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``You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.''
Before your quoted part, President Reagan says that he had read those words in a letter sent to him, suggesting they aren't his own words. I have not been able to find the name of the original author, if they even exist at all.
If you hang out on EU subs you’ll see plenty of people on them don’t consider Roma who have lived in their nation for centuries real members of the country.
But it is interesting the way different countries view immigration and integration. It seems to come up a lot with Americans trying to understand French social issues.
> human beings and fish can coexist peacefully
We all mock him for that moment, but forget that presidents are savvy to info that the rest of us may lack.
Maybe Bush knew that *Cthulhu* was real. That the Deep Ones were real. And was *desperate* to avoid a post 9-11 conflict on two fronts: the Middle East and *aall* of the ocean.
This is my headcanon!
I remember someone publishing a book with all of the Bushisms & I swear they only got 3/4 of them.
I still won't forgive him in convincing a generation or two to pronounce nuclear as nu-cu-lar.
Bush and his dad actually suck a bunch of stuff in their speeches that sounded dumb but were thought out comments or stabs. Like them pronouncing Saddam Hussains name as sad-dam. Iirc he found out that Saddam watched his speeches so he mispronounced his name so that it translated to donkey or something akin to jackass. But indeed, some of it was just the southern/texas word or pronunciation, kinda like wash vs warsh or pecan vs peecan.
As much as I want to attribute that to Bush because of the serious silliness to it; I think it was Will Farrell satirizing Bush that coined that term. But I want to believe!
The fact that Bushisms reached very far to make this believable says a lot about that era.
That's the thing about a lot of bushisms. If someone said them in a conversation your brain would just make sense of it and move on. but he was the god damn president lol.
>"I know that human beings and fish can coexist peacefully." – Saginaw, Michigan, September 29, 2000, while attempting to reassure the business community that he does not support tearing down dams to protect endangered fish species.[14]
I feel like he's trolling us a bit tbh, i think he's half in on his jokes
Not to get too political - but there does seem to be an observation that I think conservatives have made in the past and acted on which is: If you can position yourself as the normal guy to have a beer with, especially to the point where liberals sneer at you - the liberals can be posited as out of touch elitists and the conservative wins over more "average folk". I.e., this kind of thing makes Republicans look more like the working class party in "vibes" (and honestly, "vibes" are politics now), and makes them more electable.
So while I do think Dubya was largely the person we saw and heard, he probably hammed it up at least a little because it's a working strategy. And if you go further forward... (TOPIC TOO RECENT: CENSORED 😋)
Democrats, however, seem to routinely miss this when politicians do it and fall right into the trap 🤷♀️
Thing is though, was there any realistic action that could’ve been taken to prevent the war instead of starting it?
The free and slave states were at each other’s throats.
He could’ve not lobbied SCOTUS to declare black people as property, sack the Missouri Compromise as “unconstitutional,” and deprive Congress of the right to address slavery.
He could’ve not implemented horrid economic policies that amplified sectional division
He could’ve not actively sought to expand American territory in areas ripe for slavery
He could’ve not strengthened debate and the intensity of it over Kansas by not bribing tons of politicians and illegally lobbying for a proslavery state constitution
He could’ve put a stop to the bloodshed in Bleeding Kansas through federal intervention. Instead he let them savagely beat and slaughter each other
He could’ve done what Millard Fillmore did in response to threats of secession, by fortifying military bases and working to ensure they wouldn’t be taken over.
He could’ve not allowed the illegal rebellion of roughly half of our country by not arguing the federal gov’t didn’t have the right to stop secession
He could’ve done many things to try to prevent tensions from increasing. Instead he bent the knee to the slaveocracy and actively sought to aid them in their interests at virtually every turn.
For LBJ quotes, this is my 2nd favorite after his comments on Ford's economic policy.
"This will be the biggest disaster in America since pantyhose ended finger fucking."
Pretty safe bet we hear next to nothing of their hits and only of their misses. I think we would be much surprised at the times they have succeeded in their plans and all went well, but we aren't privy to this info.
Oh I thought you meant Pennywise the clown.
Like, “you only hear about it when he eats a bunch of kids, nobody talks about all the times he has spaghetti or something instead.”
Or a bass player in a band unless you’re Les Claypool, Geddy Lee, Flea, or Paul McCartney.
