’)In the American Idol of Greatness, Ronald Reagan won. So, there’s obviously no need to wonder about the sanity of the voting public. America is nuts.
(then again, it took a mass email from groups like the right-wing Citizen’s United to push Ronny over the top)
Bah! The vote means nothing!
Ron Popeil is now and forever will always be the Greatest American.
And your first reaction, Oliver, is to slander everyone who voted for him. Not that I agree that his is “the greatest American,” or that there even is such a thing, but for someone who just a couple of days ago was howling that “half the population” was defamed, you’ve just called “the voting public” “nuts.”
Do you ever get tired of making a nakedly hypocritical fool of yourself?
Voting for the “Greatest American” is like voting for greatest form of pasta. We can set up a poll — but really — what’s the point?
Says the guy who posts responses to me 24/7.
Nice comeback. Got anything substantive to say, or are you just going to sit around and insult me?
I mean, are you really that bent out of shape that someone who disagrees with you still bothers to check your website several times a day?
GOP Stuffed Ballots In “Greatest American” Poll?
Right wing groups sent out emails urging vote for Ronald Reagan… “Gipper” beat out George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King……
Says the guy who posts responses to me 24/7.
I believe that Oliver is nakedly partisan. Not that there’s anything wrong with that (I’ll defend to the death your right to be nakedly partisan, blah blah blah…).
But, you see, beyond being nakedly partisan, you also appear to feel the need to shout from the rooftops that you’re right, and that people who don’t agree with you are wrong. And presumably you have a comments section because you likes confirmation of the foregoing from others more than you like genuine debate on any topic.
You appear to feel that the media are in the pocket of the White House and the Republican Party since they don’t mirror every left-wing talking point you espouse, as if your beliefs are objective truth.
So if, as Vincent writes above, your instinctive reaction to disagreement seems to be at best non-substantive replies, at worst insults, why do you allow open registration for commenters? Why not just limit comments to those you approve of?
Since you now appear to moderate comments, I’m not even sure that this will ever appear on your site.
I’m still waiting for the name(s) of another right – wing group that sent out eMails urging votes for Ronald Reagan.
All I saw was that Citizens United mentioned it on their site.
Assuming it were true (and right now, I am not), then the right wing sites put their man over the top, and the left wing couldn’t.
I guess they were too busy watching PBS.
BTW, a site called Dummocrats (I guess they’re right wing) voted for George Washington.
So, I guess according to all the right-wing freaks, being a “great American” consists of having the top brass sell foreign arms to Iran, raising taxes and cutting benefits on the middle and lower class while rewarding corporations, unprecidented growth of the national debt (until Bush was installed, of course), and creating this faux persona of “defeating communism”.
Geez, no wonder America is so effed up. I mean, MLK Jr only helped bring the civil rights fight in to the mainstream and George Washington only fought and lead the Revolution to victory and shape the foundation of the US. What have they done lately?
According to the census bureau, today’s estimate of the U.S. population is 296,467,692. The roughly three million votes that were cast in this popularity contest are meaningless, just TV fluff.
The legacy of St. Ronnie:
His failed economic policies: the largest peacetime military build-up in American history combined with massive tax cuts for the wealthy caused budget deficits to soar to record heights, doubled the national debt and led to the slowest growth of any decade in the post-World War II era. The median real wage failed to grow during the 1980s.
Labor relations: In 1981 he summarily fired 12,000 air traffic controllers who were striking for better working conditions, ushering in an era of labor relations where employers felt free to “permanently replace” striking workers.
International relations: Did Ronnie single-handedly win the Cold War? No, but he did use the Cold War as an excuse to justify some pretty despicable acts of foreign intervention, including supporting a war against most of the Central American population. There was genocide in Guatemala, mass murder in El Salvador and his effort to overthrow the democratically-elected government of Nicaragua. When Congress put the brakes on that, he simply did it behind their back, running an illegal, immoral war from the White House basement with an assortment of thugs, assassins, gun-runners and drug-dealers and proceeds from illegal arms sales to Iran.
“Greatest American” my ass. I didn’t shed a tear when his body died last year.
It’s actually funny in a “now I know why we suck now” way. Clears a lot up. Good to know.
Well, I’m sorry but a poll is a poll, and per this site, extremely important. This poll must mean R-Squared is the greatest human in history. Read it and weep. Its all over. The poll has spoken.
Dugger, All Hale the Great Reagan, Winner of the Cold War, Vanquisher of the Pinkos!
f**k them all.
