After reading Dana Milbank’s piece on the RNC chairman candidates’ debate at the National Press Club yesterday, I feel even better about 2010 2012 2016.
[Saul] Anuzis quoted Reagan in his opening statement. Former Ohio secretary of state Ken Blackwell lamented that too many Republicans "campaign like Ronald Reagan and then govern like Jimmy Carter." Saltsman talked about his high school days: "Ronald Reagan was president, and he got me excited."
Katon Dawson, chairman of the South Carolina GOP, tried to top that. "I was inspired as a college graduate by a fellow who walked in the room by the name of Ronald Reagan."
Grover Norquist, the moderator and head of Americans for Tax Reform, asked each candidate to name his favorite Republican president. The tally: Reagan, 6; Lincoln, 0. "Okay, everybody got that one right," the moderator announced.
The questions changed, but the same answer kept coming. Steele spoke of what "Ronald Reagan moved us to realize." Blackwell quoted Reagan two more times, prompting Steele to remind everybody that he was "inspired by the rhetoric and the words and the reality of a Ronald Reagan."
"And if you take a look at the constituency that we’re losing today, it’s the Reagan Democrats," Anuzis offered, for the session’s 16th and final mention of the 40th president.
At first glance, all of this Reagan necrophilia might appear creepy and weird. But it’s completely understandable as Drum notes, because now that Chimpy’s made a mess of everything, Ronnie’s all they’ve got left. Ike was a New Dealer internationalist, Nixon was a big gubmint crook, Teddy was a turncoat. And since Lincoln crushed the South and ended slavery, he’s fallen out of favor with the Plantation Party.
What else ya got besides Ronnie, guys?
Duncan claimed four handguns and two rifles, Anuzis boasted of two, and Blackwell replied: "Seven — and I’m good."
"In my closet at home," replied Saltsman, "I’ve got two 12-gauges, a 20-gauge, three handguns and a .30-06. And I’ll take you on anytime, Ken."
Dry humping Reagan, check. Fetishizing guns, check. Anything else?
All agreed on the wrongness of abortion…
Bingo. But don’t forget the kids, guys. The kids love the Internets!
"We have to do it in the Facebook, with the Twittering, the different technology that young people are using today," Duncan ventured.
"Let me just say that I have 4,000 friends on Facebook," contributed Blackwell, putting his hand on Dawson’s and Anuzis’s knees. "That’s probably more than these two guys put together, but who’s counting, you know?" Acknowledged Saltsman: "I’m not sure all of us combined Twitter as much as Saul."
Anuzis claimed he had "somewhere between 2- and 3,000" Facebook friends, which prompted Blackwell to remind the audience that he has 4,000 friends on the social networking site by waving four fingers behind Anuzis’s head.
So. Screwed.
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Digging up Reagan and pretending it’s 1984. Sounds like a winning strategy. Their goal is to elect more DEM’s…..isn’t it?
Zombie Reagan in 2012!
Oh now, let the children play. They remind me of 6-year-olds: My dad can beat up your dad.
Zombie Heavily Armed Twittering Reagan in 2012!
[Unable to come up with the appropriate level of snark to address Ken Blackwell’s claims that he has 4k Facebook friends and that fact therefore qualifies him for anything, much less to run a political party. But please, go ahead Republican, and make any one of these clowns your leader]
Having met the man in person at the White House, I can confirm that Reagan looked equally waxy in person.
“Let me just say that I have 4,000 friends on Facebook,” contributed Blackwell, putting his hand on Dawson’s and Anuzis’s knees.”
Heh.
Go Zombie Reagan!
