Ronald Reagan is the guy who started the right on this present path. And yet most old time GOPers consider him almost GOD-like. It's a nice little story to be able to tell yourself that GOP would be a normal party had Trump not come along.
I remember back in the Geedubbya years that Reagan had already lost a considerable portion of his Saint Ronny status due to his surprisingly reasonable 1986 immigration reform. At the time I interpreted that as a way to allow the new, online Right to elevate GW to Conservatisms new Saint. The only effing thing I’ll credit Trump with is creating a previously unimaginable permission structure for Republicans to criticize Bush with the same animosity they would apply to a Democrat. He did it for self-serving narcissistic reasons, sure. But it was still nice to see the spell break.
Sorry if I sound snarky here, Iknow you discourage snarkiness. BUT …. someone actually criticizing, even mildly, St Reagan! Hard to believe. I have always been confounded by the adulation. I am nearly 77 years old. I lived through Reagan. Saying he was not as bad as Trump, while true, is hardly high praise. I believe, and have believed for decades, that Reagan started this entire mess. A similarity with Trump: there were issues that preceded Reagan, but he crystallized and focused them. Exactly the way Trump has. And both men made things worse. You can draw a straight line between the two. They are of a piece, even if one was personally more palatable than the other. Is it a coincidence that they are both from show biz and know how to play to an audience?
Much of Reagan's Welfare Queen saga as well as other rhetorical aspects of his political career, such as "our streets are turning into jungles at night" (which he used in his first gubernatorial campaign), are chronicled in my book "From Ronald to Donald, How the Myth of Reagan Became the Cult Of Trump" published by McFarland Books and available on Amazon.
And apparently many Republicans are still just as ignorant as they were when Reagan played the race card. The GOP needs to be gone. They can’t be salvaged.
Good on you, Robert! HHH was one of the first woke politicians in the modern era -- after Lincoln, J. Quincy Adams. LaFollette, etc. All were what would be disparagingly called woke today. (The preferred term then was "n-lover"). Trump, today's Jefferson Davis, would call HHH a dangerous leftist communist intent on destroying America.
Mark Twain said the “History doesn’t repeat itself. But it rhymes.” So true. The gipper was a ‘soft’ racist. Didn’t say much against non-whites but didn’t miss an opportunity to denigrate them, such as using the “Welfare Queen” title because he knew his people. Plus he was only beginning to dismantle the safety net that Republicans hated, and that was more important. He came to the White House because Evangelicals thought he would end abortion; which, despite his rhetoric, he had no interest in ending. When he won his second term, his promises to the anti-abortion group, founded to repeal Roe v. Wade vanished. It’s worth noting that this part of Reagan’s playbook is being used by Felon Trump. Evangelicals are so easy to deceive. Reagan was failing mentally - his son said that he saw the change in Reagan’s first term - his troika team left, and was replaced by second rate people. His administration had the Iran-Contra scandal to contain which threatened to upend his legacy. He did not accomplish much for the American people in his second term. In short, Reaganism paved the way for Felon Trump; he hollowed out the middle class by the loss of high paying jobs, created unrest because “Those People” are the reason you are miserable, feed the “government is the problem” constantly. Worst of all, talked up the “Rugged Individual.” A white man who knows what is correct, and will fight for “The American Way” as defined by him. I thought it was ironic that the ideal rugged American to them was John Wayne. He did not enlist in WWII, when so many of the A list actors did. And his four sons did not go to Vietnam. He acted the part in movies, so that was good for Republicans.
All these can be seen with Felon Trump. The difference is that the Republicans want what DonOld wants, power, and while they don’t know how to ride that tiger, they have the tail and that’s good enough for them.
interesting article BUT I wish such reporting would include facts to correct assumptions, such as the person just convicted of stealing $250 million from a food assistance program is a middle aged white woman. It's the only conviction of 'welfare fraud' relevant to the controversy about Somali immigrants that I have seen reported. Also, the majority of government assistance program recipients are WHITE.
