I love Ronnie too. He gave us a nice tax cut and then a nice tax hike. He was very balanced. Oh and he gave us a 500 ship navy too. I like boats. But he did tear down the Berlin Wall and let all those communists out. That was bad.

Chris’ favorite was William Henry Harrison. He was only in for a month, so how bad could he have been?

Shorter Chris Matthews: Ronald Reagan doesn’t make my leg tingle.

Oh great now the American people are stupid because they liked Reagan? Matthews, you’re a joke.

Voted for Reagan twice. Never voted for Jimmy Carter but exponentially more proud I never voted for Goober W. Bush, the bar none worst president in history. “Favorite” doesn’t mean best nor is he my favorite/best. Best was FDR, always and forever. No question. Certainly if you think Reagan was our ‘greatest’ president you have no sense of history, hell, no sense at all.

I would’ve probably said Lincoln or Washington. But as of yet, I’m unable to be furious about it.

Although I agree with Matthews on his premise, he comes across far too snarky here.

According to Chris Matthews, if you pick a president that I agree with, then the people made a smart and intellectual choice. If you pick a president I don’t agree with, mostly any Republican within the last 100 years, then the people are uneducated and this isn’t a “historian rating.” According to Matthews he’ll probably also say a historian rater isn’t educated well on American Presidents if they put Ronald Regan higher than LBJ or Bill Clinton who is apparently president of the universe according to Matthews.

Reagan is one of the worst ever. You can trace much of what is going on now back to his time in office.

lol when it comes to historical ranking though Reagan is number 8 and Abraham is 2nd and the first was FDR. Gallup even pointed it out that recent presidents tend to make the poll more often because of memory and so i guess Matt Schneider was just ranting on chris rant.

What a buffoon? Are you sure that this guy is on primetime USA’s TV? I can’t accept that!

Clinton..President of the World? You have got to be kidding. Oh, I forgot. It’s MSNBC. Doesn’t anyone there have a sense of embarrassment over any of this?

writer said:
Chris is 100 % Right?

Is he right to be furious? That’s a personal decision.

I absolutely love it when Matthews is ‘furious’ and ‘none-too-pleased.’ I want these leftist media hacks to be miserable, and I’m getting my wish. Read Paul Krugman over the past eighteen months and I’m even happier.

Deal Tingles, you’ve got to learn how to Deal with it.

I hope that someday the furious are given the same rights and privileges as everyone else.

WHarropson said:
Clinton..President of the World? You have got to be kidding. Oh, I forgot. It’s MSNBC. Doesn’t anyone there have a sense of embarrassment over any of this?

Dude, you are a birther. No one should take you seriously.

Reagan would be in the top 10 but not number 1. Lincoln in my opinion was the best. FDR would also be in the top 10. Eisenhower and Teddy Roosevelt should also be in the top 10. Same thing with Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson. (The stain of slavery-tolerance in my opinion is what drags TJ down) George W. Bush is not the worst either. Come on lefties. That is insane. We have people like Buchanan, Miliard Filmore, Andrew Johnson, Franklin Pierce amongst others who should be at the very bottom. George Washington should always have the honorary role of being unranked. Basically, a number “0″ on the list. He’s basically the father of the nation. I would rank Clinton in the top 10 but not top 5.

Ed Lascar said:
What a buffoon? Are you sure that this guy is on primetime USA’s TV? I can’t accept that!

Move to costa rica.

They don’t get Chris in Costa Rica. He’s on the air. They just don’t get it.

writer said:
They don’t get Chris in Costa Rica. He’s on the air. They just don’t get it.

Lol

My favorite was Calvin Coolidge, he lowered taxes and cut spending by a 1/3 and delivered economic prosperity.
http://libertarians4freedom.blogspot.com/

ExcusemMe Mediaite writers,

Why isn’t this story your #1 Lead? – particularly to Tommy.
——————————————————————————

In responding to the recently released Wisconsin GOP video, “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski admitted that the mainstream media have not discussed the numerous examples of violent and negative rhetoric protesters have aimed at Gov. Scott Walker. If the same signs were carried by a tea partier, they noted, the video would be looped and played repeatedly.

I drove 800 miles to pay my respects to Ronald Reagan, I stood in line with thousands of others in the National Mall.

I would not travel an inch to see Obama off. No matter how soon it might be in the offing.

Poor Chris, things have gone from a thrill to a chill.

Anybody who thinks Bill Clinton is one of Chris Matthews’ favorite presidents has forgotten everything Chris Matthews said about Clinton in the 90′s all the way up to approximately 2009. To be fair, the people who can’t remember that far back may include Chris Matthews. The Daily Howler has the evidence, though.

Ed Lascar said:
What a buffoon? Are you sure that this guy is on primetime USA’s TV? I can’t accept that!

Watch Hardball for five minutes!
OK!
Now you know why no one can watch Hardball for
more than five minutes!
How can MSNBC continue to put crap like this on the
air and wonder why the ratings are so anemic?
You would think COMCAST would be embarressed!

Chrissy’s just pissed because nobody named the president that he actually worked for, JIMMY CARTER, in the poll. failed president and a failed talk show host.

Event of the day, ignored by Mediaite.

At the top of Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough referenced the hateful emails he and Mika had received from the left and the similarly ugly signs held by Wisconsin union protesters. Mika reflexively defended the vileness, saying that people were “hurting and really don’t feel like they’re being heard.”

Aww. But later, the show rolled video of some of the Wisconsin signs, including one with crosshairs on Gov. Walker, another calling him Hitler, one accusing him of rape, and of course that great old standard “death to tyrants.”

