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NNN0LHI

(67,190 posts)
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:06 PM Jul 2012

Did anyone else realize this country was finished on January 20, 1981?

Boy, I sure did.

On that day I realized the inmates had taken over the asylum.

I remember being really sad that day.

And then it just got worse from there.

Don

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Did anyone else realize this country was finished on January 20, 1981? (Original Post) NNN0LHI Jul 2012 OP
What you said.... times 1000! nt Bigmack Jul 2012 #1
real sad oldhippydude Jul 2012 #2
Yes, pretty much. tosh Jul 2012 #3
I remember being at a party and a bunch of liberal activists said Reagan would be a one-term libinnyandia Jul 2012 #4
If Hinkley hadn't shot him pscot Jul 2012 #89
they should have made Hinckley a national hero datasuspect Jul 2012 #116
Raygun had "re-elect numbers" when Hinkley shot him? hughee99 Jul 2012 #128
I didn't realize how bad it would be but Carolina Jul 2012 #5
I'm with you, Lindsay Jul 2012 #19
Yep. Wrote a journal entry on that last year . . . . HughBeaumont Jul 2012 #74
a succint and elegant reflection of my own thoughts. bbgrunt Jul 2012 #103
May I suggest you start a thread with this? nt raccoon Jul 2012 #118
Here's the thing about me . . . . HughBeaumont Jul 2012 #154
That's a good collection of right-wing BS platitudes you have there. nt raccoon Jul 2012 #155
I did not cbrer Jul 2012 #6
Same here. ananda Jul 2012 #7
I remember thinking that Carter had been screwed by the MIC to Reagan's benefit. NYC_SKP Jul 2012 #8
Remember how the evening news carried the hostage story? KansDem Jul 2012 #111
ABC's Nightline and Ted Koppel turned it into a Cottage Industry NNN0LHI Jul 2012 #119
I remember expressly feeling that it was all engineered to embarrass Carter. NYC_SKP Jul 2012 #123
If you read the book, The Persian Puzzle the Iranians admit it was harun Jul 2012 #134
yes, I knew we were starting the downhill slide. northoftheborder Jul 2012 #9
The day that H.L. Mencken foretold. Tierra_y_Libertad Jul 2012 #10
and that came to fruition ldf Jul 2012 #157
I felt the mood of the country changing then, it was in the air, one could RKP5637 Jul 2012 #11
I heartily agree Art_from_Ark Jul 2012 #26
I realized it election day 1980 flamingdem Jul 2012 #12
I remember it was raining here in Cleveland... WCGreen Jul 2012 #46
I was in NYC flamingdem Jul 2012 #53
And so goes the fate of this country.... WCGreen Jul 2012 #62
Same here: Election Day, 11/4/1980. ecitraro Jul 2012 #72
Welcome to du even if it's about doom flamingdem Jul 2012 #76
I remember comparing it to the fall of Rome FiveGoodMen Jul 2012 #140
I realized it the previous summer cthulu2016 Jul 2012 #13
yes the propaganda was deep in middle America by then! lunasun Jul 2012 #91
Yes, but I thought it would take about 20 years longer to reach this point. n/t Egalitarian Thug Jul 2012 #14
Interesting that you should posit this PCIntern Jul 2012 #15
Funny you should say this... jaysunb Jul 2012 #16
Ronnie Raygun.... I foolishly thought he was the worst prez ever, then Bubba sold us downriver with peacebird Jul 2012 #17
Yes. I drank heavily that way. Was a grad student...even then knew disaster was upon us. NRaleighLiberal Jul 2012 #18
I (somewhat) remember the party... WestMichRad Jul 2012 #143
howdy, friend! NRaleighLiberal Jul 2012 #145
Concur. immoderate Jul 2012 #20
It took me a while my family is very conservative leaning... Kalidurga Jul 2012 #21
I kept watching the news with my jaw dropped Warpy Jul 2012 #22
Yep, he was an actor, with a "smooth talking corporate pitchman's voice." n/t RKP5637 Jul 2012 #32
YES Skittles Jul 2012 #23
Wisdom teeth out that day! Freddie Jul 2012 #77
THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT Skittles Jul 2012 #82
I was 10 years old stopwastingmymoney Jul 2012 #95
Hang in there Don: the Gipper's deification indepat Jul 2012 #24
I read that as "defecation" HubertHeaver Jul 2012 #61
I go back to election day when Reagan won MrScorpio Jul 2012 #25
I remember waking up on November ? 1984 mattvermont Jul 2012 #27
I am kinda slow. I didnt realize it until the SCOTUS gave the presidency to Bushy rhett o rick Jul 2012 #28
Oh, yeah. Blue_In_AK Jul 2012 #29
I did PlanetBev Jul 2012 #30
I agree 1980 was probably my favorite year. ArnoldLayne Jul 2012 #68
Yes! I saw the Judy's at Raul's in Austin. salib Jul 2012 #141
Yes...It was the beginning of the oligarchcy The empressof all Jul 2012 #31
My night of horror was election day 1980 nichomachus Jul 2012 #33
i had the same reaction, watched the returns with friends & couldn't believe reagan won. still HiPointDem Jul 2012 #58
Living near Rightwing asshole inlaws at the time Tsiyu Jul 2012 #34
I have often tried to pinpoint mattvermont Jul 2012 #35
Yes. I was in college and could not understand why none of my friend were as concerned as I was. I pam4water Jul 2012 #36
Nothing is over until we decide it is! pintobean Jul 2012 #37
My thought was, "This guy's an empty suit -- how could the country elect him?" Auggie Jul 2012 #38
I knew it on election day. femmocrat Jul 2012 #39
He could have been Politicalboi Jul 2012 #59
SO true. Musicians helped ease the insanity somewhat... FailureToCommunicate Jul 2012 #40
This country was finished in 1968 everthing after just added to the misery. craigmatic Jul 2012 #41
"Finished" is too big a word malthaussen Jul 2012 #42
The middle class took it's first steps downward when numbnuts Reagan fired the TC's demosincebirth Jul 2012 #43
I knew it would be bad hifiguy Jul 2012 #44
I remember wondering how so many liberals got fooled into electing that man. graywarrior Jul 2012 #45
I knew it on a Tuesday in the previous November Blecht Jul 2012 #47
Yes - I was so depressed KT2000 Jul 2012 #48
I remember that same revelation. MuseRider Jul 2012 #78
Yes - "try to be better" KT2000 Jul 2012 #104
My Dad told me he would disown me if I voted for Reagan. He told me Reagan wrecked our state kimbutgar Jul 2012 #49
I was too young but I grew up in Georgia when Carter was my governor. When I hear Democrats Liberal_Stalwart71 Jul 2012 #50
No, I was 11. MrSlayer Jul 2012 #51
I was 6 1/2 months old at the time. Initech Jul 2012 #85
at that time laruemtt Jul 2012 #52
Began to suspect it on 4 May 1970 and was pretty sure by 8 September 1974 struggle4progress Jul 2012 #54
My dad knew, I didn't. Greybnk48 Jul 2012 #55
I was 26 at the time and remember telling my kids the same thing NNN0LHI Jul 2012 #56
Absolutely. bowens43 Jul 2012 #57
It was a Dark, Dark Day! mckara Jul 2012 #60
Me Umpteenth. /nt localroger Jul 2012 #63
Yeah. Mr Nay and I did. We tried to emigrate to Australia. Didn't make it, got stuck here, and Nay Jul 2012 #64
Yeah, you're right. We're finished. randome Jul 2012 #65
Yup SteveG Jul 2012 #66
I did and I have said it a million times gopiscrap Jul 2012 #67
Oh yes. MuseRider Jul 2012 #69
And then, with great fanfare, he took the solar panels off the roof of the White House NBachers Jul 2012 #70
A lot of people thought it would be a Hollywood Era for Washington. Spitfire of ATJ Jul 2012 #71
Yes, sadly TuxedoKat Jul 2012 #73
I was only 17.. We are Devo Jul 2012 #75
see if you can find a book called "ronald reagan: political chameleon" unblock Jul 2012 #79
Me too. I sat down and wrote a letter to President Carter, apologizing for the American people. Zen Democrat Jul 2012 #80
Yep, me too. potone Jul 2012 #81
for me it was 1976-77 when the IAM elected william winpisinger madrchsod Jul 2012 #83
It was a very bad day for me too lunatica Jul 2012 #84
No, SnohoDem Jul 2012 #86
Yes, I remember feeling that way, and we were right. yardwork Jul 2012 #87
Worse ThoughtCriminal Jul 2012 #88
I rooted for Reagan for the R nomination beacause I thought he would lose 60%-40%. trackfan Jul 2012 #90
Nope, I didn't really feel that way til Poppa Bush was elected. raouldukelives Jul 2012 #92
Shortly after that, N... MrMickeysMom Jul 2012 #93
Darrell Issa wants to rename coastal water zones after Reagan young_at_heart Jul 2012 #94
Yeah AndyTiedye Jul 2012 #96
How about December 8, 1980... dogknob Jul 2012 #97
And to make it even worse, frogmarch Jul 2012 #98
Actually August 5, 1981 was the death knell (when Reagan coalition_unwilling Jul 2012 #99
That's what a lot of people never realized -- breaking the unions was the loudsue Jul 2012 #129
Grammar\usage Nazi here: 'coup de grace' (meaning the final coalition_unwilling Jul 2012 #130
I, for one, appreciate grammar\usage nazis on DU. I've learned a great loudsue Jul 2012 #156
It made me physically ill. Strangely enough, it was worse than the Duyba theft for me. freshwest Jul 2012 #100
January 21, 1969 leathm Jul 2012 #101
Not by a longshot jberryhill Jul 2012 #106
Correct. Nixon's demons were personal to Nixon. hifiguy Jul 2012 #133
The Checkers Speech is really breathtaking in some respects jberryhill Jul 2012 #135
Strike, but thanks for playing leathm Jul 2012 #153
that election was the first time I was totally dumbfounded by bbgrunt Jul 2012 #102
The first time my union contract came up for renewal. doccraig67 Jul 2012 #105
The Raygun years began the jihad against Unions. progressoid Jul 2012 #120
No, I was 2. glowing Jul 2012 #107
Yes, I knew back then it was the beginning of the END! YOHABLO Jul 2012 #108
Mourning in America. leveymg Jul 2012 #109
Society seemed to have lost interest in listening to the better angels of its nature since then. Douglas Carpenter Jul 2012 #110
Not sure I went that far quaker bill Jul 2012 #112
Yeah pretty much. Warren Stupidity Jul 2012 #113
No, I didn't then. Recd. nt raccoon Jul 2012 #114
I was stunned by the election of 1980, I dam near cried 1-Old-Man Jul 2012 #115
I sure did and I'm sure many of us here did madokie Jul 2012 #117
I realized we were scrood eShirl Jul 2012 #121
Didn't know it for sure, but... 99Forever Jul 2012 #122
No. I didn't. bvar22 Jul 2012 #124
I was in 11th grade and remember being very saddened by the election deutsey Jul 2012 #125
OMG I do I do! and I was 9 yrs old... bettydavis Jul 2012 #126
The day they snuffed JFK nolabels Jul 2012 #127
The Lost World Hydra Jul 2012 #131
It was finished for 99% of us. 1% is doing quite well from then on. harun Jul 2012 #132
So glad to hear someone else say what I had thought at that time. glinda Jul 2012 #136
it was over when Herbert Hoover deaniac21 Jul 2012 #137
I think it started it was diagnosed as terminal on Jan 20, 1981... DearHeart Jul 2012 #138
Yep. It was unfathomable to me that Reagan got elected/selected/whatever. valerief Jul 2012 #139
My first election, and yes, I knew exactly what had happened to us. byronius Jul 2012 #142
My mom did duhneece Jul 2012 #144
Yep. lastlib Jul 2012 #146
I remember begging my parents to not vote for that fuckwad Reagan. Arugula Latte Jul 2012 #147
I remember the day well. Go Vols Jul 2012 #148
No, I have to admit it. caseymoz Jul 2012 #149
I was born in 1958 mick063 Jul 2012 #150
i didn't. barbtries Jul 2012 #151
Not finished, but injured DonCoquixote Jul 2012 #152
It wasn't really his election as POTUS in 1980, Brewinblue Jul 2012 #158
11/22/63 shut the coffin, 1968 nailed it shut. VOX Jul 2012 #159