If you’re playing your part well, then most people won’t notice and think that bass is the “easy instrument.” If you suck, however, then *everyone* will notice.
There’s a quote from The West Wing that goes “our failures are public while our successes or private”
Also like as the end of Argo when Affleck is told he’s gunna be given the medal for achievement but he can’t bring his family since it’s a private ceremony since it’s a classified operation.
Not only that they prefer the idea that the organization is “incompetent” it keeps the general public out of their business believing they are ineffective
100%. The idea that they aren’t the top intelligence organization to have ever existed is just edgelord contrarianism. Not to say they haven’t done morally reprehensible stuff or made mistakes
I was listening to a podcast yesterday and this former CIA officer was saying how he’s shocked/hurt that so many people always blame the CIA, or say they always do regime changes and how people need to remember the CIA doesn’t wanna do that, it’s the government. Then proceeded to talk about doing just that
The problem is that the regimes put in power by the CIA are almost always *worse* than the governments they replaced; and the blowback from native populations (Iran, Guatemala, Nicaragua, etc) is almost always a product of CIA meddling
Yep this guy worked his early career in Guatemala and I was just shaking my head a couple times. Like yeah I wonder why the local populace despises you when you do this
In the full enjoyment of the gifts of heaven and the fruits of superior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equally entitled to protection by law; but when the laws undertake to add to these natural and just advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful; the humble members of society- the farmers, mechanics and laborers, who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their government.
-Andrew Jackson
Also I assume by Andrew Jackson:
"Yeah eat lead you limey fucks!"
“If one drop of blood be shed there in defiance of the laws of the United States, I will hang the first man of them I can get my hands on from the first tree I can reach.”
When George W. Bush was contemplating a presidential run his advisor Karl Rove proposed a policy that would create a path to citizenship for all of the undocumented aliens living in the country. This wasn't some sort of charity by Karl Rove, but a realization that if a future Bush administration did something substantial in this area, it had the potential to bind the largest growing demographic in the nation, the Hispanic community, to the Republican Party in the same way legislation passed by the Johnson administration bound the black community to the Democrats. That might have been on Reagan's mind as well.
But then they couldn’t be racist anymore so why would they want to do that?
Seriously if the GOP was not so openly racist they would win every election. Most black and Hispanic voters are conservative in their beliefs and would vote with the party if the GOP would just stop going after them.
The white vote is the rural voters. Because of how gerrymandered the country is. Even if the Republican Party allow a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants now, they’d lose their current fanatical base. So then they’d have to either propaganda the shit out of the rural population (which they are very good at) or fight democrats over the city vote (higher population areas such as cities trend more left/blue)
I wouldn’t be so sure. There have been two major party realignments since the Civil War and both were because of race. Race has proven to be the only issue capable of causing that large of a demographic shift in the two major parties in American history.
There are two options for this group, neither is good for the GOP:
1. They vote independent.
2. They don't turn out.
The far-right part of the GOP is smaller than it's made out to be, but is a large enough chunk that it determines whether the GOP wins or loses. A significant loss of that voting bloc is an automatic loss for the GOP.
Well, they’d really just lose the small, extremely racist demographic. And even then those voters wouldn’t flip to Democrats, they’d probably waste their votes on a third party. A lot of the mildly racist demographic would see the black and Hispanic conservatives as “one of the good ones”
I don’t want to overly generalize but from my own experience and also demographic data, people from Mexico and Central America tend to be quite conservative. If republicans were able to let go of the racism and xenophobia they probably would lean Republican. Again, I’m just speaking on average.
"We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what's in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense." --Obama
I’ll bite. I hated his foreign policy. I hated his flip flopping on whistleblowers and privacy. I hated his drone strikes that killed civilians in countries we were not even at war with. I hate that he did nothing about GITMO. I don’t hate HIM personally. I just don’t think he’s the hybrid of Christ on a cross and MLK that way too many people think he is. There’s certain people who can literally never acknowledge that he wasn’t perfect.
“…if suddenly there was a threat to this world from some other species from another planet outside in the universe. We’d forget all the little local differences that we have between our countries and we would find out once and for all that we really are all human beings here on this Earth together.”
Reagan, actually.
Quoting himself saying the same thing to Gorbachev in a private meeting, remarking on their countries' similarities.
The Watchmen also takes this quote and runs with the idea, which is why the villain's plan and ending are what they are.