To her credit, Mika did change her tune.

Admitting that she hadn’t previously seen those signs, Mika agreed with Joe that if Tea Partiers held up something similar, “they’d be on a [MSM] loop.”

Moderate said:
Admitting that she hadn’t previously seen those signs, Mika agreed with Joe that if Tea Partiers held up something similar, “they’d be on a [MSM] loop.”

Thanks Moderate…after reading this, I had to get out the heart paddles and get my ticker started again.

Maybe Mika wasn’t feeling good or something…….????????????

da-wdc said:
Anybody who thinks Bill Clinton is one of Chris Matthews’ favorite presidents has forgotten everything Chris Matthews said about Clinton in the 90’s all the way up to approximately 2009. To be fair, the people who can’t remember that far back may include Chris Matthews. The Daily Howler has the evidence, though.

I am not going to watch the “President of the World” You got to be kidding!!
Tingles Matthews and BJ Clinton! YUK!
I am betting Matthews will be wearing a Blue Dress for this one.
Also betting the Ratings will not be that great!
MSNBC is MSNBC! Tingles is Tingles!
Bill Clinton is. Bill Clinton is………………Bi

Joe Scarborough is obsessed by the idea that the angry left is just as bad as the angry right. That’s how he gets his audience of DC insiders to tune in and feel good about themselves for being above all this messiness of democracy, and gets people to invest millions in political groups that stand for nothing other than their leaders’ self-promotion.

Scarborough seems like a basically decent guy but he has a habit of making snide, dismissive remarks about those with whom he disagrees, and then pretending to be mystified as to why he gets hate mail. If he would go on the air and say “here are what the union protesters believe and I DISAGREE, here’s why,” that would be all respectful and reasonable and NoLabelsish of him. But oftentimes, he’s just dismissive and snide. That tends to piss people off.

No one likes a diva. And Christine is a bigger diva than Paris Hilton. But ill give him one thing, hes made almost everyone foget Olbermann, well except Tommy Christopher

da-wdc said:
Joe Scarborough is obsessed by the idea that the angry left is just as bad as the angry right. That’s how he gets his audience of DC insiders to tune in and feel good about themselves for being above all this messiness of democracy, and gets people to invest millions in political groups that stand for nothing other than their leaders’ self-promotion.

Scarborough seems like a basically decent guy but he has a habit of making snide, dismissive remarks about those with whom he disagrees, and then pretending to be mystified as to why he gets hate mail. If he would go on the air and say “here are what the union protesters believe and I DISAGREE, here’s why,” that would be all respectful and reasonable and NoLabelsish of him. But oftentimes, he’s just dismissive and snide. That tends to piss people off.

So true. But he pales in comparrasion to Christine and Madddow

“Chris Matthews Is Furious With Gallup Poll Result Of Ronald Reagan As America’s Favorite President”

This just proves how out of touch Tingles is with the rest of America. Having worked at Gallup a few years back. I can assure you they are most fair in their polling. Zogby a close second…

Gasket said:
Same thing with Andrew Jackson and Thomas Jefferson. (The stain of slavery-tolerance in my opinion is what drags TJ down)

But you don’t mind Jackson slaughtering Indians to steal their land? Or his love of slavery? Jefferson was deeply conflicted about slavery, and as we know he really loved his slaves. Jackson was completely down with owning people.

Chris Matthews is a funny little guy.  When he was voting for his favorite president the pollster kept trying to explain to him that Karl Marx was not, nor had ever been, a US President.  Maybe, that’s why Chris is so raging mad?!

da-wdc said:
Joe Scarborough is obsessed by the idea that the angry left is just as bad as the angry right.

Have you noticed that everyone you don’t agree with seems to be obsessed?

But oftentimes, he’s just dismissive and snide. That tends to piss people off.

Indeed.

Getting mad at this is like getting mad at the Twilight movies winning the People’s Choice Awards. Reagan would make my top ten, but any list that doesn’t have Washington and Lincoln as the top two is one I have a hard time taking seriously.

Pablo said:
Have you noticed that everyone you don’t agree with seems to be obsessed?

No.

Ronald Reagan I remember was one of the first, if not the earliest president who sliced the budgets on the back of the people who are poor, senior citizens, children and disabled. This is especially true, mentally ill.

When Ronald Reagan became president, he inherited the Mental Health Systems Act of 1980. This was one of the last accomplishments of Pres.It expanded the federal government’s commitment to services, to research, to training professionals, and for patient rights. It saw stigma as an impediment to seeking and getting services. It established equal coverage for Medicaid and Medicare. There was recognition between mental and physical health. The act pledged $800 million over 4 years to redress the gross neglect of the commitment to mental health in prior presidencies. In essence, it produced an agenda that included the issues of homelessness, expensive nursing homes, jails and prisons, and one that to more hopeful choices for those who needed help.

Then came Ronald Reagan. Within a month, the Office of Management Budget announced it would curtail the budget of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), phase out training of clinicians, interrupt research, and eliminate services..”

“Many of our dreams were gone,” wrote Rosalynn Carter in Helping Someone with Mental Illness. “It was a bitter loss.”

This could have been enough, but it was not. Pres. Reagan attempted to restrict criteria for determining eligibility for SSI, thought to be a safety-net. Nearly 2.6 million people were receiving insurance because their disability prevented them from being gainfully employed.

