A Palpably Dumb, Albeit Persistent, Analogy

One of the things that really irritates me, folks, is when certain people try and draw comparisons between George W. Bush and Reagan. Not that I'm saying that Reagan was a great president, mind you. He did in fact preside over a mushrooming debt, the largest deficits in history (prior to George W., anyway), the savings and loan fiasco, the Lebanon marine-barracks fiasco, and, yes, the entire Iran-Contra mess (Ollie North, I still can't look at that guy). But when it came to foreign-policy, I'm saying, and the utilization of American military power, Reagan consistently showed a level of restraint (he never invaded Noriega's Panama, for instance) that our current president hasn't even begun to approach. And when Reagan did use the military, folks, he utilized the Powell Doctrine (overwhelming military force) before the Powell Doctrine WAS the Powell Doctrine (i.e., in Grenada).......................................As to what Reagan would have done had he been President on 9/11, one can only speculate. It is my firm belief, though, that, while, yes, he would have retaliated against Al Qaeda and the Taliban for harboring them, it is very doubtful that he would have stranded 130-160,000 American troops in the middle of Arabia for this long a period. He had way, way, too much sense for that, I think....................................P.S. While I stated that Reagan did preside over the Lebanon fiasco, let it also be stated that he had the good sense to leave that shit-hole promptly - WHETHER OR NOT IT EMBOLDENED THE TERRORISTS!