It's About Coalitions Not Purity, Part Eighteen
First published in October 2012, with some minor editing in September 2017
"Reagan Assessment"
Ronald Reagan was not as great, nor as "pure," as conservatives like to believe, nor was he as bad as some of his opponents believe. Like Reagan or not, he pieced together coalitions to help him get legislation or agreements he wanted, or felt he could support, and to get votes in elections (a politician would actually try to get votes? I'm stunned!), but he was perfectly willing to compromise with others to accomplish many of his goals, even if he didn't get everything he claimed he wanted. He was a man of contradictions, who railed against government involvement in many things (even naming government as the "problem"), especially the economy, but he had long been a Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Democrat. He lambasted Jimmy Carter for deficits and how the world might soon end because of them, but he then presided over deficits that made Carter's deficits look like surpluses; in fact, the U.S. became the world's largest debtor nation by the time Reagan left office. Never once did Reagan ever propose a balanced budget, or even a plan to get there (except initially to essentially say tax cuts would bring growth to erase or substantially lower the deficits), with Dick Cheney later arguing that, "Reagan showed deficits don't matter," and others in the 1980s essentially saying, "we owe the money to ourselves," although overseas borrowing by the U.S. had increased. He claimed to be against Keynesian economics, but his deficits and military build up were Keynesian on steroids, which got him reelected. He opposed the Equal Rights Amendment for women, but he appointed the first woman to the U.S. Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor, who was generally conservative, but not fanatically so. He supported prayer in public schools, but never proposed a law or constitutional amendment advocating such. Reagan was anti abortion, but outside of stating such in public speeches, he did little to advance the issue. He was certainly no friend of environmentalists, favoring instead curtailment of laws to generally let business people do what they wanted. Reagan claimed Confederate President Jefferson Davis to be one of his heroes and advocated states' rights, but said he wasn't a racist or a bigot. He had opposed the Voting Rights Act in the 1960s, a law which helped guarantee the right to vote to minorities, mainly in southern states, and renewed that opposition during his campaign for president, but he ended up supporting renewal of the law when he was President. He touted his union membership, but favored business, even firing government union workers. He opposed communism in general, and the Soviet Union in particular, but he negotiated with Soviet leader Gorbachev to limit nuclear weapons. He opposed dealing with terrorists and Iran, but then there was that messy Iran-Contra matter, where he finally admitted in a televised address that he had done just that.
Before both arch conservatives and committed liberals/progressives condemn me to hell or make me sit through a one hour Sarah Palin speech (talk about hell), politicians are politicians, I don't care to which political party they belong. They seek votes from as many people as possible; and to get those votes, they will say a lot of things, even contradicting themselves by saying something to one group, and then something different to another group. Sort of, "What do I have to say to get your vote? Just tell me, and I'll say it." In 1932, as Franklin Roosevelt ran against incumbent Republican Herbert Hoover, Roosevelt had one speechwriter do a speech opposing high tariffs and another write a speech in favor of high tariffs. After looking the two speeches over, he told the two speechwriters to go into a room and "blend the two together." In office, it's almost always a case of "watch my one hand, but not the other," and Reagan was no different. Just my own personal opinion, but I don't think Reagan gave a hoot about an issue like abortion, but he knew he needed to have a position about it, and since his core supporters were conservative, he opposed it. "Perhaps" he really did oppose it, but it wasn't a key issue to him and I seriously doubt whether he lost sleep over abortion or some other issues he never really pushed during his presidency (like other presidents before him and after him). Remember folks, this is a big country. There are lots of opinions about lots of different issues. We have two main political parties. We don't have a parliamentary system with a multitude of political parties, some with very narrow political beliefs to fit just about any opinion, which then get represented in the legislative body by proportion of the vote. The two main party system isn't perfect, but it, in theory, forces the two main parties to make broad appeals to Americans. At times, strong third parties have temporarily risen to smack the other two parties, but the key word is, "temporarily." If you go through life wanting only what you view to be perfection, I've gotta believe you're one sad person.