Here are the facts. They show significant lack of opportunities for individuals who are dealing with psychiatric diagnoses. He seemed definitely willing to let persons with a mental illness flounder.
Specifics. The Office of Management Budget would slash the budget of the NIMH(Nat.Institute of Mental Health). Plus phase out clinician training, eliminate research and services for clients. The Mental Health System Act would disappear. Close to 2.6 million people who were qualified because they were determined to be disabled would lose their SSI (Supplemental Security Income). In other words even if their disability proved they weren’t capable of gainful employment, too bad, their SSI was gone. This is a terribly tragic part of
Ronald Reagan’s legacy.

No one gives a rats ass as to what you think, Chrissy Matthews. You are so far out of touch with the American voters that you are viewing things from deep inside a big black hole. Several polls have Mr. Reagan #1. I hope you didn’t think your old boss Jimmiiie Cartier was in the mix. He and Obama will go down near the bottom when it is all said and done.

WOW!

O’Reilly & Hume Biatch-Slapping the Mainstream Media, by name!

Dear Chris,

Here’s some Ronald Reagan 101 for you.

http://ewross.com/ronald_reagan_what_you_saw_is_what_you_got.htm

And deservedly so Norbit.

It has become openly humorous regarding the reportage of the so called “news media” in this country. They should be laughed off the stage. Katie, Brian, Dianne are all useless; CNNMSNBCNYTimes etc. couldn’t tell you the truth if their lives depended on it.

The braodcast networks have sealed their fate, I will eagerly watch their ratings tank. They are completely useless and untrustworthy.

Mary Katherine Hamm had a good hearty laugh at them (and the democrat run-aways) tonight.

Laughtastic.

NORBIT Jr. said:
WOW!

O’Reilly & Hume Biatch-Slapping the Mainstream Media, by name!

Just saw that..funny..I tried to watch O’Donnell a bit to see his socialist view but he really is unwatchable..

Even the historians who make these lists from time to time have changes depending on current events and which historians actually do the rankings.

FDR and Reagan are never far (one or two spots) out of the top five, if I remember correctly.

I personally put FDR and Reagan in the top five. With FDR it’s a “hold your nose” kind of thing with me. I think his tax and social policies extended the recession and I rate him very poorly for that. However, it was him who got enough aid to the Brits to hang on when they stood alone and prepared a violently isolationist America for the inevitable entry into WWII.

If we had had a President who did not do that I don’t know what kind of world we would have now but I really think it would be much worse.

Just my two cents.

As for Tingles or Thrills or whatever goes on with his leg, what a tool!

The way CNN spinned the doctors handing out fraudulent notes was amazing. “The doctors are helping out”…helping out what?

Oh, yeah LYING. Because the Teacher’s Unions have a clause that their members have to have doctor’s notes when asked by employers.

Latin2 said:
The way CNN spinned the doctors handing out fraudulent notes was amazing. “The doctors are helping out”…helping out what?

Oh, yeah LYING. Because the Teacher’s Unions have a clause that their members have to have doctor’s notes when asked by employers.

Try sticking to the current topic, Rodriguez.

WildMan said:
No one gives a rats ass as to what you think, Chrissy Matthews.

…but yet, I still responded since I care “so little.”

stormin1961 said:
Chrissy’s just pissed because nobody named the president that he actually worked for, JIMMY CARTER, in the poll

Actually, Jimmy Carter IS ranked….higher than even President George H. W. Bush and Ike.

Someone remind Chris’s wife to get his Prozac refill from the drug store.

Mathews should be studied.

Alz said:
Mathews should be studied.

LOL

Is Reagan at #1 anymore absurd than Clinton at #3?

“Keep in mind these are not historian rankings, these are peoples.” Stupid, stupid people, evidently. There could be a lessons hidden here in respecting the will of the American people, or recognizing the trend of the political culture, but damned if Matthews can find any. Condescension combined with anti-intellectualism is not a pretty pair, Chris.

Chrissy is upset that the top 2 presidents were Republicans, (Reagan and Lincoln).

That just fries his ass.

Fun to watch.

Reagan is the greatest president of the 20th Century.

Washington is the best ever and Lincoln is 2nd.
Reagan third followed by Madison and Jefferson.

When history is written down the road at the bottom will be Obama. Just above him will be Carter, Harding and Clinton.
FDR will start to fade as history plays out because HE is responsible for the mess we are in today. He fouled up the outcome of WWII. He started us down the socialist road. When get rid of all the programs he pushed we will start the country on the right track again. LBJ was the next biggest fool that has sent on the spiral into debt.

artemesia said:
Ronald Reagan I remember was one of the first, if not the earliest president who sliced the budgets on the back of the people who are poor, senior citizens, children and disabled. This is especially true, mentally ill.

I take it you were one of the mentally ill. If this were true, which it is not, he did it with the help of the DEMOCRAT congress. Reagan NEVER had control of the House in his eight years. Everything that passed was with the HELP of the democrats. Maybe you should get back to your shock treatments, it might improve your memory.

Ah, the old “the regular folks are nuts” line again. If you don’t agree with Matthews, you’re not as intellectual as he is. It’s no wonder his show is one of the lowest rated cable talk shows. They should rename the show Hardball For the GOP.

He wasn’t “furious”.

gordonbloyershow said:
Reagan is the greatest president of the 20th Century.

Washington is the best ever and Lincoln is 2nd.
Reagan third followed by Madison and Jefferson.

I agree except for Jefferson as POTUS, which he ruined except for Louisiana Purchase. The guy spent like a drunken sailor and didn’t free his slaves like GW did—a lot of Jefferson’s maxims, however, would fit just fine in Tea Party manifestoes for small government. Madison was also a so-so POTUS, but a great writer & thinker. He & Hamilton are the two smartest Americans ever, with Ben Franklin coming in a close show. Ike & JFK & Nixon also had their strange moments, and Teddy R is a fave, his fifth cousin FDR not so much, but still a force today.

