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The wit of Ronald Reagan and the lack thereof among many politicians

TheEconomist

TheEconomist

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Being born after Reagan left office, I must admit that I never listened to a speech he gave so I thought I might take a minute and see what he had to say. Some people made compilations of Reagan's comments and comebacks during debates, interviews and press conferences. So, I click on one of them to see why someone would do that.



Around 0:20, a journalist asks Reagan about the recession. The journalist reminds Reagan that he blamed past administrations and that he blamed Congress before asking him if any blame befalls him. Reagan then pulls an absurdly witty reply: "Yes, because for many years I was a Democrat." Agree or not with his agenda, that is quite the burn and it doesn't seem to have been an isolated incident.

I have heard people on the left portray him as a dim-witted dunce, but dim-wits don't turn insults into weapons to have them blow right back in your face. God knows Kamala Harris would have killed for that kind of witty repartee when Tulsi Gabbard caught her pants down during the second debate of this year. Again, regardless of your opinion of either of those candidates, the point here is that Harris got rather savagely attacked and didn't offer a strong response. This is hard to dispute given that Harris started to talk smack about Gabbard the following day -- you know, once she was alone in an interview without Gabbard present to respond.


So, that's the background information. Let's talk about moments when politicians were peculiarly witty and moments where they just missed the boat.
 
TheEconomist said:
Being born after Reagan left office, I must admit that I never listened to a speech he gave so I thought I might take a minute and see what he had to say. Some people made compilations of Reagan's comments and comebacks during debates, interviews and press conferences. So, I click on one of them to see why someone would do that.



Around 0:20, a journalist asks Reagan about the recession. The journalist reminds Reagan that he blamed past administrations and that he blamed Congress before asking him if any blame befalls him. Reagan then pulls an absurdly witty reply: "Yes, because for many years I was a Democrat." Agree or not with his agenda, that is quite the burn and it doesn't seem to have been an isolated incident.

I have heard people on the left portray him as a dim-witted dunce, but dim-wits don't turn insults into weapons to have them blow right back in your face. God knows Kamala Harris would have killed for that kind of witty repartee when Tulsi Gabbard caught her pants down during the second debate of this year. Again, regardless of your opinion of either of those candidates, the point here is that Harris got rather savagely attacked and didn't offer a strong response. This is hard to dispute given that Harris started to talk smack about Gabbard the following day -- you know, once she was alone in an interview without Gabbard present to respond.


So, that's the background information. Let's talk about moments when politicians were peculiarly witty and moments where they just missed the boat.
Click to expand...


Witty? It's the truth. He was a union president too, before he fired all the air traffic controllers in America and put military in their seats until replacements could be trained. That's not wit. That's just a flip-flopper describing a flip-flop. Same could be said about Trump donating to Hillary Clinton's campaign against Obama. He was a Democrat then, too.
Reagan increased the deficit something like 150% in the name of conservative economic responsibility. He sold weapons to Iran secretly and illegally to get money to fund Central American terrorists. Witty? Used to be a Democrat? Reagan deserves to be remembered as an embarrassing moment in American history.
 
TheEconomist said:
Being born after Reagan left office, I must admit that I never listened to a speech he gave so I thought I might take a minute and see what he had to say. Some people made compilations of Reagan's comments and comebacks during debates, interviews and press conferences. So, I click on one of them to see why someone would do that.



Around 0:20, a journalist asks Reagan about the recession. The journalist reminds Reagan that he blamed past administrations and that he blamed Congress before asking him if any blame befalls him. Reagan then pulls an absurdly witty reply: "Yes, because for many years I was a Democrat." Agree or not with his agenda, that is quite the burn and it doesn't seem to have been an isolated incident.

I have heard people on the left portray him as a dim-witted dunce, but dim-wits don't turn insults into weapons to have them blow right back in your face. God knows Kamala Harris would have killed for that kind of witty repartee when Tulsi Gabbard caught her pants down during the second debate of this year. Again, regardless of your opinion of either of those candidates, the point here is that Harris got rather savagely attacked and didn't offer a strong response. This is hard to dispute given that Harris started to talk smack about Gabbard the following day -- you know, once she was alone in an interview without Gabbard present to respond.


So, that's the background information. Let's talk about moments when politicians were peculiarly witty and moments where they just missed the boat.
Click to expand...


I got one for you. Someone told Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau that Richard Nixon had called him an asshole and he said, "Well, I've been called worse things by better men."
 