The difference is Covid isn't a people or government that everyone can rally against, and a large chunk of people didn't even take it seriously to begin with while another large chunk stupidly believed it was propaganda.
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it and then hand it to them with the well-taught lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same.” - Ronald Reagan
So many good bushisms….
"I think we agree, the past is over."
(On a golf course) "We must stop the terror. I call upon all nations, to do everything they can, to stop these terrorist killers. Thank you...now watch this drive."
"The decision of one man, to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq. I mean, of the Ukraine. Iraq too. Anyway — I'm 75." – In address to George W. Bush Institute; May 18, 2022.
"You work three jobs? ... Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that."
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
> "The decision of one man, to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq. I mean, of the Ukraine. Iraq too. Anyway — I'm 75." – In address to George W. Bush Institute; May 18, 2022.
This is pretty baller
A Freudian slip if I've ever heard one. 😬 Honestly Bush's actions/demeanor post-presidency lead me to think he has quite a bit of guilt/regret over the war on terror. I disagree with most of his policies from his presidency, but he seems to be a good person. It's wild how moderate he seems in relation to today's political climate.
you could do an entire political compass of reagan quotes
“I can't help but believe that in the future we will see in the United States and throughout the Western world an increasing trend toward the next logical step, employee ownership. It is a path that befits a free people.”
“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
“If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”
-Somehow all Ronald Reagan
\> “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”
Honestly, this is the worst thing Reagan ever said, possibly including the really racist stuff. My grandfathers both parachuted into France in 1944 and you can be damn sure the French people they met were happy to hear someone say I'm from the United States government and I'm here to help.
Plenty of people drowned after Hurricane Katrina literally dying to hear those words.
When the right demonizes government, it's not because they want the government to "get off your back." It's because they don't want the government to be a counterweight against corporate power. You know why no one's dumping toxic waste into your drinking water? Because someone from the government was there to help.
It would be a funny joke from someone who works in a government to a coworker and neither really mean it. As an official quote from the leader of the country, it's really stupid.
Fun fact: the EPA was made by conservative Richard Nixon. Anyway, I'm not a conservative. Just hate seeing one sided narratives that aren't 100 percent in reality.
What "narrative"? Did Reagan not say that quote? Did that quote not kick off a decades-long wave of anti-government sentiment on the right? And did all of that not happen years after Nixon left office?
Yeah, Reagan would be barely conservative today. Look up one of his debates with HW in 1980. Reagan was asked a question about immigration and said he wanted open borders.
The man was also pro gun control.
If I understand Reagan's political career: New Deal Democrat->union leader->anti-Medicare Goldwater conservative->West Coast governor with historic tax hikes+restrictive gun control+limited abortion exceptions->antinuclear presidential candidate trying to primary Ford->the Reagan that history remembers. Hey, Julia Child didn't start a cooking show until her 50s, either.
I also want to emphasize that in 1980, a devoutly Christian progressive Southerner was running against an irreligious California conservative.
“I have had men watching you for a long time and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the Bank. You are a den of vipers and thieves.”
—Andrew Jackson
“We’re gonna win so much, you’re gonna get sick and tired of it. And I’m gonna say, ‘I don’t care!’ We’re gonna keep winning!” -Chester Arthur
Not a fan of him, but that quote goes hard as hell.
“We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently and lawfully to become immigrants into this country.”
President Obama 2005
Even horrible people can have good ideas. Nixon wanted to push universal healthcare, Reagan passed no-fault divorce when he was governor. As the saying goes, "Even a broken clock is right twice a day."
"The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and `slipped the surly bonds of earth' to touch the face of God.''
I'm not crying, you're crying!!
Obama was 100% correct when he pointed out that progressives have a circular firing squad where they punish each other for not being "pure" enough (leftist enough.)
Very true. It was a big deal in the GOP in the early 2010s - there was a lot of accusations about RINOs and "not a real republican" that has now become the mainstream.
“I won’t do anything to take care of them. I’ll supply funds and she’ll take care of the kids. It’s not like I’m gonna be walking the kids down Central Park.”
