The myths about Reagan

Will Bunch, author of Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future (2009), has used the results of his research for this book to compile a 10 question litmus test for 2012 GOP hopefuls who want to cloak themselves in the Reagan mantle.

Bunch's point is that Reagan espoused every one of them -- but the myth somehow has morphed into the opposite impression, which is what his latter-day acolytes cling to.

1. "Will you pledge to create a pathway to U. S. citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants now in this country?"

2. "Will you support the concept that accused terrorists should be tried in American criminal courts and not in military tribunals?"

3. "If the federal deficit continues to grow, would you be willing to consider raising taxes to address the problem?"

4. "Will you support legislation to support to end the scourge of assault rifles in America?"

5. "Will you promise to oppose the use of torture -- no matter what the circumstances?"

6. "Will you appoint Supreme Court justices who will uphold Roe v. Wade as the rule of the land on abortion?"

7. "As president, will you do what is necessary to save Social Security as we know it?"

8. "Do you promise not to keep American troops in harm's way in a poorly defined mission?"

9. "Will you use the power of your office to protect the environment?"

10. "Will you make as your greatest priority the elimination of all nuclear weapons from the world?"

Bunch follows each question with the statement: "Because that's what Ronald Reagan did," and then he gives the situation and explanation of what Reagan did or said. And he concludes with this:

[T]oo bad that today's Tea-addled Republicans would be unlikely to emulate their beloved Gipper on even a single one of these. Who would have guessed that a 10-point progressive roadmap to a new and improved America is a hidden treasure buried within the bronze image of Ronald Reagan?

And then again -- we seem to prefer myths to truth. So this won't change a thing.

Ralph

From MidEast to MidWest

It's impossible not to think about the success of mass demonstrations in Egypt as the template through which to view what's going on in Wisconsin -- and now spreading to Ohio and Illinois -- where thousands are rallying against the conservatives' attempts to strip collective bargaining rights from labor unions for state workers. In Madison, WI, 30,000 people came to the capital to protest.

The entire Democratic caucus of the legislature got on a bus and left the state, now encamped in a motel in Illinois, to avoid letting the legislature reach a quorum to pass this legislation. As someone put it, "[The Republicans] are trying to erase 60 years of tradition in one week" by a hurry-up passage of this bill.

Tim Kaine and the Democratic Party, as well as the organizers of Obama's re-election campaign, are helping to rally the crowds to protest these anti-labor measures.

There's been talk of whether they can use the state troopers to force the Democrats to come to the state capitol -- which is why they left the state. This is the same tactic used by Democratic state senators in Texas in 2003 to delay a vote on a redistricting plan by leaving the state and spending a month in New Mexico. The Republicans eventually prevailed, however.

Interesting protest movements in the Mid-West echoing the Mid-East.

Ralph

Starve the beast

If you can't kill government programs outright by voting to repeal them, the Republican strategy has long been "starve the beast," i.e. defund the programs by not appropriating the money in the budget.

Conservative Republican Grover Norquist, president of the Americans for Tax Reform, said it most vividly years ago: "I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."

So now we see that strategy unfolding in the House. They voted to repeal the health care reform bill, but that died in the Senate. So now their plan is to cut funding that the federal government allots to states to help pay for Medicaid -- one program that the new law covers.

Governors are now crying foul: Repeal of the Affordable Health Care Act failed, so the states still have to follow the new law's requirements on Medicaid, but the House GOP is trying to cut the funds to pay for it -- leaving the states holding the bag for millions each year that they can't afford in this time of budget shortfalls.

Yes, and that's exactly what "starve the beast," and "drown it in the bathrub" mean to do. That's the way the game is played -- and the poor people are the losers.

Democrats need to do a better job of hanging that one around the necks of House Republicans.

Ralph

Egypt - 4

Sharon and Mickey Nardo filled me in a bit ("Egypt - 3") on the facts about the pre-planning and organization behind the successful protest movement that toppled Mubarak. The New York Times carried a lengthy story a couple of days later with more details, explaining that this wasn't a spontaneous movement lacking organizers.