Yes, but the big secret weapon of the Republicans you don’t mention is mealymouthed Democrats. However repellent Republicans actually stand for something. What do Democrats stand for? I bet you hesitated or couldn’t answer that one at all, and that says it all.
it’s about time democrats began disabusing republicans from the Reagan revisionism
Reagan did not lower taxes he raised taxes more then any peacetime president before him
Reagan shrank the middle class
Reagan made it harder for qualified people to get into collage
Reagan began a wage war using the fed to eliminate wage increases
it is because of the Reagan “deregulation” that is the primary cause of the economic depression we are now having to climb our way out
in addition by eliminating the need for corporations to pay their own bills Reagan awards welfare to these malignant members of our economy and he promoted socialism for his friends
Reagan was anti labor, anti middle class, pro middle class paying the bills for the wealthy
the Reagan “myth” must be exposed and those who have believed the corporate propaganda from right wing media need to be disabused from that propaganda
there is hardly a thing about the Reagan “mystique” that is true and democrats need to make certain the real legacy of Reagan is known
Terrorist.
depends on what you mean by “democrats”
if you mean the politicians, they stand for whoever contributes to their campaign
if you mean the constituents we stand for our country, her constitution, the rule of law and the progresion of this country forward
Ronnie Reagan: the stupid empty suit who unleashed the Taliban.
They’ve already booked the music for the inaugural:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP6nYs9Il7c
Here’s the trouble for the goops
They are in the same boat as Cadillac
Most of their best customers are dead!
How many people below the age of thirty remember Ronnie Raygun or even give a shit about him?
Sayin his name in public labels goops as geezers-
All their other “govt. is the problem” and “tax cuts are the only answer” bullshit is dyin a slow and painful death and their gay bashing is slowly becoming unacceptable in polite society..
They’ve got more problems than they think.
They’d best be designin a new car, not tryin ta sell Ronniemobiles again.
The article points out that none of the goops mention Lincoln- the most honored prez in US history- as their fave….it’s St. Ronnie- cause he lowered taxes and tried to build a trillion dollar defense weapon that he saw in a comic fuckin book.
They will start an all-Reagan Channel – Death Valley Days reruns, cigarette commercials, and His greatest films like “Bedtime for Bonzo”. It will indoctrinate the 25% Republican base all over again.
I can’t decide between a serious comment lamenting the death of the Republican Party or a snarky comment celebrating the death of the Republican Party.
“the Facebook” and “the Twittering” says it all.
Please welcome the 12th Century Survivors Club to the 21st century.
I have to say, that photo of Ronnie above really brings him back to life.
Arrow Shirts!
Well if we are going to erect an altar to Ronnie Raygun someone needs to consult with some astrologers to make sure that everything is copesthetic.
383 hrs & 56 min
Zombie Heavily Armed Twittering Reagan protesting outside an abortion clinic in 2012, barring the US Senate door to an African American !
Oh, wait….
Yeah- he looks so- so- NATURAL!
I’ve always thought Rove and his brethren got way too much credit. They were simply living off the decades of groundwork by previous generations of Neocon Killers. With all the advantages they had, it would’ve been difficult for Rove, Shrub, etc to fail.
Now that the dynamics are changing so rapidly in the system, these Neocons are being exposed for how inept they really are, and it’s sweet to see!
No doubt Grover Norquist get all hot when he see that photo.
You mean cowboy western arrow shirts?
Ronnie left office in what- 1988?
Someone who is thirty today was ten years old at that time.
Goops need another go-to guy
This one is dead.
In other pleasant recollections, does anyone remember the wonderful exciting day two years ago when Nancy Pelosi was elected the Speaker of the House of Representatives?
Good times.
Assuming that Obama gets two terms, the next gooper shot at the White House will be in 2016- at that point few under the age of forty five will have any real memory of Reagan…
Again the goops have driven the bus into the cul de sac.
Saltsman talks a good game there — if they’re so gung-ho for their guns, why isn’t the chairmanship being decided with an elimination tournament of duels?
Wimps.
Goop comedy writers have a lot of time on their hands to come up with fresh material- but it’s not their strong suit…
Changing their message is like redrafting the Bible to them.
Ken Blackwell for President of Facebook!
I noticed that bit too. Was that a duel challenge?
I know it’s illegal and all- but dueling among goopers shouldn’t be actively discouraged.
I was sorry that there wasn’t more detail about the guns. What is the calibre and barrel length of the handguns? Are the 12 guages expensive over/unders or “riot guns”.
