oh THIS is going to piss off the Conservatives!

Courtesy of the Daily Beast:

As the fall has turned crisper, a second term for Barack Obama has gotten likelier. This may, of course, change: the debates, the Middle East, the unemployment numbers could still blow up the race. At this point in 2004, one recalls, George W. Bush was about to see a near eight-point lead shrivel to a one-state nail-biter by Election Day. But one thing that has so far, in my view, been underestimated is the potential impact of a solid Obama win, and perhaps a Democratic retention of the Senate and some progress in the House. This is now a perfectly plausible outcome. It would also be a transformational moment in modern American politics. 

If Obama wins, to put it bluntly, he will become the Democrats’ Reagan. The narrative writes itself. He will emerge as an iconic figure who struggled through a recession and a terrorized world, reshaping the economy within it, passing universal health care, strafing the ranks of al -Qaeda, presiding over a civil-rights revolution, and then enjoying the fruits of the recovery. To be sure, the Obama recovery isn’t likely to have the same oomph as the one associated with Reagan—who benefited from a once-in-a-century cut of top income tax rates (from 70 percent to, at first, 50 percent, and then to 28 percent) as well as a huge jump in defense spending at a time when the national debt was much, much less of a burden. But Obama’s potential for Reagan status (maybe minus the airport-naming) is real. Yes, Bill Clinton won two terms and is a brilliant pol bar none, as he showed in Charlotte in the best speech of both conventions. But the crisis Obama faced on his first day—like the one Reagan faced—was far deeper than anything Clinton confronted, and the future upside therefore is much greater. And unlike Clinton’s constant triangulating improvisation, Obama has been playing a long, strategic game from the very start—a long game that will only truly pay off if he gets eight full years to see it through. That game is not only changing America. It may also bring his opposition, the GOP, back to the center, just as Reagan indelibly moved the Democrats away from the far left.

Well I am far less impressed with Ronald Reagan then the Republican (Or Republican-lites like Sullivan) are, but I recognize the comparison that is being made here.

In fact Obama could likely go down in history as a far more accomplished president than Reagan, simply because the accomplishments he takes credit for are indeed HIS accomplishments. Unlike Reagan who always gets credit of the ending of the Cold War when in fact it was almost entirely due to the bravery and sacrifice of Mikhail Gorbachev, and credit for fixing an economy, though it was not that good and he had virtually nothing to do with it, Obama is the driving force behind virtually all of his numerous accomplishments.

This however is a very good article and I suggest that you click the link at the top to read the whole thing, though I do sort of fear that if Sullivan and others copntinue to make such a conservatively blasphemous statement such as this, that the Republications will do EVERYTHING in their power to undermine Obama before he can usurp their idol's undeserved crown.

In other words they will continue to behave EXACTLY as they have done since the night that President Obama was sworn into office. Which is simply more evidence as to why we need to get them voted out of office as quickly as possible.

25 comments:

  1. Olivia4:53 AM

    Whether or not he wins a second term, the next Republican administration will spend as much time trying to make his accomplishments disappear as they have spent trying to thwart everything he has tried to do during this first 4 years. They will not stand to have the first president of color looking like a success in any area.

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  2. WakeUpAmerica4:54 AM

    Reagan's presidency cannot bear scrutiny. He was a sock puppet, a mouth piece for the GOP and nothing more. The adulation of Reagan is the result of smoke, mirrors, and low-information voters.

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    1. Anonymous5:50 AM

      And you could add to that: "The adulation of Palin is the result of smoke, mirrors, and low-information voters."

      Delete
    2. I sure don't remember Reagan at all the way these mythologists do. I thought he was fairly stupid.

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    3. Anonymous7:31 AM

      Yes. Dumb as a fence post. I recall seeing him essentially "turn off" and just become a lifeless dummy when he no longer thought he was in view of the cameras. He was an actor, not a statesman.

      Delete
  3. One thing about the headline: I am coming to the conclusion that just about everything pisses off conservatives. It's like they are only happy if they are unhappy.

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  4. fromthediagonal5:23 AM

    I agree, Reagan had nothing to do with the downfall of the USSR. Mr. Gorbachov was the right man at the right time and place. Dictatorships have a much more limited time span than participatory political systems. Reagan's "Tear that wall down" was just words spoken into the wind, but it was eagerly used by a shameless administration and retroactively described at the trigger point. What Bullshit!

