Ronald Reagan was aptly called “The Great Communicator.” With his affable, easy-going, likeable demeanor, he was the perfect person to sell hope and market economics. He had unparalleled talent as a visionary leader, seizing the public imagination with broad brush pictures of big themes, most rooted in traditional values. Since his days as spokesman for General Electric, he had been doing so. Even before running for governor of California, his handlers had taught him how to get around difficult topics and avoid revealing his lack of understanding about important matters. The public grasped that he was not good with details but sensed his sincerity. He represented the kind of hope people had before the fifties, to which many desperately wanted to return. Reagan promised to balance the budget by 1984, to restore prayer in the schools, end abortions, downsize government, establish free trade, and restore vigor to the Detroit automobile industry. He was unable to deliver on most of these promises, but the voters still considered him a great success. Superb public relations managers improved on Reagan’s natural talents to the point that even his failures came to appear as triumphs. Alexander Haig was to complain that they ran policy, and political operative Lee Atwater said, “I can’t think of a single meeting I was at for more than an hour when someone didn’t say, ‘How will this play in the media?’”
Reagan received very favorable coverage from the press because he was personally likeable and because media executives knew the public would not accept much criticism of this popular president. CBS management ordered its Washington Bureau and Lesley Stahl to tone down coverage of Reagan that could be considered critical because the public would not accept it. Reagan’s favorable press coverage was also due to the reluctance of Democrats to criticize him because he was so popular. The press might have aired Democratic criticisms had there been many.
One of Reagan’s greatest skills was to connect with Americans’ basic optimism. Over time, Americans had moved away from their original belief in original sin and pessimism about the human condition. They wanted to believe that people begin with a clean slate and that America is the place where this happens. The religious awakenings of the Nineteenth Century had moved people toward a much more optimistic mind set. People--at least those who were born again-- he believed to be perfectible and inherently good. William James, America’s most important philosopher, thought our greatest contribution to western thought was the belief that the mind could cure evil and heal the sick soul. He predicted that the belief in mind-cure would “play a part almost as great in the evolution of the popular religion of the future. This mind set prepared the way for the therapeutic culture of the late 20th century. The doctrine of the market required only strong belief, and it would work its magic in the same way that people could rely upon the good hearts and volunteerism of good people to work out social problems. The Democrats had not gotten the faith and were guilty of the great sin of pessimism. Not relying upon the benevolence of the market or redeemed human nature, they looked to government to do what people and natural forces should accomplish.
This sunny optimism and belief in mind-cure laid the foundation for the general acceptance therapeutic culture of the late 20th Century; although, it is doubtful that many psychiatrists would warm to this observation. Similarly, it laid the groundwork for the revival and acceptance of a laissez faire market philosophy that postulated the benevolent workings of natural economic forces. The same optimism and belief in human perfectibility underpinned its companion social philosophy, Social Darwinism. Anyone who put his mind to it can prosper in a society where economic forces are permitted to operate without government interference. Conversely, those unwilling to exert themselves and become productive citizens had no moral claims on society.
Showing posts with label Leo Wanta; Ronald Reagan; Collapse of Soviet Union; CIA; Marc Rich. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Leo Wanta; Ronald Reagan; Collapse of Soviet Union; CIA; Marc Rich. Show all posts
Monday, March 10, 2008
The Reagan Revolution, Part 2
Reagan repeatedly said that the nation’s difficulties could be blamed on the federal government: “Government is not the solution to our problem. Government is the problem.” He praised repeatedly praised the American people, indicating that it was the Democrats, not the voters, who were responsible for government getting out of control. People responded positively to his optimistic gospel and to his contrasting of the absolute goodness of the American people with the pure evil of the Soviet empire. The Republicans had marketed themselves as the party of morality and traditional American principles, and they were fortunate in having a candidate who was thoroughly likeable and easy to portray as a man of character. Peggy Noonan, a Reagan speechwriter, was to spearhead the effort to convince the public that he was uniquely a man of character who exemplified American values. It did not matter that his relationships with his own children were not very good or that some of their close friends did not fit this pattern. He clearly possessed great personal charm, was unfailingly courteous, and he constantly spoke in moralistic terms. Americans learned to ignore any information that did not fit the myth.
A man of principles, he consistently cut taxes; they did not notice tax increases on his watch. As a man of principle, he was not expected to offer careful and detailed explanations for policy. Marshall Mc Luhan, the media philosopher, had warned, “Politics will eventually be replaced by imagery. The politician will be only too happy to abdicate in favor of his image because the image will be much more powerful than he could ever be.” Within the actor-president, persona triumphed over policy. Ronald Reagan was avuncular, charming, and charismatic. It was almost impossible for many to believe that such a man could make serious mistakes. Reagan and his handlers understood that especially in postmodern culture there was no difference between what was true and what was rhetorically seductive.
