Showing posts with label John Birch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Birch. Show all posts

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Remember When Reagan Nominated an Anti-Labor Lobbyist of a Neo-Nazi, Pro-KKK Propaganda Machine?

by Nomad

President Reagan 1981 Early in Reagan's first term, the administration suffered a minor setback with one of its nominations. The problem? The nominee's work with an organization that had long been a propaganda machine for the most extreme right wing and dangerous organizations.



Beware The Ides of March

On 30 March 1981, two events in Washington occurred: one  of them stunned the nation. The other event was completely overshadowed the other and is largely forgotten today.

On that rainy afternoon, at about 2:30. President Reagan was leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington. Waving to the small crowd, the president stepped out onto the sidewalk on his way to his limo. Before he got there, an attempt was made on his life. 

Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by demented attacker John Hinckley, Jr.
The FBI said the weapon was a Saturday Night Special that Hinckley purchased last October for about $25 in a pawn shop in Dallas - the city where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963.
It was not immediately apparent how seriously Reagan's injuries were.
Only a few days before the assassination attempt, vice president George H. W. Bush received the assignment of running crisis management in case of emergency.
On that day, Bush was out of Washington, in Ft. Worth/Dallas as it turned out. Believing that the president had escaped intact, Bush flew on to make a speech in Austin.

With the vice president on his way back, the Secretary of State  Alexander Haig, in an effort, to calm things down told reporters that he was in control.  
As of now, I am in control here, in the White House, pending the return of the vice president and in close touch with him. If something came up, I would check with him, of course.
As a war hawk, Haig's declaration sent a shiver down the spines of a lot of people. With his long military history in wars like Korea, Vietnam and as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe commanding all U.S. and NATO forces in Europe, his words should have been a comfort.
The world held its breath.
Reagan's hawkish comments about the Soviet Union had some world leaders uneasy and with this attempt on his life, nobody was ready to predict the US reaction.

An Hour Earlier

Less than an hour before the attempt on the president' life, something far less earth-shaking had happened. As was expected, the White House spokesman announced the nominations for many of the second-tier positions in various agencies.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Donald Trump and the KKK: Why Trump is Simply Following in the Footsteps of Ronald Reagan

by Nomad



CNN reported yesterday how Trump was attempting to "clean up" the controversy involving his refusal to disavow Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke's endorsement. Duke told reporters that the KKK had hundreds of thousands of followers online "who will vote for Donald Trump."
"Donald Trump has the potential to bring in millions of new voters who agree with our positions.Based on the analytics, I would say my support is very strong."
To this, Donald Trump was silent and later claimed he had no idea who David Duke was. The Republican establishment, now in total dread at the prospect of Trump becoming the nominee, claimed to be appalled that Trump didn't repudiate the support of Duke and other white supremacist groups.
Sounds to me that there's a little confusion here and quite a bit of hypocrisy from the GOP establishment. Seems like somebody could use a history lesson.  

What's to Clean Up?

To hear the outcry against Donald Trump's failure to reject the KKK love kisses, one would think the front runner is doing something out of the ordinary. 
Actually, Trump really ought to be commended for keeping alive the Reagan tradition of race-baiting.
Let me explain. This is actually a case of history repeating itself.

When Ronald Reagan was running for governor of California, there were a lot of political analysts who considered him an extremist. 

Part of that reputation came from a rousing speech he made on behalf of Republican Barry Goldwater in the 1964 election. Goldwater famously said:
I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!
Even though Reagan's speech was considered a fine piece or oratory, it could not save Goldwater who lost the election by one of the largest margins in history.

Reagan's detractors said that he was not a real politician at all. He was a TV and film actor. He had no experience in politics. The ones who protested the loudest against Reagan were the GOP moderates who thought Reagan would drive off the middle of the road voters and wreck havoc in the GOP.

It was during this race that candidate Reagan was confronted with a problem very similar to the one Donald Trump faced the other day.