I think Sen. Bob Dole was the funniest politician in my lifetime. Great, great, very dry sense of humor.

 
Grand Mal said:
Witty? It's the truth. He was a union president too before he fired all the air traffic controllers in America and put the military in their seats until replacements could be trained. That's not wit. That's just a flip-flopper describing a flip-flop.
Click to expand...

Witty replies usually are true. It's easier to build a lie to get out of trouble than it is to bring up something absolutely correct in a favorable light. In response to the question brought up by the journalist, many people would have tried to restate their arguments to defend their view that the blame belongs mostly on others. The question is not exactly easy to answer because trying to further incriminate other people would immediately put your integrity in doubt. It actually calls for you to confess to some shortcoming and it's not easy to do that while coming out looking good, let alone while doubling down on criticizing other people. Yet, that's exactly what Reagan did. I'm sorry, but idiots don't reply that well and that quick when pressured.

Grand Mal said:
Reagan increased the deficit something like 150% in the name of conservative economic responsibility. He sold weapons to Iran secretly and illegally to get money to fund Central American terrorists. (...) Reagan deserves to be remembered as an embarrassing moment in American history.
Click to expand...

He also managed to push some, though not all of his agenda forward while working with Democrat majorities and largely contributed to the demise of communism. But if you want to evaluate the Reagan administration per its own lights, you would have to look into how the deficit increased under Reagan. He did push forward cuts to tax rates, but tax revenues increased quite rapidly under his administration. He's not exactly to blame for the massive expansion of welfare programs and regulatory agencies which Democrats put in place during the 1960s and 1970s. How those things impacted the budget is also worth thinking about. Yet, you seem to insist that he be considered in as bad a light as possible.
 
Grand Mal said:
I got one for you. Someone told Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau that Richard Nixon had called him an asshole and he said, "Well, I've been called worse things by better men."
Click to expand...

That is a good one.
 
During the 1980 campaign against Jimmy Carter, Reagan was older than Trump and Clinton at the same point. Age came up as a potential issue. A reporter asked him about it. His reply, " I do not plan to make an issue of my opponent's youth and inexperience." The issue died there.

I agree about Bob Dole. Deadly sense of humor. It's too bad it didn't come across on TV.
 
TheEconomist said:
Being born after Reagan left office, I must admit that I never listened to a speech he gave so I thought I might take a minute and see what he had to say. Some people made compilations of Reagan's comments and comebacks during debates, interviews and press conferences. So, I click on one of them to see why someone would do that.



Around 0:20, a journalist asks Reagan about the recession. The journalist reminds Reagan that he blamed past administrations and that he blamed Congress before asking him if any blame befalls him. Reagan then pulls an absurdly witty reply: "Yes, because for many years I was a Democrat." Agree or not with his agenda, that is quite the burn and it doesn't seem to have been an isolated incident.

I have heard people on the left portray him as a dim-witted dunce, but dim-wits don't turn insults into weapons to have them blow right back in your face. God knows Kamala Harris would have killed for that kind of witty repartee when Tulsi Gabbard caught her pants down during the second debate of this year. Again, regardless of your opinion of either of those candidates, the point here is that Harris got rather savagely attacked and didn't offer a strong response. This is hard to dispute given that Harris started to talk smack about Gabbard the following day -- you know, once she was alone in an interview without Gabbard present to respond.


So, that's the background information. Let's talk about moments when politicians were peculiarly witty and moments where they just missed the boat.
Click to expand...


TheEconomist:

Prior to being the head of the screen actor's guild, governor of California and later POTUS, he was an actor. He had very good speech writers and staff to prepare him for speeches. He had some wit of his own but gradually and especially in his second term, he lost his wits through no fault of his own and was even more heavily managed by his wife and staff. A cruel fate for any man and especially for a sitting POTUS. But a cult has risen up around Ronald Reagan much like one did around the Kennedys and his shortcomings have faded into the background due to adoration.

Cheers.
Evilroddy.
 
Reagan was a great leader when the country needed a great leader. After Vietnam, Iranian Hostage crisis, the oil shortages, and all the rest the country needed a leader to unify it.. Reagan did that.. His presidential actions on the other hand left a lot to be desired.

But he was a conservative, but not a mean spirited Con.. He wasn't perfect but he was a hell of a lot closer to 'true' Conservatism than the phony vile Cons of today.

And he worked with the Dems. Contrast that with what's going on now in the revenge filled playground bullies who are dividing the country instead of unifying it in GOP nowadays...

Reagan must be spinning in his grave.
 
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