tosh

(4,422 posts)
3. Yes, pretty much.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:12 PM
Jul 2012

I gathered with my closest friends and we actually plotted to become expats. We were quite young then and most of us lacked the means.

I'm not sure that I realized then the permanence of the damage, that it would be so irreversible.

libinnyandia

(1,374 posts)
4. I remember being at a party and a bunch of liberal activists said Reagan would be a one-term
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:13 PM
Jul 2012

Last edited Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:47 PM - Edit history (1)

president after people realized what he was trying to do. Unfortunately the American people never caught on to what he was doing. Just like now when so many people seem to want to elect Romney and return to W's policies.

pscot

(21,023 posts)
89. If Hinkley hadn't shot him
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 11:30 PM
Jul 2012

he might have been. We were in deep recession, interest rates were bumping 15% and his re-elect numbers sucked. Hinckley made him him a national hero.

 

datasuspect

(26,591 posts)
116. they should have made Hinckley a national hero
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 07:47 AM
Jul 2012

"they should give the motherfucker (Hinckley) a medal." - dad, his reaction to Reagan getting shot.

hughee99

(16,113 posts)
128. Raygun had "re-elect numbers" when Hinkley shot him?
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 01:40 PM
Jul 2012

Of how much value are those numbers 3 1/2 years before the next election?

Carolina

(6,960 posts)
5. I didn't realize how bad it would be but
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:13 PM
Jul 2012

I knew Reagan would be bad.

I actually think the country was finished after JFK, MLK and RFK were killed. Though I had blips of hope, I tend to be a glass half empty person; and unfortunately, my pessimism is proven to be well-founded.

Lindsay

(3,276 posts)
19. I'm with you,
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:23 PM
Jul 2012

although I didn't think about the abiding significance of the assassinations immediately. I detested Reagan with every fiber of my being.

For all that people blame the dirty hippies for everything that's happened since, I think the assassinations effectively destroyed the left. It just took some time for the all the effects to be seen.

HughBeaumont

(24,461 posts)
74. Yep. Wrote a journal entry on that last year . . . .
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:19 PM
Jul 2012
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/HughBeaumont/142

The Criminal Illuminati Agency wasn't letting ANY highly popular Democratic family become a political dynasty.