    Domestically, Reagan did enormous damage to this country in multiple ways. His regime placed us upon the slippery slope down "trickle down economics", presided over the largest rate of inflation in a number of decades, and encouraged the dismantling of separation of Church and State. Adventurism became rampant: Iran Contra, Central American, Granada, I could go on...

    Last, but by far not least, the neocons who entered government and were nourished under Nixon, flourished under Reagan and Bush the Elder, and "crowned" their horrifying successes in the Bush regime. Bush was a figurehead, nothing more, just as Romney would be if elected. The powers behind the throne then are still pushing the same imperial agenda they have for the past four decades.

    Vigilance is the Breath of Democracy! Vote!

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    1. fromthediagonal6:14 AM

      Let me add these thoughts:

      President Obama has set something in motion akin to what in many aspects mirrors FDR's achievements. Look back:

      The shift from an agricultural society to the unregulated exploitation by the Industrial Robber Barons in the 19th and early 20th Century resulted in the Great Depression, forcing a Democratic government to find ways and means of lifting the nation from the disaster. And they did!

      Similarly, the late 20th century and the first years of the 21st saw the shift from a manufacturing to a successively more unregulated financial/service dominated economy, resulting in the so-called Great Recession, once again leaving a Democratic government to clean up the mess, and they have some impressive successes to prove they are capable of working against the constant obstruction of the ideologues of the moneyed elites, the international corporations and the dogmatic religionists.

      My conclusion upon thinking this through?
      President Obama may very well be judged by history not as Reaganesque but a worthy successor of Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
      Of course, to mention this prior to this election, this could be a negative, so don't spread the word. Yet...

      VOTE!

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    2. Anonymous8:41 AM

      If anyone deserves credit for ending the Cold War it's Harry Truman. His policies helped stop the spread of communism

      Delete
  5. Anonymous5:36 AM

    President Barack Obama in my opinion is the most intelligent, compassionate, level-headed president of my lifetime - 62 years. I am hoping that this years election will oust the right wing obstructionists from Congress. I hope that IM readers are fully engaged in their local communities to make this happen!

    O/T - ugh - ran across Chuck Heath Jr.'s FB page promoting his book tour "Our Sarah" released yesterday (9/25)
    https://www.facebook.com/chuckheathjr

    Review from C4P
    "I already knew much of Sarah Palin’s fascinating life story, and I didn’t think there was room to grow in my respect for her, but this intimate look, through the distinct perspectives of two of the closest people in her life, made me respect and admire her all the more. I do not know if that was the authors’ intent, but they certainly accomplished as much."
    http://conservatives4palin.com/2012/09/review-of-our-sarah-made-in-alaska-an-intimate-look-into-the-life-of-sarah-palin.html

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    1. Anonymous3:33 PM

      This book has only two reviews on Amazon and one is from GarColga who posts here! I don't believe we have a barn burner here folks....

      Delete
  6. Anonymous5:47 AM

    Oh yeah...it will piss off the Republicans big-time. I can see it now: Romney will fly out to California to pull poor old Nancy Reagan out of her semi-comatose state to get a photo-op. After, of course, her nurses dress her in 'Reagan Red' and wipe the drool off the poor lady's chin. This photo-op will be all over Fox News..

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    1. Anonymous6:04 AM

      Opps..I forgot to include they'll probably have Michael Reagan (that sage and astute political commentator/pundit) propping Nancy up...

      Delete
  7. Anonymous5:57 AM

    I find comparing President Obama to Ronald Reagan to be insulting. That may show my deep Democratic roots too much but President Obama is so far superior intellectually and politically than Ronald Reagan that there is no comparison. Fortunately Ronald Reagan had a few decent people around him; imagine if his faulty memory and dumb ideas had always prevailed. Oh, and don't forget that the Democratic majority in Congress at the time were patriotic Americans who did not want the country to fail. Quite unlike the 21st century GOP in Congress.
    Beaglemom

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    1. Anonymous7:55 AM

      "President Obama is so far superior intellectually and politically than Ronald Reagan that there is no comparison."
      Thank you for stating the obvious. I agree!

      Delete
  8. Not What You Want to Hear6:06 AM

    Obama is going to go down in history as Obama, a president of exceptional skill; not the Democratic version of any other president, least of all Ronald Reagan. I'm sorry, but other than shoring Social Security, I cannot think of another positive and meaningful accomplishment of Reagan. I'm willing to concede that I could just be ignorant about his accomplishments.