It seems that it wasn't that the Egyptians quickly learned from the Tunesians how their demonstrations work. It was that a small group of dedicated activists from both Egypt and Tunesia had been working together for a couple of years, studying demonstration techniques and devising plans -- and that the Tunesians put it into practice first because of events unfolding in their country. But the Egyptians were very much part of the original planning.

Other important aspects of the success are: (1) the smart use of the social network to communicate quickly and widely with millions of citizens; (2) the Egyptian military's siding with the protesters rather than the dictator; (3) lack of an extremist Islamic group that co-opts the protest and grabs power. As unrest spreads in other Middle East countries, these three factors may make a huge difference in the success. In a country where the government learns how to shut down the internet and the social network, and/or the military turns on the protesters (as in Iran), and where an extremist group seizes power -- then the same results can't be expected.

But things will probably never be the same after the historic triumph of peaceful revolution in Egypt.

Ralph

Newt gets it wrong . . . again - #2

Exactly 10 days ago, I wrote a blog about Newt bloviating and getting it wrong about the Egyptian demonstrations and Obama's stance.

. . . Newt Gingrich, whose narcissistic mirror is telling himself that our country needs him to save it from the liberals and the wimpy internationalists, who are too weak in opposing Islamic extremism. Here's what he said on Sean Hannity's show last week, warning that Egypt could "go the way of Iran" and fall into the hands of an Islamic extremist dictatorship:

I think this is a period of tremendous challenge and is a sign of the general failure of our strategy of not dealing with radical Islamists and not being honest and aggressive of what's going on around the world.

He charged that Obama's administration had not taken the Middle East seriously, suggesting that Obama should not have given that 2009 speech in Egypt, "geared toward repairing America's relationship with the Muslim world."

In short, Newt is forging his stance to appeal to the right-wing war hawks who love nothing so much as war. In other words, we ignore the people's needs and just get rid of their leaders -- thus controlling them by threats and fear.

So . . . how does it look in Egypt now, Newt? Are you unhappy that everything points to this being the historic success story of the decade as far as peacerful overthrow of a despotic regime? And critics of Obama's handling of it have suddenly gone silent. What can you say when the disaster you predicted because of Obama's "failure" just doesn't materialize and in fact the opposite seems to be happening? Do you apologize and say you're wrong, Newt?

I'm not going to hold my breath. Let's just hope it's one more crack in Newt's narcissistic mirror that keeps lying to him about the country's need for him to run for president.

Ralph

Legalized murder in S.D.

Mother Jones.com reports:

A law under consideration in South Dakota would expand the definition of "justifiable homicide" to include killings that are intended to prevent harm to a fetus—a move that could make it legal to kill doctors who perform abortions. The Republican-backed legislation . . . has passed out of committee on a nine-to-three party-line vote, and is expected to face a floor vote in the state's GOP-dominated House of Representatives soon.

"The bill in South Dakota is an invitation to murder abortion providers."

These people have lost all sense of balance and competing values, in my opinion.

Ralph

Egypt - 4 - Uncertainty

Egypt's military leaders announced today that they have dissolved Parliament (whose election was heavily rigged by the ruling party) and suspended the Constitution. These are two key demands from the protesters.

They also announced that they will run the country for six months, while new Constitutional provisions are adopted to allow for popular voting on Constitutional amendments and electing new Parliament and President. Cabinet ministers now report directly to the military council. They also reiterated that they will abide by all international treaties.

These sound like the right steps -- but it does require faith in the military leaders' good will and real commitment to bringing democracy as soon as practical.

CNN reports:

However, a leading opposition figure said Sunday that the military must explain its plans in more detail or see a resumption of the demonstrations that drove Mubarak from office.

"They need to come out of their headquarters and start talking to the people and tell us what is in store for us," ElBaradei told [Fareed Zakaria's] GPS.

And a prominent Egyptian activist credited with helping spark the revolution warned against taking too long to establish a new representative government.