Matthews is a compleat dolt, a clueless GED loser and now so far over the hill that all you can see is his butt doing a sundown act as it sinks into the waves.

The only substantive question about Tingles, is he a drunk or is he on Vikes?

President of the world? LOL

How can COMCAST keep this idiot on the air and expect the network to have any respect.

The spitter is one sick puppy.

Chris Matthews never got tinkly down his legs and in his groin watching President Reagan I dare them. He had a Barney Frank moment the day he met Herb Moses from Fannie Mae. I hope they investigate Barney Franks boyfriend Herb Moses from Fannie Mae. If they do they’ll probably uncover the most expensive _umjob in history. Barney didn’t have to pay we the people did.

Please Check out song called teapartiers I can’t hear you at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJfboOindCo

Here’s a verse

The real teabaggers are Barnie and the safe school czar
Your kids aren’t safe in a bus or car
Jennings might not report it if their molested at a bus station
lets hope he don’t have Nambla take them on vacation

Britain will have company as they ration mammograms and cortisone
The U.S. is now joining them so they won’t be alone
Bill Ayers his hero and Jarrets slum lord bets
Mine our Gerald Walpin , Private Long and the Swift Boat vets
I know him and his czars think this songs not balanced and fare
We just want nothing to do with that trainwreck Obamacare

The fact that Schneider refers to a “Democrat” president rather than “Democratic” shows where his politics lie. Anyone reading this silly article should bear that in mind.

Bill Adkins said:
Voted for Reagan twice. Never voted for Jimmy Carter but exponentially more proud I never voted for Goober W. Bush, the bar none worst president in history. “Favorite” doesn’t mean best nor is he my favorite/best. Best was FDR, always and forever. No question. Certainly if you think Reagan was our ‘greatest’ president you have no sense of history, hell, no sense at all.

FDR gave us the beginning of the nanny state. Please.

gordonbloyershow said:
I take it you were one of the mentally ill. If this were true, which it is not, he did it with the help of the DEMOCRAT congress. Reagan NEVER had control of the House in his eight years. Everything that passed was with the HELP of the democrats. Maybe you should get back to your shock treatments, it might improve your memory.

Liberals still don’t know how the government works.

Mediaite is quickly turning into Fox News (letters from homophobic crazies prove my point). It better move to the middle fast (which is where it used to be) or risk losing a good part of its liberal constituency.

Anyone who ranks Reagan as one of the great presidents is incredibly ignorant. Here is an article i published about Reagan immediately after his death.

MONDAY, JULY 12, 2004

My Remembrance of Ronald Reagan, an African American Perspective

It is unfortunate though common that at the death of a prominent leader people praise that leader in an uncritical manner. Shakespeare’s truism from the play Julius Caesar does not apply to Ronald Reagan. Shakespeare wrote that “the evil that men do lives after them while the good is oft interred with their bones”. Reagan is remembered for his leadership in helping to end the cold war but his leadership in an anti black backlash against the civil rights movement is all but ignored. Reagan, in death, has remained as he was in life the “Teflon President”. All I now hear is praise being heaped on Ronald Reagan. Even liberal media outlets like CNN and the New York Times have joined in this love fest. I know it is in bad taste to speak ill of the recently departed but truth must be told. Young people must have a balanced account of history, not a self serving one separate and distinct from realty. I, above all else, remember Ronald Reagan as a person who seemed to give tacit, if not overt support to those who supported racism and segregation.

I remember Reagan launching his 1980 presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Mississippi, the site of the brutal murder of three civil rights workers in 1964 by praising “states rights”. Those apologists of legal segregation (American apartheid) in the south supported legal segregation under the banner of “states rights”. The argument was that local states should be able to decide what policies those states should follow. Southern states in particular wanted to continue the three hundred year old policy of violently violating the human rights of African Americans. This symbolic beginning of Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign signaled to the old south that he was their champion. He was the philosophical heir not just to the 1964 presidential campaign of Barry Goldwater but the 1968 campaign of former Alabama segregationist governor George Wallace.

During the 1960s Reagan opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act which made segregation in public facilities illegal. During his presidency Reagan opposed the extension of the 1965 Voting Rights Act which authorized the U.S. federal government to monitor local elections in areas of the country which had a history of voting rights abuses. Reagan even vetoed congressional legislation which would have placed economic sanctions on the murderously repressive, segregationist apartheid South African government of that era. He called the racist South African regime “a good friend of the United States”. Congress passed this sanction legislation once again with a super majority including many Republicans, over Reagan’s veto and it became the law of the land.
I remember Ronald Reagan stating that it was the “right thing” to order the Internal Revenue Service to violate United States law by giving tax subsidies to Bob Jones University, a fundamentalist Christian school which prohibited interracial dating. This conservative religious school through the 1990s still refused to allow interracial dating. Their students, exclusively white, were not allowed to date African Americans, Asians or Hispanics. As a result of this racial policy this school was not eligible to receive federal
tax exemptions. In a court case arising out of the Reagan decision the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Ronald Reagan’s actions were illegal. The Supreme Court vote against the Reagan policy was eight justices to one.
I remember Ronald Reagan illegally ordering the mining of the Nicaraguan capital of Managua in violation of U.S. law. Even the father of American conservatism, Barry Goldwater strongly criticized Ronald Reagan for this illegal policy. This was part and parcel of a policy that included trading arms for hostages with the tyrannical Iranian regime.