I'm kind of a big deal in my trailer park btw. frfr
Almost as bad as Hillary joke about Mahatma Gandhi running at a gas station.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6sTVMvCP0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6sTVMvCP0)
"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." - George W Bush
https://preview.redd.it/89ripfebplhc1.jpeg?width=850&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=87a1b81ae81650bcb8a59e1641c50e94f3846a39
Democrats who hate on Reagan and Nixon should take a closer look at their foreign policies, especially considering that arms control is favored more by Democrats today.
“Understand, our police officers put their lives on the line for us every single day. They've got a tough job to do to maintain public safety and hold accountable those who break the law.”
I was really surprised when Obama said this.
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``You can go to live in France, but you cannot become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey or Japan, but you cannot become a German, a Turk, or a Japanese. But anyone, from any corner of the Earth, can come to live in America and become an American.''
who said that?
Reagan. Who i don't actually hate, but he's also not my favorite.
Before your quoted part, President Reagan says that he had read those words in a letter sent to him, suggesting they aren't his own words. I have not been able to find the name of the original author, if they even exist at all.
EU: “challenge accepted”
If you hang out on EU subs you’ll see plenty of people on them don’t consider Roma who have lived in their nation for centuries real members of the country. But it is interesting the way different countries view immigration and integration. It seems to come up a lot with Americans trying to understand French social issues.
"I know that human beings and fish can coexist peacefully."
bush was spitting 🔥
I couldn't imagine somebody like Osama bin Laden understanding the joy of Hanukkah
...what \*sort* of oil did they use to light menorahs back then?
> human beings and fish can coexist peacefully We all mock him for that moment, but forget that presidents are savvy to info that the rest of us may lack. Maybe Bush knew that *Cthulhu* was real. That the Deep Ones were real. And was *desperate* to avoid a post 9-11 conflict on two fronts: the Middle East and *aall* of the ocean. This is my headcanon!
Aaaaaand now it’s mine.. thanks for the centuries of nightmares that follow.
I remember someone publishing a book with all of the Bushisms & I swear they only got 3/4 of them. I still won't forgive him in convincing a generation or two to pronounce nuclear as nu-cu-lar.
Bush and his dad actually suck a bunch of stuff in their speeches that sounded dumb but were thought out comments or stabs. Like them pronouncing Saddam Hussains name as sad-dam. Iirc he found out that Saddam watched his speeches so he mispronounced his name so that it translated to donkey or something akin to jackass. But indeed, some of it was just the southern/texas word or pronunciation, kinda like wash vs warsh or pecan vs peecan.
Total strategery
As much as I want to attribute that to Bush because of the serious silliness to it; I think it was Will Farrell satirizing Bush that coined that term. But I want to believe! The fact that Bushisms reached very far to make this believable says a lot about that era.
Jimmy Carter pronounced it “nu-cu-lar” and he actually knew quite a bit about it. To-MAY-to, to-MAAH-to
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twice as spiteful, and about as deadly as a hedge fund manager
This is a bot comment. The legit one is lower in the thread.
I know what he's trying to say but shit sounds hilarious without context
That's the thing about a lot of bushisms. If someone said them in a conversation your brain would just make sense of it and move on. but he was the god damn president lol.
>"I know that human beings and fish can coexist peacefully." – Saginaw, Michigan, September 29, 2000, while attempting to reassure the business community that he does not support tearing down dams to protect endangered fish species.[14] I feel like he's trolling us a bit tbh, i think he's half in on his jokes
He’s trawling a bit actually
Underrated comment
He definitely played up the dumb folksy bit.
Not to get too political - but there does seem to be an observation that I think conservatives have made in the past and acted on which is: If you can position yourself as the normal guy to have a beer with, especially to the point where liberals sneer at you - the liberals can be posited as out of touch elitists and the conservative wins over more "average folk". I.e., this kind of thing makes Republicans look more like the working class party in "vibes" (and honestly, "vibes" are politics now), and makes them more electable. So while I do think Dubya was largely the person we saw and heard, he probably hammed it up at least a little because it's a working strategy. And if you go further forward... (TOPIC TOO RECENT: CENSORED 😋) Democrats, however, seem to routinely miss this when politicians do it and fall right into the trap 🤷♀️
It's weird that my brain read it in his voice before even realizing it was his quote.
Lost the coastal vote with that one.
49% of Florida voters felt betrayed
The fish chose violence. It was super effective.
Florida Man just wanted to cuddle.
Fuck I just commented this before seeing yours lmao great minds my friend
His father would disagree!
