“Well, there you go again….,”
Remember that little ditty?
That was Ronald Reagan’s famous line from the Presidential debate
against Jimmy Carter. That line was the “go
to” for all mimics and comics when they were doing their Reagan impersonations;
don’t believe me? Go check YouTube and
other websites. But the real takeaway
is, that was Reagan’s way of calling bullshit on Carter. He later used it whenever he gave a press
conference and someone in the media, (usually Sam Donaldson) tried to call him
on some news worthy story of the day/ week.
Whenever he said it, and even when it was used by others to mock him,
Republicans LOVED it! It was like a
juice box for a 5 year old to them. But this question actually brings me to my
point, where are those are those Reagan Republicans today? Back in the 80’s, no matter what the story,
the issue, the plan, Reagan had supporters who believed in him and his
ideals. The one ideal of Reagan, the one
that “made him” for even those moderate Democrats who disagreed with him on all
other issues, was his insistence that Russia (Soviet Union) was “the evil
empire” and needed to be blocked and countered at every turn. Those less informed and shallow in their
understanding of world issues, will still, to this day, credit Reagan with
causing the downfall of the Soviet Union and winning the Cold War. But perception is the basis for all reality,
or at least it used to be, and that narrative is what Republicans have stood on
for decades now. People like George H.W.
Bush, Bob Dole, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Peggy Noonan, Karl Rove and
others cut their teeth at the Temple of Reagan.
Those guys and others would have never stood by and let anyone, let
alone a “Republican” and especially a Republican President, stand in the White
House and praise Russia! Where is the righteous
indignation, that feigned outrage that they, (and others) had when Barack Obama
“had the nerve” to put his feet up on the Oval Office desk while he actually
WORKED on things to make America great, as opposed to just making grandiose
photo-ops when he’s signing more ceremonial executive orders like Trump does.
Being a Reagan Republican became a cottage industry where
fortunes were made but “true” patriotism was never questioned. I have gone on record as saying the most
troubling aspect of this Trump Presidency is his refusal to accept and explain
truth before the American people. Ronald
Regan never needed to exaggerate the size of his Inaugural audience. He didn’t need to; he didn’t WANT to, that
wasn’t important to him, but it is
important to Trump. Ronald Reagan,
despite what Obama haters want to have you believe, didn’t shy away from
talking to people he disagreed with; enemies or allies.
Ronald Reagan cozied up to “our European cousins” as he called them, he
didn’t try to publicly embarrass them.
Ronald Reagan went to Europe and praised and supported NATO, he
understood that the very best defense America had in keeping Russia and the
Soviet Union at bay in Europe was NATO.
The lessons of World War II were not lost on him, because whether you
agreed with him or not, Ronald Reagan understood that a united Europe was a deterrent
to Russia from expanding westward. For
the life of me, I don’t understand why those Reagan Republicans that were
banner men for him and those principles aren’t speaking up against the things
that Trump is doing today. Every 4 years,
since 1992, Republican Presidential candidates flock to the Reagan Library and
pay homage and swear undying fealty to the teachings that flowed from the jaws
of “the great man”. Yet despite that,
all those same Reagan Republican candidates and aficionados have seen and heard
from Trump’s tweets and mouth since the 2016 general election is contrary to
everything Reagan stood for. The Trump
administration after less than 150 days more resembles the Nixon White House
during the Watergate cover-up or that Reagan White House during the Iran Contra
cover-up. The scramble to cover lies and
fabricate new narratives for obvious flubs is clearly embarrassing, yet none of
those Reagan Republicans are calling shenanigans. Just the most innocuous mistakes, like a typo
during a late night tweet, have to be spun into some murder mystery plot just
in order to keep the façade of infallibility alive of this man. Why?!?! What is this obsession to be better than
anyone he’s followed? Obama, Dubya Bush,
Clinton, H.W. Bush, and of course Reagan, all admitted at some point in time
that they made a mistake in a policy or even misspoke; it is really OK.
Now, to be fair, men like John McCain, David Frum, and
Lindsay Graham have started to finally raise an eyebrow about all of this
confusion and ask serious questions about serious concerns about Trump’s
refusal to at least posture towards Russia and Putin. But where are the Pat Buchanan’s, the Newt
Gringrich’s? Where are all of the people
who proudly called Reagan “The Cold Warrior” and stood at his side when he
declared “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” when he went to West Germany to
support our NATO allies? Why is it so
hard, or is it that they all sold their souls to this man so that they could
get control of the Supreme Court, to call out Trump on this debacle? How is it those Reagan Republicans are now
blind to things like firing of the Director of the FBI in an obvious clumsy attempt
to deter an investigation?
Look, I never supported Ronald Reagan; I never voted for Ronald
Reagan; I never LIKED Ronald Reagan. But
I knew Ronald Reagan and I respected Ronald Reagan; trust me, Donald Trump is
no Ronald Reagan and unlike Ronald Reagan, he has no moral compass and cares
nothing for those people that voted for him.
This however is the administration that those woolen covered eyed voters
wanted. As my mother is fond of saying, “you
ordered shit, you eat shit”. I hope it
tastes good as you drink it with a glass of Russian vodka.
