Intro: "The time element of '30 years' keeps slipping into American official reports and news stories about the origins of crises - the latest in 'The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report' - but rarely is the relevance of the three-decade span explained, and there is a reason."
Then-California Governor Ronald Reagan sharing a laugh with President Nixon, 06/15/70. (photo: UPI Photo/File)
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Those who vote in the GOP in 2012, when they come for YOU - nobody will be left to speak for you.
You can reverse the Reagan Revolution.
The Liberal Democratic Party of the United States of America
www.facebook.com/LDPUSA
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Anybody paying attention at the time would have looked upon Nixon, Reagan, Bush senior and their people for what they were/are: criminals who recreated the government to suit their agenda and gain the support of gullible citizens.
In truth, I do know some who remember or who suffered under the S & L mess. They will never forget, or be fooled again.
We have much to worry about - and be ashamed of.
Pls consider writing this piece from the point of view of these guys and THEIR team.
As a prominent comedian said, after sitting next to Dick Cheney at a dinner: If you want to know evil, experience Dick Cheney.
Between 1980 and 1982 there was a major push to get the head of the Spiritual Hierarchy of Masters - the World Teacher Maitreya - into the world. Maitreya, who embodies the quality of the Christ - divine love - was and is in London. Full page ads were placed in major newspapers and the media was well-informed of this fact. Yet none investigated and the public had other interests than following the direction which Carter - an initiate of standing - indicated appropriately was wise. So we have had a drunken orgy for 30 years instead of creating what Maitreya at the time communicated as "A world in which men can live without fear, without mistrust, without division; sharing together the Earth’s bounty, knowing together the bliss of union with our Source." That was Reagan's and America's gift to the world.
Makes me uncomfortable.
see internet - Disinformation Campaign Reagan Administration
Remember Reagan's "map of the world"?
http://bigthink.com/ideas/21087
Some of us remember the period without the rose-colored glasses. I'm so glad Parry has linked our situation today with what started then. it's too easy to forget what each President has wrought. Seems that we're supposed to forget what W. did and blame Obama for not fixing it all in 2 years.
And the whitewash of RR's legacy has been an astonishing lesson in propaganda:
* He doubled the national debt. But RR is remembered for having such charisma.
* He supported apartheid. But RR is lauded for always being so personable.
* He aided Sadam Hussein. But some only way to remember that RR always made us feel good about ourselves.
* He trampled worker rights. But RR apologists say we always felt like we could 'have a beer' with him.
* He traded arms for hostages and diverted the profits to drug running thugs and nun-raping death squads. But RR is remembered for never losing his sunny disposition.
* His own advisors were shocked at his poor grasp of policy. But RR is fondly recalled because of his optimism.
And the list goes on...
If self-righteous bulls**t were music, Ronald Reagan and his boatload of apologists would be a brass marching band.
And after that he was elected President. I lived in Holland and the Dutch considered it rather a joke that the President of the U.S. was an actor, and a poor one at that. When Reagan did something atrocious, like wanting to place "Peacemaker" rockets in Europe they'd broadcast "Bedtime for Bonzo".
GW Bush was just a tool, something to be used in future discourses. That is why GW Bush chose the same right wing conservatives, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, but he went even further with Karl Rove! The rest is history and the nation has not recovered even when Bill Clinton became president for a total of eight years. It seem the Democratic Party in Congress can't seem to get it together.
Obama was elected because the nation had high hopes on him and he just wasn't cut out to be a great president. He caved in easily to the Republicans but than, he had help, his corporate advisors.
What's next for the next two years while the Democrats now have lost control of the House and weakened the Senate is anyone's guess!
But Ronald Reagan, that mischievious "luv'ble" Irish leprechaun is having a good laugh, if he is not burning in hell with the rest of his ilk!
How bizarre is that?
I was embarrassed by his presidency. He gave a good speech when the astronaughts died, but I can't think of another thing he did that was any good.
I sincerely wish the good people of Egypt every success in seizing this historic moment and turn it into the beginning of a new era. But I would be less than candid if I failed to point out that many "revolutions" have never found the momentum to sustain themselves. The one I lived through first hand a third of a century ago gives me pause before allowing myself to fully rejoice for Egypt today.
The Marcos - Acquino transition in the Philippines - a bloodless coup by an intelligent, civilized population and an ethical, professional military. Had great hopes it would endure. Acquino's fundamental problem was that she did not have a sufficient power-base at the provincial level to govern effectively at the "grass-roots" - the system has been "fed" on patronage for so long that it had become institutionaliz ed - without Marcos and his cronies passing out money and favors, there was no "cash-flow" in the political system - so the "powerful" elite were suddenly broke...with no alternative source of income. The easiest alternative was for them to revive the old system of patronage, so everything steadily reverted to the way it was before the revolution, and Acquino's support evaporated as soon as the provincial chiefs realized that they were poorer under Acquino than they had been under Marcos.
A "feudal" system must be replaced by something else - a viable economic model - or the most capable people in society become too hungry too fast and fall back into patterns that allowed them to eat...and - sadly - you can't eat "democracy." The key is always a redistribution of wealth - the only form of government that can retain popular support is one that can assure people that they will continue to be sustained, reasonably safe, sheltered, and fed. Without that assurance, even highly moral people will revert to patterns that compromise their intellectual and spiritual well-being just to get a few more basic physical necessities. Deprivation is a heinous weapon that too often enables dreadful people to gain control of people's minds by starving their bodies, then promising even a little relief from the famine. I hope Egypt prospers and succeeds with democracy...bec ause if they do not prosper, they will not succeed.
That simple, if unpleasant truth has been just below the surface in the modernization of every country in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America...and is in full play in the United States today - any government that can improve living conditions for the greatest number (even if not equitably) will prosper and survive; any government that fails to create the conditions in which there is more misery than satisfaction is doomed. Despite all our high-minded political philosophies, the simple truth is that humans do not bite the hand that feeds them, and will not support any leadership that lets them drown. Economics is the mother of all social sciences and humanities - politics, sociology, philosophy and the pursuit of most intellectual endeavors are predicated on a full stomach. Only the sciences and the arts thrive on poverty - because science tries to find a better way to overcome hardship, and the arts are often a means of expressing and coping with injustice and discomfort. I wish Egypt well. They have the Earth's oldest tradition behind them - which may give them the tools to climb out of feudalism...or may drag them back into its clutches. As with most political change. only time will tell.
Sam
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