The only President I ever voted for.
Reagan the Great
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
And yet, Reagan legalized abortion in California, supported amnesty and gun control, and provided weapons to Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.
And yet, Reagan legalized abortion in California, supported amnesty and gun control, and provided weapons to Al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein.
Please recall that only legislatures write laws. Executives commonly have a franchise to accede as passed or reject them.
Al Qaeda did not exist when Mr. Reagan was in office; the assistance to Iraq during those years consisted of agricultural credits. The initiative for the amnesty was in Congress and Reagan acceded to it as part of a package deal; the enforcement mechanisms of the deal were sabotaged by the lawfare wing of the Democratic Party in cahoots with the odious federal judiciary. No clue what sort of ‘gun control’ you fancy Reagan ‘supported’; there were only incremental adujstments to federal firearms law during his time in office. The abortion bill passed by the California legislature in 1967 (which Reagan signed) did allow more abortions in California than had the previous law, but narrowly interpreted did not allow one tenth of what Roe v. Wade allowed.
Reagan long regretted as the biggest mistake of his life signing the abortion bill, which was not his initiative, but passed by the California legislature:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2008/01/reagans-darkest-hour-paul-kengor-patricia-clark-doerner/
Reagan signed amnesty for illegal aliens who got here prior to 1982 in exchange for strict border enforcement which we never got. The amnesty came in 1986 with Reagan suspecting, correctly, that the Democrats would take back the Senate in the fall and place an even worse bill on his desk in 1987.
As to gun control Reagan’s record was mixed:
https://www.thoughtco.com/gun-rights-under-president-ronald-reagan-721343
His post Presidency support of gun control legislation was attributable I think to the influence of Nancy Reagan, emotional blackmail by Sarah Brady and the growing impact of his undiagnosed, until 1994, Alzheimers.
As to Hussein, Reagan wisely did not want the mullahs of Iran to end up controlling Iraq’s oil.
Al-Qaeda was formed in 1988. It received bupkis weapons from the US, conspiracy theorists to the contrary.
The President’s physician subsequently said the president’s memory problems ca. 1987 were not distinguishable from normal aging. Maureen Reagan later said she saw nothing untoward until the middle of 1993. Edmund Morris later said there was a catastrophic loss of mental function during the period running from August of 1994 to February 1995. I wouldn’t attribute much to the Alzheimer’s ‘ere the point in time Maureen Reagan identified.
The Brady bill added some regulatory impediments to the purchase of a gun and provided for the assemblage of a database of offenders. Not sure about that particular law. The problem with federal intervention in such matters is that it often well exceeds the federal government’s proper book – in this case the shipping and carrying firearms across state lines, arranging for such, and vending firearms to travelers from out of state.
The more serious problem is that it’s all an exercise in wheel-spinning social scapegoating and look-squirrel diversions. Democrats have no interest in undertaking measures to suppress violent crime.
As to the California abortion bill he signed while governor, Reagan knew the legislature had the votes to override his veto and signaled their intention to do so.
Still my fave.
The real issue is whether the USA can survive the fraudulency in DC.
But, I’m so old I remember when Ike was Pres.
From my untutored perspective, Reagan is the best – outcomes count – POTUS in my lifetime.
Trump’s first term, accidently on purpose torpedoed by the Wuhan flu and the six-month, 2020 flu d’etat, hits number two – again, outcomes count.
More of my untutored ‘take.’ Beijing Biden’s massive wrecking ball WH cabal and puppet masters make Carter and Obama look [on a 1 is best, 5 is worst scale] like 4-rated POTUS’s.
I think Carter was a well-intentioned but ill-advised man with indifferent judgment. He was surrounded by people of varying quality, but I doubt anyone consequential could be described as destructive or predatory. Not so today. I think Janet Yellen is about the only official of the administration you can name that might be somewhat public spirited. What C.S. Lewis said, “We laugh at honor, and are shocked to find traitors in our midst”.
There’s no whitewashing Reagan’s support for Saddam’s war of aggression against Iran. If you’d take the time to put aside your knee-jerk support of American military power, you’d recognize that the U.S. provided Iraq with the intelligence and training it used to target Iranian civilians. Decades later, it’s hard to fault those people for wishing death to America.
Reagan supported the mujahideen. Its proxies ended up forming Al-Qaeda. A thousand pardons for getting the name wrong. And the fact that Reagan provided them with money and weaponry is surely irrelevant. Silly me!
Acceding to stupid and immoral ideas isn’t much different from supporting stupid and immoral ideas. If a legislative supermajority is hellbent on ramming through child sacrifice, you veto them. Otherwise, you’re nothing more than a rubber stamp. Same goes for amnesty.
Somehow, I forgot to mention the fact that Reagan put Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court. Another strike against him. Sure, he appointed Antonin Scalia, but the fact that George W. Bush gave us Alito doesn’t make him any less loathsome.
You veto them anyway. Oops.
here’s no whitewashing Reagan’s support for Saddam’s war of aggression against Iran.
No one did. Hussein started the war and Washington did not want him to lose it with the conquest of Iraq by Iran, a sound goal from anyone’s perspective except the mullahs.
Decades later, it’s hard to fault those people for wishing death to America.
Oh yeah, Iran has been such a blazing success under the mullahs.
Silly me!
Indeed Robert, your raw ignorance on the subject is obviously vast. Silly you indeed. Driving the Soviets from Afghanistan was a solid success of the West and materially aided in the collapse of the Soviet Union. bin Laden and his henchmen were separate from this Western effort and got their funding from Islamic sources.
“If a legislative supermajority is hellbent on ramming through child sacrifice, you veto them.”
Reagan feared an even worse bill would be passed. Considering the pro-life cause was just starting up in 67, I think he was probably right.
Somehow, I forgot to mention the fact that Reagan put Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court.
You also forgot to mention that Reagan gave us Rehnquist as Chief Justice, Scalia and attempted to give us Bork.(Anthony Kennedy was his third choice after the de3feat of Bork and the withdrawal of appellate judge Douglas H. Ginsburg. O’Connor and Kennedy both voted conservative during their first years on the bench, O’Connor did so until Reagan was no longer President. I do not fault Reagan for not owning a crystal ball.
, you’d recognize that the U.S. provided Iraq with the intelligence and training
We provided no training.
Decades later, it’s hard to fault those people for wishing death to America.
Palaeotrash are welcome to emigrate. And get your timeline right. The ‘death to America’ business had nothing to do with any dealings we had with Saddam during the period running from 1985 to 1988, but with the Ayatollah Khomeini’s menu of resentments, none of which were a function of anything our government did do or did not do.
“none of which were a function of anything our government did do or did not do.”
Well, we did support the Shah, but that was before Reagan became President. And, as you say, it really had nothing to do with Saddam Hussein.
… If Robert thinks supplying arms to people who are fighting the folks shouting “death to America” is a bad thing, I don’t think I have any words that will convince him otherwise.