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Trump's Hidden Advantage: He's Crazy

LowDown

Curmudgeon
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Movement conservatives who push #NeverTrump forget -- beyond the fact that Reagan was considered a crazy, trigger-happy cowboy who would nuke the world the first chance he got -- is that that was a huge part of Reagan's appeal.

Yes, I remember well. After 4 embarrassing years with Carter as President, we WANTED a President who was going to turn Iran into molten glass. Yes, we did. The Onion got it exactly.
 
Movement conservatives who push #NeverTrump forget -- beyond the fact that Reagan was considered a crazy, trigger-happy cowboy who would nuke the world the first chance he got -- is that that was a huge part of Reagan's appeal.

Yes, I remember well. After 4 embarrassing years with Carter as President, we WANTED a President who was going to turn Iran into molten glass. Yes, we did. The Onion got it exactly.

Because crazy people have always worked out well as world leaders, right?
 
Movement conservatives who push #NeverTrump forget -- beyond the fact that Reagan was considered a crazy, trigger-happy cowboy who would nuke the world the first chance he got -- is that that was a huge part of Reagan's appeal.

Yes, I remember well. After 4 embarrassing years with Carter as President, we WANTED a President who was going to turn Iran into molten glass. Yes, we did. The Onion got it exactly.

I don't recall Reagan having been seen as intolerable by a majority of the GOP, perhaps you could point me to this?
 
Movement conservatives who push #NeverTrump forget -- beyond the fact that Reagan was considered a crazy, trigger-happy cowboy who would nuke the world the first chance he got -- is that that was a huge part of Reagan's appeal.

Yes, I remember well. After 4 embarrassing years with Carter as President, we WANTED a President who was going to turn Iran into molten glass. Yes, we did. The Onion got it exactly.

Holy ****. Do you not know that was a lampoon by The Onion? They lampooned every year of the 20th century in a book. That was 1980. You actually think that was real?
 
I don't recall Reagan having been seen as intolerable by a majority of the GOP, perhaps you could point me to this?

I also never recall anyone voting for Reagan because they wanted him to "nuke the world the first chance he got". I'd like to see some evidence of that.
 
I also never recall anyone voting for Reagan because they wanted him to "nuke the world the first chance he got". I'd like to see some evidence of that.

Tis a good point. I recall the mood of the 80's being Reagan was going to stand up for America, and thwart the USSR... but no one wanted him to "nuke the world"...
 
Ronald Reagan came to national politics with a track record. He wasn't a petty clown who was born a multimillionaire and proceeded to do nothing noteworthy.

I did get to thinking about presidents who have been crazy. President Obama is clearly crazy. President Clinton was crazy and thinks his sanity is confirmed by having gotten away with the things he got away with. Now, President Carter. I don't know if he was crazy when he was in office but he certainly has been since he left office so I'd say he was crazy, too. I don't know if President Johnson was crazy. He was a vicious, murderous bastard but I don't know if that qualified him as crazy.
 
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Movement conservatives who push #NeverTrump forget -- beyond the fact that Reagan was considered a crazy, trigger-happy cowboy who would nuke the world the first chance he got -- is that that was a huge part of Reagan's appeal.

Yes, I remember well. After 4 embarrassing years with Carter as President, we WANTED a President who was going to turn Iran into molten glass. Yes, we did. The Onion got it exactly.

So instead he sold Iran Missiles.
 
Movement conservatives who push #NeverTrump forget -- beyond the fact that Reagan was considered a crazy, trigger-happy cowboy who would nuke the world the first chance he got -- is that that was a huge part of Reagan's appeal.

Yes, I remember well. After 4 embarrassing years with Carter as President, we WANTED a President who was going to turn Iran into molten glass. Yes, we did. The Onion got it exactly.

Of course, Reagan had had a day job and had been at the top of a union as well as Governor of a very large State. So, maybe people thought him crazy, but he did seem to have a cool CV.
 
Crazy (insane?) vs. corrupt - let the "lesser of two evils" games begin! ;)
 
A few observations:
Reagan was not crazy. That he may have appealed to the fringe element who wanted war and was lampooned in "The Onion", but that was never his intention. Notice: The only "war" we had with him as CIC was the invasion of Grenada. Reagan presided over one of the most peaceful eras in American history.

Reagan, unlike Trump, had been governor of a large state. He was no political neophyte.

People expected Reagan to decrease the size and power of the federal government. That didn't happen, and yet he was reelected.

So far, we haven't had a president who was certifiably crazy. Maybe that really is Trump's attraction. If a sane presidents haven't satisfied the voters, maybe a nutty one will.
 
This election is closer to crazy & corrupt vs. uber-corrupt, if you ask me.

In either case we will suffer from a POTUS that (most?) congress critters won't likely get along with. Largely due to the Obama "unprecedented" precedent, the POTUS (or their many appointed executive agency heads) can simply make, change or delete the law of the land if they decide that "it is the right thing to do". ;)

It may require a bit of SCOTUS ideological tweaking to make those unconstitutional legislative actions appear to be constitutional executive actions but that is likely to happen with the (s)election of either of these crazy/corrupt choices.
 