    And please, do not tell me he "ended the Cold War." That is a wildly overblown claim.

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  9. Anonymous6:34 AM

    I'd like just ONE conservative or GOP ignoramus explain to me how Reagan's "Trickle Down Economics" was a benefit to this country. I associate him more with that than the Cold War fallacy.

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  10. hedgewytch7:28 AM

    Regan was a failed politician, a failed statesman, a failed diplomat and a failed actor. I remember Iran-Contra and the hostages. I remember Reagan hemming and hawing and trying to not let the world know he was only a sock puppet.

    Obama on the other hand, is a brilliant strategist, an amazing speaker, and a smart politician.

    I agree that Obama is more like a Roosevelt or a Kennedy in his ability to inspire and create solutions to difficult problems. But I also think American has never had a President like Obama (and not just his ethnicity).

    And I guess I have to find a copy of Newseek to find out just what mistake I as an American woman have made...

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    1. Olivia8:52 AM

      I remember thinking that Reagan had Alzheimer's before he was sworn in. The perfect puppet, an actor with dementia.

      Delete
  11. Anonymous8:44 AM

    I'm usually dismissive about things Andrew Sullivan says, but equating Obama with the Crook Raygun SHOULD be viewed by us liberals as a slam against Obama !!!! Raygun almost flattened the US into a debt pancake and screwed more of the middle-class than any other rethuglicon in history - prior to himself.

    Ronnie should be on targets at every gun range in the world with his profile etched into every cake of public men's toilet freshener used on the planet.

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  12. President Obama's presidency is nothing like Reagan's.

    First, his presidency will stand on its own, not as a shadow or imitation or almost-as-good-as some other presidency.

    Second, if there is a comparison to be made, a better one would be FDR or possibly Johnson.

    Third, Reagan's presidency itself was not even Reaganesque. Republicans worship a mythical Reagan and Reagan presidency that never was. President Obama's accomplishments and presidency will stand the test of time by historians and will not need to devolve into some sort of fairy tale in order to remain inspirational to future generations.

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  13. Anonymous11:29 AM

    Reagan gave us the street people when he stopped all funding for mental institutions, first in California when governor there and then at the federal level when he became president.

    I hope people still remember that the Reagan's astrologer determined his daily schedule and events. No, he was never in charge of anything and Nancy attended meetings with him during his second term so she could whisper in his ear as he did not hear and did not comprehend what was going on around him enough to digest material.

    Now, his son, Ron Reagan is publishing a new book telling that his father demonstrated dementia during his first term.

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    1. Anita Winecooler6:41 PM

      True, Ron Reagan Jr. was the only redeeming accomplishment Reagan made.

      Delete
  14. dorkenergy11:45 AM

    Not only

    Gryphen: "… we need to get them voted out of office as quickly as possible."

    but also plan and enact measures to **keep** their kind out of office -- SCOTUS appts, frames, memes, redistricting no later than 2020, … -- at all levels of gov't. The Rs started with school boards in the late 60s, got the Rs make better executives (governors, pres, mayors) meme b/c of reference to their "business acumen" in the 70's, … .

    The good news is that if the Rs obstruct this time, that provides a good hook for us in 2014.

    In any case, we need a plan for the long haul. It's not just this time.

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  15. Anita Winecooler6:38 PM

    What I find astonishing is the absence of any mention of the eight GWBush. Cheyney years that directly preceded President Obama's election. They have to reach way back through the fog of history, beatify Regan as the "benchmark" by which any accomplished President is measured.
    Regan was a disaster of epic proportions who lucked out through no action of his own, by happening to live at a time when "compromise" wasn't a dirty word, where we were Americans first.His policies sucked the middle class dry, while fattening the big cats who pulled his dementia addled body while he acted and delivered lines rife with fake compassion.
    Yeah, the divorced Actor survived an assassination attempt and fell victim to a horrible disease, but his record was anemic. Iran Contra and getting advice through his wife's astrologers happened under his watch.

    No comparison to the statesman, nobel peace prize winning, pragmatic, wise, humble and intelligent President Obama, who, for all intents and purposes, earned each accomplishment single handedly despite the vindictive obstructionist and partisan Republican Party.

    President Obama will go down as one of the best two term Presidents in history. Especially with a democratic house and senate.

    VOTE

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