I feel much safer now that the Cold War is ‘over’ and we are safe from the threat of Nuclear Holocaust.
dugger..get a life..russia fell apart on their own. Regan just happened to be president. also it was greatest american not greatest person in the world.
Regardless of whether you agree or disagree with Reagan’s policies it is hard to deny that he did the greatest at playing the role of President (with the possible exceptin of Martin Sheen). Therefore it is not surprising that Reagan could win such a poll where image is likley more important than actual accomplishments.
(I’m pretty sure I posted this already) But here it goes again…
RC, I can’t believe that you would pass the Oscar for Best Actor in the role of President from Franklin D. Roosevelt to Bill Clinton to Ronald Reagan.
da lurker,
Come come. Russia fell apart becasue the 19th century marxist economy could not survive reality forever. Reagan turned up the heat and pushed them over the edge. If you want to argue deep philosophy about whether the man makes the event of vice versa, we can do that forever. How many times have I heard about Bubba’s great economy and thought: no it was all the techno-bubble. But no matter, it happened on his watch – he gets credit. Likewise, RR for the fall of the Soviet Union. Otherwise, no great men or women anyplace.
Dugger
I suspected this would happen. At their fingertips, conservatives have MILLIONS of CAPTIVE radio and television watchers with nothing better to do, really, than go online and push a button for RR. Really. That’s all this is–a case of whooping up those foaming masses ready and willing to take on a low-risk cause. They’re extraordinarly good at it.
Yes. Reagan and Ben Franklin have had equal influence on the American political and social landscape. Or Thomas Jefferson. Or Lincoln (who I voted for three times).
Not.
JK
Dugger, your theory that the Clinton era of prosperity coming about only because of the techno-bubble is not so much a philosphical question of the man making the event, as it is refusal to believe Republican economic policy is faulty. The twelve years of Reagan-Bush were dismal, economically speaking, as job growth, real wages, and the GDP were stagnant. Because of this, we had millions of people sinking below the povery line. Enter Bill Clinton in 1993- he raised taxes on the richest citizens(despite the cries of Newt Gingrich who predicted another Great Depression), going directly against the theory of supply-side economics. This led to the paying down of the deficit, which increased investor confidence, which caused a decline in interest rates, leading to incredible growth- over 20 million jobs created, median incomes rapidly growing, a balanced budget and a surplus to boot (do you really believe this was all possible because of pets.com?). Never mind that the tech bubble really didn’t start until the beginning of his second term- at which point Clinton’s policies were in full swing. So in actuality, Clinton’s policies had a direct effect on the economy- it was not dumb luck of ones term coinciding with the tech bubble. On that note, I will concede that Reagan can be credited with helping end the Cold War, though I really don’t think that makes him the Greatest American above our founding fathers.
At their fingertips, conservatives have MILLIONS of CAPTIVE radio and television watchers with nothing better to do, really, than go online and push a button for RR.
Then how are they out there getting all those millions of dollars? I mean, all conservatives and Republicans are rich correct?
I guess liberals couldn’t vote enough since they’re so poor and their welfare checks won’t cover the cost of a computer.
Greatest American Hero, my ass!
jp,
I guess I didn’t mean it as I have seem to have said it. Cetainly there were other factors in play, some of which were Bubba-discretionary, but my recollection of the era was the tons of venture capital being thrown at anything that had computer or Internet attached to it. Remember the football bowl games: dot com this , dot com that. I remember dot com businesses here in Atlanta who had not sold the first widget having money (again, outside venture capital – kind of a gold rush mentality) to lease large expensive prime location office buildings for 10 years. And they hired full staffs – again before the first (cyber) widget was sold. Maybe he actually did more than I give him credit for but keep in mind there was Congress and courts etc and the structure of the economy he inherited – all interrelated). But it doesn’t matter, Clinton gets the credit – either way. BTW, I really don’t think Reagan was the greatest pres or human or anything like that. Very good, yes. TR may have gotten my vote.
Dugger
See, Clinton’s economic policies is what unlocked all the venture capital. When bond prices are low, which is what can happen with runaway deficits,
you can sock your billions away in treasuries for 8-9% at no risk.
But when spending is under control, those bonds only yield 5%, and all that money searches for higher return— like through venture capital.
This is why the real estate shot up since 2000- bonds were yielding 4%, stocks are stagnant to down, venture capital isn’t in demand, so the money goes into real estate.
Clinton’s tax policies definitely drove the Internet by freeing up risk capital for ventures.
Poor Jay>>liberals couldn t vote enough since they re so poor and their welfare checks won t cover the cost of a computer.
No, we’re just occupied with more “enlightened” endeavors. Like reading, art and music.
Hi Jay.
JK