Let's take a short break from our country's descent into police-state socialism and celebrate some great quotes from Ronald Reagan:

"Here's my strategy on the Cold War:We win, they lose."

"Of the four wars in my lifetime none came about because the U.S. was too strong."

"The taxpayer: That's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination."

"I have wondered at times about what the Ten Commandment's would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress."

"Government is like a baby: An alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other."

"The nearest thing to eternal life we will ever see on this earth is a government program."

"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it."

"No arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women.

"We Americans are slow to anger. We always seek peaceful avenues before resorting to the use of force -- and we did. We tried quiet diplomacy, public condemnation, economic sanctions, and demonstrations of military force. None succeeded. Despite our repeated warnings, Qadhafi continued his reckless policy of intimidation, his relentless pursuit of terror. He counted on America to be passive. He counted wrong. I warned that there should be no place on Earth where terrorists can rest and train and practice their deadly skills. I meant it. I said that we would act with others, if possible, and alone if necessary to ensure that terrorists have no sanctuary anywhere. Tonight, we have."

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."


... A Happy 4th to One and All!

7/3/2006 11:11:03 AM

7/3/2006 11:35:16 AM

^
You lucky dog, gettin your picture taken with the President. Must be nice.

7/3/2006 11:38:59 AM

we were at the same college back in the 40s

7/3/2006 12:13:31 PM

"Nancy who?"

7/3/2006 12:19:59 PM

Best President Ever? Discuss.

7/3/2006 12:34:06 PM

haha. that's a funny joke.

7/3/2006 12:40:25 PM

i'm trying to find the last picture ever taken of reagan and am having some difficulty

7/3/2006 12:42:35 PM

Quote :

""Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." "

Who wrote that? That's awesome. I found the speech http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1986/081586e.htm but it doesn't say who his speech writer was.

7/3/2006 12:45:18 PM

satan

7/3/2006 12:50:11 PM

He didn't have speech writers. All that wit, wisdom, and down-home folksy charm, why, it came straight from his brain to his cute little mouth.

7/3/2006 12:51:00 PM

Speaking of political socialism, than Regan for increasing the size of government. And his little buddy, too -- GWB.

7/3/2006 12:54:42 PM

Quote :

"slackerb: Best President Ever? Discuss."

W >>>>>>> Reagan

7/3/2006 1:02:19 PM

great thread

7/3/2006 1:05:45 PM

http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/Politics/wherethedeficitcamefrom.html

7/3/2006 1:14:50 PM

Quote :

"He didn't have speech writers."

He did. And I worship Peggy Noonan.


Sarcasm in your post spooky, duly noted.

7/3/2006 1:17:02 PM

7/3/2006 1:43:07 PM

Quote :

"In August 1996, San Jose Mercury News reporter Gary Webb published a series titled Dark Alliance, alleging that the origins of crack cocaine in California was the responsibility of the Contras. [4] [5] Webb's controversial and highly damaging revelations were disputed at the time, but later revelations confirmed some of his findings. Freedom of Information Act inquiries by the National Security Archive and other investigators unearthed a number of documents showing that White House officials, including Oliver North, knew about and supported using money raised via drug trafficking to fund the Contras. The Justice Department denied the allegations. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contras

7/3/2006 2:14:35 PM

I don't hate Reagan. I hate people who like Reagan.

Trickle down my way, and I'll contra your asses.

[Edited on July 3, 2006 at 2:25 PM. Reason : HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE]

7/3/2006 2:25:02 PM

lol, that's fiscal conservatism if I've ever seen it

7/3/2006 2:57:57 PM

Bill Hicks:

Quote :

" 'We have a lot invested in this ride. Shut him up. Look at my furrows of worry. Look at my big bank account and my family. This just has to be real.' [Life is] just a ride. But we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok. Jesus murdered; Martin Luther King murdered; Malcolm X murdered; Gandhi murdered; John Lennon murdered; Reagan.... wounded."

[Edited on July 3, 2006 at 3:48 PM. Reason : .]

