THIS ⬇️

[live love laugh]

[hlthe2b]

1. Reagan wasn't the first, but among those who started a long line of pandering to the

worst stereotypes and hate-filled imagery (welfare queen in the Cadillac) that I can ever remember. Going after Federal Government as the "enemy" was just reprehensible.

That OKC happened not long after a decade and a half of repeated anti-government blaming/rhetoric from the RW says all that need be said--except that it will happen again.

[mopinko]

23. there actually was such a woman, but the welfare fraud was just 1 hustle.

she was a hard core scammer, and likely even murdered someone.
that the rest of the story was never told/forgotten will bug me til i die.

[pansypoo53219]

31. she was a singular criminal. i knew reagan was a bullshitter. even as a teen his trickle down

sounded stupid.

[Sogo]

2. This.

[Bluethroughu]

3. Truth perfectly stated.

[moondust]

4. IMO it was largely anti-Communist radicalism.

Over the course of the 20th Century the capitalists saw that Communism was spreading. The capitalists fought back for fear of losing their properties and way of life. Some would say the war in Vietnam was basically about capitalists trying to stop the spread of Communism: the "domino theory." To a large degree it all worked to radicalize a lot of capitalists against "big gubment" taking over everything; Reagan and others exploited that fear and hate. Like anything else the most radical took it too far and eventually wound up demonizing not just totalitarian government but government and the rule of law in general. They're still out there today in the form of TFG, Bannon, MAGAts, insurrectionists; i.e. much of the GQP.

[Hortensis]

12. Huh? Communism killed itself -- along of hundreds of millions of those

suffering under it -- over the 20th Century while the rest of the world watched. Its remnants are authoritarian regimes with mostly RW leaders thinly masquerading as LW, and held economically afloat only by the assistance of capitalism.

[moondust]

24. I'm just talking about

the deep origins of today's dysfunctional GQP with so many radical members in it for themselves and actually working against "big gubment"/the "administrative state"/the "deep state"/etc. Some would probably like to see the current deadlock continue indefinitely.

As for Communism killing itself, I'm sure you're aware that China is still a Communist country as are Cuba, Laos, North Korea, Vietnam, and maybe others.

[Hortensis]

26. I actually miss the disappearance of the "communist menace" with the

end of the Cold War around 1991-2. RW authoritarians, Birchers, teapartiers, MAGAs, etc, always have to have a great, existential enemy to fear and defeat, and when they "lost" Russia they turned their full antagonisms inward against the great Democratic/liberalism enemy. And started wishing they had a RW dictator like Putin for their very own.

Btw, do you know what happened elsewhere to trigger a little bunch of socialism -- and communism-apologist -- posts here? Just became aware. For decades there was almost no mention of communism among politicos, and even (especially) socialists have been distancing from and denying any relationship with the extreme communist form of socialism.

Frankly I thought its murderous history was a complete explanation, but now the it's been dusted off and apparently being reborn as viable? Where do I go to read what's behind this development?

[moondust]

27. They probably have

a list of boogeymen they can pull out whenever they need to feed the fear and hate.

I tend to stay out of socialism/communism/anythingism threads due to the labels having so many interpretations. For example, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia is a right-wing populist and ultranationalist political party in Russia and the Sweden Democrats is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Sweden.

[Hortensis]

29. :) So true for labels. Understanding liberal, conservative and extremist

behaviors is a far more reliable way to tell what a faction or party -- or person, is about. Don't even have to speak the language. Another European nation's (forget which) "Liberal Party" no doubt once was but is now far-right, liberals long gone elsewhere.

[gratuitous]

19. And even when Communism ceased to be a threat

Communism ceased to be a threat, depending on your timing, could be somewhere between 1917 and today, a lot of stuff got crammed under the rubric of "Communism" that basically reduced to "anything rich people don't like, such as taxes or regulations." Any idea or proposal that seeks to rein in the excesses of our capitalist system gets branded as Communism by the oligarchs and their nitwit brigade. Meanwhile, people starve in the streets of the so-called Wealthiest Nation Ever, casualties of a system designed to do just that but which can never be changed because that would be giving in to the Commies.

[moondust]

25. +1

Yup.

[Wounded Bear]

5. K & R...nt

[IronLionZion]

6. Republicans are the problem

every time Republicans get elected, they cause problems.

[jaxexpat]

9. They rarely think things through.

It's a wonder they always, when given two options, choose the wrong one. It's a statistical anomaly.

[jaxexpat]

13. They rarely think things through.

It's a wonder they always, when given two options, choose the wrong one. It's a statistical anomaly.

[IronLionZion]

15. You can say that again

[Tommymac]

30. They rarely think. nt

[Mr.Bill]

7. I always found it curious that Reagan

wanted to be in charge of "the problem". I guess he figured he was qualified for that and not much else.

[certainot]

8. reagan killed the fairness doctrine and the party of lincoln became the party of limbaugh. most of

these dumbshits now are dittoheads who depended on their local and state rw radio stations to get elected and all the blowhards on those stations had to follow the limbaugh template to stay on the radio.

now he's rotting somewhere and so is the GOP because central messaging is done and he's not there to keep the GOP in line. if limbaugh mentioned the gaetzs and boeberts and greenes with a little subtle dig (the kind that generated death threats to AOC etc) they'd get right in line.

[Duppers]

21. Indeed! 👍

[Upthevibe]

10. live love laugh........

Thanks for this post....

[live love laugh]

18. YW

[Hortensis]

11. +1000.

[FakeNoose]

14. Weren't Reagan's speeches mostly written by the Koch Brothers and the Heritage Foundation?

They didn't have QAnon back in those days.

[live love laugh]

20. It seems he relied heavily on their materials.

I googled that info just now.

Also seems he had a dedicated speechwriter.

I suspect his writer(s) just incorporated Koch and Heritage materials into speeches.

[liberal N proud]

16. Republicans have been trying to destroy the government

They run for office with the intent to destroy the government.
Florida man was sent to destroy the government.
Reagan was sent to destroy the government

All these loudmouths from the right are there to destroy the government

[live love laugh]

17. And by destroying the government they destroy the people.

Like the OP said.

They need to get that feedback more often—that the government IS the people.

At this point they’re like the rogue police who stay on payroll but don’t serve or protect all of the taxpayers who “hire” them.

[SunSeeker]

22. K & R & Boosted!

[Kid Berwyn]

28. Yes.

Well said.

[c-rational]

32. K&R, Bookmarked

[soldierant]

33. In one way (and only one) he was right....

When the GOP is in power, they are the problem.

[CrispyQ]

34. I never understood the logic of "let's vote people into government who hate government."

If you were a business owner you would never hire the person who hates your company & wants to drown it in a bathtub. WTF?

[flying_wahini]

35. Truth. He is a great follow, by the way.