One thing was certain, Reagan was a committed anti-communist. It was really that obsession which undoubtedly led him to abandon the Democratic Party for the Republican Party, as the GOP had been steadfastly trying to link Democrats to being soft on communism. Wealthy people loved it, because if there's one thing that scares the absolute hell out of many of them, but not all, it is any notion of sharing with others. Americans are here to work for them and to make them money, and more money, and more money. The use of force in Grenada may have been overplayed, but I get the idea, and it may have prevented a hostage situation on a scale making the Iran situation look puny, but we'll never really know, but I get it, and Reagan preferred to avoid being sorry for not responding, or responding too late. He saw how the Iran hostages had debilitated President Carter politically, and he learned that lesson. Reagan's basic coalition, like FDR's, endured after him. The once "solid South," a term used for Democrats for about a century, became something of a "solid Republican South," with some variations. Some ethnic, often Catholic, voters, once solidly Democratic, began to vote Republican. Reagan's tax cut philosophy has dominated Republican ideas ever since, becoming something of a "Republican religion." The thing has been, as the basic coalition has survived, the philosophy of the Republican Party has changed dramatically since Reagan; moving far more rightward, and unflinching in attitude to no compromise. Again, like Reagan or not, he seldom, if ever, acted mean-spiritedly. As even some current Republicans have noted, Reagan could not today win the Republican nomination, because he was too moderate. This one issue shows that. Reagan strongly supported gun owners' rights, and a mid 1980s law adjusted existing federal laws on gun control from the 1960s, but there was nothing overwhelmingly radical in the changes, except some pro-gun advocates didn't like the provision which barred owning fully automatic weapons after the law went into effect. Reagan signed the bill into law. After Reagan left office, he strongly supported the Brady Bill, which put background checks and waiting periods into effect for people buying guns. After that, Reagan also strongly supported a law to ban the sale of assault weapons. Both bills passed, but the assault weapons ban expired in 2004 and it has never been renewed, as Republicans have stopped any attempts to even bring the matter to a major vote.
People somewhat left of center, and certainly people further left, don't like Reagan, but you have to remember, you have to make the case against your opponents, and persuade others to come to your side, and sometimes that can be a daunting task. Having facts on your side doesn't always give you the upper hand, at least at any given moment, but some who lived through Reagan's era, and generally supported him, may now look back with the 20-20 vision of hindsight and see his flaws more clearly, but in those times, Americans generally liked him, and as I noted in an earlier segment, that helped carry him through, even in politically sticky times, like the Iran-Contra matter and the major stock market crash of 1987, and his coalition held together.
Next... "A Non Reaganite Follows Reagan"
WORD HISTORY:
Wort-This word is closely related to "root" and traces back to Indo European "wrehd," which meant "root." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "wurtiz," which meant "root," but also "plant, especially an herb plant;" thus also, "food or beverage flavoring, spice." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "wyrt," with the same meanings. This then became "wurt/wirte," before the modern version. The meaning "plant, herb" still is used in English, as in St. John's Wort, but the use of plants and herbs for flavorings in beer making gave it the additional meaning, "the product of soaking malt (usually dried sprouted barley) in hot water in preparation for making beer." Common throughout the other Germanic languages: German has synonyms "Würze" and "Gewürz," which mean "spice, seasoning;" Low German Saxon has "Wortel," which means "carrot" (which is a root); Dutch has "wortel," which like the same Low German word (except not capitalized) means "carrot;" West Frisian has "woartel," which means "carrot, root;" Danish and Norwegian have "urt," which means "herb;" Icelandic has "jurt," which means "herb, plant;" and Swedish has "ört," which means "herb." Notice the North Germanic languages of Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish have all lost or altered the original "w" at the beginning of the word.
