Hi, "Kickin'"

Ronald Reagan did have a lot of charm. However:

When he took office, we were the largest creditor-nation in the world. As a direct result of his economic policies, known as supply-side economics, we had run up a massive (at least for the time, but not compared to now) deficit, and had begun our conversion to being the largest debtor-nation in the world, which we now are. FACT - check it if you like.

He was, perhaps as a result of the Alzheimer's that developed while he was in office, guilty of violating U.S. policy by trading military weapons to Iran for American hostages taken under Carter. He explained in a televised speech (which made me sad, not angry) that even thought the facts showed he had traded arms for hostages, his heart said he hadn't. FACT - check it if you like.

Much evil was done in Central America because of his support for the group known as the Contras. He violated United States law to arm them. FACT - check it if you like.

And let's not forget that while he talked a great line about lowering taxes, even he became alarmed by the size of his projected deficit, and raised taxes himself. FACT - check it if you like.

No, I would not like him back. When he laid a wreath at the German WWII Cemetery in Bitberg, where members of the Waffen SS were buried, I was embarrassed and sickened.

We both remember Reagan in our own way.

Hi, "Kickin'"

Re: AIDS, the flight attendant you remembered worked for Air Canada, if I recall, and I think his name was Gaetan Dugas (probably misspelled). He was found to be "patient zero", which is the term used for the one who starts an epidemic. He was extremely promiscuous, and regularly went to Haiti, where he cavorted with men there who were, some of them, intravenous drug users.

I believe, but can't swear to it, that by the time Dugas was identified, he was either dying or dead.

Actually, they have already determined it developed after he left office.

As for your facts, again, they are your opinions. not facts. IN your opinion. IN my opinion, funding of the Contras made Nicaraugua turn back to democracy (the way it is today) instead of becoming Cuba II.

And while taxes were slashed under his terms, they were also raised a lot too. But different ones, and in the end, according to the Constiutution, it is Congress that does the raising and lowering - they have the power of the purse strings.

The dirty non-secret is that the taxes that were raised were to bail out Social Security (the most regressive federal tax there is), and that the democrats pontificate about it, but do nothing (see GWB). yes, he raised those big time. ANd we all know they are not fixed now, or probably ever will. Ponzi schemes will eventually fail.

Reagan was not perfect - no one is. But his Presidency was great for where he took America from to where he took America to. And how the world changed for the better during his tenure. No president in the last 60 years has done anywhere as near as much.

Geeeze Catguy I can't remember every blooming detail here in the Presedential life of RR.

I'm just looking at the general picture and I still contend he's the best Prez so far in my lifetime. I agree with Dr. Guy, no one is perfect and the Presidency is not an easy job. No matter you will have your critics but overall I think most people on both sides of the fence would say he was a good solid President who loved his country and did what he thought was best for all of us.

No, no, no KFC - the best President in my lifetime was none other than William Jefferson Clinton.  My favorite quote - "There is nothing wrong with America that cannot be cured by what's right in America". 

ugh! Ok love the quote.....didn't love the man (even tho he was a bible toting Baptist)!

Mine, too.

Well that's sad SC. I feel bad for you.

But you weren't even conceived when Ronald Reagan took office. It's been pretty much downhill from there...although I think Bush hasn't really been all that bad...at least not nearly as bad as the Dems say he is..... but let's not go there....  

Remember that you lefties.

Hi, Dr. Guy -

Who, please, is the "they" who determined when Reagan's Alzheimers developed? I've heard that it may well have been under way as early as the end of his first term, but obviously don't know.

As for the Contras, I said that much evil was done. I'm not talking about politics. I'm talking about the Contras' regular practice of "consistent and bloody abuse of human rights, of murder, torture, mutilation, rape, arson, destruction and kidnapping." Those words are not mine, but are from the Catholic Institute for International Relations, who looked into the matter at some length.

Whatever else Reagan did, he started leading the Republican Party away from fiscal conservatism. His economic policies created a huge (for the time) deficit. Your party has never gone back to where it was fiscally before he took office.

Yeah, let's go there .... I am 48, I voted for Bush twice, and now in retrospect, he is the WORST President in my lifetime ..... and looking back on history (of which I am a serious student of), he will probably go down as the worst of all time.

Reagan was all smoke and mirrors.

interesting....only this week they were saying on TV (can't remember which newsperson) that Bush would go down as a pretty good President when all is said and done. Maybe after Obama gets in, we get attacked again, will it come to be accepted.

I think we have to wait on time for this to play out right now.

Hi, Grambo_Bastille -

I have to agree with you. Took a record budget surplus and ran it into a staggeringly high deficit in only eight years, through both domestic and foreign policy disasters. Launched what most of the world views as an illegal war of aggression on a country that was never shown to be a military threat to us (or anyone else, according to Condi Rice and Colin Powell in 2001), and paid for the war with borrowed money, making him the first pres in history who did not raise taxes to pay for a war. His administration included the most successful terrorist attack on the U.S. in history (followed by a total stonewalling of, and an attempt to prevent, any meaningful investigation), the most epically inept disaster-response in modern times, and a long series of attacks on the Consititution (some of which have been reversed by the Supreme Court, thank God)and the Hatch Act. Tolerated the outing of an active CIA agent and didn't discipline or fire anyone responsible. Has presided over the dollars decline (it has lost 1/3 of its value against major foreign currencies), and created nowhere nearly as many jobs as the loathed-by-Republicans President Clinton did. The ethical and governmental scandals and botched PR stunts in his administration are almost too many to keep track of (Walter Reed, Pat Tillman, "Mission Accomplished", lying about wiretapping without a warrant, and so many more), and he showed his character and courage by not even meeting with Cindy Sheehan to tell her why her son had died. His stop-loss policy is well on the way to destroying the fighting capability of the United States Armed Forces. All this from a commander-in-chief who still owes approximately one year of service on his own National Guard Service, from which he went AWOL. I'm still waiting for any of the folks who like him here to explain to me how having sold us into hock to China, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Dubai, is good for the country (I have a feeling I'll wait a long time, too.).

My guess is that the newscaster who thinks he's pretty good is on FOX.

I don't get Fox. It was either on GMA or one of the nighly newscasts NBC, CBS, or ABC.

He didn't? You mean a second time right?

What about this?

http://sweetness-light.com/archive/cindy-told-bush-make-my-son-count

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/20/AR2005082001046.html