Giving JFK (who stood up to Steel bosses and the nuclear-war-happy MIC) two terms would have been counterproductive to the Republican/MIC/Corptocracy's long term plans.

An RFK win would have seriously swayed America to, you know, NOT be the "USA USA USA"-chanting, jingo-drugged, fearful, completely-corporate-dependent, easily swayed, accepting of lower and lower standards, obedient nation that it is today.

Conspiratorial? Think about it.

When did American wages start getting suppressed? 1973.
When did energy start becoming an overwhelming concern? the early 70s.
What happened in the 60s that you would never see happen today? People protested against the Republican/MIC folly wars and it got televised. Protests are no more than a belch, a blip on today's entertainment-based "news".
When did the Republican party team up with corporations to institute this permanent plague of power and wealth transfer from the poor to the rich (reciprocated with risk, cost of living and tax burden transfer to the poor)? The 1970s
When did this grand plan get permanently nailed? REAGAN.

Since 1968, there have only been THREE Democratic presidents. And no offense to Carter, but it's not like any of them can really be considered truly "Democratic" in a liberal sense, especially not the last two. Being fully on board with Republican "Trickle Down" & Deregulation bullshitnomics isn't Democratic, it's caving to the needs of the ruling class. These were always "approved" Democrats . . . never even the slightest bit liberal, always moderate to Eisenhower Republican at best.

It's no accident that we're likely never going to have a progressive President.

The only dynasty in this country is, and will always be, BUSH. Whether we like it or not.

We're not meant to ask "what could have been". We're only plagued with accepting "how it's going to be from now on". The Kennedys were never meant to thrive. They had ideas, brains, plans and vision that would have swayed America to become an organized working ideal that government and corporations feared.

Instead, the U.S. since the late 60s set the trend in arch-conservative corporate-based "governance" with a glacial but ubiquitous power-grab and continues stridently to make life as miserable and as "stay-put" to it's obedient, timid and completely dependent wage slaves as possible.

Of course, it doesn't really help matters much that the timid, obedient wage-slaves are also fearful and hateful as well, learning absolutely nothing at all from the Reagan, and subsequently, the Bush lootings. That was also part of the plan - make them all into "battered spouses" by making them hate and completely distrust anything "European", "Democratic", "Union", "Taxes", "liberal", even making the word "liberal" akin to "dogshit". That's media purchasing, and that was "The Great Communicator" at work.

I just don't think this is ever going to get better until the Conservative bootstraps groupthink goes the way of the dodo.

HughBeaumont

(24,461 posts)
154. Here's the thing about me . . . .
Wed Jul 25, 2012, 07:11 AM
Jul 2012

. . . I start threads, they sink like stones. Very . . . VERY few of my OPs make it to 10. The only reason many of them make it to 5 is because I kick them.

Witness my "Free Market Defense Bingo", which I made myself. I don't normally brag, but I thought it was brilliant.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002656831

No one else apparently did. At all. It was ignored like the poor in this country.

 

cbrer

(1,831 posts)
6. I did not
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:13 PM
Jul 2012

I was engaged in typical 20 something year old entertainment issues. But seeing how those seeds have grown...I am greatly saddened as well. But I will never give up, as long as there is a glimmer of hope to turn it around.

In the last 6 months it has repeatedly been proven to me how closely most Americans hopes and goals align.

It is in-fucking-credible how well the establishment has played us against each other while running off with the prizes.

And how despite that revelation, the GOP still has a substantial middle class base.

Brian

 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
8. I remember thinking that Carter had been screwed by the MIC to Reagan's benefit.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:17 PM
Jul 2012

I think the hostage thing was long before that.

Then Iran Contra.

And watching all the Ollie North trials, etc.

And now he's a star on cable, a superhero.

We are toast.

KansDem

(28,498 posts)
111. Remember how the evening news carried the hostage story?
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 06:17 AM
Jul 2012

Each night the broadcast would open with hard-driving music, images of blindfolded American hostages, and a dramatic voice over proclaiming "Day XYZ: 'America Held Hostage!'"

Every night and always the opening story!

I think this went on for over a year!

But it effectively helped put Reagan in the White House.

 

NYC_SKP

(68,644 posts)
123. I remember expressly feeling that it was all engineered to embarrass Carter.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 12:04 PM
Jul 2012

The impact of which was to support Reagan.

Yes, it was a turning point.

harun

(11,348 posts)
134. If you read the book, The Persian Puzzle the Iranians admit it was
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 03:13 PM
Jul 2012

engineered to embarrass Carter and punish the American's with the Right Wing freak show for messing with Iran.

 

Tierra_y_Libertad

(50,414 posts)
10. The day that H.L. Mencken foretold.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:18 PM
Jul 2012
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” - H.L. Mencken

RKP5637

(67,032 posts)
11. I felt the mood of the country changing then, it was in the air, one could
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:19 PM
Jul 2012

sense a definite mood change and it was not for the better. Never, did I think it would go on for decades. What does bother me is many Americans possibly think it was always this way.

Art_from_Ark

(27,247 posts)
26. I heartily agree
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:56 PM
Jul 2012

I myself actually believed Reagan's Reign of Error was over when the Democrats took back the Senate in 1986. I also had no idea it would go on for decades.

WCGreen

(45,558 posts)
46. I remember it was raining here in Cleveland...
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 09:00 PM
Jul 2012

I was working a poll for the democratic slate and I came home feeling good,

By the time I got home and started to warm up, they closed the polls all the way to Mountain Time and it was called, even before California's voting was over....

I just looked at the EC map and see that Ohio had 25 EC votes in that election..

A friend who just came out of the Closet and was sobbing on the phone...

flamingdem

(39,304 posts)
53. I was in NYC
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 09:06 PM
Jul 2012

At a left leaning gathering. We had a couple of little tvs. I remember the tone was very depressed. At the time we knew that it meant more war in Central America. I was in school that year and a classmate told me he'd vote for Reagan because it would be "more entertaining". sigh.

ecitraro

(2 posts)
72. Same here: Election Day, 11/4/1980.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:12 PM
Jul 2012

I was 18 years old and 3 months into my freshman year in college. I remember the crushing feeling of doom as I listened to the radio report of the election results. I knew we were doomed then, and nothing has disproved my belief that things have been a continuous downward spiral since then. We may not have hit the lowest point yet, but we will get there.

flamingdem

(39,304 posts)
76. Welcome to du even if it's about doom
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:21 PM
Jul 2012

at least we have some like minded people here to remember how we all got to this point

FiveGoodMen

(20,018 posts)
140. I remember comparing it to the fall of Rome
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 05:53 PM
Jul 2012

My dad looked at me like I was nuts.

I'm pretty sure I was right.

cthulu2016

(10,960 posts)
13. I realized it the previous summer
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:19 PM
Jul 2012

Even when Carter was ahead in the polls the writing was on the wall.

PCIntern

(25,347 posts)
15. Interesting that you should posit this
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:20 PM
Jul 2012

The day after the election, I called my father of blessed memory, and asked him, "Dad, what are we going to do?"

