OK–I am back for a quick comment--not much time still. I felt I was unreasonably cranky to you, Zeph, and you were far more patient with me than I probably deserved given that I was not giving you and the thread the full attention and time deserved, so my first order of business is to apologize and thank you for your replies.
I misunderstood that you intended to refer to the odd, rather fantastical legacy that has become Mr Reagan's in recent years, and not his actual record, at least for the most part, in saying that many many things have changed since I was a kid. In the rhelm of politics, the most cynical changes probably started as far back as Nixon, truth be told, though if we're really and truly honest, I'm not sure we'll find any time in history when there weren't folks out to just make sure they and their cronies were beneficiaries of the largess that is at the Gov't's fingertips to command. However, here in the US, we have tried to depend on the system of checks and balances to make things balance out--they haven't always worked perfectly, but they lead eventually to positive changes. What makes me so darned scared is that I see changes made to those very checks and balances. Those are the very foundations of what we have held dear, and they are being shaken like never before, and our individual freedoms are suffering.
I realized after thinking about your comments in regard to what I considered "recent," that some of the changes that are so very clear to me, are just the way things have always been, for at least as long as you were aware, anyway, for you people. One major example is privacy--it is simply outrageous that i-phones track you when you use them--that Google tracks the sort of vast amounts of info it does, much of it under the radar, some of it stuff that other Governments are taking them to task over (Germany just recently had its chance to rap some major data miners' knuckles) while our Gov't dithers over another increase in the debt ceiling... (sigh) When I was young they needed to hire companies to gather that sort of info, now they ask us to provide it to them free of charge when they ask us to give them our zip code or phone number before ringing us up--or by making it darned near impossible to use another service or provider, thu8s avoiding their collection of data. Not only is that valuable information, but they use it now to profile people and divert them to the level of customer care they can afford. In essence, our worthiness of courtesy is being determined by Google. I object to that. I believe we all should. It goes against who we have always said we are as a nation--that we are all created equal--that we all have a fair shake and a fair chance to succeed. That isn't true if some get more merely by virtue of their buying power.
So--what does that have to do with our discussion as a whole--everything, if you look at the structure of things in terms of the way the economy gives or takes away our buying power--and if indeed buying power is to be the new standard (a la Citizens United, among other things), then that is terribly important.
CCC--yes, I realize there are a number of people who had their hopes far too high by Obama, and it is a fair point that no one person could possibly meet all of those expectations, but we did have the impression that he was a bit more left leaning that he was. LOL. He is so very centrist and so willing to bend that he almost gave away everything the first time this debt ceiling kerfuffle came about. The GOP SAID they were hell bent of stopping Obama from being successful, and they've followed through. When can I expect a man of his intelligence to see and understand that no amount of compromise will change that? Or is it all a big plan to hand them enough rope. My head hurts thinking about it, so I just... don't as much anymore. I will vote the Dem ticket again, and hope for the best, because the alternative scares me. Still, I recognize that there is no guarantee of anything.
As for teh education discussion--its like in the movie "The Incredibles"-If we're all special, then none of us are. Its ok to have strengths and weaknesses--accepting and allowing the equal worth of all people as they are doesn't require pretending we are all the same. Its a tough conept for some people, especially when you are talking about their kids.
UBIQ--I find teh phenomenon of the kerfuffle of Obamacare is a prime example of the press NOT doing its job of analysis and investigation, thus putting things into context. If they would tell fiolks not only what the parties say, but the actual truth about what the legislation says in the same report, then we'd be informed. Its like saying that somehting is 50% off without telling you what the price was to begin with--useless noise. I find it frustrating that they don't see that as their job anymore. They seem to want to merely be party mouthpieces.
Igetown--lol--interesting POV. I can see some of what you are saying. Its a sort of fatalistic plan, though--no expectations means no disappointments can also mean low outcome.