Reagan Quotes

Thanks to Dan Souza http://www.dansouza.org/Articles/Reagan/Early%20Life/early_life_of_ronald_reagan.htm for these quotes from Ronald Reagan.

We could sure use Mr. Reagan right about now.

To sit back hoping that some day, some way, someone will make things right is to go on feeding the crocodile, hoping he will eat you last. But eat you he will.

Welfare's purpose should be to eliminate, as far as possible, the need for its own existence. (Jan. 7, 1970)

We who live in free market societies believe that growth, prosperity and ultimately human fulfillment are created from the bottom up, not the government down. Only when the human spirit is allowed to invent and create, only when individuals are given a personal stake in deciding economic policies and benefiting from their success - only then can societies remain economically alive, dynamic, progressive and free. Trust the people. This is the one irrefutable lesson of the entire postwar period, contradicting the notion that rigid government controls are essential to economic development. (Sept. 29, 1981)

How do you tell a Communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell and anti-Communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin. (Sept. 25, 1987)

Public servants say, always with the best of intentions, "What greater service we could render if we only had a little more money and a little more power." But the truth is that outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector. (Oct. 27, 1964)

The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing. (Oct. 27, 1964)

You and I are told we must choose between a left or right. But I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream - the maximum of individual freedom, consistent with order, or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, "The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits." (Oct. 27, 1964)

The Couric Conspiracy

Why won't they take me seriously?!!!!!

Recently, CBS announced that Katie Couric will step down as their anchor person. Or, their anchor. They also released a statement blaming America's not being "ready for a woman anchor" or some such nonsense.

So here's a news flash for CBS News. No one cares that she's a woman. Your ratings have fallen lately because of media bias. And your statement is a beautiful example.

I don't watch a lot of news on television. Years ago, I'm told, newscasters and their stations actively supported American troops in the field. I've seen old Life Magazine issues and have seen old newsreels slapped together by CBS and other companies, highlighting the bravery of American soldiers, Marines, sailors and airmen. I have yet to see a single story, put together by CBS or any other major network (other than Fox), on any television broadcast, website or any other media, highlighting the bravery, fighting character and love of country of the American fighting soldier that I saw with my own two eyes in Iraq. I've seen a lot of why-we-shouldn't-be-there stories, though. Lots of those. And lots and lots (and LOTS) of coverage of bombs going off, casualties and blown-apart American military vehicles.

I've even seen the Evening News run footage that was put together by al-Qaeda as anti-American propaganda. Footage featuring my friends' dead bodies, thank you very much.

Is it a liberal-vs-conservative issue? I think so, and here's why.

Politically speaking, I came of age during the Clinton years. I specifically remember how damaging Bill Clinton's lies were to the American fighting man, as I was in the military at the time. In fact, before Clinton I wanted to make the Army my career, and by the end of his second term I was out of the Army with no intention of ever going back. My beloved Army had become a pawn in his perverted political game, from the Loathing Letter to the whole Don't Ask Don't Tell circus - and it had a serious effect of the morale of the American soldier.

I remember also while Bill Clinton was running for President, Bryant Gumble interviewing George H. W. Bush, the sitting President of the United States, and arguing with his answers like some kind of protestor. It was so painfully obvious who the reporter supported for the office, and that he was going to say whatever he had to say to discredit the most powerful man in the world. I felt like trying to call the President personally and assure him that most Americans did not feel as Gumble did. This was on the Today Show, I think. And the whole event opened my eyes to just how far out there a bunch of liberal reporters can be - and just how much they can get away with.

Just how disrespectful they can be.

I came away from that wondering just who these people thought they were. In his grandest dreams, Bryant Gumble could never do half as much for this country as George H. W. Bush (that's the elder George Bush, for those of you who don't know) has done. But he was never, so far as I could see, called on the carpet for his actions, and nor were any of the show's producers, directors, or writers. No one, nothing. Never. So I started wondering, just how far gone are these people?

