Associated Press
For the last quarter-century or so, Republican activists have been fairly aggressive in pushing policymakers at every level of government to name things after Ronald Reagan By "things," I mean just about any kind of public landmark or institution: airports, highways, schools, etc.
Once in a while, though, this push to honor the man the RNC once seriously labeled Ronaldus Magnus gets a little silly.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is floating legislation that would name most U.S. coastal waters after former President Ronald Reagan.
Issa reintroduced his bill Wednesday to rename the country's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which generally extends from three miles to 200 miles offshore, as the Ronald Wilson Reagan Exclusive Economic Zone.... Under the proposal, references to the EEZ in U.S. laws, regulations, maps and other documents would carry Reagan's name.
Airports, highways, and schools apparently aren't enough -- our water has to honor Reagan, too.
What's more, it's not just Issa. Mitt Romney's published agenda promises to create a "Reagan Economic Zone" in east Asia, as part of some superficial gimmick intended to pressure China. As Romney's website explains it, Asian countries that join the Reagan Economic Zone will get all kinds of goodies from the United States. "Although China is unlikely to accede to the Reagan Economic Zone given its current approach to trade," the Romney campaign noted, "offering Beijing the possibility of participation will give China significant incentives to end its abusive commercial practices."
Hmm. So, China will see the Reagan Economic Zones in Asia-Pac and feel jealous, or something, leading them to overhaul the entire Chinese trading system in order to get unspecified goodies from a Romney administration.
As a policy matter, this is awfully hard to take seriously. As a political matter, given that the Republican Party has completed abandoned the Reagan legacy, this all seems misguided anyway.
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The GOP may have abandoned the Reagan legacy, but the rank-and-file uninformed Republican voter doesn't know that.
Since Reagan's ultimate legacy is dementia, there are a great many things the average Republican doesn't know or remember.
There ought to be a Capitol Hill mental health facility named after Reagan .
Right Wing Derangement Facility and Center for the Reagan Obsessed.
I'd honor him monetarily. He was as phony as a $3 bill. So let's create an honorary (but non-negotiable) $3 dollar bill and put his picture on it.
I'd consider it entirely fitting take the face of a man whose policies were all about helping the greedy, and putting it on money.
I'd say putting him on the $20 bill would be an improvement, since as bad as Reagan was, at least he wasn't a genocidal white-supremacist monster like Andrew Jackson.
Republicans seem to think that plastering Reagan's name all over things and elevating him to god like status will obliterate FDR's legacy. It won't. Social Security has been around for a long time and it will continue to be a major government program that works unless Republicans get their hands on it to screw it up like the post office.
Job's,Job's,Job's is a joke and the joke's on you America!I agree with sick-n-effin-tired they should name a mental health facility after Reagan.
It seems to me that the Rape-Public-CONs haven't exactly abandoned the Ray-gun legacy completely - they continue to uphold and even double-down on all the worst parts of it (which apparently were the parts they really liked).
'"Reagan Economic Zone" in east Asia'
No! It must be named: The Ronald Wilson Reagan Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere
The GOP should rename itself the Ronald Wilson Reagan Memorial Republican Party.
If they're so keen on naming everything after Reagan, they should start with things under their control, after all.
And of course all Republican officeholders and candidates should name their family pets Ronnie or Nancy, depending on sex of the pet.
If they live in the sort of place where people give a name to their house or farm, they should include Reagan's name in the property name, e.g. Ronald Reagan Acres.
There's certainly no reason why we should put up with their slapping Reagan's name over common property if they're not willing to do so to their own private property.
Uh, by the way, why haven't any of the newly-discovered exo-planets been named after the Great One?
Don't give them any ideas...
You know, all this naming things after Reagan business kind of imitates what they dd in the Communist Bloc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_places_named_after_Joseph_Stalin
I believe Republicans do this to keep their party in the public's consciousness. A little scary, when you think about it.
I call this sort of quasi-religion the cult of the god-like national leader (who can be living or dead).