He replied that the country we knew is now officially gone, but my job was to get up, go to work, and do the best I could under difficult circumstances. He also said that Reagan probably be okay for me as a young professional, and in fact it was positive in terms of starting a new practice. Of course, everything else was an unmitigated disaster and as you pointed out, it was the beginning of the end.

jaysunb

(11,856 posts)
16. Funny you should say this...
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:21 PM
Jul 2012

I clearly remember having a sense of dread on that day. Having had Reagan as Gov. I still couldn't believe that the rest of the country would be so stupid.
We, (California) had a recent reputation for voting crazies to elected office. (S.I. Hiyakowa immediately comes to mind) and I also knew a lot of folks out here did not like President Carter because he was a southerner, but I thought everyone could figure out that this guy was an actor, good at reading lines and the people really in charge were evil.
I can see now that I was very wrong and so was my hero Ted Kennedy. The assualt that began w/ Goldwater was realized on 1/20/81.

I hope we can retake this hill.....

peacebird

(14,195 posts)
17. Ronnie Raygun.... I foolishly thought he was the worst prez ever, then Bubba sold us downriver with
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:21 PM
Jul 2012

NAFTA and after that shrub came along and with Roberts we were well and truly sold into serfdom

WestMichRad

(1,282 posts)
143. I (somewhat) remember the party...
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 06:03 PM
Jul 2012

...on election night, Nov. 1980. I drank with NRaLib that night and we commiserated that our country's future was screwed. Sadly, we were right. We just didn't know how badly things would be...

NRaleighLiberal

(59,940 posts)
145. howdy, friend!
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 06:21 PM
Jul 2012

In tomatoes up to my eyeballs....such fun! (got seeds saved from nearly everything - nearly 200 varieties!).

Kalidurga

(14,177 posts)
21. It took me a while my family is very conservative leaning...
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:27 PM
Jul 2012

It was the trickled on economic policy, the union busting, and Iran Contra hearings that made me wise up.

Warpy

(110,909 posts)
22. I kept watching the news with my jaw dropped
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:31 PM
Jul 2012

at the brazen illegality of the whole business and wondering whether anyone else noticed what was going on.

Unfortunately, too many people were lulled by that smooth talking corporate pitchman's voice to pay much attention to what he was saying.

Shit.

Freddie

(9,232 posts)
77. Wisdom teeth out that day!
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:26 PM
Jul 2012

I clearly remember thinking "does anyone else think it's not a coincidence that the hostages are being released today?" as the anesthesia took effect.
Yes, Saint Ronnie truly began the country's path to ruin.

stopwastingmymoney

(2,027 posts)
95. I was 10 years old
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 12:28 AM
Jul 2012

And my first significant political memory was "that's bullshit" re the hostage release

Set me on the path...

mattvermont

(646 posts)
27. I remember waking up on November ? 1984
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:57 PM
Jul 2012

with a massive hangover...having heard the night before the results. My radio alram comes on with my local college station playing Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue"....the irony has stuck with me for nearly 30 years...the hangover went away.

 

rhett o rick

(55,981 posts)
28. I am kinda slow. I didnt realize it until the SCOTUS gave the presidency to Bushy
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:58 PM
Jul 2012

AND AMERICA DIDNT CARE. But when America allowed Bushy to steal a second election, after Iraq, after the Patriot Act, etc. That almost did me in.

Blue_In_AK

(46,436 posts)
29. Oh, yeah.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 07:58 PM
Jul 2012

I remember that sinking feeling very, very well. I didn't realize just how bad it could get, but having lived in California when Reagan was governor, I was seriously worried.

PlanetBev

(4,098 posts)
30. I did
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 08:00 PM
Jul 2012

I cried for a week after Reagan was elected. I just knew we were dead, but it would take a while for the full measure of the disaster to play out.

Just to make life more miserable, John Lennon was shot on December 8th.

The end of 1980 sucked.

ArnoldLayne

(2,060 posts)
68. I agree 1980 was probably my favorite year.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:08 PM
Jul 2012

Last edited Tue Jul 24, 2012, 10:52 AM - Edit history (1)

I was 21 years old, Pink Floyd had just released The Wall late 1979 early 1980. New Wave music The Cars, The Clash, Elvis Costello, Devo, Gary Numan etc.. were on the rise. I went to Fort Lauderdale Fla. twice for Spring Break. Wildwood NJ. for the week of The Fourth of July. Went to Houston Tex. late Oct. of 1980. Saw an excellent New Wave group called The Judy's in a Nightclub there in Houston. I never knew why they never hit it big. Then Reagan got elected and John Lennon was gunned down.

salib

(2,116 posts)
141. Yes! I saw the Judy's at Raul's in Austin.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 05:54 PM
Jul 2012

Ray-gun definitely made it most obvious, and odious.

However, this has been building as a response to the Elightenment. We need to recognize that we have been given a precious gift by those liberals before us, for centuries. We squander it.

The empressof all

(29,098 posts)
31. Yes...It was the beginning of the oligarchcy
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 08:01 PM
Jul 2012

And now his policies would be considered liberal by the current idgits running that party.

nichomachus

(12,754 posts)
33. My night of horror was election day 1980
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 08:01 PM
Jul 2012

I was listening to the returns and when it became clear Reagan was winning I started to go into a deep depression and -- even though I don't believe in things like this -- I had a premonition of where we were headed (most of it has come true). I was so freaked out that I had to call a friend to come over to stay with me.

 

HiPointDem

(20,729 posts)
58. i had the same reaction, watched the returns with friends & couldn't believe reagan won. still
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 09:32 PM
Jul 2012

wonder.

Tsiyu

(18,186 posts)
34. Living near Rightwing asshole inlaws at the time
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 08:07 PM
Jul 2012


I told them they just inaugurated the Anti-Christ.

Course they loved me so much more after that

But, yeah, Reagan started the slide into the abyss with his actor's lies.

We may never recover from what he began.

mattvermont

(646 posts)
35. I have often tried to pinpoint
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 08:08 PM
Jul 2012

the nexus of evil...of course we could go back to the early 70's with the birth of the proto PNAC, or even Eisenhower, but I think you have found the tangible crux of evil with Reagan.

pam4water

(2,916 posts)
36. Yes. I was in college and could not understand why none of my friend were as concerned as I was. I
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 08:21 PM
Jul 2012

remember the responses at the time -- "Oh Pam"'s, the eye rolls, the "You're so dramatic." and the "you worry to much." -- like it was yesterday.

Then we moved in the arguments about how health care for profit would be better then the system we had at the time, and it was all down hill from there.

femmocrat

(28,394 posts)
39. I knew it on election day.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 08:31 PM
Jul 2012

My heart was absolutely broken for Carter. And that split-screen of the reagan inauguration with the hostages being released was pure Hollywood. How the hell did people fall for his phony baloney? I always said he was sent from central casting to play the part of the president while the real powers-that-be fed him lines and pulled his strings.

And by 1984, it was so obvious that he was senile. We used to "joke" that he was really one of those presidential robots from Disney World.

Worst years of our lives.

FailureToCommunicate

(13,989 posts)
40. SO true. Musicians helped ease the insanity somewhat...
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 08:45 PM
Jul 2012

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malthaussen

(17,066 posts)
42. "Finished" is too big a word
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 08:54 PM
Jul 2012

I knew we were in for some bad times. I hoped at the time that the damage would be contained, and that the people would realize how ridiculous the RW "Moral Majority" platform really was once they saw it in action.