Of course, these days, I have my answer. For example, not a day goes by in which I don't hear (read, etc) someone in the media saying "It's now five years since President Bush gave his famous 'Mission Accomplished' speech". Never mind that President Bush never said the words "Mission Accomplished." They were printed on a banner that had been raised by US Navy personnel on board the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. Also, never mind that those words referred specifically to the military routing of the Iraqi army, the capture of Baghdad, and the removal of Saddam Hussein and his murderous regime of Hitleresque henchmen. It was never intended to refer to subsequent counter-insurgency operations in Iraq.

But that's just one example. I've referred to the whole media-bias phenomenon as the Couric Conspiracy, because Katie Couric came from the same source of bias that we saw with the Gumble incident, which cemented my opinion of the newsmedia back in the early 90s. Same band of conceited, we-know-better-than-you, puffed-up reporters who will stop at nothing to put their own political views at the forefront of every story - even if it means criticizing a banner put up by sailors to celebrate a military victory.

And it falls right in line with the typical media big-headedness that they're now saying it's because she's a woman. Or, more accurately, that the rest of us rubes aren't ready to get our news from a woman. According to them, we're all just that shallow. We're too stupid to see through their bias, and we're too oafish to watch a female news anchor.

It's not only typical media conceit, it's typical liberal conceit, in a typically right-of-center country. It couldn't be more obvious - evidently, that is, to everyone but the media.

Jon Stewart is an Ass

Look at me!!! It's all about what I think!!!

OK, here's the deal. I was gonna leave this guy alone, but I've finally had enough. I would rather pull out my own eyes than watch his show, but the other night I couldn't avoid seeing him. I saw a clip on one of the news programs that featured Jon Stewart being his usual smart-ass self, saying something to the effect of, "... a prominent politican [meaning Obama] spoke to the American people about race as if they were adults."

Jon Stewart is an ass. And I'm being polite here.

Barack Obama's race-baiting speech most certainly did not speak to people like they're adults. It spoke to people like they need their hand held. It spoke to people as if they don't already know that racism exists, or that there is animosity between some members of some minority groups and the mainstream American society.

But that's the problem. Mainstream American society doesn't give a crap about you, Jon. And there's no reason they should (they don't give a crap about me either, and likewise, they shouldn't).

They also don't give a crap about racial division. You know why? Because gulping down the Kool-Aid about the politics of race isn't going to put food on my table, Jon. I'm 37 years old. All my life, I've been told by well-meaning liberals all about how unfair this country is. All about how a Black man can't get a fair shake here. Minorities are systematically kept down by the man.

So here's me. And here's you, Jon. White guy, not old, not especially young, decent education (poor education, in my case). You're pretty successful. I understand you've picked up a few awards, etc. I'm comfortable, myself, in a down-to-earth way. I'm not rich by any means, but I can go out to eat when I want. My bills get paid on time (mostly), and I own a small house. My Jeep is paid for.

So I guess that, according to the liberal, Jon Stewart definition, all this is ill-gotten gains, simply given to me by The Man, because I'm white. Is that it, Jon? Because that's the impression I get from Senator Obama: If you ain't Black, you don't know what it means to struggle.
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I'm sick to death of all the "racial divide" bullshit in this country. All people living in this country, whether they're of this race or that, speak this language or that, or are from this country or that, have exactly the same opportunity. The only thing that sets people apart is the work ethic they bring to the table.

.

I'm willing to bet that Jon Stewart's success is due to years of Jon Stewart working his ass off. It has nothing to do with his race, nothing to do with his religion, and nothing to do with Barack Obama's proposed government programs to "give" more economic opportunity to Black people.

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Because those same Black people, when they were infants, lying in a bassinet at some hospital somewhere, were at exactly the same starting line as Jon Stewart was, as I was, and as you were. We all started at the same place.

.

It's only when we grow up that we can become asses like Jon Stewart.

Today's Cartoon

Ha ha - A new campaign slogan for the Surrender Society...

Beautiful Words...

...from a beautiful person. Michelle Malkin, my fellow lefty (left-handed person, that is), is a prolific columnist and blogger for our GLORIOUS CONSERVATIVE CAUSE. She has visited Iraq and actually reported the TRUTH about what's going on there, not the every-day self-loathing drivel that we're so accustomed to hearing from the Couric Conspiracy.