7/3/2006 3:46:58 PM

"Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!" —George Washington

"The flames kindled on the 4 of July 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume these engines and all who work them." —Thomas Jefferson

"The day of our nation's birth in that little hall in Philadelphia, [was] a day on which debate had raged for hours. The men gathered there were honorable men hard-pressed by a king who had flouted the very laws they were willing to obey. Even so, to sign the Declaration of Independence was such an irretrievable act that the walls resounded with the words 'treason, the gallows, the headsman's axe,' and the issue remained in doubt. [On that day] 56 men, a little band so unique we have never seen their like since, had pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor. Some gave their lives in the war that followed, most gave their fortunes, and all preserved their sacred honor... In recent years, however, I've come to think of that day as more than just the birthday of a nation. It also commemorates the only true philosophical revolution in all history. Oh, there have been revolutions before and since ours. But those revolutions simply exchanged one set of rules for another. Ours was a revolution that changed the very concept of government. Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people. We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should." —Ronald Reagan

Whether Reagan was a great president or not is beside the point. The real question is Does the fire of liberty still burn in the hearts of 21st century Americans?

7/3/2006 9:45:38 PM

i burned some microwave popcorn earlier today

cause i like it that way

7/3/2006 9:56:56 PM

Remarks at a Ceremony Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion, D-day
June 6, 1984

We're here to mark that day in history when the Allied armies joined in battle to reclaim this continent to liberty. For 4 long years, much of Europe had been under a terrible shadow. Free nations had fallen, Jews cried out in the camps, millions cried out for liberation. Europe was enslaved, and the world prayed for its rescue. Here in Normandy the rescue began. Here the Allies stood and fought against tyranny in a giant undertaking unparalleled in human history.
We stand on a lonely, windswept point on the northern shore of France. The air is soft, but 40 years ago at this moment, the air was dense with smoke and the cries of men, and the air was filled with the crack of rifle fire and the roar of cannon. At dawn, on the morning of the 6th of June, 1944, 225 Rangers jumped off the British landing craft and ran to the bottom of these cliffs. Their mission was one of the most difficult and daring of the invasion: to climb these sheer and desolate cliffs and take out the enemy guns. The Allies had been told that some of the mightiest of these guns were here and they would be trained on the beaches to stop the Allied advance.

The Rangers looked up and saw the enemy soldiers -- the edge of the cliffs shooting down at them with machineguns and throwing grenades. And the American Rangers began to climb. They shot rope ladders over the face of these cliffs and began to pull themselves up. When one Ranger fell, another would take his place. When one rope was cut, a Ranger would grab another and begin his climb again. They climbed, shot back, and held their footing. Soon, one by one, the Rangers pulled themselves over the top, and in seizing the firm land at the top of these cliffs, they began to seize back the continent of Europe. Two hundred and twenty-five came here. After 2 days of fighting, only 90 could still bear arms.

Behind me is a memorial that symbolizes the Ranger daggers that were thrust into the top of these cliffs. And before me are the men who put them there.

These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war.

Gentlemen, I look at you and I think of the words of Stephen Spender's poem. You are men who in your ``lives fought for life . . . and left the vivid air signed with your honor.''

I think I know what you may be thinking right now -- thinking ``we were just part of a bigger effort; everyone was brave that day.'' Well, everyone was. Do you remember the story of Bill Millin of the 51st Highlanders? Forty years ago today, British troops were pinned down near a bridge, waiting desperately for help. Suddenly, they heard the sound of bagpipes, and some thought they were dreaming. Well, they weren't. They looked up and saw Bill Millin with his bagpipes, leading the reinforcements and ignoring the smack of the bullets into the ground around him.

Lord Lovat was with him -- Lord Lovat of Scotland, who calmly announced when he got to the bridge, ``Sorry I'm a few minutes late,'' as if he'd been delayed by a traffic jam, when in truth he'd just come from the bloody fighting on Sword Beach, which he and his men had just taken.

There was the impossible valor of the Poles who threw themselves between the enemy and the rest of Europe as the invasion took hold, and the unsurpassed courage of the Canadians who had already seen the horrors of war on this coast. They knew what awaited them there, but they would not be deterred. And once they hit Juno Beach, they never looked back.

All of these men were part of a rollcall of honor with names that spoke of a pride as bright as the colors they bore: the Royal Winnipeg Rifles, Poland's 24th Lancers, the Royal Scots Fusiliers, the Screaming Eagles, the Yeomen of England's armored divisions, the forces of Free France, the Coast Guard's ``Matchbox Fleet'' and you, the American Rangers.

