The attitude and policies Reagan brought to the presidency in 1981, many of which were copied between 2000 and 2008 by George W. Bush, are some of the biggest reasons why we have had such bitter partisan conflict and gridlock; political corruption; corporate corruption; bad relations between labor and management; huge and unfair income disparity; diminishing protection of the environment; increasing racism; growing poverty, hunger and homelessness; a shrinking middle class; and diminishing financial status for the vast majority while the rich have been getting a whole lot richer - incredibly richer. And that's just the domestic problems. (Again, see the page on Reagan's Real Legacy.)
Furthermore, if a good Democrat actually advocated the kinds of changes that are needed to establish real fairness, equality, equity and justice, he would be in grave danger of being assassinated, because wealthy, extreme right-wing ideologues do not stop at deception, fraud and malfeasance. Some are prone to use violence and even deadly force to control and rule. So a truly good and fair reform leader might be killed, just as John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. were. It's the same elsewhere, because moderate Israeli President Rabin, and moderate candidate Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan were killed for the same reasons. They and many other good, conscientious, progressive leaders, who served in the best interests of humanity and the people as a whole, and especially of the poor and disadvantaged, have been assassinated by those who love and lust for worldly wealth, power and domain, and will stop at nothing to acquire and/or maintain it. They resort to assassinations to kill good people who expose them and try to stop them, and they are very cunning and adept at covering their tracks and getting unstable, zealous scapegoats to do their dirty work.
I think Obama is aware of that, and I think that's why he has not appeared "too liberal" or punitive against the greedy, corrupt, self-righteous people who have gotten us into this mess. He sometimes can't resist rubbing the Republican's noses in the mess they've made, but he's the least partisan politician in America, even so. He truly seeks Republican cooperation, even though so far they've denied it and have tried Obama's patience.
The thing is, no matter what President Obama does, he cannot solve our most serious problems. Remember, the election of Democratic President Bill Clinton in 1992 did very little to stop Reaganism and prevent or deal with its rampant political and corporate corruption. In fact, it continued and increased in the 1990s during the eight years Clinton held office, as was made obvious by all the corporate scandals and ripoffs exposed during that decade. It was continued and further enabled and exacerbated by George W. Bush, and it continues under Obama.
Granted, there were some token legal actions against the most blatant and exposed political and corporate corruption, but those actions have dealt only with what is like the tip of a huge iceberg, and only the tip shows above the surface while the rest is hidden. The basic problem is still there. Corporate corruption and abuse of power, which Reaganism (and Bushism) enables and licenses, is immense, and pervasive, and the army of highly paid corporate lobbyists who bribe and influence politicians in Washington D.C. is only part of the problem.
The basic problem is that partisan politics is hopelessly flawed, inherently divisive, and inevitably corrupt. It does not and cannot serve the interests of all the people. And the biggest part of the problem is that it's based on the idea that we should choose sides, fight for power over each other, and be forced to accept the results of a winner-take-all partisan contest for presidential monarchial power.
Furthermore, another big part of the problem is that it is fueled by money, which has invariably led to corruption. And that becomes even worse when you consider that 80 percent of the funding for the political campaigns of both major parties is invested by the wealthiest one percent of the population, who also pay for the army of lobbyists who continually influence and bribe members of Congress. And, as I said earlier, the wealthiest few get what they pay for.
Unfortunately, die-hard Republicans are in denial and cannot see that things are now as they were in 1929 after three successive Republican presidents in a row favored and gave license and free rein to the wealthiest few, at the expense of everyone else, and brought the Great Depression down upon America.
America was divided before that and has been divided since then, along "class" lines based on financial wealth. But, the wealthiest few and the right-wing Republican politicians who represent them have been very cunning at misleading many Americans and getting them on their side, by claiming that their cause and agenda is really for the benefit of everyone. In fact, they've been very successful, especially in boosting presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush to power. Thus America has been divided for a long time, because right-wing Republicans have been able to fool a lot of people, with disingenuous and even misleading and deceptive rhetoric.
Another way of looking at it is that, in certain ways, the American Civil War that flared up in 1861 existed long before that, and has never stopped completely. There was a brief respite from 1941 to 1945 when Americans came together to defeat two very strong common enemies during World War II, but Americans went right back to it, and it started to get really bad again in the 1960s. The battle lines may change location, and the issues may change slightly, but Americans are still fighting each other. In fact, right now, because of the terribly bitter partisan political climate created mostly by the Reagan and Bush Regimes and the rest of the right-wing Republican Neo-Conservatives during the last 30 years, the American people are more sharply divided across ideological partisan political lines than they have been since 1861. We are in fact dangerously divided and in conflict, and even if Barack Obama is able to establish a bit more unity during his term, it would not last if we continue and perpetuate the political-economic system that brought us to this point. It would inevitably and eventually prove even more disastrous than it has been between 2000 and 2010.
Above all, we need a free press with unbiased, ethical investigative journalists who are willing keep politicians honest (because the news media has failed miserably in that regard). But we also need a thorough reformation of government, along with a reformation of religion, to put an end to partisan party politics --- an end to division and polarization, an end to bribery and corruption, an end to congressional oligarchy, an end to the juvenile competition for the "throne" of sovereign power, and an end to the presidential form of monarchy.
We need to face the fact that the present American political-economic system is not merely wasteful, divisive and damaging. It does not produce government of, by and for the people. Not really. What it often does produce is government of, by, and for the rich, regardless of which party wins control of Congress and the White House.
Because partisan politics breeds and fosters dishonesty, greed and corruption, it can turn otherwise good people into disingenuous and dishonest demagogues who launch misleading, slanderous attacks against each other. And after each election, we become either winners or losers, and usually far more than half of the population is not represented by our government. In fact, most often (like during the last eight years) the great majority is not really represented and only the wealthiest few are truly represented.
I tell you this truly: When a president like George W.Bush can deny habeas corpus and due legal process to any human being, and even his own fellow citizens; violate the Constitution; start illegal wars on false premises; commit war crimes; allow torture of prisoners; violate national and international laws and the Geneva Conventions; assume dictatorial powers and issue statements and decrees of the types that George W. Bush did, with impunity, avoiding deserved impeachment and even avoiding huge demonstrations and protests against him on the streets of our cities, it clearly demonstrates how many Americans have become either as blind flocks, or as hopeless, helpless subjects.
The reality has been that the most money talks, and the most money rules. And great wealth can not only richly reward those who can very cleverly pull the wool over your eyes. It has even bought elections, as we saw during the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections.
So, it is now important that we understand that Obama won not only because he was overwhelmingly favored by most of the people in the world who recognized that he is bright and has the best intentions. He won also because the corruption and greed of right-wing conservative Republicans was so blatant and had been so exposed.
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