It was [Ronald] Reagan who not only single-handedly won the Cold War and toppled the Berlin Wall but also caused the greatest economic turnaround in American history, and that's not all. It was Reagan who looked Iran in the eye and caused them to give up our hostages in a matter of minutes, who taught us that "deficits don't matter" and was steadfast about never increasing taxes, who never compromised, who reduced federal spending and ended big government -- as so many political candidates have told us. He was the most popular president in modern American history -- and if only he were still in the White House today, he would have dealt sternly with illegal immigrants and appointed hard-line conservatives to the Supreme Court -- but we know he would never negotiate with terrorists, "cut and run" from a difficult military situation, or talk to our enemies.
As Reagan himself said (attempting to quote John Adams) in 1988, "facts are stubborn things." OK, actually when he said it, it came out initially as "facts are stupid things." The irony is that nearly 20 years after Reagan left office, neither is true -- facts are largely irrelevant, especially as we create these false idols of our 40th president. There is a Ronald Reagan myth in this country, and it is already causing great harm to our politics, and will do even more damage if we don't tackle it head-on.
-- WILL BUNCH
When President Bush announced his faith-based initiatives program, I was completely against it. Now, Barack Obama wants to expand it.
-- MICHAEL D.
Between the 1993 car bombing of the WTC and 9/11, there was no significant Islamofascist attack on U.S. soil. If Bush deserves credit for the absence of attacks during the last 7 years, doesn’t Clinton deserve credit for the absence of attacks up to 9/11? Conversely, if we think Clinton deserves no credit because other factors can be cited to explain the hiatus under his administration, would we not likewise deny Bush credit?
[Wesley] Clark is right that getting shot down doesn't qualify one to be commander in chief. But it is relevant to wonder with whom one would rather share a foxhole.
Call it the Potomac shuffle, the traditional election-year dance in which a candidate who has earlier moved left or right to win over the party faithful in a primary campaign promptly slides back to the centre to appeal to the rest of the country. Barack Obama, quite a mover on the dancefloor, has spent the month since he beat Hillary Clinton to the Democratic nomination giving a demonstration of this time-honoured piece of Washington choreography - and at an unusually high tempo, too.
Ever so briefly, Senator John McCain delivered a back-handed compliment to Senator Barack Obama here today for Mr. Obama’s disagreement last week with a Supreme Court decision that ruled out the death penalty for child rape. But then Mr. McCain got to the point and darkly warned that similar decisions might be forthcoming if Mr. Obama wins the White House.
People would rather barbecue burgers with Barack Obama than with John McCain.
While many are still deciding who should be president, by 52 percent to 45 percent they would prefer having Obama than McCain to their summer cookout, according to an Associated Press-Yahoo News poll.
Men are about evenly divided between the two while women prefer Obama by 11 percentage points. Whites prefer McCain, minorities Obama. And Obama is a more popular guest with younger voters while McCain does best with the oldest.
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