LOL...so now I have an "ilk"?! Interesting, Mr. Tator...I guess everything is relative and your perception of the transformation of Reagan from DINO to RINO differs significantly from what I've read over the years, but a lot of your facts ring true. Still, I don't consciously believe much at all of what the Media tells me...then again, when you are immersed in the Culture who knows what has soaked in unconsciously.
Relatively speaking, though, in 1980, Jerry Ford was the Centrist and Reagan was indeed the Far Right candidate for a time when Socialism had continued to hold sway until we were suffering from a malaise and the Gipper did a great deal to bring us out of it. He may not have been successful in decreasing the size of the Federal Leviathan, but he definitely sowed the seeds of doubt in many of us that a Centralized Bureaucracy was something that could--or should--be expected to solve all of Life's dilemmas. I believe it is up to us to pick up that knowledge and run with it. Federal Government spending as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product has increased past 25% for the first time since WWII and this is despite defense spending accounting for an almost historic low percentage of that!! Do we allow it to continue to grow to 30%?! How 'bout 40%?! No, I say we begin to make the tough choices that decrease it back to 20%...15%...8%!! Of course it can be done, but only by winning over the hearts and minds of the American people. Perhaps Dubyuh can accomplish this in the next 6 1/2 years, or at least begin moving the ball in the Right direction...my complaint with him is that lately the balls been moving in the Wrong direction and Dubyuh doesn't seem to be overly concerned with it.
FReegards, Ol' Man...MUD
HA!!
You've more heart than any 10 people I know; which, is why you're such a valuable person to the conservative movement.
Our side's woefully absent of heart; as well as another body part. {g}
Still...aren't you forgetting compromise?
Otherwise, I could agree with your take entirely.
"If we're gonna compromise, lets compromise on OUR issues then."
That IMO, is not compromise.
I'll grant you that what we've witnessed looks mighty damned one sided of late; while, in all fairness?
We really don't know what the big picture is, what's been done now to setup the future.
Our view is strictly one dimensional; and, for many more, even less than that.
"Instead of eliminating the Capital Gains Tax in two years, let's compromise and eliminate this form of double-taxation over 4-6 years!! Instead of eliminating the Department of Edu...That's compromise, not giving the Left everything it wants and more in order to keep them from having an agenda to run on in the next election."
No.
That's our idea of *compromise*.
One I'd LOVE to see, btw; so, don'tchu ever stop promoting your POV, & I'll promise to never stop praising every word you say.
"...and I must say I have a lot of respect for his understanding of how the World seems to work..."
Seems?
It seems to me possessing an understanding of that process is the whole trick to not just survival, but to success.
"...but sincerely believe his unwillingness to charge forward in promoting our shared agenda is the result of getting kicked in the teeth a few more times than I."
Couldn't agree more!
Your youthful hell-bent-for-election "Go where Angels fear to tread" attitude borne of youth...
v.s.
The experience of years lived, and the conservative POV attained as a result.
Works for me!
Yup...couldn't agree more with ya; again.
We're on a roll! ;^)
"We mustn't be timid in advancing our Agenda because when we are, the Left rolls over us in our defensive posture."
~& when we're not timid?
We hand the Left an issue to demagog visa-vi our very approach; hence, "Draconian Cuts," "Extremist," "Starve the children," "No *Gravitas*" and on & on & on ad nauseum.
The Left "is" evil; so, they tell their side the motive behind our action(s) are even more evil.
They can do so in a million different ways, y'know; and, their Liberal-Socialist media makes the smear job a virtual piece of cake.
Think.
"...the ideologies of youthful idealism produce the strangest realities of 'em all, too."
"Come again?!"
Must I?
Oh yea, & one more thing concerning the accurate & most facinating assessment of RR I'd just read (& lived through...)?
Let us always remember what Reagan told the media goons when they tried to set him up to take a fall by asking him, essentially, if he didn't feel hypocritical by leaving the Democratic Party for the Republicans??
"I didn't leave the Democratic Party; they left me."
Mud?
The people went absolutely nuts after hearing that line; and, why not?
After all, honestly; where do 'Rats go when they finally grow up, hmmmm?
Millions of people upon hearing that statement actually found themselves feeling comfortable with their conservatism for the first time in their lives.
Many construed that man's sharp, clever quip to be, "Leadership;" but, was it?
Or was it really a case of quick wit the result of an even sharper, survival instinct??
Reagan touched more voters using one sentence than everything Carter ever said, combined.
...& his words are still touching people to this day, too.