Did the USA's decline start when we elected an actor as President?

Question

I have looked at this period in history and there is a direct correlation between Reganomics, Iran-Contra, lack of trust and the world's dim view of America......

Are we going to compound our problems by repeating this error of judgement by electing Thompson?

Answer 1

No, it started when Senators were tapping their feet and presidents were tapping their interns.

Answer 2

I loved Ronald. He brought honor to the office. He and Nancy were loyal to each other until the end and she remains loyal in honoring his name. She never did anything to disgrace him and vice versa. He made us proud of America and yes-he was a liberal during his days as an actor. I'm from Minnesota where Jesse Ventura was elected as governor and he won solely based upon the fact that he was the opposite of any other official. He had no platform-in fact he spent most of his time shooting his big mouth off so I can not equate this type of person with Ronny. Is someone's former profession ever okay with anyone when running for office? Would anyone be happy if someone running was a pig farmer from Minnesota? We do what we have to do to make a living and that is what people should look at.

Answer 3

Yes. Regan initiated the ongoing decline, remember PATCO, the air traffic controllers he summarily fired, this began the decline of labor unions which is a major factor in the shrinking of the middle class and the lower classes downward slide. I am glad to see someone has looked at history objectively and noted some of the ramifications of the Regan presidency. Throughout this period in time the major beneficiaries have been the most wealthy of Americans and Corporations.

Answer 4

It really started with the JFK assassination. The Reagan-Bush admin. was when the neo-cons came out from under their rock. Reagan was elected using fraud. The committee to elect Reagan sent a secret delegation to Iran to bargain with the terrorists that were holding the 52 American hostages to hold them until AFTER the elections! That is TREASON! But yet he was elected,and we suffered ! We got AIDS,and got addicted to crack during the Reagan-Bush years! The economy went south and businesses went off-shore. It's been a long dirty trip to where we are today.
Thompson is a phony ! He's the perfect guy for the neo-cons!

Answer 5

Thompson is no Reagan. Thompson is a the ultimate political insider (with all of the baggage that carries) who has been a lobbyist for causes that most would not support. All of his character flaws will be revealed during the next few months. He will not be elected President.

Answer 6

I doubt Thompson will last, he has had trouble raising funds and he seems reluctant to appear in venues where he isn't in control, he also has considerable problems with the groups he represented as a lobbyist. He wasn't a particularly well thought of senator either in his one term. No laws bear his name. He may look good only because we don't know much about him.
Reagan's view of the world, and the subsequent nostalgia we have for him speaks to the revisionist history of the Neocon movement, and their very selective memory. Something they still seem to count on.
I think the general American population is annoyed enough by the current administration to vote the party out, unless something happens that Bush handles well. Don't hold your breath on that.

Answer 7

Our decline started soon after we reached our apex at the end of WW2, we involved the world in a nuclear standoff with the Soviet Union that many soon came to realize threatened the very existence of the human species. We installed and supported brutal dictatorships throughout the world that were just as bad if not worse than communist rule. We overthrew the Shah in Iran in 1953, opposed Vietnamese reunification and caused that war, overthrew a democracy in Chile, etc,..

Answer 8

The " DECLINE OF THE U.S.A". began AFTER Lyndon Baines Johnson began sending the American military into FRENCH INDO CHINA, which he, and Mc Namara, renamed- officially VIET NAM !!!!
That travesty, the JOHNSON- MCNAMARA WAR / FIASCO cost the USA 29,708 GREAT - HONORABLE MEN / and WOMEN and proved to the world that the USA was vulnerable !!!! Not only venerable, but led by foolish politicians and with out the benefits of our previous military leadership !!! THE EXCEPTION TO THE ABOVE, WAS DESERT STORM, LED BY A GREAT MILITARY COMMANDER, GEN. SWARTZCOFF !!! Tho Gen Swartzcoff was not perfect, he was MANY , MANY times greater than those between L.B.J. / MCNAMARA, and HIMSELF !!!!
Uncle Wil

Answer 9

Reagan was an honorable man, as far as I know. I think in-part, it started with Clinton. Him pounding his fist on the podium, looking right at me (the camera) and saying, "I did not have sex with that woman... Mrs. Lewinsky"

Putting ones self, and even their constituents, ahead of what is best for the entire country.
We cannot be strong alone; we have to unite on issues and resolve them with an eye on what best for the entire country.
I don’t know much about Thompson but I will, he seems to be an honorable man, so I will with hold judgment for now.

Some politicians will tell whatever group they are talking to what they want to hear, without regard to the long term effects, except to their political career.

Answer 10

I think it could be traced back to Truman and the inception of the CIA, but one could go farther back to the creation of the Fed and the removal from the American people the exclusive right to coin and distribute money.

Answer 11

Hell No ! When We elected Ronald Reagan President, He had already overseen the world's 5th strongest economy, The State of California and had helped CA through the last of The Nam Years. America's decline began when we put The Rednecks in Power ! Aint nothing been the same since !