I remember the Reagan administration arguing that ketchup should be considered a vegetable in determining minimum nutritional standards for poor children under the federal student lunch program.
Were not these Reagan views and policies the very face of evil in America? Would the American majority celebrate the life of a leader who had such extremist views and policies against a majority ethnic subgroup group in America? I think not.

For me, an African American, President Reagan represented the electoral coup d’etat of an eight year evil empire which captured Washington D.C. during the nineteen eighties. Mr. Reagan was arguably the most anti black president of the 20th Century. He clearly was the most anti black president of the post World War II era. We must not whitewash our history. Reagan was the great communicator but his message often was seeded with the fruits of the same character of evil that he decried in the anti Semitic Soviet Union. Yes, I know he signed the Martin Luther King holiday bill. He did it begrudgingly stating at the time “if that is what the people want” and that ” in thirty-five years we would know if Martin Luther King was a communist”.

Reagan was no friend of African Americans, Hispanics or Asians irrespective of his unseemly multimillion dollar television endorsements contracts he entered into in Japan shortly after he left office. Reagan’s was able to present to the world a positive, sunny image which hid from those who were not inclined to look, a deeper, more sinister political agenda.

In conclusion I would like to say that the Reagan presidency made me personally feel less like an American than at any other time in my fifty-one year lifetime. His dream of a America as a city on a hill did not seem to include me. This is Reagan’s legacy for me and for many other like minded Americans. This national celebration of the Reagan legacy is an affront to my sense of patriotism, justice and honor. For me is it un- American. It makes me question the sense of fairness and of justice of the American majority population. I can hardly wait for my cloud of sadness to pass as the Reagan legacy fades into the sunset of our surreal national mythology.

Way too long Arm.
Bored to tears after skimming first three lines!

Mmmmm, either Chris did not have his normal double shot, or he had one too many.

gordonbloyershow said:
Reagan is the greatest president of the 20th Century. Washington is the best ever and Lincoln is 2nd.Reagan third followed by Madison and Jefferson. When history is written down the road at the bottom will be Obama. Just above him will be Carter, Harding and Clinton.FDR will start to fade as history plays out because HE is responsible for the mess we are in today. He fouled up the outcome of WWII. He started us down the socialist road. When get rid of all the programs he pushed we will start the country on the right track again. LBJ was the next biggest fool that has sent on the spiral into debt.

gordonbloyershow said:
I take it you were one of the mentally ill. If this were true, which it is not, he did it with the help of the DEMOCRAT congress. Reagan NEVER had control of the House in his eight years. Everything that passed was with the HELP of the democrats. Maybe you should get back to your shock treatments, it might improve your memory.

Gordon your schoolyard taunts make your points less palatable to those (like me) who mostly agree. In your world it’s all Republicans good, Democrats bad. Do you see the irony in your second statement above? Someone disagrees with you and you do the same exact thing that Matthews does.

Calm down buddy!

Oregon Conservative said:
Calm down buddy!

You need to calm down. The second statement was sarcasim. It pointed out the arguement that libs use when they don’t get their way.

I have been dealing with lib nuts for 50 years, they don’t understand being civil. That doesn’t work with them. Identifying people as who they are, are NOT schoolyard taunts. Schoolyard taunts are kids making fun of others and have no relation to truth. Kids call others ugly even when they are not ugly. They attack others for what they look like. Notice I don’t do that but the libs here are always calling people fat, ugly, bald and old. No one can do that to them because they hide behind phony names and photos. I wonder why?
I go after their intelligence because that really hurts them because they really can’t believe anyone could believe they are stupid. After all they know they are right about everything and everyone else is stupid.
Just to let everyone here, not just you, save your advice for those rino republicans that run scared at every dem taunt.

Anyone who uses the term Democrat as an adjective loses all credibility with me.

Matthews loves to stand in the big man’s shadow. He has just finished an hour long puff piece on Bill Clinton after putting him down on the air during the Lewinsky scandal, remarking that Clinton had “really stunk up the place.” Bill might be willing to forgive and forget if the adulation is sufficiently groveling, but Hillary doesn’t seem to be of the same mind. She never appears on Chris’s show and openly put him in his place during the 2010 Democratic primary.

As a former fan of MSNBC, Chris Matthews was high on my list of their on air personalities and I think that he may have a point. For the greatest president of all time, I would have voted for the only one to keep ALL of his campagin promises.

Bill Adkins said:
Voted for Reagan twice. Never voted for Jimmy Carter but exponentially more proud I never voted for Goober W. Bush, the bar none worst president in history. “Favorite” doesn’t mean best nor is he my favorite/best. Best was FDR, always and forever. No question. Certainly if you think Reagan was our ‘greatest’ president you have no sense of history, hell, no sense at all.

I would say the best was George Washington followed closely by Abraham Lincoln. FDR was a very good war time President but he cause the depression to last far longer than it had to last.

Pablo said:
But you don’t mind Jackson slaughtering Indians to steal their land? Or his love of slavery? Jefferson was deeply conflicted about slavery, and as we know he really loved his slaves. Jackson was completely down with owning people.

And Andrew Jackson was also the founder of the Democrat Party.

