Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Why I Felt Safe In the 80's

I am not joking when I say this, but when Ronald Reagan was in charge I felt very safe and never worried about the country.  Of course I was only a child at the time and there really wasn't anything I could do about it, but I intuitively KNEW the government or "what adults were in charge of" was something I didn't have to concern my mind with. 

I didn't know this picture existed, but it more or less speaks more words than most as to why everybody, bar the most hate-filled leftists, loved Ronald Reagan, not to mention felt safe.























(though who is in the background?  Stossel?)

20 comments:

Ecclesiastes said...

That's because you weren't aware of the constant threat of nuclear annihilation.

We didn't dare elect Bozos like Clinton and Obama then.

Ecclesiastes said...

That's because you weren't aware of the constant threat of nuclear annihilation.

We didn't dare elect Bozos like Clinton and Obama then.

Dan said...

Having voted for Reagan....both times, I can say that the 80's
were a time when most Americans and
most of America was still decent.
Still believed in working for
a living instead of voting for a living. But even then the changes
to society were evident, the seeds of which were laid by LBJ et.al in the 60's. But the 80s was a golden
decade for the most part. And those paying attention KNEW that Ronald Reagan was more than capable of handling the issues and challenges that faced America's chief executive unlike the selfish
narcissist we are saddled with now.

Greg said...

Reagan? The guy who had Alzheimer's in office and oversaw the Iran-Contra affair, in which he technically committed high treason?

There are better republicans to hang your hat on.

Karl said...

Probably my biggest regret is to not have understood what this nation had in the 80's. I assumed all presidents were great men who loved the country.

Despite not paying attention, my first vote ever was for Reagan in 84. I didn't need to know anything about politics - I just knew this was the right guy for the job.

Eric S. Mueller said...

I felt safe with Reagan in office. I assumed it was because I grew up in a military family and spent more than half his Presidency stationed in West Gemany. Supposedly Soviet bombers could have been overhead before they had time to turn the air raid sirens on.

GregMan said...

I always had the feeling that whatever the issue, Dutch would decide what to do based on what he thought was best for America. Sure, he did some things I didn't agree with, and sure, he made mistakes, but I knew he had the best interests of the country at heart. I felt the same way about 41 and 43, although I disagreed with them much more often than I did with Reagan.

These days I expect Comrade President to always make the wrong decision, whatever his motives, and the more things he gets wrong the more I question his motives. O'Bammy may really, actually, deep in his heart have the best interests of our country in mind, but he's so wrong so often it's real easy to believe he doesn't.

Unknown said...

To be honest, Reagan sounds like an overrated president to me. I prefer Eisenhower for his speech on the whole idea of a military industrial complex. Greg is correct.

The Soviet Union would have collapsed on all its own with the weak economy and infrastructure it had. There's this Mises Institute video with Robert "Bob" Wenzel that goes into the reasons why it collapsed here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17iAint-_pc

sth_txs said...

He made people feel good about being an American, but the truth is taxes increased and government ballooned under his watch just like everyone before and after him. Also, he signed off on California's state income tax. Conservatives have always been a joke anyway.

Ronald Reagan An Autopsy
http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard60.html

Unknown said...

I felt the same way as the Captain did about Reagan, for the same reason: the adults were in charge. I was an adult at the time.

The fears of nuclear annihilation were stoked beyond proportion by the (possibly Russian supported) anti-nuclear movement. (Was Ecclesiastes spooked by having to watch The Day After?)

It's disheartening to compare life under Obama's administration with that during Reagan's.

Somebody mentioned Eisenhower. His farewell speech was pretty good (military industrial complex and all that) but few remember that in the same speech he also warned about government sponsored research, "Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity", as he put it.

Anonymous said...

There is a short list of things that left-wing nutbags like to say about Reagan because they can't stand the realization that Reagan was so awesome that even Democrats voted for him. We already have two of things spewed out in just a list of 8 comments:

Left-wing nutbag BS lie #1: Reagan had Alzheimer's while in office. This is related to the need that all left-wing nutbags have to view conservatives (or anyone else who disagrees with them) as mentally ill. What should really shame left-wing nutbags is the realization that, if they were right, then it means that a guy with Alzheimer's did a better job than any Democrat ever could. However, the less dumb ones can rest easy that he didn't have Alzheimer's while in office.

