A couple of years ago, when I wrote the book "Tear Down This Myth" about Ronald Reagan, I noted that a lot of the conservatives who today venerate the Gipper today were highly critical of him when he was president -- especially over the idea that he was racing to "appease" Mikhail Gorbachev and the Soviet Union. I mentioned that one of those critics was a young firebrand in the House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich.
Here's some more about that:
The best examples come from a famous floor statement Gingrich made on March 21, 1986. This was right in the middle of the fight over funding for the Nicaraguan contras; the money had been cut off by Congress in 1985, though Reagan got $100 million for this cause in 1986. Here is Gingrich: “Measured against the scale and momentum of the Soviet empire’s challenge, the Reagan administration has failed, is failing, and without a dramatic change in strategy will continue to fail. . . . President Reagan is clearly failing.” Why? This was due partly to “his administration’s weak policies, which are inadequate and will ultimately fail”; partly to CIA, State, and Defense, which “have no strategies to defeat the empire.” But of course “the burden of this failure frankly must be placed first on President Reagan.” Our efforts against the Communists in the Third World were “pathetically incompetent,” so those anti-Communist members of Congress who questioned the $100 million Reagan sought for the Nicaraguan “contra” rebels “are fundamentally right.” Such was Gingrich’s faith in President Reagan that in 1985, he called Reagan’s meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev “the most dangerous summit for the West since Adolf Hitler met with Neville Chamberlain in 1938 in Munich.”
So of course flash forward 25 years, and now Gingrich is running for president as the only "Reagan Republican" in the race. But that's a myth -- much like the myth of Reagan himself. The bogus version of Reagan that Gingrich would replicate as 45th president would way more militaristic and way more uncompromising, especially on busting the federal budget, than the real Reagan ever would have been, and those of us in the reality-based world would be left holding the bag.
UPDATE: Looks like I'm inadvertantly on the same page with Matt Drudge...and Mitt Romney on this one. How did this happen?
I again would like to thank Barry H. Obama for making me realize last night that I am a victim and that everything that has gone wrong for me in my entire life is the fault of a rich guy. I am not responsbile for anything that has happened for me.— CD75
"everything that has gone wrong for me in my entire life is the fault of a rich guy." . . . . LOL, seems like CD75 is envious of Barry's wealth.- Yes. I am a full fledged liberal now. I an envious of all rich people. My whole life is now about envy and complaining that I am a victim. It is not fair that the rich have money. They must be taxed at 100%. Lets go storm the Bastille! — CD75
- All of the "liberals" that I know are well educated and have worked hard to earn their own wealth. Unlike conservatives though, they're not overly concerned or worried about what everyone else has and how much more they can get for themselves. Seems like conservatives worry on a daily basis about somebody getting something that they don't have. — dontlikeneocons
- The part that Will is leaving out is that Gingrich was wrong, and Reagan was responsible for bringing down the USSR. I am sure there were other voices saying the same thing at the time. Will just trying to get rid of the warehouse of Tear down this myth. Special $1.99.
— Bush3 - Nice catch, Will. But that said...
Sure, Gingrich is a hypocritical blowhard, who dog whistles about "food stamp president" and says that " Most Of The Asians, Some Latinos, But Not Many African Americans Understand Entrepreneurship"...
That may all be true, but what is the readability scores of his speeches?
RG says that's what's important, and I believe whatever RG says.— Talking point sleuth - //Nice catch, Will. But that said...///
What "catch?" This was all over Drudge Report DAYS ago. The only thing Will caught was a request for the minions to beat it to death. - "The epitaph of the Reagan presidency will be: 'When Ronald Reagan became President, the United States was the largest creditor nation. When he left the presidency, we were the world's largest debtor nation.'"--Lester Thurow, MIT professor of economics.........."Mr. Carter is acting as if he hasn't been in charge for the past three and a half years; as if someone else was responsible for the largest deficit in American history."
--Ronald Reagan, nationally televised campaign speech, October 24, 1980. Federal deficits totaled $252 billion under Mr. Carter. By the end of Mr. Reagan's presidency, federal deficits would total over 1.4 trillion.........."Myth" infers some inability to discern truth. The facts invalidate the "myth".— enabler1 - So, everytime Gingrich calls Obama weak or an appeaser, we'll be reminded of him saying the same about Reagan just before the fall of the Soviet empire. Nice. But Newt's right about one thing - the Reagan strategy of supporting mercenary terrorists (the Contras) in Nicaragua was a failure - it helped sustain public support there for the amatuerish Marxist Sandinistas, allowing them to justify suspending elections and blame their woes on Washington. If left alone, the moderate Nicaraguan middle class that had been instrumental in ousting the US puppet Somoza would have been in control much sooner.
- "those of us in the reality-based world"????...you can't mean yourself...LOL!!! Another classic example of how far from reality you really are!!!
I just love the endless "dog whistles" about "Green Energy" and its job creating ability...what better example of a "hypocrtical blowhard" and we aren't talking about 25 years ago, it's happening now, as we speak and the Libs ignor the reality-based results or lack thereof...it is a TRUE "MYTH"!— sarah89 - the Reagan administration has failed, is failing, and without a dramatic change in strategy will continue to fail. . . . President Reagan is clearly failing.” Why? This was due partly to “his administration’s weak policies, which are inadequate and will ultimately fail”.....my oh my, where have I heard this before? hmmmm— chasing history
- sarah -
Do you know that the term "dog whistle" generally refers to in this kind of context?— Talking point sleuth - While I was watching the president voicing his opinion about the state of the union, Will Bunch was looking up some obscure info on his favorite subject ......Ronald Reagan. Will, Reagan is dead ....do you hear me he is dead. Your book never sold and the myth does go on.— RufusG
- Will's journalistic instincts are such that he feels that we all want to hear about his thoughts on Ronald Reagan and a comparison tho Newt Gingrich as opposed to the SOTU address by the lame duck president Obama.— RufusG
- Thank god he's dead. Reagan was the worst President ever....just ahead of Nixon. — dontlikeneocons
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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