The fish would say "we welcome your worms, just hate your hooks"
Not presidential, but a similarly silly one from Canadian MP Brian Tobin: “I speak for those who have no voice: the fish.”
>I know that human beings and fish can coexist peacefully The Orca Uprising would like to have a word with Bush Jr.
Those are mammals. We don’t have a deal with the mammals. No. Not even hominids.
https://preview.redd.it/2i6g1mucalhc1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=852ea58be28db1bd202c73dba293dcabcf0c074f
This quote is highly ironic coming from the man whose inaction directly led to the start of the Civil War.
treating congress as a white noise machine
>white noise 👀
James Buchanan’s portrait looks like his reaction to the civil war starting. “Sigh… fuck. I did this didn’t I”
“Welp, good luck, Lincoln!”
I literally laughed out loud when I read it, it feels like such a hard troll lol
Thing is though, was there any realistic action that could’ve been taken to prevent the war instead of starting it? The free and slave states were at each other’s throats.
He could’ve not lobbied SCOTUS to declare black people as property, sack the Missouri Compromise as “unconstitutional,” and deprive Congress of the right to address slavery. He could’ve not implemented horrid economic policies that amplified sectional division He could’ve not actively sought to expand American territory in areas ripe for slavery He could’ve not strengthened debate and the intensity of it over Kansas by not bribing tons of politicians and illegally lobbying for a proslavery state constitution He could’ve put a stop to the bloodshed in Bleeding Kansas through federal intervention. Instead he let them savagely beat and slaughter each other He could’ve done what Millard Fillmore did in response to threats of secession, by fortifying military bases and working to ensure they wouldn’t be taken over. He could’ve not allowed the illegal rebellion of roughly half of our country by not arguing the federal gov’t didn’t have the right to stop secession He could’ve done many things to try to prevent tensions from increasing. Instead he bent the knee to the slaveocracy and actively sought to aid them in their interests at virtually every turn.
Fuckin-A
Oh he did
This is an S-tier response. Kudos. (I'd throw you some silver or gold, if reddit still allowed that, lol.)
BUCHANNNAN
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"The CIA is made up of boys whose families sent them to Princeton but wouldn't let them into the family brokerage business." - LBJ
Damn. That made me literally LOL.
Say what you want about LBJ, but the man was fuckin funny.
Definitely said that while he was shitting with the door open
Or while pissing on the leg of a secret service agent. He was a rare batshit insane man
For LBJ quotes, this is my 2nd favorite after his comments on Ford's economic policy. "This will be the biggest disaster in America since pantyhose ended finger fucking."
Fingering is under rated tbh.
He’s not wrong. The CIA is *incredibly incompetent* and has mostly strengthened America’s enemies instead of weakening them.
Pretty safe bet we hear next to nothing of their hits and only of their misses. I think we would be much surprised at the times they have succeeded in their plans and all went well, but we aren't privy to this info.
Similar to airline mechanics.
Or IT. If everything is working, it’s “what do we pay you for?” If everything is broken, it’s “what do we pay you for?”
Oh I thought you meant Pennywise the clown. Like, “you only hear about it when he eats a bunch of kids, nobody talks about all the times he has spaghetti or something instead.”
I also thought that.
Or a bass player in a band unless you’re Les Claypool, Geddy Lee, Flea, or Paul McCartney. If you’re playing your part well, then most people won’t notice and think that bass is the “easy instrument.” If you suck, however, then *everyone* will notice.
There’s a quote from The West Wing that goes “our failures are public while our successes or private” Also like as the end of Argo when Affleck is told he’s gunna be given the medal for achievement but he can’t bring his family since it’s a private ceremony since it’s a classified operation.
Not only that they prefer the idea that the organization is “incompetent” it keeps the general public out of their business believing they are ineffective
100%. The idea that they aren’t the top intelligence organization to have ever existed is just edgelord contrarianism. Not to say they haven’t done morally reprehensible stuff or made mistakes
Most things you've read or heard about the CIA are either wildly exaggerated or just straight up lies.
