Tag: Reagan

Zombie Reagan Has My Vote

 

Imagine how pathetic the GOPe would be without pressure from Reagan supporters, not to mention Trump supporters. Would they even consider fighting the Left? On anything?

There is a lot of opposition to “Zombie Reaganism” by much of the GOPe and some of our brethren in the MAGA movement.

The GOPe folks talk about Reagan a lot but are adamantly opposed to his governing philosophies.

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Once in a while, an ad breaks through the election silly season.  Quiet, yet hard hitting, with the move to technicolor subtle and effective, Doug Mastriano puts out an ad that is positively Reaganesque.  Perhaps it can be edited down to television length.   Preview Open

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Join Jim and Greg as they remember the late former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and discuss how he will be remembered if history is accurate. They also welcome news that Herschel Walker now enjoys a slight lead in the Georgia U.S. Senate race and dissect John Fetterman’s decision to drop out of a Senate debate in Pennsylvania. And they cringe at President Biden’s numerous gaffes and lies as he campaigned for Fetterman and others Tuesday in Pennsylvania.

This week on “The Learning Curve,” co-hosts Cara Candal and Gerard Robinson talk with Charles Moore, a columnist for The Daily Telegraph and The Spectator, and the authorized, three-volume biographer of Lady Margaret Thatcher. Lord Moore explains why Lady Thatcher is considered the most important female political figure of the 20th century, and reviews the challenges she faced at home and abroad, from trade union strikes to high inflation rates and political discord. They talk about Prime Minister Thatcher partnering with American President Ronald Reagan and standing in solidarity with Poland’s Lech Walesa to face down Soviet communism. Lord Moore describes her middle-class background and a leadership style that led to her 12-year tenure as prime minister in the male-dominated arena of British politics (including nearly 700 sessions of the world-renowned Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons). They also discuss “Thatcherism,” her foundational economic principles and their applicability to other domestic policy topics, as well as lessons for today’s world. The interview concludes with Lord Moore reading from his biography of Lady Thatcher.

Stories of the Week: Attorneys general from 14 states are suing the Biden administration over the Department of Justice’s calls to monitor parental protests at school board meetings. In Alabama, a group is seeking to address the teacher shortage by suspending the requirement to pass a Praxis content mastery exam.

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Click here to listen to the podcast! In this episode of the Resistance Library Podcast, Sam and Dave talk about the 40th president of the United States. Ronald Reagan was arguably the last truly great and transformative American President. His story starts in a small town in Illinois and ends with the fall of Communism. […]

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Ronald Reagan was arguably the last truly great and transformative American President. His story starts in a small town in Illinois and ends with the fall of Communism. At the time, he was the oldest man to be President, showing Americans that advanced age didn’t mean diminished energy – he united a nation like few have before […]

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Quote of the Day: On Fools, Fanatics and Wisdom

 

“The problem with the world is that fools, and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.” — Bertrand Russell

This statement, by one of the most famous and committed Lefties in history reminds me very much of Ronald Reagan’s words: “The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant; it’s just that they know so much that isn’t so.”

And it reminds me that there’s often a fairly short step from one side of the equation to the other.

Stupid Thoughts on the Passing Scene – and a Poll

 

Current administration got you down? Cheer up. Kamala Harris is Vice President.

On January 19, 1989, his last full day in office, President Reagan warned the nation: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” Nine months later, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was born.

California has frequent wildfires due to bad forest management. Then you have the looting and burning in Democrat cities. Why do things managed by Democrats frequently catch on fire? Why aren’t they embarrassed by that?

Rob Long is on for Jim again today. Join Rob and Greg as they cheer states expanding their school choice programs as unions continue to keep public schools closed. They also discuss New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordering faster, preferential COVID tests for family and friends while the rest of New York waited much longer for results. They also shake their heads as San Francisco lefties state that whites and men will not be receiving welfare benefits. And they wrap up with their memories of the assassination attempt again President Reagan 40 years ago today.

Give Him a Horse

 

Okay, I’m pro-Trump. I think any sane conservative must be, given the alternatives. He’s a guy who has been trying to take the country in the direction I want the country to go, rather than into the maelstrom in which the left seems hell-bent on drowning us.

