Yeah, like that legend about Paul Bunyan and his ox Babe! Woo hoo!
On the title--as the author of about 20 published books, I can tell you that the author never gets the last word on the title--maybe does not even get a vote. I think it is a safe bet that Will did not plagiarize this title--but perhaps his publisher (a division of S&S) did.
TPS wrong again, you can't equate Reagan's work int eh 80's with Bush's in the last eight years. Both Reagan and the Dem controlled Congress (That De, party does not exist any more) were more responsable than the government we ahd the last eight years. I am surprised by such a simplistic response from a genius like you. Oh, I also noted you denigrated Lech Walesa's comments. Why are the comments of one foreigner speaking of Reagan less apropos than comments that currently are made concerning the wonderful Barack Obama?
"The Clinton economy would never had occurd without the Reagan tax cuts...." Good point, Sleepy. Of course, that also means that the Bush meltdown would never had occurred without the Reagan tax cuts as well. Wow! Reagan was responsible for the worst economic crises since the Great Depression. Who'da thunk it?
Extreme liberals are a "marginalized minority" just like extreme conservatives (neocons) are. Consdiering the fact that we've had a neocon in the WH for the last eight years, all liberals and a lot of moderate conservatives have been unrepresented. I'm glad that that is changing. Obama is a left leaning moderate similar to Clinton. We need that now. I know all you neocons are horrified by this, but that's only because your philosphy is so far to the right that anything even close to the center is considered wrong. Luckily, your time has at least temporarily been past by. Have fun the next 4 years. It's going to be fun listened to yuor constant whining.
Pleb, I ask again, did you refer to liberals as the "marginalized minority" four or eight years ago? Your insistence on throwing this term into every single post works to diminish any credibility that your arguments may have.
The Clinton economy would never had occurd without the Reagan tax cuts. Jimmy Carter would never have challenged Gorbachov in an economic fight to the finish. He bankrupted the soviet union. The question is, what country would we be without Ronald Reagan?
By the way, I'm a conservative. reagan wasn't a neocon and I am not either.
Has anyone here actually read will's book? My impression of it when he first wrote about it was that it was going to explore the dichotomy of Reagan's actual Presidential record and the subsequent myth of that record that energizes certain part of the conservative movement now. I never got the impression that the book was going to "vilify" Reagan. Where are all of you who are claiming that getting it?
Don't listen to these idiots Will. It is time the truth was told about Reagan. You can expect this kind of thing from people who actually think George Bush has been a good president. When you critize Reagan to them it's like you slapped their father in the face. The myth of this supposedly 'fiscal conservative' has to be exposed for what it is. Together with Congress he ran up a very large debt. Real fiscal conservatives stand for low taxes, small government and keeping defecits low. 'Barry Goldwater' conservatives have long lost power in the Republican party. If said party doesn't go back to this philosophy, they will continue to lose elections. I hope they wise up but I doubt they will. It's amazing to me how many people that don't agree what you write come here day after day to bash you. Get a life people!
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Communist. Gay. Liberal. Minor League. Obscure. Wow, ocjones was really onto something with: "When you see the debate slipping away from you, simply try to destroy your opponent." More good stuff from the marginalized minority.
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CD, apaprently you do, since you've commented twice, includeign a wild McCarthy-like accusation of communism?!?!?!? Please elaborate.
This is what Commies do - write revisionist history.
Commie propaganda written by an obsure blogger who can't write anything original at a failing paper that will not be around in a year. Who cares?
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Classics from the marginalized minority:
Posted by b.atkinson 10:29 AM, 11/20/2008
I expect this book to be every bit as successful as the 'norg' book that bunch wrote in conjunction with his pal "$crew Them" Markos. I'm sorry, what?
Posted by ocjones 10:29 AM, 11/20/2008
When you see the debate slipping away from you, simply try to destroy your opponent.
Good stuff...
Reagan spent too much time on the "Cold War". The wall was already staring to crumble when he went on the attack. The USSR could no longer keep their people under wraps. The truth was getting through and the populace of these countries wondered why they had to wait in line for a loaf of bread and had no access to a pair of levis. The entire western world was having a ball and they had to live in a one bedroom apartment next to the Grenoble Nuclear plant.
JMC wrote: "That whole Reagan thing is just a myth. People are attributing things to him that aren't true to advance their political agenda. "
A WSJ study of presidential scholars had Reagan at #8 all time, way ahead of Clinton (#24) and even the saint himself, JFK (#18). If that's too GOP for you, perhaps the ABC viewer poll done in 2000, which had Reagan at #5 would suffice? No? How about the 2007 Rasmussen poll that had Reagan at #9 (Clinton at #20)? Or the 2005 Washington College study that had Reagan at #2 (Clinton at #5, JFK at #4)? Or the 2007 Gallup poll that had Reagan at #2 (Clinton at #4, JFK at #3)? Is that all due to a "myth"?