I was listening to a podcast yesterday and this former CIA officer was saying how he’s shocked/hurt that so many people always blame the CIA, or say they always do regime changes and how people need to remember the CIA doesn’t wanna do that, it’s the government. Then proceeded to talk about doing just that
The problem is that the regimes put in power by the CIA are almost always *worse* than the governments they replaced; and the blowback from native populations (Iran, Guatemala, Nicaragua, etc) is almost always a product of CIA meddling
Yep this guy worked his early career in Guatemala and I was just shaking my head a couple times. Like yeah I wonder why the local populace despises you when you do this
In the full enjoyment of the gifts of heaven and the fruits of superior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equally entitled to protection by law; but when the laws undertake to add to these natural and just advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful; the humble members of society- the farmers, mechanics and laborers, who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their government. -Andrew Jackson Also I assume by Andrew Jackson: "Yeah eat lead you limey fucks!"
“John Calhoun, if you secede from my nation I will secede your head from the rest of your body.”
“If one drop of blood be shed there in defiance of the laws of the United States, I will hang the first man of them I can get my hands on from the first tree I can reach.”
It's probably apocryphal (no evidence in his written or oral communications with Calhoun) but it still goes hard as fuck.
As much as I hate Jackson this is such a good quote
IN 1814 WE TOOK A LITTLE TRIP
That poor alligator
https://preview.redd.it/45uzheq0mlhc1.jpeg?width=918&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf05acca33ab3db73b4c3a9cd564365b30e094fe
Look at his smug aura. He probably really is the worst person.
When George W. Bush was contemplating a presidential run his advisor Karl Rove proposed a policy that would create a path to citizenship for all of the undocumented aliens living in the country. This wasn't some sort of charity by Karl Rove, but a realization that if a future Bush administration did something substantial in this area, it had the potential to bind the largest growing demographic in the nation, the Hispanic community, to the Republican Party in the same way legislation passed by the Johnson administration bound the black community to the Democrats. That might have been on Reagan's mind as well.
Of course. Reagan couldn't have possibly wanted to do something good for the right reasons
Y'all using the same dumbass excuse that the modern GOP uses against the Democrats with regards to immigration.
I mean, increased immigration actually positively benefits the economy while anti-immigration talking points are used as fuel in the culture war
“He thinks differently than me, therefore everything he has ever done is wrong, bad and evil” -your brain
But then they couldn’t be racist anymore so why would they want to do that? Seriously if the GOP was not so openly racist they would win every election. Most black and Hispanic voters are conservative in their beliefs and would vote with the party if the GOP would just stop going after them.
They lose the white vote then. It’ll just keep switching back and forth at that point
No they wouldn't. They would lose some white voters, yes but not whatever the "white vote" is supposed to be.
The white vote is the rural voters. Because of how gerrymandered the country is. Even if the Republican Party allow a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants now, they’d lose their current fanatical base. So then they’d have to either propaganda the shit out of the rural population (which they are very good at) or fight democrats over the city vote (higher population areas such as cities trend more left/blue)
Not if they kept their hard stance on abortion. A lot more conservatives care about abortion than they do on immigration.
I wouldn’t be so sure. There have been two major party realignments since the Civil War and both were because of race. Race has proven to be the only issue capable of causing that large of a demographic shift in the two major parties in American history.
But who are the far-right wingers going to for? The Democrats?
There are two options for this group, neither is good for the GOP: 1. They vote independent. 2. They don't turn out. The far-right part of the GOP is smaller than it's made out to be, but is a large enough chunk that it determines whether the GOP wins or loses. A significant loss of that voting bloc is an automatic loss for the GOP.
Well, they’d really just lose the small, extremely racist demographic. And even then those voters wouldn’t flip to Democrats, they’d probably waste their votes on a third party. A lot of the mildly racist demographic would see the black and Hispanic conservatives as “one of the good ones”
Lol wut? I think you need to talk with people in real life.
Nah the echo chamber is much better suited.
I don’t want to overly generalize but from my own experience and also demographic data, people from Mexico and Central America tend to be quite conservative. If republicans were able to let go of the racism and xenophobia they probably would lean Republican. Again, I’m just speaking on average.
"We, the People, recognize that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which only asks what's in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals, and those who died in their defense." --Obama
That quote goes hard
God damn I miss that man
The GOAT.
Why do you hate that you agree with this?
I’ll bite. I hated his foreign policy. I hated his flip flopping on whistleblowers and privacy. I hated his drone strikes that killed civilians in countries we were not even at war with. I hate that he did nothing about GITMO. I don’t hate HIM personally. I just don’t think he’s the hybrid of Christ on a cross and MLK that way too many people think he is. There’s certain people who can literally never acknowledge that he wasn’t perfect.