Here's what she had to say about Michelle Obama's not proud of America rant:

2 MICHELLES, 2 AMERICAS & SHAME vs. PRIDE

by Michelle Malkin

Like Michelle Obama, I am a "woman of color." Like Michelle Obama, I am a working mother of two young children. Like Michelle Obama, I am a member of the 13th generation of Americans born since the founding of our great nation.

Unlike Michelle Obama, I can't keep track of the number of times I've been proud - really proud - of my country since I was born and privileged to live in it. At a recent speech in Milwaukee on behalf of her husband's Democratic presidential campaign, Mrs. Obama remarked, "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change."

Mrs. Obama's statement was met with warm applause from other Barack supporters who have also apparently been devoid of pride in their country during their adult lifetimes. Or maybe it was just a Pavlovian response to the word "change." What a sad, empty, narcissistic, ungrateful, unthinking lot.

I'm just seven years younger than Mrs. Obama. We've grown up and lived in the same era. And yet, her self-absorbed attitude is completely foreign to me. What planet is she living on? Since when was now the only time the American people have ever been "hungry for change"?

Michelle, ma belle, Barack is not the center of the universe. Newsflash: The Obamas did not invent "change" any more than Hillary invented "leadership" or John McCain invented "straight talk." We were both adults when the Berlin Wall fell, Michelle. That was earth-shattering change. We've lived through two decades' worth of peaceful, if contentious, election cycles under the rule of law, which have brought about "change" and upheaval, both good and bad. We were adults through several launches of the space shuttle, in case you were snoozing. And as adults, we've witnessed and benefited from dizzyingly rapid advances in technology, communications, science, and medicine pioneered by American entrepreneurs who yearned to change the world and succeeded. You want "change"? Go ask the patients whose lives have been improved and extended by American pharmaceutical companies that have flourished under the best economic system in the world.

If American ingenuity, a robust constitutional republic, and the fall of communism don't do it for you, hon, then how about American heroism and sacrifice? How about every Memorial Day? Every Veterans Day? Every Independence Day? Every Medal of Honor ceremony? Has she never attended a welcome-home ceremony for the troops? For me, there's the thrill of the Blue Angels roaring over cloudless skies. And the somber awe felt amid the hallowed waters that surround the sunken U.S.S. Arizona at the Pearl Harbor memorial.

Every naturalization ceremony I've attended, where hundred s of new Americans raised their hands to swear an oath of allegiance to this land of liberty, has been a moment of pride for me. So have the awesome displays of American compassion at home and around the world. When millions of Americans rallied to help victims of the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia - including members of the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group that sped from Hong Kong to assist survivors - my heart filled with pride. It did again when the citizens of Houston opened their arms to Hurricane Katrina victims and folks across the country rushed to their churches and offices of the Salvation Army and Red Cross to volunteer.

How about American resilience? Does that not make you proud? Only a heart of stone could be unmoved by the strength, valor, and determination displayed in New York , Washington , D.C., and Shanksville, Pa. , on September 11, 2001.

I believe it was Michael Kinsley who quipped that a gaffe is when a politician tells the truth. In this case, it's what happens when an elite Democratic politician's wife says what a significant portion of the party's base really believes to be the truth: America is more a source of shame than pride.

Michelle Obama has achieved enormous professional success, poli tical influence, and personal acclaim in America . Ivy League educated, she's been lauded by Essence magazine as one of the 25 World's Most Inspiring Women; by Vanity Fair as one of the ten World's Best-Dressed Women; and named one of "The Harvard 100" most influential alumni. She has had an amazingly blessed life. But you wouldn't know it from her campaign rhetoric and her griping about her and her husband's student loans.

For years, we've heard liberals get offended at any challenge to their patriotism. And so they are again aggrieved and rising to explain away Mrs. Obama's remarks.

Lady Michelle and her defenders protest too much.

A Gentle Reminder

Jane Fonda, showing her North Vietnamese Communist friends how much she admires them.

Ms. Fonda is supporting Barack Obama in this election. Of course, this makes sense. After all, once you've travelled to the enemy's capital and revelled in their successes against our servicemen, while sitting in their aint-aircraft positions, it would be out of character for you to vote for one of our boys who got shot down, now wouldn't it?

I'm not advocating voting for John McCain just because he was a POW. The history of the United States is replete with admirable and heroic public servants who shouldn't be president. I'm not bashing Hanoi Jane for choosing a political side to favor.