Obama phones- what an imaginary situation! Congress passed a bill, during the GW Bush administration, subsidizing rural mobile phone service. The phone carriers wanted to sign up rural subscribers, so THEY offered "free" inexpensive mobile phones as an incentive. The tea party crowd transformed that PRIVATE ENTERPRISE OFFER into Barack Obama giving free phones to people of color.
Perhaps there is some misconception about what welfare is in the US. Even though my father was a professor of social work I certainly didn't understand it when I began doing pro bono work at a law firm in San Francisco at the start of my legal career. There has never been a program that pays people cash because they are poor. There was AFDC which were cash payments to poor families with children, Medicaid, and SNAP. There is subsidized housing. And there is social security SSI. Which requires a showing of permanent disability and now is impossible to get without a lawyer who takes a contingent fee of the benefits. Generally there wasn't a lot of fraud. And despite some perverse incentives that I saw both doing pro bono work and later as an FBI agent doing investigations that involved talking to people receiving benefits, most people on these programs used them to improve their lives and get off the programs, and most worked or couldn't work. To the extent some of these programs have been replaced by block grants and state administered programs, The wives of poor people have gotten worse. Because both red and blue states find a way to spend the money on things other then the intended purpose. The "welfare queen" trope taps into a public image of an imaginary program where poor people are paid to live well without trying to work. And anyone who imagines poor people are living large off the government has never spent any time with poor people either in rural or urban areas.
Since the people who want to denigrate poor people would never spend any time with poor people, it is easier to form a Tweed Ring ; “ They are the problem. Just ask the person to my right!”
Fraud against government healthcare programs--Medicare and Medicaid--has been rampant for decades in parts of Florida and Texas, yet the problem in these places does not get the political play that the Minnesota/Somali situation is getting. Hmmm.
A lot of the current situation is the result of a long-term sustained propaganda campaign by the right. This is compounded by the fact that most people are too busy,lazy or just don't give a damn about actual facts.
Thank you Jonathan.
You need a trimmer for that hedge, Jonathan?
Ronald Reagan is the guy who started the right on this present path. And yet most old time GOPers consider him almost GOD-like. It's a nice little story to be able to tell yourself that GOP would be a normal party had Trump not come along.
I remember back in the Geedubbya years that Reagan had already lost a considerable portion of his Saint Ronny status due to his surprisingly reasonable 1986 immigration reform. At the time I interpreted that as a way to allow the new, online Right to elevate GW to Conservatisms new Saint. The only effing thing I’ll credit Trump with is creating a previously unimaginable permission structure for Republicans to criticize Bush with the same animosity they would apply to a Democrat. He did it for self-serving narcissistic reasons, sure. But it was still nice to see the spell break.
Sorry if I sound snarky here, Iknow you discourage snarkiness. BUT …. someone actually criticizing, even mildly, St Reagan! Hard to believe. I have always been confounded by the adulation. I am nearly 77 years old. I lived through Reagan. Saying he was not as bad as Trump, while true, is hardly high praise. I believe, and have believed for decades, that Reagan started this entire mess. A similarity with Trump: there were issues that preceded Reagan, but he crystallized and focused them. Exactly the way Trump has. And both men made things worse. You can draw a straight line between the two. They are of a piece, even if one was personally more palatable than the other. Is it a coincidence that they are both from show biz and know how to play to an audience?
The worst part is how well it still works.
Much of Reagan's Welfare Queen saga as well as other rhetorical aspects of his political career, such as "our streets are turning into jungles at night" (which he used in his first gubernatorial campaign), are chronicled in my book "From Ronald to Donald, How the Myth of Reagan Became the Cult Of Trump" published by McFarland Books and available on Amazon.
And apparently many Republicans are still just as ignorant as they were when Reagan played the race card. The GOP needs to be gone. They can’t be salvaged.
Until I see Trump and the gang threaten to deport Brett Favre, I'm going to assume racism is fueling the crusade against Somali Americans.
Good on you, Robert! HHH was one of the first woke politicians in the modern era -- after Lincoln, J. Quincy Adams. LaFollette, etc. All were what would be disparagingly called woke today. (The preferred term then was "n-lover"). Trump, today's Jefferson Davis, would call HHH a dangerous leftist communist intent on destroying America.