ChickaBOOMer: There You Go Again
http://chickaboomer.blogspot.com/2011/02/there-you-go-again.html

gordonbloyershow said:
Reagan is the greatest president of the 20th Century. Washington is the best ever and Lincoln is 2nd.Reagan third followed by Madison and Jefferson. When history is written down the road at the bottom will be Obama. Just above him will be Carter, Harding and Clinton.FDR will start to fade as history plays out because HE is responsible for the mess we are in today. He fouled up the outcome of WWII. He started us down the socialist road. When get rid of all the programs he pushed we will start the country on the right track again. LBJ was the next biggest fool that has sent on the spiral into debt.

I like the rule of thumb that says you can’t make these kind of judgements until at least 25 years have passed. Given that, I would put Presidents Buchanan, Harding, Johnson, William Henry Harrison and Grant in the bottom five. President Carter is would put near the bottom five and President Clinton would be too recent to judge.

Oops, I meant Andrew Johnson.

Even with the unbalanced Olbermann gone, MSNBC can still be laughed at and mocked.

As long as Chris, Ed, and the increasingly ‘I am going to mimick Olby ‘ – Larry O’Donnell on the air; we can always look forward to buffoonery like this. Not to mention Rachel ‘fact checking is just a suggestion’ Maddow spouting off her twisted Progressive nonsense.

MSNBC has the greatest prime-time comedy lineup since NBC’s 80′s offerings.

Too bad, tingletoes- America recognizes what a REAL president is and not your wannabe!

RichS said:
I like the rule of thumb that says you can’t make these kind of judgements until at least 25 years have passed. Given that, I would put Presidents Buchanan, Harding, Johnson, William Henry Harrison and Grant in the bottom five. President Carter is would put near the bottom five and President Clinton would be too recent to judge.

Very good but I have a shorter thumb.

RichS said:
Oops, I meant Andrew Johnson.

You were right the first time with Jackson who was the first Democratic president, but , Dims trace their roots to Thomas Jefferson and Madison as the creators of the Democratic-Republican Party.

Sheesh Matthews, just because you were never president, heck, you never even ran for president, and considering your poisonous grudge against a decent US president who’s already dead and can’t defend himself to you, I wouldn’t vote for you if you did run for president, for gosh sakes, Chris, let go of that load of jealousy and hatred you have against Reagan. Seriously, Chris, let it go. I mean, you should be satisfied the likes of Obama and Gor have won the Nobel peace prize (what a pathetic joke) but that’s not enough for you, Chris and your band of conservaphobes. You laugh at Reagan’s mental deterioriating condition, you think anyone who liked Reagan is stupid, Chris Matthews, you are an insufferable clod who could do the US and for that matter North America a big favor and move to Iran.

Matthews bragged about voting for George W. Bush.

Today’s Repuke Party wouldn’t even nominate Reagan. Far too liberal.

Did Chris take his ball and go home?

Mouthewes never ceases to show his arrogance and elitist mindset. In his opinion, anyone who does not agree with him is not adequately informed. Apparently, and from his ratings, there are millions of people who don’t see him as an accurate source of information.

njoy-d-ride said:
Did Chris take his ball and go home?

I doubt Ronald Reagan was our best President but Chris Mathews made me believe it by the time his special was done.

Jackyboy said:
Oh great now the American people are stupid because they liked Reagan? Matthews, you’re a joke.

Reagan raised taxes 11 times. Iran/Contra. Arms for Hostages (both broke US laws). Tripled the National Debt while in office. Reaganomics/Trickle down, took away taxable income from the top 1.5% – nothing trickled down. Did try and reduce the excess of nuclear weapons. Was suffering Alzheimer’s 1st year into second term. Not a great actor (Bonzo title lead); not a great President. Armed Iran, Iraq and Bin Laden. Republicans benefited fiscally, while backhanding the American Working Class. Why does it take the 8 years to realize these things? Hope I guess.

NORBIT Jr. said:
ExcusemMe Mediaite writers,

Why isn’t this story your #1 Lead? – particularly to Tommy.
——————————————————————————

In responding to the recently released Wisconsin GOP video, “Morning Joe” hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski admitted that the mainstream media have not discussed the numerous examples of violent and negative rhetoric protesters have aimed at Gov. Scott Walker. If the same signs were carried by a tea partier, they noted, the video would be looped and played repeatedly.

Because they are Koch Bros. Union Busters.

Bottom line. 81% DIDN’T think Reagan was the Best. I agree with them. He was an actor for the Koch Bros. Republican Party that exists today. Nothing more than a limp puppet.

His corporate administration is still ruining the country behind the scenes, from George W. Bush to Sarah Palin to Scott Walker. Corporate Welfare Citizens ruining what took 200 years to make great – the Republicans have brought down in 30. The lies of the past 30 years from the GOP have been our shame and will be reflected in history as the uneducated and intellectually challenged blind sheep era/error of Republican Tyranny; when they busted unions; created a third world education system and laborer to work for the non-tax paying ploutocracy created by the Koch Bros. and 1.5% corporate citizen/Republicorp.

This is a great example of how history gets temporarily rewritten, or you might say ‘Alzheimerized’. Reagan No. 1 – you must be kidding. Polls mean very little except when they agree with one’s biases. Reagan was certainly a smooth operator, but not in the top tier of American Presidents. I would put him in the rank of Nixon. What I have against both of them is their warmongering – Nixon in Vietnam, Reagan in Latin and Central America where many too many innocent lives were needlessly lost with the contras and our backing of the killer governments in Argentina and Chile. Reagan at least didn’t interfere and actually helped bring down the Berlin Wall. Reagan’s homophobia prevented him from taking an active roll against the AIDS epidemic and he will always be known for his “government is the problem” mantra. Deregulation also really took off with Reagan and we see where that’s led us. Reagan clearly was suffering from Alzheimer’s during his second term and maybe earlier and I’m sure that had a heavy effect of his performance. I’ve always liked Nancy and son, Ron Reagan. I’m sure the RW’s are jumping up and down for joy to see their hero temporarily down as No.1, but history and more accurate polls will quickly relegate Reagan to a more realistic lower ranking.