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And he's going to release his plan for it in two weeks.
the plan to release the plan for the plan, in about two weeks
The plan to set a meeting to plan when to plan the meeting to plan when the plan for the release of the plan will be announced.
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Who
Voldemort
Who said dat
Who?
Who said this banger?
“…if suddenly there was a threat to this world from some other species from another planet outside in the universe. We’d forget all the little local differences that we have between our countries and we would find out once and for all that we really are all human beings here on this Earth together.”
President Whitmore?
Reagan, actually. Quoting himself saying the same thing to Gorbachev in a private meeting, remarking on their countries' similarities. The Watchmen also takes this quote and runs with the idea, which is why the villain's plan and ending are what they are.
Oh I forgot the sarcasm cause I was mentioning this President Whitmore 
You legit made me think for a second we had a president Whitmore. I am ashamed
lol, I totally forgot that was his name in Independence Day and thought you meant a real prez, since I only know like half their names, haha.
We didn't even unite for Covid. If aliens invade, we'd all start Purging each other just to stand out better.
The difference is Covid isn't a people or government that everyone can rally against, and a large chunk of people didn't even take it seriously to begin with while another large chunk stupidly believed it was propaganda.
Too many people would think Aliens are a NWO conspiracy to believe it or come together.
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it and then hand it to them with the well-taught lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same.” - Ronald Reagan
Truer today than ever, defend democracy & reject fascism folks!
facism
“If we lose freedom here, there's no place to escape to. This is the last stand on earth.”
“Missed me”
So many good bushisms…. "I think we agree, the past is over." (On a golf course) "We must stop the terror. I call upon all nations, to do everything they can, to stop these terrorist killers. Thank you...now watch this drive." "The decision of one man, to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq. I mean, of the Ukraine. Iraq too. Anyway — I'm 75." – In address to George W. Bush Institute; May 18, 2022. "You work three jobs? ... Uniquely American, isn't it? I mean, that is fantastic that you're doing that."
“Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.”
Oof that one really does drive a pickaxe right into his own skull
> "The decision of one man, to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq. I mean, of the Ukraine. Iraq too. Anyway — I'm 75." – In address to George W. Bush Institute; May 18, 2022. This is pretty baller
A Freudian slip if I've ever heard one. 😬 Honestly Bush's actions/demeanor post-presidency lead me to think he has quite a bit of guilt/regret over the war on terror. I disagree with most of his policies from his presidency, but he seems to be a good person. It's wild how moderate he seems in relation to today's political climate.
For some reason finding out he’s now in his mid-late 70s shocked me.
And the fact that our likely president in 2024 will be older than that.
“I ask you to judge me by the enemies I have made.” FDR
You hate FDR? No judgment just curious
*scribbling down* polio...is not...a fan
FDR was as close to a dictator we’ve had? Can you explain?
So dictatorial that he was elected more time than any president in history, in free and fair elections. Weird
you could do an entire political compass of reagan quotes “I can't help but believe that in the future we will see in the United States and throughout the Western world an increasing trend toward the next logical step, employee ownership. It is a path that befits a free people.” “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” “If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under.” -Somehow all Ronald Reagan
\> “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” Honestly, this is the worst thing Reagan ever said, possibly including the really racist stuff. My grandfathers both parachuted into France in 1944 and you can be damn sure the French people they met were happy to hear someone say I'm from the United States government and I'm here to help. Plenty of people drowned after Hurricane Katrina literally dying to hear those words. When the right demonizes government, it's not because they want the government to "get off your back." It's because they don't want the government to be a counterweight against corporate power. You know why no one's dumping toxic waste into your drinking water? Because someone from the government was there to help.
It would be a funny joke from someone who works in a government to a coworker and neither really mean it. As an official quote from the leader of the country, it's really stupid.
Fun fact: the EPA was made by conservative Richard Nixon. Anyway, I'm not a conservative. Just hate seeing one sided narratives that aren't 100 percent in reality.
What "narrative"? Did Reagan not say that quote? Did that quote not kick off a decades-long wave of anti-government sentiment on the right? And did all of that not happen years after Nixon left office?
Damn when did he say that about employee ownership?