You can’t impress the NRA with gruel that thin.
Maybe they should just re-draft the Bible, a Republican version, so their 25% base will know that God is on their side and that Jesus was a wimp.
How long are their barrels?
How large are their magazines?
I nominate Joe the Plumberbutt! The Plunger Prophet of the Future!
You obviously haven’t seen the GOP’s capacity for Raygun promotion. Aren’t half the roads and airports named for him now?
If there are thousands of people calling these dopes “friend” on Twitbook, or whatever the kids are callin’ it these days;) I’m saying that’s a club I’ll steer clear of.
A little off thread but relevant.
Back in June, 2001, I took my kids across country on a trip from Oregon to Wisconsin and stopped to visit Mount Rushmore. At my daughter’s urging we did the National Park Service ranger tour/spiel.
During the tour they explain the history of the mounument,etc and ask for questions at the end. One question was if they had any plans for any more president’s to be added to the monument.
At this question before the ranger could respond a gentleman in the group suggested adding Reagan since he was his favorite president. The ranger told him unfortunately there were no plans to add any more presidents.
In light of the Reagan suggestion, I suggested Clinton be added to the monument and another menber of the group shot back he would move to Canada if that were to happen. A snapshot of public opinion at a point in time.
Many of these goopers are aging. When the cameras are off they probably talk about their surgeries and prostate problems
Doesn’t RNC stand for “Reagan Necrophiliac Community”?
And while we’re at it, it’s not just guns that a lot of these hyper-Republicans have in the closet.
I had a guest at my house prior to the election who swore that she would move to Canada if Obama won the election. I have yet to recieve a forwarding address.
You mean Jesus didn’t have a bunch of guns? Holy shit
383 hrs & 40 min
Exclusive photo of the little squirt:
http://media.collegepublisher……4-63-1.jpg
Nope…was trying to Google an old photo of Ronnie advertising for Arrow Shirts with a Chesterfield dangling from his mouth, but teh Google failed me.
Yes somebody should also say that the only reason that Reagan is deified is that the current republican pres is the worst President ever, the republican pres before him has the same name as the worst pres ever. and out of the two republican presidents before Reagan, one resigned before he could be impeached. Not really an allstar team to hang your hat on. Reagan is a popular republican not because of a job well done but because all of his republican equivalents since Nixon were all really bad.
I hate seeing Rayguns image even more than I hate seeing Bush’s mug !!!!
The part about the internets. I am trying to imagine a youth cult of Ronnie Raygun and it’s not pretty.
“
Anyone want to check out this claim of 4,000 “friends”?
Sex toy eh?
Sure he did ,it’s in one of those lost gospels of the bible !
The thing to do when St Ronnie is mentioned is to look a bit puzzled and say “wasn’t he president once?”
Don’t know- but at least one of his disciples had a big sword that he cut a guy’s ear off with- and escaped without gettin arrested.
Is this Blackwell’s facebook? Because I only see 526 members.
Maybe too far back in history …… way before the toobz…..
Maybe it would be nice for those too young to know that before Reagan….. there was almost FREE college education in California……. or nice roads without the kabumb, kabumb cracks …….
Yeah and the people with mental problems were housed in state institutions, not under freeway overpasses.
Should I put in a friend request to help bring those numbers up !!
Oh, I don’t know. Were you aware that Ken Blackwell has no less than- wait for it- 4000 Facebook friends? Four. Not two, or three. Four. Thousand. Try to suggest otherwise and you will be quickly corrected on that matter, my friend. Most likely you won’t even see the four upraised fingers coming when you get smacked down on the question of the number of Ken Blackwell’s Facebook friends.
So what’s harder to believe:
There was a big flood that covered every patch of the earth up to the highest mountains- and then drained away again in a few days
or
Peter cut off a soldiers ear and the band of soldiers decided to just let bygones be bygones…?
And meet some neat friends who like the National Rifle Assocation, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham!
Lets see…… Raygun…..
Killed free college education in california…
Killed infrastructure maintenance
Killed inpatient mental health care
Tried to kill unions
Created the biggest deficit for his time
Actually raised taxes on low & middle class
Ran secret wars in South America…
anything else?