Our greatest presidents should embody the spirit of the Constitution they swore to uphold, serving ALL the people, not just the rich, in domestic affairs, and being a beacon to the rest of the world (no empire builders, saber rattlers, or wannabee cowboys allowed). The other criteria of being the greatest comes from their actions based on historical context – how our presidents addressed the critical issues of their times, regardless of their popularity.

Based on this, I would propose the following top 5 (in chronological order):

1) George Washington – defined the role of president as neither a king nor an active general. That alone insured that our democracy would never be threatened by would-be dictators or military coups.

2) Abraham Lincoln – regardless of opinions over his motivations, his actions to maintain the Union and end slavery were the basis for creating a true government of, by and for ALL the people, and insured that the Constitution is greater than the material desires of any one group.

3) Teddy Roosevelt – responding to the obvious damage done by the robber barons, TR was a true visionary who wanted to save the capitalist system from itself, taking steps to restrict monopolies, regulate the free market, empower the labor movement, and protect our environment.

4) Franklin Delano Roosevelt – responding to the ravages of the Great Depression, FDR’s New Deal created the social net that has protected the most vulnerable people in our society, children, the elderly and the sick for the last 75 years. Many great men have said that the test of a society is how it treats its weakest members, and FDR did this while at the same time fighting the greatest external threat to democracy in our nation’s history.

5) Eisenhower – his experience as the supreme commander of the allied forces in Europe during WWII taught him two huge lessons that helped his country become the leader of the free world. First, he knew how well every soldier fought, regardless of race. This was the spark that led to the beginnings of integration.Using his power, he pushed through the first great Civil Rights legislation since Lincoln to work toward this goal. Second, he understood the horror and true cost of war. He set up the template for dealing with the threat of the U.S.S.R., without causing a nuclear war.

I’m sure many people will find the choice of Eisenhower a surprise, but consider this. Eisenhower served during the high point of American affluence at home and power abroad. He had no problem with the rights of labor unions or high tax rates, while still being a member of the party of business. At yet, at height of his popularity and American prestige, he chose to pursue difficult agenda to end segregation and to negotiate with the Soviets.

Finally, his position as one of our greatest presidents is in the truth of his words, which are now respected by the other side of the aisle. During the 2004 presidential election, Ralph Nader supported much of his platform by quoting Eisenhower. What is the likelihood of Republicans quoting any Democrat, or Democrats quoting our more recent Republican presidents?

ganymede said:
This is a great example of how history gets temporarily rewritten, or you might say ‘Alzheimerized’. Reagan No. 1 – you must be kidding. Polls mean very little except when they agree with one’s biases. Reagan was certainly a smooth operator, but not in the top tier of American Presidents. I would put him in the rank of Nixon. What I have against both of them is their warmongering – Nixon in Vietnam, Reagan in Latin and Central America where many too many innocent lives were needlessly lost with the contras and our backing of the killer governments in Argentina and Chile. Reagan at least didn’t interfere and actually helped bring down the Berlin Wall. Reagan’s homophobia prevented him from taking an active roll against the AIDS epidemic and he will always be known for his “government is the problem” mantra. Deregulation also really took off with Reagan and we see where that’s led us. Reagan clearly was suffering from Alzheimer’s during his second term and maybe earlier and I’m sure that had a heavy effect of his performance. I’ve always liked Nancy and son, Ron Reagan. I’m sure the RW’s are jumping up and down for joy to see their hero temporarily down as No.1, but history and more accurate polls will quickly relegate Reagan to a more realistic lower ranking.

Good analysis. Reagan’s supply side “Voodoo Economics” (to quote GHW Bush and any rational economist), union busting, lack of regulation, and his terrible decision to kill all of Carter’s energy self sufficiency goals have killed our manufacturing based, unleashed horribly damaging financial crisis based on corporate scams (anyone remember the S&L crisis in the 80′s?), and caused us to lose 30 years in the race to replace fossil fuels.

We can also thank Reagan for the first generation of Republicans to stop using fact based reality. Nixon may have done illegal things, but when the truth came out, the Republican party acted ethically and forced him to resign. With Reagan, that ended. When Reagan declared that “ketchup is a vegetable” and used that to justify cutting school lunch program funding, the Republicans went along with it, because it furthered their political ends. When Reagan did the whole Iran Contra deal, the whole thing went along party lines.

Now, we’ve got conservative Supreme Court justices showing up at the Koch brothers’ right wing shindigs before the decide on cases involving the Koch brother’s interests. We’ve got Thomas’ wife earning $700K from some conservative think tank and representing the Tea Party, while Thomas decides not to declare her income for five years.

Having said all that, one should give Reagan good marks for negotiating with the Soviets and not causing a nuclear war, which was the fear of many people. Maybe by playing the role of crazy cowboy, the Russians got scared into negotiating. I thank God that Reagan, not Dubya, was the one who faced down the Soviets. At least, Reagan knew the difference between acting like a cowboy and believing he was a cowboy.

However, to say his bloated military budgets and posturing were the cause of the fall of the Berlin Wall is overstated. There are a number of Russians who claim the Beatles did more damage to the Communists in Russia, because an entire generation of young people celebrated forbidden Western culture and embraced the Beatles’ message of love and peace. Before all the conservative poster go insane, I did not say that the Beatles were the real reason the Soviet Union collapsed. I said that there are Russians who make that claim.