I am, however, bashing Hanoi Jane for being Hanoi Jane. For glorifying the enemy during a war. For taking sides against this country - the country that made her rich, the country that gave her everything she's ever wanted. For (sorry about the mixed metaphor) biting the hand that feeds her, thus stabbing the whole country in the back.

Just so no one gets the idea that American veterans (yes, that's me) have forgotten, or will ever forget - or will ever forgive her for this, the single most flagrant act of treasonous betrayal in my consciousness.

While I'm not the biggest McCain fan in the world, I can certainly see how Obama and Hanoi Jane are a perfect match, politically. Both are what some conservatives call punitive liberals - that is, the Blame-America-First crowd. These are cynical, jaded people who believe that their freedoms and their rights extend from some magical entity who hands out such blessings only to them. Never mind the idea of military service - that's only for the stupid. Really, that's how these people think. So it's no big deal to be not only anti-war, but anti-military. But only anti-OUR-military, evidently, as it's cool to support the enemy's military. I wonder how many times Hanoi Jane has sat in an American anti-aircraft installation and shown this kind of fawning hero-worship.

These people just make me sick. More to come later today.

Misstatements You Can Believe In

Seems to be the buzz word right now, doesn't it? Even Barack Obama, whom the press once called "Mister Articulate," seems to be misspeaking every other word.

But let's not just sit back and allow these people to get away with labelling their own lies as misstatements, while pointing accusing fingers at the lies of their opponents.

For those of you (both of you, I guess) who can't tell the difference between a Republican and a conservative Independent, here's a crash course in the difference between the truth, a misstatement and a lie.

First, the truth:

Senator Clinton's campaign publishes a flyer in California that accuses Senator Obama of wanting to raise taxes by billions (or it is trillions) of dollars. Never mind that her own husband (you remember, Monica's ex-boyfriend and cigar aficionado) passed the sinlge largest tax hike in history - Obama wants to make it look like chump change.
That, folks, is the TRUTH.

Next, a misstatement:

Senator Obama replied to Senator Clinton's charge that he wants to raise taxes. While talking about the flyer, he consistently accused her of accusing him of wanting a tax cut. He meant to say tax increase, but he said tax cut. He knew what he meant, and those few people in his audience who weren't simply drooling but were actually paying attention knew what he meant. He even caught his own misstatement and explained himself.

That's a misstatement - an occasion in which someone misspoke.

Now, a lie:

When you tell people that you weren't in Wright's congregation when he made offensive, desparaging statements, and then it turns out that you were, that's a lie. When you make up stories about ducking sniper fire and running across the tarmac to get to your vehicle, when in fact no such thing happened (but someone related a story about sniper fire that happened a month earlier), that's a lie. When you make up familiy connections to the Selma, Alabama civil rights protests in the 1960s in order to pander to the minority vote in that state, when in fact no such connection exists except in your imagination, that's a lie.

When you contend again and again that you never knew about your friends' membership in groups like the Weather Underground, or about their attempts at mass murder decades ago, and then people begine finding out the truth, that's not a misstatement. It's a lie.

Lies aren't born in a vacuum, folks. They come from somewhere. In the case of both of our Democrat hopefuls, I believe they're born of arrogance. I mean, let's face it. You have to pretty arrogant to believe that you can get away with such made-up stories, even though it's pretty plain that people will figure them out. When Obama said that ten thousand people had died in a Kansas tornado, when the real death toll was twelve, there was a reason for that. It wasn't a misstatement, folks. It was a purposeful exaggeration, delivered with the well-rehearsed intent of making things in this country look worse than they really are. His speech was about how the National Guard has been rendered completely incapable of performing its job (which I doubt) by the war in Iraq - and it's a much more dramatic statement if tornadoes, which everyone knows are George Bush's fault anyway, have been killing tens of thousands of people at a time.

Barack Obama doesn't care if you believe it. He doesn't care if it's realistic. What he cares about is that you heard him say it. He and Hillary Clinton and their robots (Richardson and Carville, for instance) are staying on message through all of these misstatements.

Too bad the misstatements themselves are the message, isn't it?

Today's Cartoon