It's easy to blame Reagan and company, but my thoughts on that period are that if Uncle Ron hadn't existed, it would have been necessary to invent him. You may think me fanciful, but I remember when the Herpes "epidemic" began, and suddenly it was like the whole culture of the US had decided to don sackcloth and ashes, that Herpes was the retribution of a just god for the abuses and indulgences of the 70's. AIDS came along shortly thereafter and stepped on Herpes's lead, and then we got Reagan for our sins... literally.

And it doesn't go away. How many times do you hear or see people who lived through the late 60's/early 70's as young adults acting ashamed and penitent about those times? Usually it comes out in funny-ha-ha jokes about decor or clothes, but under all that, it seems to me, is a real sense of self-loathing. Does it come from inside, and was it there all along? Or do people "remember" the 70's that way now because they've been told so often that that is how they should feel? Flip a coin.

-- Mal

 

hifiguy

(33,688 posts)
44. I knew it would be bad
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 08:57 PM
Jul 2012

but not as bad as it has become. The likes of the Chimp and Darth didn't seem possible.

Blecht

(3,803 posts)
47. I knew it on a Tuesday in the previous November
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 09:01 PM
Jul 2012

I can vividly remember several people stating that exact thing (about the US being finished) at our election-night-party-turned-wake as the returns came in on election night.

My first experience voting in a presidential election was not a happy one.

KT2000

(20,544 posts)
48. Yes - I was so depressed
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 09:02 PM
Jul 2012

at work that a co-worker took me out for a walk. I thought he was going to commiserate but instead he told me why it was a good thing. This guy and I were on the brink of starting a romance but that ended then and there.

It was then I realized people my age and I thought I knew had totally different values than I did. Before that I felt part of a change in consciousness in America - growing from the 60's and 70's.This was when that time of change came to an abrupt end. The war mongering scare-dy cats won.

Yes - it has been downhill ever since.

MuseRider

(34,058 posts)
78. I remember that same revelation.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:27 PM
Jul 2012

It was hard. Where did all these people come from? I remember standing side by side with them protesting the war and then they ended up celebrating Reagan.

It was a hard realization that even people I thought were the best could be suckered by someone telling them they no longer had to try to be better, they were just fine the way they were. *sigh*

I am not a defeatist but I can't think of a way out of this now, not the way things are. I guess we all have to keep going and hope something (hopefully something good) changes the script.

kimbutgar

(20,882 posts)
49. My Dad told me he would disown me if I voted for Reagan. He told me Reagan wrecked our state
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 09:02 PM
Jul 2012

as Governor and he also was a lousy actor. When he was elected my Dad was so bummed that day and he told me things will never be the same again in America. I wasn't political then but I remember what my Dad said. Little did I know his words were so prophetic.

 

Liberal_Stalwart71

(20,450 posts)
50. I was too young but I grew up in Georgia when Carter was my governor. When I hear Democrats
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 09:03 PM
Jul 2012

themselves disrespecting and demonizing Jimmy Carter, I definitely this country is over! Democrats need to stop distancing themselves from Carter and embrace him. Like Obama, he was blamed for a lot of things that were the fault of Nixon and Ford's poor economy and energy crisis. Reagan took credit for rescuing the hostages when it was really Jimmy Carter's badge of honor.

 

MrSlayer

(22,143 posts)
51. No, I was 11.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 09:05 PM
Jul 2012

I didn't really become politically aware until I was in my twenties. Everything that is happening now is the legacy of Reagan.

Initech

(99,914 posts)
85. I was 6 1/2 months old at the time.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:54 PM
Jul 2012

But yeah all the truly evil shit that's been happening can be traced back to Raygun. The more I read about his shady takeover the more I agree - the inmates have taken over the asylum and it's been nothing but a downhill crash course ever since.

laruemtt

(3,992 posts)
52. at that time
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 09:05 PM
Jul 2012

an ex-boyfriend killed himself, John Lennon was assassinated, and Ronnie Raygun was selected. The end of 1980 was a very dark time...

struggle4progress

(118,039 posts)
54. Began to suspect it on 4 May 1970 and was pretty sure by 8 September 1974
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 09:08 PM
Jul 2012

when Can't-Walk-and-Chew-Gum pardoned I-Am-Not-a-Crook

NNN0LHI

(67,190 posts)
56. I was 26 at the time and remember telling my kids the same thing
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 09:26 PM
Jul 2012

They were young then, 6 and 7, but they both remember me telling them.

Don

 

bowens43

(16,064 posts)
57. Absolutely.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 09:30 PM
Jul 2012

I knew that America was finished. A grade b movie star , babbling idiot in the oval office...

Nay

(12,051 posts)
64. Yeah. Mr Nay and I did. We tried to emigrate to Australia. Didn't make it, got stuck here, and
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 09:54 PM
Jul 2012

now that Sonny Nay has a Grandson Nay, we'll be here til we croak just so we can see the family. but we're going to spend LOTS of time in Canada when we retire.

 

randome

(34,845 posts)
65. Yeah, you're right. We're finished.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:01 PM
Jul 2012

May as well lay down in front of the next bus that comes around.

Jesus, what defeatism. I was around that day when Reagan took office. We've experienced 30 years of Republican rule and they are at their weakest now.

PNAC. The toxicity of Bush, Jr. Palin. Romney. I have always resisted the allure of optimism because it spoils one's view of Reality.

But I see things changing for the better now. It's a sea change but the Republicans are floundering. We are not done yet!

SteveG

(3,109 posts)
66. Yup
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:02 PM
Jul 2012

Within a couple of weeks I became a card carrying member of both the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

gopiscrap

(23,674 posts)
67. I did and I have said it a million times
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:05 PM
Jul 2012

that diaper wearing piece of shit called reagan was the worst president we've ever had!

MuseRider

(34,058 posts)
69. Oh yes.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:09 PM
Jul 2012

To me it seemed like everything that had come about beforehand that was good and positive for people both as a society and individually stopped. It just stopped. Our baser instincts were celebrated and here we are. We have declined continually since then.

The hostage crisis was obviously used for Reagan to be elected. Hardly anybody was paying attention but those who did knew that the hostages would be saved only by Reagan.

The way Carter was savaged over his energy saving ideas and the way we went headlong to use everything and anything without thought to the future. After all we deserved it NOW, right? Greed? Well if you are greedy that is OK, that is just the way you are. Same with anything else, no reason to lift up all because some people don't deserve good things and they especially don't deserve your hard earned money. Tough luck for some is good luck for others.

We lost our desire to achieve greatness. We lost our desire to perfect ourselves. We lost our desire for enlightenment. We stopped wanting to help others so that all could be educated well and live the best to their ability. I believe the bumpersticker He Who Dies With The Most Toys Wins came out of those days. <----not certain but it explained exactly where we were shortly after his election. It is just another outrage I remember seeing around that time.

Yes Don. I was hardly paying a lot of attention at that time but I was stunned and shocked, but not surprised by how things changed and how quickly it did. Once we unleashed ourselves and celebrated our most base characteristics we were done. Difficult to raise ourselves back up, after all Limbaugh (I believe he came about during the Reagan administration) and all the others who have crawled out from under their rocks make that seem pure silliness.

NBachers

(17,001 posts)
70. And then, with great fanfare, he took the solar panels off the roof of the White House
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:10 PM
Jul 2012

How can I shift to the parallel reality where all the right things happened?

Somehow, I think we could go to any point in human history and find that these same evil creeps are pulling the same atrocious shit.

