Second Worst President in US History.

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 2:48 pm

The current highest assessed risk is that of an irrational actor (state or non-state) popping a boosted nuke at altitude for EMP. It is not a surface detonation. Depending on who and where it could have a devastating impact on the global system.
We have talked on this before.

I would think a dirty bomb to be more likely. A lot of stuff is actually EMP hardened these days. There was a really good article that I read somewhere that was (for a refreshing change) not alarmist and seeking readers with apocalyptic headlines. This is why it probably was not read by many. Anyway, they came to the conclusion that the real damage is going to be smaller than what most people think.

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 3:57 pm

Skipjack wrote:
and he probably believed those laser powered space battle stations were possible.
I dont think he seriously believed that. I was not even a teenager back then and I thought it was ridiculous.

You do realize that Edward Teller was backing this program?

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 4:02 pm

GIThruster wrote:Lot of people offering a lot of ignorance on the issue of SDI.

Before you blather about what is and is not possible, you should remember that while the Soviet's general tactic during the cold war was to exaggerate their abilities, it was the US's tactic to minimize them. We habitually for decades had far more ability than the Soviets knew about and that is still true today, in many different kinds of programs. The US has all sorts of programs the public does not know about. Remember, we flew F-117's for more than a decade before deliberately making them public knowledge, and those F-117's were removed from service several years back now. They were replaced by something, as was the Blackbird. Who here that is blathering about what SDI did not accomplish has any idea what replaced the Nighthawk and Blackbird?

And let us not forget that it was that Moron Jimmy Carter that spilled the beans on the F-117s.

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 4:03 pm

williatw wrote:
Skipjack wrote:
and he probably believed those laser powered space battle stations were possible.
I dont think he seriously believed that. I was not even a teenager back then and I thought it was ridiculous.
He was an actor of limited intelligence who was very impressed with what Edward Teller was telling him...he convinced the Russians because 1) yes he was a decent actor and 2) he believed it himself.

Infinitely smarter than that idiot he replaced, and the others that have followed him.

williatw · Post by **williatw** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 4:30 pm

Diogenes wrote:
williatw wrote:
Skipjack wrote: I dont think he seriously believed that. I was not even a teenager back then and I thought it was ridiculous.
He was an actor of limited intelligence who was very impressed with what Edward Teller was telling him...he convinced the Russians because 1) yes he was a decent actor and 2) he believed it himself.
Infinitely smarter than that idiot he replaced, and the others that have followed him.

Yeah..god reagan the genius I seem to recall in one of the debates with Mondale the old man got confused and seem to suggest he thought nuclear missiles once launched could be recalled...then in the next debate tried to deny he said that. Anybody who didn't have his nose so far up Reagan's backside that he thinks a prez doesn't have to follow laws passed by Congress and signed by the president:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolan_Amendment

because the law interferred with the president's authority so he can ignore it if he wishes. Yeah courts don't decide the legality of laws prez can do it on their own. The fact that most of the convictions were either overturned on appeal or suspended sentences doesn't change the fact that the law was broken.

williatw · Post by **williatw** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 4:50 pm

Diogenes wrote:
williatw wrote: Arguably worst for the Iranian people the murderous psychopath they installed but that’s more their problem than ours. Of course we helped to prop up the other murderous psychopath when it suited our purposes sadam but that’s okay.

Absolutely. Let me go on record as saying I believe it is our Duty to prop up murderous Psychopaths when it is in the best interests of the United States. We were far better off with the Shah and his secret police holding down the Iranian nut-burgers than the entire world is with his replacement, the murderous Ayatollah Khomeini.

God no wonder we are hated around the world. It worked for awhile until the natives got AK47's, bombs etc & learned guerilla warfare, then the cost of supporting the dictators became increasingly prohibitive. Why did the Iranians fall in line so quickly behind the nut-bag fundamentalist? Because they hated the Shah so much(and by extension us) that they readily fell behind anyone they saw as an alternative. In any case the Shah died of cancer about as soon as khomeini took over, he was toast anyway, guess we should have tried to prop up his idiot son.

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 5:53 pm

You do realize that Edward Teller was backing this program?

I think that "support" is a very wide term.
What part of it and which design and what exactly was his opinion on it?

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 6:01 pm

Infinitely smarter than that idiot he replaced, and the others that have followed him.

I would not say that Reagan was particularly smart, he simply was the right man for the right time.

GIThruster · Post by **GIThruster** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 6:37 pm

Portraying him as merely an actor, when he did his degree in economics and was an extremely successful Governor of a state that is larger and wealthier than most nations in the world, is deliberately deprecating.

Skipjack · Post by **Skipjack** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 6:49 pm

Portraying him as merely an actor, when he did his degree in economics and was an extremely successful Governor of a state that is larger and wealthier than most nations in the world, is deliberately deprecating.

Uhhhm, the US was not doing so well economically during his presidency though, was it?
Look, I liked Reagan and I will say that often. He used his strengths to bring down the Soviet Union and end the cold war peacefully. For that I will always think fondly of him. But like so many great people in history, he was the right person at the right time.

williatw · Post by **williatw** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 7:22 pm

Skipjack wrote:
Infinitely smarter than that idiot he replaced, and the others that have followed him.
I would not say that Reagan was particularly smart, he simply was the right man for the right time.

I would even agree with that up to a point Skipjack. It's this irrational almost deification of Reagan and what he was and did that annoys the crap out of me. The basic idea of defending ourselves from nuclear attack I agree with(although again anti-missile defense didn't start with Reagan, he didn't invent the concept). I even agree with Bush saying to Putin, that we can have arms reduction and SDI at the same time they are not mutually exclusive. We can get rid of nuclear weapons, and develop/deploy defense against them at the same time.

GIThruster · Post by **GIThruster** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 7:36 pm

You don't object to an irrational deification of Reagan. You object to honoring an excellent leader for his years of service. You're the only person throwing deification claims about. You're the one with the problem.

Try prune juice.

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 9:14 pm

Skipjack wrote:
You do realize that Edward Teller was backing this program?
I think that "support" is a very wide term.
What part of it and which design and what exactly was his opinion on it?

It was basically his "baby."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Tel ... Initiative

http://www.scribd.com/doc/57584540/55-E ... -SDI-1980s

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 9:19 pm

Skipjack wrote:
Infinitely smarter than that idiot he replaced, and the others that have followed him.
I would not say that Reagan was particularly smart, he simply was the right man for the right time.

I study a lot of American History. It is my opinion that the biggest screw ups among American Presidents are the so-called "intellectual geniuses." Reagan was smart enough to not think he already knew everything.

Woodrow Wilson, FDR, John Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and lastly Barack Obama, were all hailed as intellectuals and "geniuses", and they have made the most bone headed and destructive decisions in our History.

John Kerry would have been another one of these so-called Geniuses had he managed to get into power, and I have no illusions about the idiocy he would have unleashed upon us all.

Genius presidents? I'd rather have someone of average intelligence who isn't so full of their own sense of self importance.

Diogenes · Post by **Diogenes** » Wed Jun 27, 2012 9:21 pm

Skipjack wrote:
Portraying him as merely an actor, when he did his degree in economics and was an extremely successful Governor of a state that is larger and wealthier than most nations in the world, is deliberately deprecating.
Uhhhm, the US was not doing so well economically during his presidency though, was it?

Not during the first couple of years, but it eventually took off and did quite well.

Skipjack wrote: Look, I liked Reagan and I will say that often. He used his strengths to bring down the Soviet Union and end the cold war peacefully. For that I will always think fondly of him. But like so many great people in history, he was the right person at the right time.

He would be the right person now. His ideas are exactly what we need now.