Ronald Reagan had a gift for respecting political opponents, for being their friend and never diminish them. He had a heart of tolerance and respect for others. He wasn’t and inquisitor and never used paranoia in politics against others.

TheWeek.com
The GOP dumps the Gipper
Mired in anger and vituperation, seemingly hell-bent on becoming asmall-tent faction rather than a big-tent governing party, Republicans have betrayed the leader they ritually canonize. The GOP is now the party of malaise.

By Robert Shrum
Shrum has been a senior adviser to the Gore 2000 presidential campaign, the campaign of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, and the British Labour Party. In addition to being the chief strategist for the 2004 Kerry-Edwards campaign,
This is one of my most preferred Editorialists.
November 2, 2009

The GOP dumps the Gipper

http://www.theweek.com/bullpen/column/102355/The_GOP_dumps_the_Gipper

Some Excerpts :

Even while bending history in a different direction, Reagan more frequently quoted FDR and JFK than any conservative predecessor.
……………….

Similarly, Reagan the enemy of government was a world-class deficit spender and pump primer. He gave lip service to balancing the budget, and called for a constitutional amendment to require it. But while he was assailing spending, he was spending away — and the economy was growing. Today’s GOP, confronted with the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, robotically demands spending cuts. Reagan might have appreciated the rhetoric, but he never pursued the policy.

He was even more pragmatic on national security. When his intervention in Lebanon culminated in the bombing of the American barracks in Beirut and the death of 241 marines, he promptly withdrew. In 2009, the GOP is demanding massive troop escalation in Afghanistan without any consideration of the contours, merit or workability of the mission.

In his 1980 debate with Carter, Reagan had to reassure voters that he wasn’t trigger-happy — and he pledged that yes, indeed, he would negotiate with the Soviets. He more than meant it. To the consternation of his own advisers, he proposed the abolition of nuclear weapons at a 1986 summit with Mikhail Gorbachev; to their relief, the idea foundered on the rocks of Reagan’s refusal to give up missile defense. Nonetheless, he persisted in his belief that he could negotiate a deal with the Soviet Union; the great Cold Warrior dispensed with his own certitudes to became a great peacemaker.

Today’s Republicans, by contrast, resist every negotiation. They contend that talking is a sign of weakness — and that Obama is naïve to renew Reagan’s goal of nuclear disarmament. From Guantanamo to North Korea to Iran, the GOP is the party of Cheney, not Reagan.

Watching the Political Circus from a Liberal Perspective of Youth and Minorities :

Milenials.com

Vicente Duque

It’ll be a real knee-slapper if we have a W-shaped Depression.