The fall of the Soviet Union could be traced to so many things, including Reagan’s policies, the Beatles (who were probably responsible for rising social consciousness in the young people throughout Eastern Europe), the disastrous occupation of Afghanistan (which should teach us something about the danger of these kind of foreign entanglements) and the inefficiencies of the Communist economic system.

It’s Gallup, it’s known to be a joke.

BruinAlum77 said:
Before all the conservative poster go insane, I did not say that the Beatles were the real reason the Soviet Union collapsed. I said that there are Russians who make that claim.

No, most of us probably got that, just as most of us probably noticed that the persons from whom you got this inside scoop were most likely old bitter communists. Not the best sources, for they’re unlikely to credit the leader of the political and economic systems that overtook them with having much of anything to do with their collapse; systems they vehemently abhor to this day.

But this doesn’t greatly surprise us. There always was a cultural streak in the US and greater western world of leftist obstructionists who held the leaders of the Soviet Union in greater esteem than the high profile voices for freedom of their own people. What’s surprising is how we expected those people to have changed their rhetoric and modified their world view after the socialist model was thoroughly discredited. That was silly of us.

BruinAlum77 said:
Our greatest presidents should embody the spirit of the Constitution they swore to uphold, serving ALL the people, not just the rich, in domestic affairs, and being a beacon to the rest of the world (no empire builders, saber rattlers, or wannabee cowboys allowed).

Bruin, I think your criteria is excellent, but using such criteria forces me to drop Lincoln far down the list. I think overall he was a great American and did an excellent job considering the circumstances and incredible pressure, however he didn’t let the Constitution stand in his way. The man suspended habeas corpus, which goes against everything this country stands for. Thousands of American civilians were held as political prisoners, often confined without trial on the suspicion of disloyalty or with minimal hearings before a military tribunal. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court ruled that the suspension of habeas corpus was unconstitutional, but Lincoln ignored the ruling. Without that history, the Patriot Act’s suspension of American citizens’ rights under the Constitution might not have so easily been passed. Lincoln also violated American citizens freedom of speech, shutting down newspapers critical of his decisions and had their editors arrested.
No, if the upholding the Constitution is the big criteria, there is no way Lincoln merits a number two ranking, maybe not even a top fifty ranking.

LarryB, you make a good point. But while the excesses of the Bush and now the Obama administration with regard to the Patriot act can point to past unconstitutional actions by Lincoln, Wilson and FDR during times of war, these power grabs were overturned after the wars ended. What is inexcusable about our current situation is that the “war on terror” was created so there is no beginning or end to hostilities. The absence of terrorist attacks does not mean there will not be no more terrorist attacks, so the government can claim a perpetual state of “war,” just like Orwell described in “1984.”

It’s that slippery slope that the ends justifies the means. Lincoln saved our Constitutional system of government and ended slavery while temporarily sacrificing the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. If Lincoln had lost the war, but maintained the Constitutional rights of the slave owners, he would have been regarded as our worst president.

Anyway it certainly makes for an interesting discussion, as opposed to listening to uneducated people listing any president they can think of (Reagan, Clinton, JFK) as a top 5 president, without any understanding of our history.

And Chris Matthews is the biggest sour puss of a commentator

Paleoconservatarian said:
But this doesn’t greatly surprise us. There always was a cultural streak in the US and greater western world of leftist obstructionists who held the leaders of the Soviet Union in greater esteem than the high profile voices for freedom of their own people. What’s surprising is how we expected those people to have changed their rhetoric and modified their world view after the socialist model was thoroughly discredited. That was silly of us.

If you’re referring to a small group of American socialists who closed their eyes to the horrors of Stalin, that is a historical fact. If you’re using the fall of the Soviet Union to expect that rational people would totally embrace laissez faire capitalism and support eliminating the regulations that protect our food and drugs, clean up the environment, protect us from faulty products, or prevent us from being victimize by financial scams, that’s another story.

I wrote that the Communist economic system was terribly inefficient and help cause the downfall of the Soviet Union. But to say the socialist model has been thoroughly discredited ignores the fact that our military, police, firefighters, teachers, airports, bridges, ports, highways, trains, hydro-electric dams, medicare, the VA and a huge number of invaluable services have been provided for by taxpayer money. And without these “socialist” programs, very few of us would be able to start our own business and become “self-made” men.

That being said, as a small business owner, all I ask is that we have a level playing field in a truly free market. That means no lobbyists giving large corporations huge anti-competitive advantages like special tax breaks, subsidies, loopholes that allow them to pay no taxes at all by setting up fake corporate headquarters in the Cayman islands, and incentives to outsource labor which hurts everyone in this economy.

To paraphrase Churchill, “capitalism is the worst form of economics except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

BruinAlum77 said:
That means no lobbyists giving large corporations huge anti-competitive advantages like special tax breaks, subsidies, loopholes that allow them to pay no taxes at all by setting up fake corporate headquarters in the Cayman islands, and incentives to outsource labor which hurts everyone in this economy.

Hope you don’t mind my chiming in but the above excerpt is where our system has failed, and that makes it no longer true capitalism (although I don’t know what the hell you would call it unless “bribeocracy” would fill the bill.)

At the end of the day, capitalism would be stifled if there were regulations for every iota of business, but enforced ethics could certainly clear up a lot of what has harmed an otherwise wonderful economic system–just as Sir Winston observed.

Alz said:
Mathews should be studied.

Vivisection would probably yield the best data.