"Reagan Assessment"
Ronald Reagan was not as great, nor as "pure," as conservatives like to believe, nor was he as bad as some of his opponents believe. Like Reagan or not, he pieced together coalitions to help him get legislation or agreements he wanted, or felt he could support, and to get votes in elections (a politician would actually try to get votes? I'm stunned!), but he was perfectly willing to compromise with others to accomplish many of his goals, even if he didn't get everything he claimed he wanted. He was a man of contradictions, who railed against government involvement in many things (even naming government as the "problem"), especially the economy, but he had long been a Franklin Roosevelt New Deal Democrat. He lambasted Jimmy Carter for deficits and how the world might soon end because of them, but he then presided over deficits that made Carter's deficits look like surpluses; in fact, the U.S. became the world's largest debtor nation by the time Reagan left office. Never once did Reagan ever propose a balanced budget, or even a plan to get there (except initially to essentially say tax cuts would bring growth to erase or substantially lower the deficits), with Dick Cheney later arguing that, "Reagan showed deficits don't matter," and others in the 1980s essentially saying, "we owe the money to ourselves," although overseas borrowing by the U.S. had increased. He claimed to be against Keynesian economics, but his deficits and military build up were Keynesian on steroids, which got him reelected. He opposed the Equal Rights Amendment for women, but he appointed the first woman to the U.S. Supreme Court, Sandra Day O'Connor, who was generally conservative, but not fanatically so. He supported prayer in public schools, but never proposed a law or constitutional amendment advocating such. Reagan was anti abortion, but outside of stating such in public speeches, he did little to advance the issue. He was certainly no friend of environmentalists, favoring instead curtailment of laws to generally let business people do what they wanted. Reagan claimed Confederate President Jefferson Davis to be one of his heroes and advocated states' rights, but said he wasn't a racist or a bigot. He had opposed the Voting Rights Act in the 1960s, a law which helped guarantee the right to vote to minorities, mainly in southern states, and renewed that opposition during his campaign for president, but he ended up supporting renewal of the law when he was President. He touted his union membership, but favored business, even firing government union workers. He opposed communism in general, and the Soviet Union in particular, but he negotiated with Soviet leader Gorbachev to limit nuclear weapons. He opposed dealing with terrorists and Iran, but then there was that messy Iran-Contra matter, where he finally admitted in a televised address that he had done just that.
Before both arch conservatives and committed liberals/progressives condemn me to hell or make me sit through a one hour Sarah Palin speech (talk about hell), politicians are politicians, I don't care to which political party they belong. They seek votes from as many people as possible; and to get those votes, they will say a lot of things, even contradicting themselves by saying something to one group, and then something different to another group. Sort of, "What do I have to say to get your vote? Just tell me, and I'll say it." In 1932, as Franklin Roosevelt ran against incumbent Republican Herbert Hoover, Roosevelt had one speechwriter do a speech opposing high tariffs and another write a speech in favor of high tariffs. After looking the two speeches over, he told the two speechwriters to go into a room and "blend the two together." In office, it's almost always a case of "watch my one hand, but not the other," and Reagan was no different. Just my own personal opinion, but I don't think Reagan gave a hoot about an issue like abortion, but he knew he needed to have a position about it, and since his core supporters were conservative, he opposed it. "Perhaps" he really did oppose it, but it wasn't a key issue to him and I seriously doubt whether he lost sleep over abortion or some other issues he never really pushed during his presidency (like other presidents before him and after him). Remember folks, this is a big country. There are lots of opinions about lots of different issues. We have two main political parties. We don't have a parliamentary system with a multitude of political parties, some with very narrow political beliefs to fit just about any opinion, which then get represented in the legislative body by proportion of the vote. The two main party system isn't perfect, but it, in theory, forces the two main parties to make broad appeals to Americans. At times, strong third parties have temporarily risen to smack the other two parties, but the key word is, "temporarily." If you go through life wanting only what you view to be perfection, I've gotta believe you're one sad person.