 

Spitfire of ATJ

(32,723 posts)
71. A lot of people thought it would be a Hollywood Era for Washington.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:10 PM
Jul 2012

[img][/img]

Who would have thought he would cut deals with Iran?

Or maybe he really was a dumbass and Poppy Bush was running the show.

If that's the case The Bush Crime Family Dynasty lasted 20 years.

TuxedoKat

(3,818 posts)
73. Yes, sadly
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:16 PM
Jul 2012

I couldn't believe that people couldn't see through him, couldn't believe that they'd voted for him. A sad day indeed.

We are Devo

(193 posts)
75. I was only 17..
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:20 PM
Jul 2012

and even I knew it was the end. My older brother was royally pissed-off that Reagan won...

unblock

(51,974 posts)
79. see if you can find a book called "ronald reagan: political chameleon"
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:30 PM
Jul 2012

written by pat brown (jerry brown's father and governor of california before reagan).

he wrote during the 1975-76 presidential campaign when reagan was trying to beat ford for the republican nomination.

it's been eons since i've read it and i no longer have a copy, but i recall him arguing quite passionately that reagan would be a national disaster of epic proportions.

and he was right.

whatever else reagan did, he built up and set in motion the machine that keeps on giving us ever more concentration of wealth, ever more deregulation, and ever more ridiculous political debate and dynamics.

for all of shrub's damage, he was just playing a role, just following a trail that was blazed by reagan and his crew.

and rmoney would be nothing more or less than another in what i fear may be a long line of presidential disasters.

Zen Democrat

(5,901 posts)
80. Me too. I sat down and wrote a letter to President Carter, apologizing for the American people.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:35 PM
Jul 2012

Who got the government they deserved because they weren't paying attention and didn't detect the media scam. I remain convinced that the Republicans worked a deal with the Iranians to hold our hostages until the minute Reagan took office. First they overthrew Kennedy, then Carter. They worked an impeachment diversion with Clinton to cover all the financial shenanigans in Congress, including the repeal of Glass-Steagall, etc. Now it's Obama's turn to be the recipient of the demeaning lies, rank hypocrisy and utter slander. It's their MO.

potone

(1,701 posts)
81. Yep, me too.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:38 PM
Jul 2012

I felt sick, and to make it worse, I was on the West Coast at the time, and Carter conceded before the polls there had closed. Although I had voted, a lot of persons there hadn't had the chance to do so, and in effect were disenfranchised. That election was the beginning of the end of many good things about this country. It enrages me that the Reagan years have been whitewashed to make it seem that he was universally loved, rather than being the very divisive president that he was.

madrchsod

(58,162 posts)
83. for me it was 1976-77 when the IAM elected william winpisinger
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:50 PM
Jul 2012

i remembered reading the iam newspapers about jobs leaving america and the banks refusing to fund america`s new machines that made machines. so thinking my memory is fuzzy i decided to look up the union papers from those years and dam he knew what was going to happen.

carter was the first president to deregulate....then reagan and his boys in the basement finished us off...

lunatica

(53,410 posts)
84. It was a very bad day for me too
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 10:54 PM
Jul 2012

But the day the Supreme Court selected Bush was what clinched it for me.

SnohoDem

(1,036 posts)
86. No,
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 11:18 PM
Jul 2012

I remember being shocked that Reagan won the election. I wasn't very aware of CA politics so I only knew Reagan from Death Valley Days and had been outside the US during the campaign and election. I could not believe he had been elected president.

From what I recall, it took about a year for it to sink in, how stupid and damaging his policies were. When he was re-elected, THAT's when I knew we were screwed. Until then I had assumed the country could survive a bad president for one term. It was Reagan's re-election that made it obvious to me that the 'pugs had figured out how to get millions to vote against their own self interests, so we were screwed.

I have long (like fifteen years) viewed Reagan's election as the turning point. It has only become more obvious through the years.

I would like to say I was that prescient, but I wasn't.


yardwork

(61,417 posts)
87. Yes, I remember feeling that way, and we were right.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 11:18 PM
Jul 2012

The Moral Majority elected Reagan and they are worse than ever.

ThoughtCriminal

(14,010 posts)
88. Worse
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 11:29 PM
Jul 2012

I was afraid that within a few years, much the world would be a radioactive wasteland.

We may have come closer to that than most people realize during the 1983 Soviet War Scare

trackfan

(3,650 posts)
90. I rooted for Reagan for the R nomination beacause I thought he would lose 60%-40%.
Mon Jul 23, 2012, 11:31 PM
Jul 2012

Rosalynn Carter said in her book that she and and the President felt the same way. They were thrilled that Reagan, an unelectable reactionary, won the nomination. Unfortunately, we were wrong, and the country has been screwed ever since.

raouldukelives

(5,178 posts)
92. Nope, I didn't really feel that way til Poppa Bush was elected.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 12:09 AM
Jul 2012

Still being so young with the Reagan election I felt it was only a matter of time before all the old warmongering villains would all die off and we would usher in a new era of freedom & democracy.
I even slightly held that hope until Desert Storm. Then I started to realize they were just grooming a new generation of evilness. Of money over humanity and false patriotism guided into killing poor people for a little slice of the American dream.
We've been attacking people for so long now that some of the younger Dems I meet really have no issue with it all. It's a good job with benefits!

MrMickeysMom

(20,453 posts)
93. Shortly after that, N...
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 12:11 AM
Jul 2012

I recall reading a little something about the "October surprise"...

In between wondering why Reagan never seemed to hear what the press was trying to ask him.... in between wondering why all of a sudden, we needed to hear from Nancy, "Just say no!".

All the while, thinking... "I don't understand what's happening to the presidency or this country."

young_at_heart

(3,758 posts)
94. Darrell Issa wants to rename coastal water zones after Reagan
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 12:23 AM
Jul 2012

Rep. Darrell Issa, is re-introducing a piece of legislation that would name all of this water after Ronald Reagan. H.R. 6147 would "designate the exclusive economic zone of the United States as the 'Ronald Wilson Reagan Exclusive Economic Zone." I want to throw up!!!

AndyTiedye

(23,500 posts)
96. Yeah
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 12:30 AM
Jul 2012

Reagan is not something a country can every really recover from.
Like Rome never recovered from Nero.

dogknob

(2,431 posts)
97. How about December 8, 1980...
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 12:36 AM
Jul 2012

When President-Elect Reagan's party was finally rid of one of their top enemies in what has to be one of the best examples of perfect timing seen in politics during (most of) our lifetimes?

frogmarch

(12,145 posts)
98. And to make it even worse,
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 12:48 AM
Jul 2012

circumstances came together in such a way as to make it appear that Ayatollah Khomeini released the hostages because he was afraid of Reagan, the new American president. The announcement that they'd been freed came immediately after Reagan's inaugural speech.

I don't recall every calling Reagan "president Reagan," the president," or even "Ronald Reagan." I always referred to him as "dipshit," and everyone knew who I was talking about.

 

coalition_unwilling

(14,180 posts)
99. Actually August 5, 1981 was the death knell (when Reagan
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 01:03 AM
Jul 2012

fired the PATCO controllers who refused to return to work and the AFL-CIO did not call a general strike to shut the country down). IOW, the largest labor union in the country sided with a ruthless strike-breaker. IIRC, AFL-CIO chief Lane Kirkland was particularly obnoxious in his craven submission towards Reagan's using the U.S. military as scabs.

loudsue

(14,087 posts)
129. That's what a lot of people never realized -- breaking the unions was the
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 02:04 PM
Jul 2012

rallying point of the wingnuts since their decision to implement the Powell Manifesto in the 70's.