"All Reagan did (that "fiscal conservative" who left us with a 200 Billion dollar defict) was outspend them." Whether you love him or hae him, this is a key fact that needs to be acknowledged. He simply wasn't a small gov budget hawk that some make him out to be. He and Congress spent wildly.
E.Plebnista "Reagan was the Second Coming. And these people are all upset that they were Left Behind." Excellent - that about sums up the Reagan worshippers. And ET "financial nerds plundered corporations without an ounce of mercy." Perfect description.
Reagan was very successful at boosting moral when it needed it most. That's enough for me to cement him in the "positive" column. I also respect his "cut and running" in Beirut, he was not afraid to admit a mistake and put the lives of American soldiers above his own ego. (take that Bush and Cheney) But it also must be remembered that he should have been a one term president. His obvious dementia and inability to respond to the Iran-Contra affair was sad. He was clearly taken advantage of by greedy zealots who were more interested in their own self-interests than the legacy of Reagan or the reputation of their country. If you can't give Clinton credit for the economic success of the 90's, than please don't ask me to give Reagan credit for ending the Cold War.
When were Korean and Vietnam popular? Bush worked with Congress to get us into it. Kennedy and Truman never did. Those wars were not popular. Secondly, financial crisis Kennedy never had unemployment between 5.3% and had a high of 7.1%, Carter 5.7% to 7.8%, Clinton 3.9% to 7.4% and Bush varies from 3.4 to 6.5% (only the last year above 5 too). GDP grow during each administration: Kennedy 10.9%, Carter 8.6, Clinton 34.8% and Bush 17.3 (EOF2007). Inflation except for the last 2 years has been historical low starting with the end of the second Clinton term. More later, but home ownership is an historic high! Bank crisises have occurred under Hoover, FDR, Truman, LBJ, Carter, Reagan, & Bush II. {Unemployment: http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet }{GDP http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp} BTW: it is easy to say since the Great Depression but the CARTER era was far worst then what we have going on now.
In hiring the illegals, TPS was just practicing "trickle down economics"...in honor of Reagan.
The Reagan years ushered in the take over of this country by the bean counters. These baseball cap wearing financial nerds plundered corporations without an ounce of mercy. Their only objective was to make a pile of cash. Leveraged buyouts took place on a daily basis displacing thousands of workers. Assets were bought and sold, without any consideration to the people who were working for the company. Jobs were consolidated, manufacturing moved overseas and the resulting profits were gravy.
When you see the debate slipping away from you, simply try to destroy your opponent.
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Um, Xi, since my economics professor's projections happened eleven years earlier, when Lech was pop-riviting aluminum in a ship yard, I think that carries more weight. It's pretty easy to look back after something happens and say "wow thank"....much harder to say "in ten years this will happen"....and then it does.
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JMC - you are a riot, but you speak the truth. To compare Reagan to Obama is laughable. Reagan was the best president this country ever had. Obama, the man of change, digging up Tom Daschle, Eric Holder and a bunch of Clinton lackeys. Laughable.
The downfall of the Soviet Union was a fait accompli by the mid '70's. I had an economics profession in 1978 who showed, using GDP, growth and debt data how the Soviet Union would collpase within the next decade. In short, the rapid growth of the Soviet economy (essentially equaling the US in 70 years, growth that took us 200 years) was a house built on sand. Their incredibly rapid growth by acquisition (to use the business term) overreached their ability to finance and sustain that growth, in both financial and human terms. All Reagan did (that "fiscal conservative" who left us with a 200 Billion dollar defict) was outspend them. Sorry to burst your bubble.
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Good comeback, Richard.
The Reagan administration took place during the rise of the "bean counter" takeover of this country. Assets became commodities to be bought,picked clean of profits then dumped on the trash heap of our economy. Leveraged buyouts took place on a daily basis without any government intervention. One wonders if these sleaze bag investment bankers were reeled in a little at that point, would we be where we are today. I blame Reagan for a lack of oversight, not the actual implementation of a rape and pillage economy.
Bad morning, Ricky?
Fischer - apparently you misunderstood my comment. I said the president that got us into a war that the majority of Americans feel was a mistake AND who got us into the worst financial crises since the depression. Only one president fits that description. I'd think you'd know that, since you voted for the idiot twice. Which, obviously, qualifies you as an expert in evaluating presidents.