America’s tallest peak is Mount McKinley, named after the 25th president. Like Reagan, he led the nation to victory in an unnecessary war (Spanish American, Grenada). Unlike Reagan, he also successfully participated in an assassination.
I propose we rename the Alaskan mountain after Reagan!
I am now accepting donations to carve his likeness on its face- several times larger than the four lesser presidents on Mount Rushmore. That'll show 'em we mean business!
The GOP is fast becoming a punch line for a joke; it is embarrassing us.
Becoming?
I'm far more conservative than liberal, but don't want to self describe as 'conservative' because to the simple minded Conservative = Republican and those people are frigging loony.
I've become convinced that todays conservative, the Neo Con, the Republican, is a mental condition.
.
More apt, recognizing the stagnant puddles of murky water outside the homes of the poorest Americans, let's name the "the Reagan pools of trickle-down economics".
Only if those puddles have a yellow tint.
How does "The United States of Reagan" sound?
Funny thing about the Righties,
They Chant Reagan,
I say: 'You know , Ronny did this thing or that thing' ... pick a thing ... raised taxes, whatever...
They come back with "How dare you talk ill of the dead".
Serious question: How does one deal with that level of stupid?
.
"How does one deal with that level of stupid?"
Do whatever is necessary to ensure that it does no harm.
Issa's vision is too narrow. I dream of a world where everything and everybody is called "Reagan." A world where we have replaced every word in the English language, every last noun, pronoun, verb, article, conjunction, adverb, adjective, and preposition, with "Reagan" so that when we talk, the only word we say is "Reagan" and when we read, every word on every page of every book, every newspaper, every billboard, blog, or spam email is "Reagan."
No, really, it could totally work. Rather than this business of using different words, which can only lead to minutes and minutes when people are not reflecting upon the awesome awesomeness of Ronald Reagan, we could just convey meaning with differences in emphasis and inflection in the use of the One True Word. Then, even while we're trying to order a pineapple smoothie by grunting "reaaaa-gan REAgan reaAgan reaGAN reagan?" we would also be thinking, the entire time, about the unique greatness of Ronald Wilson Reagan (or "Reagan!Reagan!REAGAN!" in the modified language), the deified, sanctified, perfect president of the United States of Reagan.
Marklar
Nope. Only replaced two parts of speech. I'm talking all eight of them, baby!
The Ronald Reagan Memorial Waste Water Treatment facility.
There already was a proposal to name one of these facilities for GWB... not sure how that turned out, though.
George W Bush Sewage Plant in San Francisco?
;-)
If the South were ever to secede properly, you just know they'd find some way to work "Reagan" into the name of their new country.
Read "Drift" and remind yourself that Ronnie the Ray Gun really was THAT BAD.
I would like to hear from Representative Issa, or anyone else who agrees with him, what exactly Ronald Reagan did that should be honored by naming even a waste treatment plant after him.
Please note that Rep. Issa - who is all aghast at the notion of Executive Privilege - is, by seeking to honor Reagan, essentially condoning really terrible misuse of executive power. For details see "Drift" by Rachel Maddow - sections on Reagan and Iran-Contra.
I am surprised that Romney is willing to pen his name with Regan given their tandem involvement in the Iran-Contra affair. As I understand, Romney started Bain Capital with the assignment and blessings from Regan. The roots of Bain began in the War in El Salvador where the ruling oligarchy like Regan, Romney, and Orlando Desoto(coffee mogul) and others, supported the Death Squads as documented by the FBI in 1983.
Romney is recorded as admitting to going to El Salvador, Columbia, and Guatemala "at least a dozen times" during the Iran-Contra involvement under Regan. Yes please, let's talk more about Romney's associations with Regan and his plans for China. Also ask him point blank about his "blood money" beginnings in El Salvador.
It's a pity that Democrats didn't strip Reagan's name from a bunch of those landmarks the last time they had control of Congress.
I actually think that this is a fantastic idea. Then, when sea levels inevitably rise and inundate our coastal cities, we can point to the water and give partial credit where partial credit is due.