Forty summers have passed since the battle that you fought here. You were young the day you took these cliffs; some of you were hardly more than boys, with the deepest joys of life before you. Yet, you risked everything here. Why? Why did you do it? What impelled you to put aside the instinct for self-preservation and risk your lives to take these cliffs? What inspired all the men of the armies that met here? We look at you, and somehow we know the answer. It was faith and belief; it was loyalty and love.

The men of Normandy had faith that what they were doing was right, faith that they fought for all humanity, faith that a just God would grant them mercy on this beachhead or on the next. It was the deep knowledge -- and pray God we have not lost it -- that there is a profound, moral difference between the use of force for liberation and the use of force for conquest. You were here to liberate, not to conquer, and so you and those others did not doubt your cause. And you were right not to doubt.

You all knew that some things are worth dying for. One's country is worth dying for, and democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man. All of you loved liberty. All of you were willing to fight tyranny, and you knew the people of your countries were behind you.

The Americans who fought here that morning knew word of the invasion was spreading through the darkness back home. They fought -- or felt in their hearts, though they couldn't know in fact, that in Georgia they were filling the churches at 4 a.m., in Kansas they were kneeling on their porches and praying, and in Philadelphia they were ringing the Liberty Bell.

Something else helped the men of D-day: their rockhard belief that Providence would have a great hand in the events that would unfold here; that God was an ally in this great cause. And so, the night before the invasion, when Colonel Wolverton asked his parachute troops to kneel with him in prayer he told them: Do not bow your heads, but look up so you can see God and ask His blessing in what we're about to do. Also that night, General Matthew Ridgway on his cot, listening in the darkness for the promise God made to Joshua: ``I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.''

These are the things that impelled them; these are the things that shaped the unity of the Allies.

When the war was over, there were lives to be rebuilt and governments to be returned to the people. There were nations to be reborn. Above all, there was a new peace to be assured. These were huge and daunting tasks. But the Allies summoned strength from the faith, belief, loyalty, and love of those who fell here. They rebuilt a new Europe together.

There was first a great reconciliation among those who had been enemies, all of whom had suffered so greatly. The United States did its part, creating the Marshall plan to help rebuild our allies and our former enemies. The Marshall plan led to the Atlantic alliance -- a great alliance that serves to this day as our shield for freedom, for prosperity, and for peace.

In spite of our great efforts and successes, not all that followed the end of the war was happy or planned. Some liberated countries were lost. The great sadness of this loss echoes down to our own time in the streets of Warsaw, Prague, and East Berlin. Soviet troops that came to the center of this continent did not leave when peace came. They're still there, uninvited, unwanted, unyielding, almost 40 years after the war. Because of this, allied forces still stand on this continent. Today, as 40 years ago, our armies are here for only one purpose -- to protect and defend democracy. The only territories we hold are memorials like this one and graveyards where our heroes rest.

We in America have learned bitter lessons from two World Wars: It is better to be here ready to protect the peace, than to take blind shelter across the sea, rushing to respond only after freedom is lost. We've learned that isolationism never was and never will be an acceptable response to tyrannical governments with an expansionist intent.

But we try always to be prepared for peace; prepared to deter aggression; prepared to negotiate the reduction of arms; and, yes, prepared to reach out again in the spirit of reconciliation. In truth, there is no reconciliation we would welcome more than a reconciliation with the Soviet Union, so, together, we can lessen the risks of war, now and forever.

Continued....

7/4/2006 12:08:00 AM

It's fitting to remember here the great losses also suffered by the Russian people during World War II: 20 million perished, a terrible price that testifies to all the world the necessity of ending war. I tell you from my heart that we in the United States do not want war. We want to wipe from the face of the Earth the terrible weapons that man now has in his hands. And I tell you, we are ready to seize that beachhead. We look for some sign from the Soviet Union that they are willing to move forward, that they share our desire and love for peace, and that they will give up the ways of conquest. There must be a changing there that will allow us to turn our hope into action.

We will pray forever that some day that changing will come. But for now, particularly today, it is good and fitting to renew our commitment to each other, to our freedom, and to the alliance that protects it.