One thing was certain, Reagan was a committed anti-communist. It was really that obsession which undoubtedly led him to abandon the Democratic Party for the Republican Party, as the GOP had been steadfastly trying to link Democrats to being soft on communism. Wealthy people loved it, because if there's one thing that scares the absolute hell out of many of them, but not all, it is any notion of sharing with others. Americans are here to work for them and to make them money, and more money, and more money. The use of force in Grenada may have been overplayed, but I get the idea, and it may have prevented a hostage situation on a scale making the Iran situation look puny, but we'll never really know, but I get it, and Reagan preferred to avoid being sorry for not responding, or responding too late. He saw how the Iran hostages had debilitated President Carter politically, and he learned that lesson. Reagan's basic coalition, like FDR's, endured after him. The once "solid South," a term used for Democrats for about a century, became something of a "solid Republican South," with some variations. Some ethnic, often Catholic, voters, once solidly Democratic, began to vote Republican. Reagan's tax cut philosophy has dominated Republican ideas ever since, becoming something of a "Republican religion." The thing has been, as the basic coalition has survived, the philosophy of the Republican Party has changed dramatically since Reagan; moving far more rightward, and unflinching in attitude to no compromise. Again, like Reagan or not, he seldom, if ever, acted mean-spiritedly. As even some current Republicans have noted, Reagan could not today win the Republican nomination, because he was too moderate. This one issue shows that. Reagan strongly supported gun owners' rights, and a mid 1980s law adjusted existing federal laws on gun control from the 1960s, but there was nothing overwhelmingly radical in the changes, except some pro-gun advocates didn't like the provision which barred owning fully automatic weapons after the law went into effect. Reagan signed the bill into law. After Reagan left office, he strongly supported the Brady Bill, which put background checks and waiting periods into effect for people buying guns. After that, Reagan also strongly supported a law to ban the sale of assault weapons. Both bills passed, but the assault weapons ban expired in 2004 and it has never been renewed, as Republicans have stopped any attempts to even bring the matter to a major vote.
People somewhat left of center, and certainly people further left, don't like Reagan, but you have to remember, you have to make the case against your opponents, and persuade others to come to your side, and sometimes that can be a daunting task. Having facts on your side doesn't always give you the upper hand, at least at any given moment, but some who lived through Reagan's era, and generally supported him, may now look back with the 20-20 vision of hindsight and see his flaws more clearly, but in those times, Americans generally liked him, and as I noted in an earlier segment, that helped carry him through, even in politically sticky times, like the Iran-Contra matter and the major stock market crash of 1987, and his coalition held together.
Next... "A Non Reaganite Follows Reagan"
WORD HISTORY:
Wort-This word is closely related to "root" and traces back to Indo European "wrehd," which meant "root." This gave its Old Germanic offspring "wurtiz," which meant "root," but also "plant, especially an herb plant;" thus also, "food or beverage flavoring, spice." This gave Old English (Anglo-Saxon) "wyrt," with the same meanings. This then became "wurt/wirte," before the modern version. The meaning "plant, herb" still is used in English, as in St. John's Wort, but the use of plants and herbs for flavorings in beer making gave it the additional meaning, "the product of soaking malt (usually dried sprouted barley) in hot water in preparation for making beer." Common throughout the other Germanic languages: German has synonyms "Würze" and "Gewürz," which mean "spice, seasoning;" Low German Saxon has "Wortel," which means "carrot" (which is a root); Dutch has "wortel," which like the same Low German word (except not capitalized) means "carrot;" West Frisian has "woartel," which means "carrot, root;" Danish and Norwegian have "urt," which means "herb;" Icelandic has "jurt," which means "herb, plant;" and Swedish has "ört," which means "herb." Notice the North Germanic languages of Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish have all lost or altered the original "w" at the beginning of the word.
Labels: deficit spending, English, etymology, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Germanic languages, Grenada, Iran-Contra, political coalitions, Ronald Reagan, taxes, the wealthy, unions, voting rights
posted by Randy at 3:24 PM
3 Comments:
I'm one of those who didn't like Reagan, but I think you're right in your overall assessment. People did like him and that helped him in difficult times and his joking about himself as you mentioned elsewhere helped him too. I never thought about St. John's Wort and the beer making wort being the same word. I've made beer myself.
I thought Reagan made a good choice in Sandra Day O'Connor. Today's GOP is so far right, she's like a liberal. Reagan started this war against the government, I did vote for him back then. but I see the error of my ways.
Never much liked him or his acting in movies or as president
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