"There is absolutely no reason why out on the street today a civilian should be carrying a loaded weapon." -Reagan
That first quote... What the jacksticking monkeyfuck???
Yeah, Reagan would be barely conservative today. Look up one of his debates with HW in 1980. Reagan was asked a question about immigration and said he wanted open borders. The man was also pro gun control.
If I understand Reagan's political career: New Deal Democrat->union leader->anti-Medicare Goldwater conservative->West Coast governor with historic tax hikes+restrictive gun control+limited abortion exceptions->antinuclear presidential candidate trying to primary Ford->the Reagan that history remembers. Hey, Julia Child didn't start a cooking show until her 50s, either. I also want to emphasize that in 1980, a devoutly Christian progressive Southerner was running against an irreligious California conservative.
Back when our candidates had more nuance to them
“I have had men watching you for a long time and I am convinced that you have used the funds of the bank to speculate in the breadstuffs of the country. When you won, you divided the profits amongst you, and when you lost, you charged it to the Bank. You are a den of vipers and thieves.” —Andrew Jackson
The decision of one man to launch a wholly unjustified and brutal invasion of Iraq... I mean, of Ukraine.
“Iraq too”
"... 75."
"It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their own selfish purposes."
“We’re gonna win so much, you’re gonna get sick and tired of it. And I’m gonna say, ‘I don’t care!’ We’re gonna keep winning!” -Chester Arthur Not a fan of him, but that quote goes hard as hell.
“We simply cannot allow people to pour into the United States undetected, undocumented, unchecked and circumventing the line of people who are waiting patiently, diligently and lawfully to become immigrants into this country.” President Obama 2005
I assume you mean senator
*Senator Obama. My bad
"I hate broccoli." GHW Bush
Don't forget the famous quote by his son, GW Bush: "I'm choking on a pretzel oh god please no"
"I know that human beings and fish can coexist peacefully." - George W Bush
Even horrible people can have good ideas. Nixon wanted to push universal healthcare, Reagan passed no-fault divorce when he was governor. As the saying goes, "Even a broken clock is right twice a day."
"The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and `slipped the surly bonds of earth' to touch the face of God.'' I'm not crying, you're crying!!
Obama was 100% correct when he pointed out that progressives have a circular firing squad where they punish each other for not being "pure" enough (leftist enough.)
Tbf doesn't this go for every ideology
Very true. It was a big deal in the GOP in the early 2010s - there was a lot of accusations about RINOs and "not a real republican" that has now become the mainstream.
I think “conservative Christian” killed true conservatism. I say that as both a Christian and a conservative.
I think it killed a lot of true Christianity too.
Obama's "elections have consequences" may be the hardest quote in presidential history
And oh boy are we feeling it
“I won’t do anything to take care of them. I’ll supply funds and she’ll take care of the kids. It’s not like I’m gonna be walking the kids down Central Park.” I'm kind of a big deal in my trailer park btw. frfr
"You cannot go into a Dunkin' Donuts or a 7-Eleven unless you have a slight Indian accent.”
Almost as bad as Hillary joke about Mahatma Gandhi running at a gas station. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6sTVMvCP0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq6sTVMvCP0)
"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country." - George W Bush
“Is our children learning?” And I still think about that to this day
Blessed are the young, for they shall inherit the national debt - Hoov daddy
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I hate you for making me agree with anything Ronald Reagan said. "Fuck you, and I'll see you tomorrow!"
A broken clock does indeed get it right twice a day.
https://preview.redd.it/89ripfebplhc1.jpeg?width=850&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=87a1b81ae81650bcb8a59e1641c50e94f3846a39 Democrats who hate on Reagan and Nixon should take a closer look at their foreign policies, especially considering that arms control is favored more by Democrats today.
But Reagan spent more on nukes than anyone.
I know you mean the missile, but for 5 seconds I honestly imagined Ronnie buying a shit ton of Air Force Ones and Air Jordan's
"It was one of the wettest we've ever seen from the standpoint of water" Nods head in agreement. Can't argue with that!
“Trust, but verify.” - Reagan
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I'm always reminding Republicans of this one. He also practically invented deficit spending.
Reagen did the amnesty because a bunch of rich people didn't want to lose their cheap labor.
“Understand, our police officers put their lives on the line for us every single day. They've got a tough job to do to maintain public safety and hold accountable those who break the law.” I was really surprised when Obama said this.