We are bound today by what bound us 40 years ago, the same loyalties, traditions, and beliefs. We're bound by reality. The strength of America's allies is vital to the United States, and the American security guarantee is essential to the continued freedom of Europe's democracies. We were with you then; we are with you now. Your hopes are our hopes, and your destiny is our destiny.

Here, in this place where the West held together, let us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand what they died for. Let our actions say to them the words for which Matthew Ridgway listened: ``I will not fail thee nor forsake thee.''

Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their value [valor], and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which they lived and died.

Thank you very much, and God bless you all.

7/4/2006 12:08:21 AM

My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes.

7/4/2006 12:24:48 AM

^^
The Boys of Pointe Du Hoc...a Peggy Noonan classic.

She wrote later ...

"I wanted American teenagers to stop chewing their Rice Krispies for a minute and hear about the greatness of those tough kids who are now their grandfathers."

7/4/2006 12:49:21 AM

Mr. Bozo goes to Bitburg



[Edited on July 4, 2006 at 12:57 AM. Reason : ]

7/4/2006 12:56:39 AM

Quote :

"The real question is Does the fire of liberty still burn in the hearts of 21st century Americans? "

fuck yeah, we got fire for liberty

the liberty of gassing up our mega-SUV guzzlers so we can drive our fat asses down to the mega-suburban mall and buy cheaply made, yet overpriced plastic bullshit.

if the goverment wants to tap into our medical, financial records, listen to our phone calls, read our mail, so what? if they want to lock people up for 3 years without any charges and denying them any right to contact their family or legal representation, so the fuck what? just bring that goddamn gas price down, stop them mexican kids from going to my kid's school, and dont let them faggots git married.

oh yeah, and amend the Constitution to criminalize flag burning.

because as liberty loving americans, we like waving our flags once or twice a year while we pay lip service to crusty veterans who are otherwise left homeless or rotting in VA hospitals with substandard medical care.

THATS what we get fired up about.

Important shit.

you know...

liberty.





[Edited on July 4, 2006 at 2:01 AM. Reason : ]

7/4/2006 1:58:20 AM

Quote :

"Mr. Bozo goes to Bitburg"

he wasn't bonzo..bonzo was the chimp

he was the gipper

7/4/2006 2:04:41 AM

honestly, with all the money they are spending i bet we are creating some top secret g-14 classified weapons and shit and are still on top of the world

once we kill all the bad guys lifes gonna be great

7/4/2006 2:07:03 AM

^^
okay how about
Mr. Ray-Gun goes to Tehran?




By the way, I thought conservatives hated it when hollywood gets active into politics?

7/4/2006 3:51:13 AM

You know that isn't true. What we hate is when they pretend they're in to politics on Thursdays.
Like Susan Serandon, who is an absolutely stupid cunt.

She said the way to stop illegal immigration is for the US to build schools in Mexico. Schools!?!?
How many illegals come here for the school system? Right around 0, they're here for jobs and we just happen to have better schools as well. If you want to be charitable and build something for Mexico to help stop the flood, then build factories -- but even still, if it were a good economic idea to build them, they'd already be being built.

That's the kind of politics we hate, tag-line politics when they don't know jack shit about what they're talking about. Any actor, regardless of political leaning, is ok with me if they are serious about politics.

7/4/2006 7:45:02 AM

Bitburg 5-5-1985

This was a very difficult situation. The visit was to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe. Reagan's goal was reconcilliation with Germany, to help foster a closer alliance. His team set up the visit to the cemetary in Feb when snow covered the graves. They were caught off-guard that 40 or so graves were SS soldiers.

Reagan had the unenviable job of addressing the concerns of the guilt of the German people, and the anger of Jewish and veteran groups at home. In his speech at Bitburg, he tried to address these concerns....

"Our gesture of reconciliation with the German people today in no way minimizes our love and honor for those who fought and died for our country. They gave their lives to rescue freedom in its darkest hour the alliance of democratic nations that guards the freedom of millions in Europe and America today stands as a living testimony that their noble sacrifice was not in vain.

The war against the totalitarian dictatorship was not like other wars. The evil war of Nazism turned all values upsidedown. Nevertheless, we can mourn the German war dead as human beings crushed by a vicious ideology.