And the deregulation of the banks was their big coup de gras.

These two issues began the slide back to the robber baron era we find ourselves in now.

 

coalition_unwilling

(14,180 posts)
130. Grammar\usage Nazi here: 'coup de grace' (meaning the final
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 02:07 PM
Jul 2012

blow) as opposed to 'coup de gras' (which would mean literally a 'cut of fat'?). Actually, come to think of it, 'cut of fat' has a certain je ne sais quoi to it and may actually be very a propos

Other than that little note, it's the Gilded Age v 2.0. 6 WalMart heirs control as much wealth as the bottom 30 million Americans.

This country makes me sick.

freshwest

(53,661 posts)
100. It made me physically ill. Strangely enough, it was worse than the Duyba theft for me.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 01:14 AM
Jul 2012

Definitely saw the writing on the wall then.

The Moving Finger writes and having writ,
Moves on; nor all your piety nor wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a line,
Nor all your tears blot out a word of it.

~ The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.

And here we are, we have no choice but to fight and endure.



 

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)
106. Not by a longshot
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 02:30 AM
Jul 2012

EPA
Strategic Arms Limitations Talks
Diplomatic Relations with China
Paris Peace Talks

Nixon was a nut, but he wasn't bent on marching boldly to Armaggedon.

 

hifiguy

(33,688 posts)
133. Correct. Nixon's demons were personal to Nixon.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 03:07 PM
Jul 2012

He had an inferiority complex the size of Mount Rushmore and was a paranoid. He was not the front/bag man for the plutocracy in anything like the way Reagan the Simple was.

 

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)
135. The Checkers Speech is really breathtaking in some respects
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 03:41 PM
Jul 2012

Not the cute line about the dog, but the fact that he could give a complete financial disclosure in a few minutes.

It's interesting that people seize on the "I'm not a crook" line. He seems to have understood the "crook" allegation to be confined to some kind of financial impropriety, and not the manner in which he exercised, and in some instances abused, political power. He seems to have realized that in the "then you destroy yourself" line in his resignation speech to his staff. It's too bad that certain members of his staff, who went on to other things, never got that point, as it was a breeding ground for the likes of Karl Rove.

But what hits me about the itemized financial disclosure in the Checkers speech is that, at that time, his personal finances were quite modest for a run of the mill lawyer in California before the real estate boom, and solidly middle class.

His, "lets talk to them" approach to international relations was also consistent with his Quaker background, despite his efforts to obtain a "victory" in Vietnam before putting serious effort into the Paris Peace Talks.

But, as a politician, his response to perceived enemies was clean out of the Captain Queeg Memorial Ballpark.

IMHO, history will be kinder to Nixon than we were at the time.

leathm

(2 posts)
153. Strike, but thanks for playing
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 09:06 PM
Jul 2012

This is the date of the first meeting of The "National Security Counsel" The lock box the keeps the democracy from working like it should, to many sectets, granted it was who Truman passed the National Security Act, but Nixon's boys put it in to play in every day politicking. Democracy doesn't work with out a well informed electorate, in the National Security State we are no longer well informed.

bbgrunt

(5,281 posts)
102. that election was the first time I was totally dumbfounded by
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 01:22 AM
Jul 2012

the abundance of stupidity and ignorance in this country. The 1963 assassination was horrific and bewildering, but it seemed like it was caused by external forces--not something that was brought on by mass stupidity. It was bad but there was always hope for some kind of reversal in direction that was possible if good people just demanded better......

Even though that turned out to be an illusion, the Reagan election stomped out any hope that people in this country had enough sense in enough abundance to overcome the evil forces.

Despite all that, I maintained a kernel of optimism that things could get better--until 2004. That was the end of hope for me.

doccraig67

(86 posts)
105. The first time my union contract came up for renewal.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 01:44 AM
Jul 2012

I worked for the Railroad and previously had received a 33% increase for 3 yrs. That went to 9% first contract under Reagan. We struck were ordered back to work and put under arbitration. The Railroad got everything they asked for. It was downhill after that.

Douglas Carpenter

(20,226 posts)
110. Society seemed to have lost interest in listening to the better angels of its nature since then.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 03:09 AM
Jul 2012

However, some progress has been made on some social issues since then. For example, America and most of the world is certainly a better place for the vast majority of gay people than it was in those days. It would have been inconceivable in 1980 that America could elect an African-American president. Opportunities for women and people of color are certainly better now than then. Progress (or steps backward for that matter) are usually not a uniform thing. As we go backwards in some ways we go forward in others. Hopefully at some point this Reagan-reactionary web will run its course and the world can start moving forward again more uniformly in matters of social and economic justice and a more enlightened foreign policy.

quaker bill

(8,223 posts)
112. Not sure I went that far
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 06:36 AM
Jul 2012

I was very sure we were hosed in a bad way. I think it took me a year or two of Reagan to understand fully how bad it was. My (soon to be) ex went from working in the public schools to the DOD. Things personally went downhill very quickly from there. On the upside, I found Quakers and started working more actively for peace.

1-Old-Man

(2,667 posts)
115. I was stunned by the election of 1980, I dam near cried
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 07:45 AM
Jul 2012

But I could not imagine that it was really the beginning of the end. The only day in my life that was worse politically was the day the Supreme Court stole the election of 2000 from Al Gore.

madokie

(51,076 posts)
117. I sure did and I'm sure many of us here did
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 07:50 AM
Jul 2012

It was like a punch in the gut when they took the whitehouse
Our country has gone down hill ever since.

99Forever

(14,524 posts)
122. Didn't know it for sure, but...
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 10:28 AM
Jul 2012

.. knew having that POS in the White House was very bad news. I absolutely detest EVERYTHING Ronnie Raygun, including "20 mule team Borax."

bvar22

(39,909 posts)
124. No. I didn't.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 01:06 PM
Jul 2012

I knew that things were bad,
but I STILL had strong faith in the Opposition Party that would right all the wrongs,
and I went to work for the Opposition Party.

I didn't realize how fucked we truly were until half way through the Clinton Administration.
THAT is when I realized that there WAS NO "Opposition Party" anymore.

While I have many "issues" with the Centrist Clinton Administration,
what bothers me most are the things he did NOT do.
What he did NOT do was make any attempt to Roll Back the damage that the Reagan Administration did to UNIONS and the Working Class.



deutsey

(20,166 posts)
125. I was in 11th grade and remember being very saddened by the election
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 01:12 PM
Jul 2012

I thought it was going to be much closer and that Carter would squeak by in a victory.

Shows how much I knew.

It wasn't until '84 that I began to realize that the country I grew up in was dead and gone.

bettydavis

(93 posts)
126. OMG I do I do! and I was 9 yrs old...
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 01:26 PM
Jul 2012

I frickin cried. I just KNEW something was wrong with Ronnie...Old men don't have jet black hair like that.

nolabels

(13,133 posts)
127. The day they snuffed JFK
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 01:34 PM
Jul 2012

We have been on downhill slide since that moment (At least as far i can tell from from spending ten years hanging around DU )

Hydra

(14,459 posts)
131. The Lost World
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 02:49 PM
Jul 2012

I was about 3 when it happened. I've sparred with any number of smart people of the older generations, but I found something odd. They all say I'm pessimistic and that "the world doesn't work like that!".

