Hardly. I wouldn't call the Lockerbie bombing being put "into submission". Reagan sent American bombers against Libya after evidence came out that Libya was involved in an attack on American soldiers in a West Berlin nightclub. I won't fault him for that, that called retaliating against your sworn enemy. Hardly what I would call "pounding Libya into submission" in light of the fact of the Lockerbie bombing, and in light of the fact he's still in charge after all these years.
and keeps on calling Islam a "religion of peace."
Where the hell were you a three weeks ago, when President Bush uttered the famous words in a WOT speech, that are usually uttered here by FReepers to describe militant Islam as "Islamofascism"? A bold pronouncement, in light of the fact that President's are stereotypically known to usually try to be "above the fray" and diplomatic in their statements. A bold statement in a most bold speech on it's own, even if it got ignored or overlooked by those like you.
You just can't willingly face up to the fact that Reagan was no God, Reagan is no Bush, Bush is no Reagan.
I'm not crazy about Bush on many fronts, yet at the same time, I'm not going to ignore the fact that Reagan, as great as he was to this nation and free people everywhere, had his faults. In fact, you won't find anywhere in Reagan's legacy where he balanced a budget, reduced government spending, cut taxes across the board, or shrunk the size of government.
As I pointed out earlier, and I will not point out again, Libya went through great pains to avoid being detected as being involved in Lockerbie. It wasn't until years later that involvement was established. And then it was much later that actually the Libyans admitted it. Libya was frightened, obviously, and rightly so.
Where the hell were you a three weeks ago, when President Bush uttered the famous words in a WOT speech, that are usually uttered here by FReepers to describe militant Islam as "Islamofascism"? A bold pronouncement, in light of the fact that President's are stereotypically known to usually try to be "above the fray" and diplomatic in their statements. A bold statement in a most bold speech on it's own, even if it got ignored or overlooked by those like you.
Reagan called the Soviet Union the Evil Empire - and he fought them in every corner. I don't see President Bush turning the screws on Saudi.
You just can't willingly face up to the fact that Reagan was no God, Reagan is no Bush, Bush is no Reagan.
Reagan is the seminal political figure of our times. What you cannot face, and what is horrendous, is that you want to define his greatness down, so that Bush comes near to approaching it. Wake the hell up!
I'm not crazy about Bush on many fronts, yet at the same time, I'm not going to ignore the fact that Reagan, as great as he was to this nation and free people everywhere, had his faults. In fact, you won't find anywhere in Reagan's legacy where he balanced a budget, reduced government spending, cut taxes across the board, or shrunk the size of government.
I posted a link to Cato above showing Reagan's record. This legacy must also be seen in line with the fact he had a Democrat congress to contend with. In the Great Man's words, "Not bad. Not bad at all."
Ivan