Posted on 02/05/2011 11:36:41 AM PST by Syncro
Edited on 02/05/2011 11:38:02 AM PST by Admin Moderator. [history]
I initially did not like Reagan because I thought he was a phony and I couldn’t stand his voice (very “actorish,” but of course, he had been an actor). However, over the years, I realized that he really believed what he said.
I was living in CA when he was governor and while he did a lot of excellent things, he would occasionally reveal a completely out-of-touch side (for example, when he suggested that patients from the mental hospitals that he was closing in a cost-cutting move could get jobs as playground monitors) that seriously undermined his credibility.
My feeling: he wasn’t a political saint, but he did love the US and I think everything he did was based on this. And that’s what we need. People (including politicians and office holders) can and do make mistakes, but their principles have to be true. And even though I didn’t always agree with everything he did, his principles were true and he loved the US and all it stood for.
So future politicians take note: this is what you have to love, the USA and its ideals, and this is what will define you to the voters now and in the future, to history.
(This) is one of the many stories asking whether the tea party hero, Ronald Reagan, would be a Tea Party person. Of course, he would. And it is ridiculous the way so many are trying to paint the Tea Party movement as outside of Reaganism.
They forget that Reagan ran for Governor, with me as his young aide at his side (lol), against the Republican establishment candidate, Mayor George Christopher of San Francisco. He took on establishment supported Nixon for President in 1968. He ran against the incumbent Republican President, Jerry Ford, in 1976. He took on the Republican establishment again when he ran for President in 1980 – the establishment was split between George Bush and John Connally. Now, liberals try to portray him as a get-along, go-along kind of guy, which is totally wrong. He was warm and friendly always, but he adhered to his principles his whole career.
There are some tea party people that are not very Reagan-like in that they have unreasonable expectations and think everyone in politics is evil – we had a lot of that on our tours when people said “vote everyone out.” Stupid. We have that with term limits in the California legislature and it is now full of people who know nothing and have let the state rot.
The one thing Reagan would always preach to me was that the American people are good people, have good instincts, and will always do the right thing. BUT, they need good leaders to show them the way. He was a good leader, and I think we have all been good leaders at the Tea Party Express.
No politician is.
Be careful not to put any politician in that category, and on the other hand watch for posters that refer to politicians as Saint (insert name here.) (They have unresolved issues)
Trivia: Reagan was the first politician to use makeup for TV appearances.
And the greatest President in the last century.
Today’s talking points are out.
BRAVO! We can love a leader but we have to keep it real. As you say, look for the basic guiding principles.
I am smiling Syncro. Just like Sal Russo said, “Of course he would”. RWR would be a member of the Tea Party and a very vociferous and enthusiastic one at that!
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