Mark Twain said the “History doesn’t repeat itself. But it rhymes.” So true. The gipper was a ‘soft’ racist. Didn’t say much against non-whites but didn’t miss an opportunity to denigrate them, such as using the “Welfare Queen” title because he knew his people. Plus he was only beginning to dismantle the safety net that Republicans hated, and that was more important. He came to the White House because Evangelicals thought he would end abortion; which, despite his rhetoric, he had no interest in ending. When he won his second term, his promises to the anti-abortion group, founded to repeal Roe v. Wade vanished. It’s worth noting that this part of Reagan’s playbook is being used by Felon Trump. Evangelicals are so easy to deceive. Reagan was failing mentally - his son said that he saw the change in Reagan’s first term - his troika team left, and was replaced by second rate people. His administration had the Iran-Contra scandal to contain which threatened to upend his legacy. He did not accomplish much for the American people in his second term. In short, Reaganism paved the way for Felon Trump; he hollowed out the middle class by the loss of high paying jobs, created unrest because “Those People” are the reason you are miserable, feed the “government is the problem” constantly. Worst of all, talked up the “Rugged Individual.” A white man who knows what is correct, and will fight for “The American Way” as defined by him. I thought it was ironic that the ideal rugged American to them was John Wayne. He did not enlist in WWII, when so many of the A list actors did. And his four sons did not go to Vietnam. He acted the part in movies, so that was good for Republicans.
All these can be seen with Felon Trump. The difference is that the Republicans want what DonOld wants, power, and while they don’t know how to ride that tiger, they have the tail and that’s good enough for them.
Yes, Saint Ronnie's most enduringly destructive legacy: "I'm from the government and I'm here to help." The rest truly is history.
interesting article BUT I wish such reporting would include facts to correct assumptions, such as the person just convicted of stealing $250 million from a food assistance program is a middle aged white woman. It's the only conviction of 'welfare fraud' relevant to the controversy about Somali immigrants that I have seen reported. Also, the majority of government assistance program recipients are WHITE.
But how can Felon Trump and Co dump on non-whites if they let those pesky facts see the light of day. /s
More people need to hear and read about what Alice wrote. This is a good place to start!
Obama phones- what an imaginary situation! Congress passed a bill, during the GW Bush administration, subsidizing rural mobile phone service. The phone carriers wanted to sign up rural subscribers, so THEY offered "free" inexpensive mobile phones as an incentive. The tea party crowd transformed that PRIVATE ENTERPRISE OFFER into Barack Obama giving free phones to people of color.
Perhaps there is some misconception about what welfare is in the US. Even though my father was a professor of social work I certainly didn't understand it when I began doing pro bono work at a law firm in San Francisco at the start of my legal career. There has never been a program that pays people cash because they are poor. There was AFDC which were cash payments to poor families with children, Medicaid, and SNAP. There is subsidized housing. And there is social security SSI. Which requires a showing of permanent disability and now is impossible to get without a lawyer who takes a contingent fee of the benefits. Generally there wasn't a lot of fraud. And despite some perverse incentives that I saw both doing pro bono work and later as an FBI agent doing investigations that involved talking to people receiving benefits, most people on these programs used them to improve their lives and get off the programs, and most worked or couldn't work. To the extent some of these programs have been replaced by block grants and state administered programs, The wives of poor people have gotten worse. Because both red and blue states find a way to spend the money on things other then the intended purpose. The "welfare queen" trope taps into a public image of an imaginary program where poor people are paid to live well without trying to work. And anyone who imagines poor people are living large off the government has never spent any time with poor people either in rural or urban areas.
Since the people who want to denigrate poor people would never spend any time with poor people, it is easier to form a Tweed Ring ; “ They are the problem. Just ask the person to my right!”
Fraud against government healthcare programs--Medicare and Medicaid--has been rampant for decades in parts of Florida and Texas, yet the problem in these places does not get the political play that the Minnesota/Somali situation is getting. Hmmm.
A lot of the current situation is the result of a long-term sustained propaganda campaign by the right. This is compounded by the fact that most people are too busy,lazy or just don't give a damn about actual facts.