Something stuck out to me last night as I watched two geriatrics stumble their way through a presidential debate. Donald Trump routinely brought up Ronald Reagan. It was a pretty transparent attempt to appeal to traditional conservatives. Maybe it works, I’m not tuned closely enough to understand those mechanics.
For purposes of this article, I’m going to look past the fact that Reagan is one of the 5 worst presidents in American history. You can look at tons of charts and see his harm economically and socially. America is worse off for having Reagan as president. Turns out that actors-turned-politicians suck at the politician part.
Regardless of his absolute horror show of a presidency, Reagan does retain some level of reverence among conservatives. I don’t understand it, I wasn’t around for it, I don’t really care. That’s an argument that I’m never winning. What I do think is ironic is Trump constantly referencing Reagan and then bragging about his close friendship with Vladdy Putin. Irony truly is dead.
For all the crap that Reagan did wrong, his only redeeming quality is that he recognized the danger of an imperial Russia. Reagan would be turning over in his piss-covered grave to hear about a Republican Party that has so whole-heartedly embraced Russia. Reagan would be sending Ukraine weapons we’ve never heard of to fight off Russia. Hell, there’s a non-zero chance he’d be sending in the CIA and his own little green men. His finger would be hovering over the nuclear button and he'd be begging for a reason to slip. Meanwhile, Trump got impeached for trying to get political dirt on his opponents prior to sending Ukraine weapons.
By the way, other things that would make Reagan flip out: gay marriage being legal, a black president, and a female vice president. What an absolute piece of garbage, but I digress.
Listen, I’m not claiming the Democrats should try to burnish Reagan’s legacy. No amount of spit shining can do that, although I’m all on board on spitting on Reagan as much as we can to give it a try. Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s how Nancy became first lady, but that’s another digression.
Back to my original point, even without claiming Reagan’s legacy, the Democrats could do perhaps a little more to combat this idea that Reagan would be proud of Trump. Even he’d be appalled. So, the next time Trump tries to claim Reagan, maybe just remind the American public that Reagan was anti-Russian and would be calling for increased support of NATO and Ukraine. At least poke a hole or two in Trump’s rambling arguments.
And while we’re at it, it wouldn’t hurt to put another hole or two in Reagan, just to make sure.
For purposes of this article, I’m going to look past the fact that Reagan is one of the 5 worst presidents in American history. You can look at tons of charts and see his harm economically and socially. America is worse off for having Reagan as president. Turns out that actors-turned-politicians suck at the politician part.
Regardless of his absolute horror show of a presidency, Reagan does retain some level of reverence among conservatives. I don’t understand it, I wasn’t around for it, I don’t really care. That’s an argument that I’m never winning. What I do think is ironic is Trump constantly referencing Reagan and then bragging about his close friendship with Vladdy Putin. Irony truly is dead.
For all the crap that Reagan did wrong, his only redeeming quality is that he recognized the danger of an imperial Russia. Reagan would be turning over in his piss-covered grave to hear about a Republican Party that has so whole-heartedly embraced Russia. Reagan would be sending Ukraine weapons we’ve never heard of to fight off Russia. Hell, there’s a non-zero chance he’d be sending in the CIA and his own little green men. His finger would be hovering over the nuclear button and he'd be begging for a reason to slip. Meanwhile, Trump got impeached for trying to get political dirt on his opponents prior to sending Ukraine weapons.
By the way, other things that would make Reagan flip out: gay marriage being legal, a black president, and a female vice president. What an absolute piece of garbage, but I digress.
Listen, I’m not claiming the Democrats should try to burnish Reagan’s legacy. No amount of spit shining can do that, although I’m all on board on spitting on Reagan as much as we can to give it a try. Actually, I’m pretty sure that’s how Nancy became first lady, but that’s another digression.
Back to my original point, even without claiming Reagan’s legacy, the Democrats could do perhaps a little more to combat this idea that Reagan would be proud of Trump. Even he’d be appalled. So, the next time Trump tries to claim Reagan, maybe just remind the American public that Reagan was anti-Russian and would be calling for increased support of NATO and Ukraine. At least poke a hole or two in Trump’s rambling arguments.
And while we’re at it, it wouldn’t hurt to put another hole or two in Reagan, just to make sure.