Do not go there Bunch. We just saw the most liberal Senator ever elected President mainly because he ran on very Reagan like principles of low taxes, strong security, law and order, nationalism, personal responsibility. Calls for more government intrusion were either absent or very vague and timid. Obamas picks so far seem like restoration of the Clinton triangulating gang governing like moderate republicans. The left wingers are up to great disappointment. The Gipper legacy is still alive and strong.
Burns: Welcome fellow Republicans, to start with the old business, brother Hibbert will read a report on our efforts to rename everything after Ronald Reagan.
Dr. Hibbert: All Millard Fillmore schools are now Ronald Reagan's, the Mississippi River is now the Mississippi Reagan--
Dracula: And my good friend Frankenstein is now Frankenreagan. Blah!
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Yup. Ricky French, hero to Attytood Republican toadies, definitely a "values voter."
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That's some serious issues right there. Ran out of bad things to say about Bush so now he has to go back in time and trash Reagan. What the hell is wrong with you Will?
ummm John Paul the Second ended the cold war, anyone with any sort of knowledge knows that
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Talking point sleuth: You mean the Korean War right where Truman initiated and never got congress to sign up? Or do you mean Vietnam and Kennedy? In Vietnam 58k were killed and cost 13% of GDP per year, in Korea 37k were killed and cost 17% of GDP and Iraq were 4,200 killed and cost 4% of GDP. Korea and Vietnam did not get Congressional support, Iraq cost less, had support, and involved fewer deaths.
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E.Plebnista, you always use the term "marginalized minority" when referring to conservatives. Did you say the same thing about liberals four years ago? Eight years ago?
UGH UGH UGH Why do liberals feed the need to anecdotally destroy a person to vilify? I understand, liberals do not free thinking or understanding of history, everything needs to fit the neatly fitted pattern. We are human, we not the same, we grow, we prosper at different rates. We help each other based on our on free will. We practice differently. Liberals denigrate these principles when someone stands up to them, but it is exactly whom they if confident would be.
Whenever I'm looking for expert evaluations of presidents, I know the first place I go is to ask people who voted, twice, for a president that got us involved in war that the vast majority of Americans think was a mistake, and who held office during the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Obviously, such geniuses know them some presidents.
Saint? Saint? No, please. This is why the marginalized minority know that Obama isn't the Messiah. Reagan was the Second Coming. And these people are all upset that they were Left Behind.
Trolls? You mean like in the legends about the Norse Gods? I mean, Legends are based in truth, right? Happy Thor's Day.
"How the Reagan Legacy has distorted our politics and haunts our future"......So, thats how a junior senator, first AA president ever, gets elected. Thanks to the "distortion" of our politics by Reagan. Good point will.
Sad. Since his future is now in doubt (because his boy won and he won't be able to drop his pom-poms long enough to write a critical word about him), Will has to dig into the past and attempt to re-write history.
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"Myth? Reagan was legend. And legends are based in truth."
Well, trolls would know about legends, that is true.
Reagan was a legend in his own mind--oops, he didn't have that either
Oh boy Will. Better cover your head with something to protect yourself from the s#@t storm that is going to rain down on you. Right wing trolls worship Reagan the way people at Jonestown worshiped Jim Jones. Right wing sheep worship the man as a God. Beware the Jelly Bean Kool-Aid.
Reagan has been the most overrated president in recent history. It is actually fun to watch the right wing go into epileptic fits over any criticism of the man-or should I say saint?
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That whole Reagan thing is just a myth. People are attributing things to him that aren't true to advance their political agenda. It's kin of sad. By the way, pay no attention to the community organizer behing the curtain who, by the sheer magnitude of his presence, is going to transform America and the entire world into one big Coke commercial. "I'd like to teach the world to sing.."
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Like the truth that he started the NeoConservative revolution that destroyed the GOP and placed us in the situation we are in today?
Myth? Reagan was legend. And legends are based in truth.
Plagiarized? You idiot, Reagan never said anything about myths. As if hanksperka isn't a plagiarized name of the late tv reporter? Please, go get a life.
So he plagiarized the title? No biggie. It's not like anyone will notice. This book will sell 10 copies at most. How many trees will be sacrificed so Will can spew his hate towards a dead president?
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Congrats, Will. I'm sure hank will be proud.
Sad, isn't it, when far-right Republican lunatic toadies are reduced to repeatedly clinging to foreign labor leaders in order to decide what opinions to have?
Bunch or Walesa? Bunch or Walesa? hmmmmmm..it's close, but I'll have to take Walesa's opinion.
GDANSK, Poland--When talking about Ronald Reagan, I have to be personal. We in Poland took him so personally. Why? Because we owe him our liberty. This can't be said often enough by people who lived under oppression for half a century, until communism fell in 1989".....Lech Walesa. June 2004.
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About Will Bunch
Will's book: Learn about it here and purchase it here.
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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