Your (the Jews) terrible suffering had made you ever vigilant against evil. Many of you are worried that reconciliation means forgetting. Well, I promise you, we will never forget, and we say with the victims of that Holocaust: never again.

During the Battle of the Bulge, three young American soldiers arrived at the cottage of a German mother and son. Lost behind enemy lines, all were frostbitten and one was badly wounded. Even though taking them in was punishable by death, she sheltered them and made a meal out of the last of her food. Then, a knock was heard at the door; four German soldiers had arrived. The woman was afraid but she said, "There will be no shooting here." The soldiers laid down their weapons, said grace, and shared the meal. One of the German soldiers was a medic and tended to the wounded American. In the morning the Germans showed the Americans how to get back behind the line. They all shook hands and parted. Those boys reconciled briefly in the midst of war. Surely we allies in peacetime should honor the reconciliation of the last 40 years.

Four decades ago we waged a great war to lift the darkness of evil from the world, to let men and women in this country and in every country live in the sunshine of liberty.... But the struggle for freedom is not complete, for today much of the world is still cast in totalitarian darkness ."

All in all, he probably handled the touchy situation pretty well.

[Edited on July 4, 2006 at 10:31 AM. Reason : .]

[Edited on July 4, 2006 at 10:32 AM. Reason : .]

7/4/2006 10:30:50 AM

7/4/2006 12:23:49 PM

http://blow.ytmnd.com

7/4/2006 7:39:24 PM

god i so fucking want to level nk

like i'm talking nuclear

7/4/2006 7:40:07 PM

4^ they were not caught 'off guard'. They knew full well ahead of time and were asked by alot of people (majority of congress, Elie Wiesel, his own wife) to not to go or choose another sight.

"I think that there's nothing wrong with visiting that cemetery where those young men are victims of Nazism also, even though they were fighting in the German uniform, drafted into service to carry out the hateful wishes of the Nazis. They were victims, just as surely as the victims in the concentration camps." - Ronald Reagan

Right 50 Waffen-ShutzStaffel soldiers were just as innocent and suffered just as much as the trainloads of civilian men, women, and children to be gassed or worked to death?

How do you get alzheimers if you have no brain to begin with?

apparently Buchanan came up with the idea, which isnt suprising)

7/4/2006 11:42:15 PM

I dont think all those SS troops were bad people, lord knows how history will judge some of our actions in Iraq

7/4/2006 11:59:42 PM

Quote :

"apparently Buchanan came up with the idea, which isnt suprising)"

German chancellor Helmut Kohl originally suggested the event at the cemetary. Reagan felt he owed his friend for the support Kohl had given over the years. Kohl would not budge in his choice of the location. Polls showed that 70% of the German people wanted the event to go on as scheduled. Kohl would lose a lot of support if it was cancelled, and Reagan wasn't going to leave him hanging. It definitely was not a shining moment in Reagan's presidency. But he handled it, and moved on.

7/5/2006 1:38:30 AM

oh, this reminds me of "Pirates and Emporers"
http://www.piratesandemperors.com/
http://homepage.mac.com/ericchenry/P&E_preview_320.wmv

7/5/2006 1:43:22 AM

Reagan. Great President? Or Greatest President? Discuss.

7/5/2006 8:48:16 AM

i'll go with (c)

7/5/2006 8:55:35 AM

Quote :

"Right 50 Waffen-ShutzStaffel soldiers were just as innocent and suffered just as much as the trainloads of civilian men, women, and children to be gassed or worked to death?"

The SS was actually one of the most diverse fighting forces ever. By mid-war they had all but abandoned the racial requirements for soldiers and were appealling to eastern europeans to join the fight against bolshevism. There was even a Muslim-Croat division as well as a unit of Indians who siding against Britain. While the SS certainly did some horrible things (namely the Totenkopf division which was used throughout the Reich to guard concentration camps) the popular conception of them isn't entirely accurate.

If you're going to fault Reagan for visiting Bitburg (although you would be hard pressed to find any German military cemeteries without a few SS soldiers in them) then you should also be campaigning for the state of NC to tear down every monument to confederate soldiers.

7/5/2006 12:38:18 PM