"Biggest mistake now is to give the Egyptian people too little too slow. Restoring confidence requires a faster pace," Wael Ghonim said on Twitter.

This is probably a wise strategy: don't let the military -- the actual governing body for the next few months -- get complacent; keep reminding them of the power of peaceful protest.

The military council has a huge, tough job. In addition to helping to establish a new democratic government, in the interim they have to address the severe economic and unemployment problems that face the country. And do it all with an expediency that is prudent and also keeps the people from feeling their demands are not being heard.

Ralph

Egypt - 3 - From those who've been there

Over dinner last night with friends Mickey and Sharon Nardo, I was eager to discuss Egypt, since they had just traveled there last year. We shared most of all a wondrous sense of admiration for the Egyptian people. When I got home, I discovered that there is already a petition circulating on the internet to have the Egyptian People nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2011. Absolutely !!!

Sharon was particularly ecstatic over the events, having watched live for up to five hours at a stretch, waiting for Mubarak's announcement that he was resigning -- and then he didn't. We were all moved to tears by the extraordinary unity of the people and their pride in what they have done. And we shared an awe of the restraint the crowds showed when Mubarak refused to step down, not losing faith and also not succumbing to despair and rioting. They just kept steadfast in the moral persuasion of the rightness of their cause, their sheer numbers, their broad representation, and their determination.

I was incredulous how this could have happened without obvious strong leadership. Sharon has followed it more closely than I and had some answers. There has been a small group for years working quietly toward this kind of non-violent protest movement. When the government fell in Tunesia recently, they contacted leaders from that movement and got advice from them on how they did it. The Egyptians then prepared a manual of instructions for demonstrators (what to bring, how to behave -- they stressed staying non-violent), and they distributed the manual through Facebook and Twitter. This is how it was all managed and how daily plans were communicated.

It had to be more than just good management, however; the people had to cooperate and stay cool in the face of risk and attacks. And the internet was shut off for a while there; that could have been crucial -- and probably would be in another, even more repressive dictatorship. As bad as Mubarak now seems to have been, there are worse.

Another important factor is who the military sides with -- and this may be a crucial difference in some other countries that now might try to follow suit. In Egypt, the military protected the protesters and announced that it would not shoot at them. When (Mubarak-hired) thugs attacked, the military intervened. Another country with a military controlled by the dictator might have turned on the protesters.

But, so far at least, the Egyptian people have triumphed in a hard-to-believe, non-violent overthrow of a repressive dictatorship. They are justifiably basking in pride and good feelings. It is an amazing moment in history --because of the people and what they did. This spirit was so evident in the comment of a 20 year old student, Omar Muhammed, to explain why the crowd is now spending a day cleaning Tahrir Square: "We are cleaning the square now because it is ours. After living here for three weeks, it has become our home ... We're going to leave it better than before."

Some other points I gleaned from Sharon and Mickey's experience and knowledge about Egypt and the Egyptians from their trip:

1. They found the people very open and likable, generally better educated than people living in comparable poverty-stricken nations, and certainly impressive in their endurance of hardship. Egypt has a very homogenous population.

2. The people were impressively devout in their religion (observing calls to prayer), but they wore it lightly without trying to impose it on others; a level of tolerance not seen in many Muslim nations.

3. Egypt looks like a big country on our maps, but it is about 90% sand and the inhabitable part of the country is just a few miles wide along the length of the Nile. Overcrowding in this narrow strip is extreme.

4. Infrastructure decay and disrepair is appalling -- even things like the national museum that houses priceless antiquities is falling apart and dirty.

5. Alexandria is plush, a resort for the wealthy and tourists. Cairo is teeming with overcrowding and poverty. Smog is intolerable, garbage piles up.

6. We all agreed that Egypt will need international financial assistance to rebuild and combat the poverty. A concern is the effect of all this on the tourist industry -- which is a major source of income. At this point, one U. S. travel agency has already canceled a tour schedule for mid-March.

Thanks to Sharon and Mickey for sharing this. Hope they'll correct any of my misunderstanding of what they said.

Ralph