Left-wing nutbag BS lie #2: The Soviet Union would have fallen even if Reagan hadn't done anything. This lie is so ridiculous that I suspect even schoolchildren see through it. The Soviet Union collapsed because they tried to keep up with the USA in all areas (and, as we all know, communism/socialism sucks the ability and desire to succeed out of anything and everything). Their totalitarian ways didn't allow for any economic growth, nor innovation or initiative, so their great expenditures to keep pace with Reagan's defense plans bankrupted them. Period.

Left-wing nutbags simply can't stand the knowledge that their politicians will never measure up to a man like Reagan. Remember, even Democrats voted for him.

Anonymous said...

As an ex-military guy, Viet Nam era, I was a reluctant Reagan convert. But after Carter's weak kneed response to the Soviets he was just what the doctor ordered. Sure he screwed up in Lebanon and Iran/Contra. But he brought the Russian assholes to their knees. And he understood what economic growth could do. Imagine that.

Unknown said...

Anonymous, so suddenly you think the Mises Institute is "left wing" or are you just trying to troll? I'm the furthest thing one could be from being a lefty. Sorry dude.

Anonymous said...

@ Greg.... do you not see the dichotomy of your idiocy? While Reagan was senile he oversaw the Iran-Contra? Dumbass.

Reagan was right exactly when this nation needed a president to be right. The proofs are in the pudding. Economically, this nation moved like never before. As far as military might.... well, no one dared. Gaddafi tried, Grenada/Cuba tried, USSR folded. He wasn't perfect, but, he was exactly what this nation needed. He was a leader. And, he led.

Ecclesiastes said...

Ditto to Anonymous at 3:05

Regarding Unknown, I suppose I am a child of my times, trained in elementary school to dive under a desk because Cuba is so close. These days I see the over-the-top worry on the west coast because of North Korea, and think those people don't deserve the missile defense they've got, a product of Reagan's "Star Wars" Strategic Defense Initiative that they ridiculed.

It's just how I measure presidential candidates. Every President, Obama included, has the extinction of the human race at his fingertips. I feel better knowing that the guy CAN order a nuclear attack, CAN push the button, if it's called for, because if he can't or is perceived that he can't, then we are looking at outbreaks of conventional warfare around the globe.

Killing children along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border is one of the things Obama is doing half right. Read "The Prince" by Machiavelli. It's a short book.


By The Sword said...

We had it pretty good in the '80's. but America was already past the point of no return economically. Borrowing and spending what we didn't have was the norm. Three decades of that drove us down the shitter. The '80's was when we really began outsourcing our labor and production. We were all fooled by the grand tapestry back then, now, today, only left-wing commutards fall for it.

Claudius_II said...

Heard bad things about Reagan like Iran-Contra & etc. Then I read this book about the Fall of the Soviet Union written by the ex-head of the CIA. I forget his name right now but you can Google it).

A lot of things Regan did were very effective according to the book. For example you'll remember SDI. Everybody thought it was a crack-brained idea. Only 2 people believed it would work: Reagan & the Russians. In the end that all who counted.

He had harsh words about Carter. Currently reading a book about S. Africa. Also had harsh words about Carter and praises for Reagan.

Aurelian said...

Reagan was a godsend. I joined the Navy in 1980 and returned to the U.S. on USS Nimitz, the ship that the hostage rescue attempt took off from. That left a big scar and convinced many the country was in the hands of dolts. Reagan gave us our swagger back. Our confidence. That was extremely important.

Aurelian said...

Also,I retired in 2009 and have seen the progressive decline from a fighting navy to a political navy. Let me put it this way: our captain of the forecastle (space where the anchor chains terminated and also used for ceremonial occations was a hell's angel.

Panther said...

I think of two thinks when I think of RR;

1. His "war on drugs" that cost US taxpayers billions of dollars, and still does. And...

2. His taking away of legal gun owners rights.