LORDS OF APATHY

February 4, 2011

FUCK RONALD REAGAN

Brace yourselves folks, we're in for several days of stomach-churning revisionist history celebrating the Republicans' golden boy R.R.  The truth is, Reagan was one of the worst presidents ever. He laid the foundation for our current sold-to-the highest-corporate-bidder style 'democracy'; along with a laundry list of other completely morally bankrupt policies including his 'trickle-down economics' hoax, which is the mantra of modern-day morally bankrupt Republicans. Don't Believe the Hype...
P.S. I think I'm gonna make a T-shirt graphic of this image/ concept, so don't steal my idea! But if you insist on doing it, at least send me one or 2 of them... Beyond that, feel free to post/ repost/ twitter/ tweet/ re-tweet this wherever you want. 
Thanks. 
-Snickerdoodles

21 comments:

hacksaw jim chuggins said...

couldn't have said it better.. look out for the reagan ranch

Anonymous said...

The man may be dead, but his anti-labor policies live on today. In his eight years as president Reagan appointed some 10 thousand federal judges, most of whom share his anti-labor, anti-union philosophy. Many of these judges still serve and and when corporations bring them the bankruptcy cases that are so lucritive for courts, they won't hesitate to throw out labor contracts leaving workers without pensions, benefits, and collective bargaining power.

Anonymous said...

He's no Obamassiah.

Jay Money said...

Yeah, I don't know if this it relevant, or whatever, but I remember Nancy Reagan was on this episode of Different Strokes telling Arnold and Willis to stay off drugs, or whatever, and they were like, yeah okay. But I think those dudes ended up doing a shit-ton of drugs in real life. Plus that Kimberly chick posed for Playboy. I never saw that issue, but that chick was pretty hot, though.

Anonymous said...

That Different Strokes episode is titled, "The Reporter."

NV said...

Ronnie and Nancy's "War On Drugs" was laughable when you consider that the Contras in Nacaragua were funneling cocaine directly into the US through Miami under careful CIA supervision. As long as US drug sales provided the Contras with some of the money they needed to wage their war against the Communist Sandinistas the Reagan admin was happy to look the other direction. The rest of the money the Contras needed would come from US weapons sales to the Iranians. Ollie North I see you.

Anonymous said...

Former CIA agent David MacMichael explained the inherent relationship between CIA activity in Latin America and drug trafficking: "Once you set up a covert operation to supply arms and money, it's very difficult to separate it from the kind of people who are involved in other forms of trade, and especially drugs. There is a limited number of planes, pilots and landing strips. By developing a system for supply of the Contras, the US built a road for drug supply into the US."[4]

Anonymous said...

What does "bankruptcy cases that are so lucritive for courts" mean? Courts don't make money and judges are not paid by the case. I'm confused...

Red Fox said...

Yeah, totally agree with what you're saying here, fuck Reagan. I like what the Blue Scholars say in their song 'Southside Revival':

"I can't front I give a fuck if Ronal Reagan is dead
He turned sections of the population into crack fiends, eradicated everything we gained in the '60's
Back to square 1, let's revise the strategy to reload the gun and bring about a radical change son"

I'm just thinking, if you're going to make a shirt, maybe you should have a different word besides "overrated", because that makes it sound like you think he was good, just not that good -- overrated, which isn't really confronting the horrible neo-liberal agenda of both Reagan and his followers. Just a thought!

Love your posts, btw.

Anonymous said...

Well let me help you get un-confused. Fees have to be paid to the Circuit Court of Appeals when a corporation files for bankruptcy. Do a quick google search for "bankruptcy court fees" to see a list of prices. Corporations that do business all over the US also have the luxury of choosing the Circuit Court they want to hear their case. Don't be surprised, but they usually choose the courts with the best track record for deciding cases in favor of the corporation. This is called jurisdiction shopping, and it's quite common.

Anonymous said...

OK, so you're saying that bankruptcy cases are profit-generators for courts? That makes no sense. It's like saying driver's license fees are "so lucrative" for the DMV. Also, there are not even 10,000 federal judges in America. The number is closer to 3,000. Reagan appointed fewer than 400. In all seriousness, you have no idea what you are talking about. There are a bunch of reasons to dislike Reagan, but you haven't named any.

NV said...

The refrences to judge appointments comes from Macallaster College labor historian Peter Rachleff's book "Hard-Pressed in the Heartland: The Hormel Strike and the Future of the Labor Movement."