For a long time, I didn't get it. I just tell it like it is. Then I had a revelation- the world was different before then. There were possibilities, opportunities, dreams that could be realized. Now, those things live only in the realm of unfounded hopes.

Maybe the strongest evidence of how much changed is that I can't really believe the world people insist existed before that was real. For what it's worth, I hope it did exist...but based on my research, it's all been a myth and shared delusion. The same faces and names throughout history, living like kings and destroying the world for their amusement.

DearHeart

(692 posts)
138. I think it started it was diagnosed as terminal on Jan 20, 1981...
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 05:17 PM
Jul 2012

but died on December 12, 2000 with the appointment of Bush as President.

valerief

(53,235 posts)
139. Yep. It was unfathomable to me that Reagan got elected/selected/whatever.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 05:48 PM
Jul 2012

The monsters have been shitting where they sleep since then.

byronius

(7,369 posts)
142. My first election, and yes, I knew exactly what had happened to us.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 06:00 PM
Jul 2012

Fucking Reagan. The pleasant face of evil.

duhneece

(4,105 posts)
144. My mom did
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 06:19 PM
Jul 2012

She became active in Orange County CA Democratic Party while I berated her for turning her back on the 'vote for the person, not the party' theme both my parents expressed when I was growing up in the 60's. I didn't register as a Democrat until after she died in 1988, as I was remained under the illusion that there was little difference between both parties for a long time. Now, I recognize the grayness, not seeing the Dem Party as 100% 'pure', but I know to my bones that it is much, much more rational, compassionate, long-sighted, honorable, sane than the Republican party today.

lastlib

(22,981 posts)
146. Yep.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 06:37 PM
Jul 2012

Hadn't cried that much since my grandmother died in 1968, when I was 9. But I knew when Reagan was elected that America was headed for the shitter, and I haven't been able to stop it. Didn't cry that much again until StupidSon made his victory speech in Dec. 2000 after the Supreme Court selected him to occupy the White House.

Yep, we were fucked that day, and the fucking hasn't stopped since--it just got a little gentler when Clinton was in the WH.

 

Arugula Latte

(50,566 posts)
147. I remember begging my parents to not vote for that fuckwad Reagan.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 06:58 PM
Jul 2012

They didn't listen.

They eventually wised up, and voted for Clinton.

However, I thought the country would eventually come to its senses, but it dropped deeper and deeper into insanity.

Go Vols

(5,902 posts)
148. I remember the day well.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 07:02 PM
Jul 2012

Started telling people that day it was very possibly the beginning of the end life as we had known it.

caseymoz

(5,763 posts)
149. No, I have to admit it.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 07:05 PM
Jul 2012

I was young, ill-informed, had an open mind, lived in a conservative city, and too many of my friends were reading Ayn Rand. (I think they must be Tea Partiers now.)

Technically speaking, we weren't finished then, and we're not really finished now. If you want, you could just as well mark "finished" at the end of the Vietnam War or the resignation of Richard Nixon. I think they both caused resentments and alienation that led to the Repubs turning right. Resentment about student protesters prompted a cutting of funds to higher education, changing it from a grant to more of a loan based system and cutting funding to State Colleges. Vietnam also caused a pretty serious recession when it ended, hence Carter's stagflation.

But if you had to find a place where citizens together made the worst choice, I agree, it would have been in electing Reagan.

Recently, I have reflected on how much worse the world turned out compared to the future I thought it would have. We, in fact, live in a dsystopia that's almost a parody of the SF stories popular at the time.

 

mick063

(2,424 posts)
150. I was born in 1958
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 07:12 PM
Jul 2012

I have watched it all unfold. I have watched the GOP become collectively insane.

But I will disagree with the premise of this thread. The real "beginning of the end" started with Fox News. Before then, there was.always hope the country could be saved. America was still largely Democratic as indicated by the long reign in Congress.

Fox News gave radicals a forum that previously wasn't available. Fox News accelerated the nose dive. Fox News converted apathy into evil.

There is no saving America with Fox News solvent.

It really is that simple.

barbtries

(28,702 posts)
151. i didn't.
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 07:14 PM
Jul 2012

i was disgusted and i stayed that way, but i was also raising young children and not paying much attention.

DonCoquixote

(13,615 posts)
152. Not finished, but injured
Tue Jul 24, 2012, 07:28 PM
Jul 2012

The real death blow came when Kerry was rejected for Bush II.

Now, John Kerry had many great qualities, qualities that have not been seen in ANY Democratic candidate in recent memory. Yes, I do include BOTH Clintons and Obama in this statement.

This man was both a war hero, and a war protestor. He knew what young kids were dealing with getting shot up in a messed up war.
This man had a sterling record in the Senate, a long track record of leaning left.
Yes, Edwards fell from grace, but at that time, he was someone actually willing to speak about "that other America" that gets the shaft, in ways that no one has done since.

However, he gpot swift boated. Also, there were many democrats who were waging the "protest not vote" strategy that worked so damned well in 2000. Even Garry Treadu called him Herman Munster.

And then dean had to go YEEEE-Haw! in a blatant attempt to become the guy "confederate flag" types would like.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x195077

And indeed, his 50 state strategy, while having noble intent, did indeed open the door for just those sort of Democrats, though Bill Clinton sure helped set it up. Now, the Democrats thought they would have 'supermajorities", not realizing that not only did the Foxy Dinos sneak into the henhouse, they stole the farmer's gun, as evidenced by the fact that no one DARED slap down Joe Lieberman for outright treason.

Are we fully dead?, no, because we have endured worse. But while we may get better, we will still have the scars, and there is no way that Asia will let us become the superpower again. Hell, at this point, even the almighty European Union looks very wobbly, again due to it's own share of hubris, and people thinking that they should not have to pull another weight than their own. Of course, the great societies realize that the burden of one becomes the burden of all, and in 2004, we all forgot that, and as a result, we will have to admit we elected W. once.

Brewinblue

(392 posts)
158. It wasn't really his election as POTUS in 1980,
Sat Jul 28, 2012, 09:44 AM
Jul 2012

it actually started with his governorship in California starting, as I recall, in 1966 -- hell, I was only 6 and still knew he was a schmuck. At that point he took the greatest public school and university system in the country and began dismantling it, along with similar destruction of the nation's best healthcare system.

The real kicker though was the passage of Proposition 13, which essentially bankrupted every California county, city, school district, and other public service organization. All of this done in the name of Reaganism.

And yet, he is probably a better person than W or Mittens. Our country has sunk to lows beyond imagination.

VOX

(22,976 posts)
159. 11/22/63 shut the coffin, 1968 nailed it shut.
Sat Jul 28, 2012, 10:31 AM
Jul 2012

With JFK done away with, KBR (Halliburton) and other bloodsuckers got their ill-fated but profitable (for corporations) quagmire-war in Vietnam. 1968, with the murders of MLK, Jr. and RFK, killed off any glimmer of hope that the nation would ever reverse course. Things never recovered from the carnage of '68 -- it opened the door for Nixon and his crew of right-wing henchmen, some of whom are PNAC signatories who enabled the Gulf War and the illegal invasion of Iraq (more lucrative war endeavors for many of the same players).

1968 was the right-wing's watershed year; Reagan was the second deadly act in a play that's run with little interruption since.

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