Reagan

[kendo1]

Um ...

No offense but the Fish Cheer didn't spell "fish"; at least not when performed live. Think of another four letter word that begins with f.

These are the 'official' words.

I had 'the black shiny thing with a hole in the middle' of Woodstock.
There was definitely an F, a U, a C, and a K. And a resounding cheer from the audience.

I was just a wee bit too young at the time. 12yo to be precise.

It wasn't until years later that I realised who the Governor Raygun Zap was.

 

[Seattle Zack]

The Soviets had invaded Afghanistan and were in the process of killing a sizeable percentage of its population.

It's a good thing our policy of funding and arming Muslim extremists and then abandoning them after our political gains were achieved never came back to bite us in the ass twenty years later.

 

[Pure]

right on, zack.

too, regarding NON extremists, it's lucky Reagan didn't sell Saddam/Iraq lots of copters, munitions and chemicals that would make him a danger to his neighbors!

Reagan is an example of someone whose moral universe is crystal clear about the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys.' like most conservatives and some liberals. the turnabouts and ironies of history are not a strong suit. and the 'morally clear' statement about the current 'good guy' comes back to bite the stater in 20 years ("the George Washington of Slobobia").

 

[Edward Teach]

My memory of Reagan’s early years, which, admittedly, has been dulled by time and is subject to correction, is that during the Kennedy presidency (Kennedy was not as loved before his assassination as he became afterwards), Barry Goldwater was becoming a popular Republican presidential candidate, thought to have a chance to unseat Kennedy in 1964. Ironically, Kennedy's assination killed Goldwater's chance at the Presidency.

Goldwater got tremendous funding from some southern California banks. I especially remember him having the support of Bank of America which was LA based back then and one of the nations largest, the first “credit cards” were “BankAmeriCards” (now Visa). Goldwater was also courting Hollywood. I think that it was during that early 60’s period that Reagan switched party affiliations to campaign for Goldwater.

Reagan made a speech for Goldwater (around ’64 give or take) that was a huge hit, an almost unbelievably huge hit. It may have been a campaign ad, I don’t remember but it was broadcast on national TV. My recollection is that the setting was very relaxed with Reagan sitting on the edge of a desk, one foot on the floor, with his hands folded in his lap, kinda having a fatherly talk with me. At any rate, that one speech showed the GOP just how effective Reagan could be playing the part of a serious politician and he became the GOP’s darling. He won the California Governorship in ‘67 (?), then the Presidency in ’80.

NC Senator Jesse Helms – elected in ’72 – formed “The Congressional Club” one of the most successful PACs ever, raising huge sums of money for those Helms supported. Helms supplied Reagan with money and was largely responsible for Reagan’s election as President in 1980. Reagan then gave Helms a large say in appointments. Helms loaded the Departments with his people and then helped them rise through the ranks for over 12 years.

Helms relied on evangelist Pat Robertson, who formed the Christian Coalition in roughly the late 70s, to recruit “suitable” candidates for appointment. Many of the current members of congress and the judiciary came from those Reagan/Helms/Robertson appointments. I think that it has been a major factor in the Christian Right having gained huge influence if not control of the GOP.

Reagan, while excellent making prepared speeches, was not very good at extemporaneous speaking. On several occasions, he confused movie characters with real people. He held very few press conferences and was very closely guarded by his handlers.