Page 11, graph 3 reads:

"Reagan and later Bush appointed men and women to the NLRB and its regional boards who were not inclined to vigorously enforce laws that defended the rights of unions. Similarly, their appointments to OSHA and the EPA shared their ideological distaste for government regulation and intervention, further strengthening management's hand. Over his eight years in office, Reagan also appointed 10,000 federal judges, most of whom shared his anti-union, anti-regulation philosophy. Thus, corporate management could pursue its resistance to union expansion with little fear of government interference."

NV said...

Refrence to court fees is from New York Times article, "In Bankruptcy, 'For Sale' May Mean You Loose." -Gretchen Morgenson April 15, 2007. Sec 3 page 1:

"Big bankruptcy cases generate enormous fees and revenues for the court system. And judges are increasingly willing to let companies and their lawyers call the shots in these proceedings"

In the legal journal article, "Courting Failure: How Competition For Big Cases is Corrupting the Bankruptcy Courts," University of California law professor Lynn M. LoPucki claims that, "judges make rulings that are favorable to the people who bring them cases." and that competition for such bankruptcy cases has been persued most aggressively by bankruptcy courts in New York and Deleware.

Snickerdoodles McPoppycock said...

Check Mate.

Detroit Murder Dog said...

I don't want to make this blog too intellectual here, but... I have to agree with Anon that I find it hard to believe that Reagan appointed 10,000 judges. The total number is less than 3500. For him to appoint 10,000 would have meant massive turnover every year. I don't care that this number was in a book; it just didn't happen. Also, most judges have nothing to do with corporate bankruptcies. If you want to say that Reagan appointed judges who ultimately decided bankruptcy cases which allowed some corporations to get out from under some union obligations, that's fine. But these other comments are not based in reality.

Also, the idea that courts compete for bankruptcy cases to make more money is totally wrong. The whole "competition for cases" notion is based on the idea that courts want high profile cases for prestige (which idea itself is debatable btw). Judges and other people who work for courts don't make any more or less money if their caseloads are heavy or light. Saying that big bankruptcy cases make a ton of money for "the court system" means lawyers and other bankruptcy professionals-- not the courts themselves. Anyway, none of this has anything to do with Reagan.

Can we get back to Asian girls and bad raps, plzzzzz?

Anonymous said...

The reason the US is in the toilet right now can be summed up in four words - "30 years of Reaganomics". The Republican's golden boy:

-Increased spending more that any president in the history of the US.
-Increased the deficit more than any president.
-Declared 2 wars without the consent of congress.
-Hated government of, by, and for "We the People"
-Cut the top marginal tax rate and as a result then resided over and promoted the 2 largest tax increases in the history of the US one of which fell entirely on lower class working people who made less that 40K a year.
-Enthusiastically gave amnesty to illegal immigrants - legalizing 3 million.
-Didn't believe in the idea of public service.
-Ended the free public college education system in the California state University system and said "why should I give a free education to people who are just going to protest my policies?"
-Is the only U.S. president to have been divorced.
-Had more senior officials in his administration go to jail that ever before.
-Kicked off his campaign at the site of a historically racist incident and referenced it in code.
-Is said to have "won the cold war without firing a shot" when in reality ended the cold war not by standing tough but by offering a gesture of peace.
-Shut down California mental institutions spilling crazies onto the streets. God then punished him by giving him Alzheimer's.
-instituted the myth of supply side "voodoo economics" which created a 30 year bubble that's bursting right now and showing the whole world that laize-fair capitalism is a joke.

Snickerdoodles McPoppycock said...

^Real Talk/ Check Mate/ Church!

NV said...

CORRECTIONS

looks like I have to eat crow on the point of Reagan's federal judicial appointments. Today I contacted Peter Rachleff, author of the book I referenced regarding the 10,000 judges, and he admits that he has no idea where that number came from, but also offered that Reagan appointed more federal judges than any other president. I do appreciate that he got back to me so quickly, but I don't appreciate that he didn't do very good job of fact checking his book before it was published, and now we both look like fools on this point.

Good lesson for me to cross-check my source material next time.

Anonymous said...

Kind of a fucked up situation when LOA is home to more civilized discussions and debates than mainstream TV news shows. Peace to everyone who reads this blog.

Red Fox said...

This was an awesome debate to read. Good job on the fact checking and admitting the error, you're a badass in my book.

Rexwon said...

Different Strokes was also an awesome show, but in the spirit of fact checking the sitcom was actually spelled Diff'rent Strokes.