I don't recall Reagan having been seen as intolerable by a majority of the GOP, perhaps you could point me to this?

No, Reagan was popular then, but he would not be popular these days.
 
Holy ****. Do you not know that was a lampoon by The Onion? They lampooned every year of the 20th century in a book. That was 1980. You actually think that was real?

Of course it's satire, but it captures reality better than straight news.
 
Of course it's satire, but it captures reality better than straight news.

How so? Who voted for Reagan because they wanted him to start a nuclear war?

People voted for Reagan because things were bad while Carter was in office. Gas crisis. Out of control inflation. Job losses. Hostage crises. It was a seriously down time for America and America desperately wanted a change. Reagan offered hope, not nukes.

And there's no comparison between Reagan and Trump, none whatsoever.
 
No, Reagan was popular then, but he would not be popular these days.

REvisionist bull**** with no bearing on reality. He was a product of the time, you cannot freeze someone's views, carry them forward 30 years and declare they would be unliked today. As if they would hold the same positions, views and opinions in 2016 that they did in 1980. That's idiocy.
 
A few observations:
Reagan was not crazy. That he may have appealed to the fringe element who wanted war and was lampooned in "The Onion", but that was never his intention. Notice: The only "war" we had with him as CIC was the invasion of Grenada. Reagan presided over one of the most peaceful eras in American history.

All the Democrats said Reagan was crazy, and not a few Republicans said the same. What Reagan did and what some people expected him to do before hand were very different. His opponents said that electing him would be a disaster for the country.

Nevertheless, I don't regard being crazy as an asset for a candidate. The point is that fears about candidates are often whack. Fears about Trump are grossly exaggerated, and his policies have been wildly distorted. Even if Hillary is a criminal and a pathological liar I don't expect her to do anything untoward if elected, (if by "not untoward" you mean continuing the slow erosion of individual rights and local government power toward the eventual culmination of the love affair these people have for authoritarianism and collectivism in a nightmare of Orwellian dimensions the likes of which Hugo Chavez would envy.)
 
I don't recall Reagan having been seen as intolerable by a majority of the GOP, perhaps you could point me to this?

He was not. He was as successful as he was because like or hate his politics, he seemed likable as a person. Kinda the anti-Trump.
 
No, Reagan was popular then, but he would not be popular these days.

He might be popular now, as he would still be a really likable figure. If he wasn't, it would be for reasons entirely different than the reasons Trump is not popular.
 
REvisionist bull**** with no bearing on reality. He was a product of the time, you cannot freeze someone's views, carry them forward 30 years and declare they would be unliked today. As if they would hold the same positions, views and opinions in 2016 that they did in 1980. That's idiocy.

Man, ****in A, I hate having to like one of your posts, but that was a damn fine post you made. Damn good post.
 
REvisionist bull**** with no bearing on reality. He was a product of the time, you cannot freeze someone's views, carry them forward 30 years and declare they would be unliked today. As if they would hold the same positions, views and opinions in 2016 that they did in 1980. That's idiocy.

No, I'm sure a real life Reagan living now would adjust to the times. The point is that a Reagan with the same views and attitudes that he had back then would not be well received today. And, in fact, he got a lot of flack from Republican establishment types back then, too.

One of the things Reagan would be supported for now would be his approach to illegal immigration. He was very aggressive about finding and deporting illegals. People of color could expect to be stopped and asked for their documents several times a year. People were offered cash rewards for ratting out illegals.
 
No, I'm sure a real life Reagan living now would adjust to the times. The point is that a Reagan with the same views and attitudes that he had back then would not be well received today. And, in fact, he got a lot of flack from Republican establishment types back then, too.

One of the things Reagan would be supported for now would be his approach to illegal immigration. He was very aggressive about finding and deporting illegals. People of color could expect to be stopped and asked for their documents several times a year. People were offered cash rewards for ratting out illegals.

Yes, he said "We are better than this" and challenged the Status Quo.
 
Man, ****in A, I hate having to like one of your posts, but that was a damn fine post you made. Damn good post.

;) I will blame the Estrogen for any and all likes my posts get from those that would otherwise not have. Hope you had a great 4th Redress.
 
He might be popular now, as he would still be a really likable figure. If he wasn't, it would be for reasons entirely different than the reasons Trump is not popular.

Like what reasons? An aggressive foreign policy and reasserting American leadership in the world? Building the military back up? Cracking down on illegal immigration? Tax cuts? A new trade agreement with Mexico and Canada? Energy independence first, environment second?

Reagan was or is called an "extreme racist", homophobic and misogynistic by the usual suspects, but then what Republican politician isn't? Reagan was far more diplomatic than Trump ever is, though. I don't recall him verbally slamming illegal aliens in a way that reflected his actual policies, for example.
 
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