So, yes, I support him, and strongly. But I’m not going to be all hagiographic about it.

Join Jim and Greg for your Friday martinis! After another week of violence in the streets, Democrats are finally starting to pay attention to the issue after failing to mention it at all at their convention.  Would stronger statements from Biden be credible and would they get the chaos to stop? They also discuss President Trump’s convention speech and why the length and delivery made it less effective. And while certainly not gamers, they get a kick out of the chance to conduct a clandestine operation on orders from President Reagan – which is part of the latest “Call of Duty.”

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Politics is not a bad profession. If you succeed there are many rewards, if you disgrace yourself you can always write a book. – Ronald Reagan It seems I am revisiting the theme of politics. The events of the last two weeks makes it relevant. And they demonstrate Ronald Reagan’s wisdom. Preview Open

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34 Years Ago Today: Politburo Selects Gorbachev as Soviet Leader

 

Thirty-four years ago today, the revolving door that had become the entry point to leadership of the Soviet Union stopped when Mikhail Gorbachev was elected General Secretary of the Communist Party. On that day, he became the fourth Soviet leader in under three years (Brezhnev died in November 1982, Andropov in February of 1984, Chernenko on March 10, 1985). There hadn’t been such drama on the world leadership front since, well, the dramatic and unexpected selection of KarolJózef Wojtyła as Pope in 1978, after the 33-day tenure of Albino Luciani.

A little over six-and-a-half years later, on Christmas Day 1991, and severely compromised as the result of a coup a few months earlier, Gorbachev, the last leader of the USSR, resigned and handed over what was left of his power to new Russian President Boris Yeltsin. On December 26, the Soviet Union was officially dissolved and its Republics were handed their self-governance.

From news reports (one from the BBC, and one from ABC), it appears that, thirty-four years ago today, no-one saw this coming. Well, except, maybe, Maggie (perhaps it was womanly intuition) who said shortly thereafter, “I like Mr. Gorbachev. We can do business together.” By and large, a more perceptive and much more pragmatic observation than that George Bush the younger made years later about his sense of Vladimir Putin’s “soul.”

The Long Shadow of Reagan

 

Seen the other night at a clothing store aimed at younger buyers

President Ronald Reagan represents the high-water mark of Republican presidencies within living memory. Eisenhower’s quiet leadership and managerial style are, much like Calvin Coolidge’s, largely forgotten. Nixon’s presidency was marked by an expansion of federal power, followed by a scandal and implosion. Ford is hardly worth mentioning. Bush 41 tried to tack away from Reagan on domestic matters and lasted only a single term.  Bush 43 will be long associated with scandals and a collapsed economy, in spite of whatever good he did (and he did do a lot more than we normally acknowledge, but so much was temporary, and the rest is tainted).

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Hear me out – that probably sounds like an odd thing to say. But it’s about symbolism. Young people may not even know about Grenada, but in 1983 President Reagan ordered the U.S. to invade the little Caribbean island, ostensibly to protect American students at a medical school there, after a coup brought a leftist […]

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Henry Olsen joins Brian Anderson to discuss Henry’s new book The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism.

For nearly 30 years, the Republican Party had defined itself by Ronald Reagan’s legacy: a strong military, free trade, lower taxes, and most important, smaller government. When Donald Trump won the Republican nomination for president in 2016, many observers in the media and professional political circles asked a familiar question: Is the Republican Party still the Party of Reagan?

What does Ronald Reagan’s brand of conservatism mean for the GOP today? In this AEI Events Podcast, Henry Olsen, author of “The Working Class Republican: Ronald Reagan and the Return of Blue-Collar Conservatism,” joins AEI’s Karlyn Bowman and Jonah Goldberg to discuss his understanding of Reagan’s political odyssey.

Henry Olsen’s presentation is followed by two panel discussions, in which experts discuss the “true Reagan” and the future of the Republican Party. The first discussion features Mr. Olsen and Craig Shirley (author of “Regan Rising: The Decisive Years, 1976-1980). The second panel includes Mr. Olsen, Mr. Shirley, Jonah Goldberg (AEI), and Ruy Teixeira (Center for American Progress), and is moderated by William Galston (Brookings Institution).