As John Dean lays out in excruciating detail in “Conservatives without Conscience” Reagan-loving GOPers are authoritarian followers, in love with “daddy”- leaders, who face evil, win and protect the “children”.
Creepy doesn’t begin to describe it.
Just goes to prove how creative he is. Honesty is not part of the job description. Golly I wonder what happened to that money. Who could have imagined.
383 hrs & 24 min
Not quite, the project to name something after Reagan in every county in the country ran out of steam after the Republicans got into power and the people pursuing it were able to get into higher-profile wanking. Thank god that happened before the pushes to put him on the twenty dollar bill or put a memorial on the Mall got very far.
The whole thing was really quite a pathetic demonstration of how the fundamental basis of modern conservatism is playing the victim and attacking liberals. The various Kennedy buildings and memorials were the result of a genuine outpouring after an admired president was assassinated. The Reagan crap was all about how “those liberals get the government to name stuff after their people because they’re pro-government” and authoritarian stomping all over the rules for planning and citizen involvement. My favorite case of irony-impairment was a former governor of Virginia writing that it was appropriate that National Airport should be named for Reagan immediately over the objections of the local airports authority because of Reagan’s role in transferring control of the DC airports from the federal government to the local airports authority.
Goody goody I can’t wait!
Well then grab your guns and join the glee club!
Killed un-employment benefits for military members separating from the service.
I know I was one
Ronnies quite the hawk though ain’t he
Ronnie performed miracles.
He got people to believe that:
People on welfare were driving new cadillacs
People went to mental institutions for the free food
That he could shoot missles flying at mach 10 out of the sky with his lazer thingee.
Not bad for a washed up actor.
Kos post that lists a while lot more of Raygun’s sins…..
GOP Rides a Tall Stack of $20s
Will you stop hating on Ronnie? His optimism changed the trajector…nevermind.
Goopers got americans to believe that Gorbie tore down “that wall” cause Ronnie told him too..that’s not bad either..
Are americans the most gullible people in the world?
I can’t imagine say—the germans—buyin that line of shit.
Dig him up and run him, he is all they have… but wait, saint Jeb
slouches into view!
Don’t forget the photoshops…Kids just love ‘em.
;>)
Just giving him credit for his major accomplishments.
In his memoirs is his philosophy:
“There’s a sucker born every minute”
Bush changed that to: “You can fool SOME of the people ALL of the time- and those are the one’s you’ve got to concentrate on”
All america heard him say it- but the target audience didn’t realize that he was talkin bout THEM!
Indulging in nostalgia. who can forget that Newsweek (?) article featuring smiley faced Reagan appointees who got indicted or something.
Oh they’re going to use Twitter? And Facebook? How … insecure. It’ll be like prom night for their reputation. :)
Well, maybe, given the above they could convert the images of either Lincoln or Teddy Roosevelt to Reagan. Doesn’t sound like the Repugs want to be associated with the man who freed the slaves anymore. And as for Teddy Roosevelt…wow! Too many Regulations (Child Labor Laws, Health and Safety Conditions, Food and Drug Safety), expanded government, created them damn National Parks, compelled Corporations to negotiate with Unions), and cracked down on monopolies, trusts, ponzi schemes, fraudulent stock market deals, etc.
They probably accept just about anyone as their Face Book Friends…all those requests from gals “who really found you interesting”, “up-and-coming death metal bands”, “Help me!”, V*XGPA pushers, and all sorts of others.
These guys are SOOOO clueless!
My vote is for the guy that does the 4 behind the head of the other guy…he’s the one I want Twitter away the GOP…into oblivion!
OK — I have a cold and don’t feel all that great on a grey, rainy day in Nashville… but this made me laugh.
“Dry Humping Reagan”, “The Facebook”, “The Twittering”… just like a jolt of Vitamin C!
Thanks Blue Texan!!
David
My money’s on our home boy Chip! What an embarrassment. But oh the possibilities!!
David
I love a good race to the bottom.