If I thought this post was intended to be even remotely tongue-in-cheek, I would applaud it, but we seem to have long since passed the point where satire becomes impossible here at FR.
IBTZ
Troll!
Don’t be an ass
At any rate, I think it is totally ridiculous to judge Reagan by today's standards, which you seem to be suggesting. The political world has moved forward at light-speed in the last 20 years.
You have a point about the amnesty. That deal was Reagan’s biggest mistake.
He made other compromises with liberals, but only as necessary. He was always clear about his conservative Christian beliefs.
Reagan came into the presidency with a few major objectives, among them cutting taxes, getting people back to work (obviously related to tax policy), improving the military, and dealing with the Soviets. If he had to make some compromises in some other areas in order to accomplish his primary goals, he made them.
Bear in mind that he had a Democrat House to contend with during both his terms.
No president has ever been perfect. Reagan was not an exception to that rule. He was however, a great president. By today’s standards, he probably would be considered a RINO.
I see some are already calling for you to be “zotted”. How absurd.
If you compare him to the kinds of Republicans that were in office at the time, you could say so since he had more of a Libertarian stripe.
He also had a much different political reality to deal with than GW did. Reagan had a Democratic House and Senate to deal with, and they weren’t willing to compromise their “safety nets.”
I remember reading a quote from Tip O’Neill who said something like he was happy to have gotten through the Reagan administration with the social safety nets still intact. So, my guess is that Reagan wanted to do something with them, but never got that far because of people like Tip and his Democratic cohorts.
You fail to give the whole picture such as:
The Act made it illegal to knowingly hire or recruit illegal immigrants (immigrants who do not possess lawful work authorization) and required employers to attest to their employees’ immigration status.
So Reagan was interested in a conservative approach but no one elected him to be Stalin and ignore other branches of the government.
If you think Reagan had the power to deport illegals but chose not to.
Reagan, the legend, was perfect. Reagan, the man, isn’t spoken of much around here.
I liked him fine because he knew how to compromise to at least get a piece of what he wanted. But he wasn’t the stellar conservative president that many portray him as.
Nothing much can be done about things in the past and while not 100% perfect Reagan was by far the best President in my lifetime.
Now, what needs to be done is to purge the GOP of every stinking progressive. At the primary level, if the GOP tries to run a progressive, like the scum they ran in NY ScuzzyFavaFlavorFlave then Conservatives need to use every legal means necessary to get someone else on the ballot.
If I were a Dem I would be ashamed with what the progressives have done to that party and I sure am not going to sit around and let the GOP do the same damned thing.
I joined the PrimaryChallenge group in NY. I’ve attended the Tea Party Rallies. On an almost weekly basis write my representatives to, at bare minimum, let them know we are watching.
We need a Sen McCarthy to once again purge the communists (progressives)from both parties and our country.
Was he a Rino? ...........NO!
Was he a single issue nutcase? >>>>>>Absolutely NOT!
Did he make everyone happy all the time?......Certainly not!
Throughout his presidency he pissed of one constituency or another for the explicit purposes of governing the country well, but he always retained his conservatism in spite of appearances at times. GW Bush governed in much the same way as he tried to emulate Reagan when he could, but he did not have that special sauce that Reagan had.
I have often grappled with Conservatives on this site who often quote Reagan as if he was the quintessential conservative and never gave in to liberals. That idea is nice but it is not true. Reagan, or any good governor or president is the president of all, not just some, and reality tends to conflict with any ideology. It's how you handle that conflict that determines you ability to govern effectively.
Reagan was very effective compared to many modern day presidents, as was GWB. They both did it in a way that history will reflect as successful, and neither was, is, or ever will be considered a RINO. But criticisms of how they did one thing or another will always exist. It was the price they paid for effectiveness and it was done in the best interests of the entire country. He did it his way.
Who pray tell Ron Paul Troll would be conservative enough? Never mind, I think I figured it out.
I smell Ron Paul infiltrator troll scent...
That’s right, Reagan was a RINO!!!!
The only true Republican was Abraham Lincoln. All “Republicans’ since him have been RINOs.
(I’m a RINO, you’re a RINO, everyone’s a RINO [except the progressive, liberal comunist democrats])
RINO wars!
As a conservative and Californian, I was thrilled to see Reagan elected, for him to push tax reductions, and push tough smart foreign policy.
I was, and remain, very pissed off about amnesty, preventing me from seeing him through the rose colored glasses.