#politics And now, reality: “ However, the same survey found that neither Harris, nor any of the other Democrats being floated as contenders to replace Biden—including Whitmer and California Governor Gavin Newsom—would fare better than Biden in a two-way matchup against Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee.”
Because no matter how old you think Biden is, incumbents STILL do better. That has ALWAYS been reality. Reagan was a fucking disaster in his first term.
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https://www.newsweek.com/gretchen-whither-chances-beating-trump-poll-1919211
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He said trees cause pollution. He literally was showing signs of dementia. Think of Trump today and that was Ronny Raygun. The only diff? Reagan at least smiled. Not the rictus smile of Trump, but a real smile.
His policies were horrible. Carter tried to get our country on track with renewables which Reagan decimated. He was a pawn of fossil fuel and removed the solar panels from the White House.
Trump and Reagan had the same temperament regarding facts: they are irritating things.
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Reagan preached small government: he grew it. A lot. This fact is forgotten by the Reagan Republicans.
He was all about making space the next war zone.
He funded an unworkable technology nicknamed Star Wars. It was so bad, physicists mocked it.
It was so bad, the DoD requested ideas for tech that could not violate more than one law of physics.
Like Trump, Reagan was fond of lying. He lied to the American people about “arms for hostages” and then lied again when he said he lied to them.
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And no, it’s not complicated. You do not gain more money but cutting taxes and jobs.
The trend line for Carter WAS STILL HIGHER than Reagan. You can’t cover Reagan’s mismanagement with bullshit.
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The reality is that Reagan was a disaster for the country.
He broke the law, lied about it, had someone in the basement who lied to Congress about breaking the law. He built up the DoD despite there was no war. He CONSTANTLY harped about Nicaragua (brown people) invading the US… stop me if this sounds familiar…
And, of course, he was a racist:
Reagan: “To see those, those monkeys from those African countries—damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!”
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The bottom line is that we have Trump because Reagan was as bad or WORSE than Trump and Republicans were willing (and continue) to make excuses.
There was nothing about Reagan that was admirable. Republican history STRONGLY OMITS the horrifically bad decisions the asshole made.
He pushed the idea of the “welfare queen”: that Blacks on welfare were living high while whites struggled. Sound familiar?
Everything to Reagan was Black and white.
Reagan racist remark: https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-a-historian-uncovered-ronald-reagans-racist-remarks-to-richard-nixon
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We got to Trump because Reagan instilled the time honored tradition of pitting whites against everyone else. This inspired the Willie Horton ad during the 1988 Presidential run by George HW Bush, another racist.
If you think the Republican Party is fair to Americans with brown skin, you might want to review history.
Reagan inspired a generation of Americans that the US is rightfully a WHITE country and everyone else is an invader.
That’s why millions protested Obama show a birth cert.
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There really wasn’t a rise in racism, it has always been there. But Trump argued it was okay: why hide your racism, it’s perfectly normal!
In the same way Reagan did.
Trump is running a Reagan campaign. He is lying, like Reagan, he is arguing that PoC are the cause of all ills, like Reagan. He’s calling for more tax cuts, like Reagan. He is calling for environmental cuts, like Reagan. He is doing the oil industry’s budding, just like Reagan.
Trump is just another Reagan.
@feloneouscat Great thread. You are right on all counts. All trump did was destroy the facade of respectability. Now all but the willfully blind and ignorant can see just how EVIL the Republicans are.
I wish I was more organized. I start off posting ONE thing and it turns into a long ramble.
As bad as Reagan was, he didn’t rape and em was never convicted of a crime (he should have, but reality frequently disappoints) — Trump has done both and Republicans are quick with the excuses.
It’s to the point that Trump COULD shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and Republicans would excuse the behavior as reasonable.
@feloneouscat As far as we know, he didn't rape. Yes, Republicans would excuse him anything - even treason of which Raygun was also guilty i.e. Iranian hostages, etc.
Entire series of books could be written on what Raygun did to screw this nation. Let's not forget his HIV/AIDS policies.
@feloneouscat Excellent summary thanks. They are still trying to push trickle down economics because nothing pleases the ultra rich more than pissing on those beneath them. Sadly this seems to have crossed the border to us in Canada with the CPC and Pierre Poilievre, and "conservative" provincial premiers.
@feloneouscat Reagan was all about White Male privilege. The women (of any color) be damned. Let's not forget the Moral (sic) Majority (sic).
Exactly. And who do we have in Trump? White Make Privilege and Moral Majority 2.0.
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
We are doomed with Trump.
@feloneouscat
And yet, utter fools want Biden to step down because of one lousy night. Seriously, I would take Biden on his worst day over trump on his best day. Even trump's best day is a fucking nightmare.
@feloneouscat yeah he did. Actually I remember my dad repeating some of Reagan’s claims of seven Cadillacs and 100k a year.
The lady in question was indeed defrauding the welfare system but she was an outlier and it was no 100k. There’s a book I have about her, interesting life but the racist stereotype that followed her has been more about legend and less about fact.
And the mythology that grew continued to propagate an economic ideology (supply-side/Trickle-down) that has decimated the working and middle class to reward the wealthy again and again...
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If you want to know how we got to Trump, it started with Reagan.
Reagan was a horrible President: he has two recessions in his FIRST term. People excuse it by saying “he wasn’t in charge of oil and gas”, true, but like Trump, he did NOTHING to mitigate it.
People lost jobs. Businesses got tax cuts. Republicans play up how wonderful it was but it was hardly wonderful unless you were rich (sound familiar?).
Reagan’s tax cuts were not made up through “increased revenue”…