People in postmodern culture responded positively to what sounded good and were aesthetically pleasing. A charismatic storyteller, Ronald Reagan succeeded in persuading most of the voting public to accept positions they normally opposed, when presented in other terms. Postmodern culture places a high premium on electronic images. People who view someone on the silver screen or on television somehow can accurately discern that person’s character and inner being. If they approve of what they see, they develop an emotional tie with that person. Reagan and his handlers understood this, and it gave them an enormous advantage over his Democratic opponents, who saw him only as a “B” grade movie actor. In 1984, Lesley Stahl provided CBS television with a four-minute pictorial story about how Reagan visited institutions for the handicapped and old age homes, while simultaneously slashing the funding of programs for these people. Knowing that the pictures were worth far more than her commentary, the White House handlers thanked CBS for the favorable publicity.
Reagan began his campaign in Mississippi, defending states rights in language whites understood as being very critical of the civil rights revolution. While Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford courted the black middle class, Reagan went even farther than Nixon in wooing white conservatives and deliberately cut their ties to the African American middle class. As Michael Dawson of Harvard recalled, “Black elites were shocked to find that with Reagan and his advisers, there were no longer ‘good Negroes’ and ‘bad Negroes.’” Reagan’s hostility to the civil rights revolution also played well among white workers in the North. The Democrats had failed to win new voters or retain many old supporters with their ideas, while Reagan offered alternatives that won over some former Democrats.
In 1980, the Democrats lost many seats in the House and saw more than a few liberals support to liberal Republican John Anderson, who ran for the presidency in as an independent. Moderate Republicans who were uncomfortable in a party dominated by conservatives fueled the Anderson candidacy. By then, their numbers in Congress had dwindled to between fifteen and twenty “Gypsy Moths,” who fed off the leaves of the Republican tree but frequently voted with the Democrats. The Republican Senate victory was largely due to the organizational efforts of Terry Dolan’s National Conservative Political Action Committee. It had spent $4.5 million, $1.2 million of which went to purging liberal senators.
A man of principles, he consistently cut taxes; they did not notice tax increases on his watch. As a man of principle, he was not expected to offer careful and detailed explanations for policy. Marshall Mc Luhan, the media philosopher, had warned, “Politics will eventually be replaced by imagery. The politician will be only too happy to abdicate in favor of his image because the image will be much more powerful than he could ever be.” Within the actor-president, persona triumphed over policy. Ronald Reagan was avuncular, charming, and charismatic. It was almost impossible for many to believe that such a man could make serious mistakes. Reagan and his handlers understood that especially in postmodern culture there was no difference between what was true and what was rhetorically seductive.
People in postmodern culture responded positively to what sounded good and were aesthetically pleasing. A charismatic storyteller, Ronald Reagan succeeded in persuading most of the voting public to accept positions they normally opposed, when presented in other terms. Postmodern culture places a high premium on electronic images. People who view someone on the silver screen or on television somehow can accurately discern that person’s character and inner being. If they approve of what they see, they develop an emotional tie with that person. Reagan and his handlers understood this, and it gave them an enormous advantage over his Democratic opponents, who saw him only as a “B” grade movie actor. In 1984, Lesley Stahl provided CBS television with a four-minute pictorial story about how Reagan visited institutions for the handicapped and old age homes, while simultaneously slashing the funding of programs for these people. Knowing that the pictures were worth far more than her commentary, the White House handlers thanked CBS for the favorable publicity.
Reagan began his campaign in Mississippi, defending states rights in language whites understood as being very critical of the civil rights revolution. While Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford courted the black middle class, Reagan went even farther than Nixon in wooing white conservatives and deliberately cut their ties to the African American middle class. As Michael Dawson of Harvard recalled, “Black elites were shocked to find that with Reagan and his advisers, there were no longer ‘good Negroes’ and ‘bad Negroes.’” Reagan’s hostility to the civil rights revolution also played well among white workers in the North. The Democrats had failed to win new voters or retain many old supporters with their ideas, while Reagan offered alternatives that won over some former Democrats.
In 1980, the Democrats lost many seats in the House and saw more than a few liberals support to liberal Republican John Anderson, who ran for the presidency in as an independent. Moderate Republicans who were uncomfortable in a party dominated by conservatives fueled the Anderson candidacy. By then, their numbers in Congress had dwindled to between fifteen and twenty “Gypsy Moths,” who fed off the leaves of the Republican tree but frequently voted with the Democrats. The Republican Senate victory was largely due to the organizational efforts of Terry Dolan’s National Conservative Political Action Committee. It had spent $4.5 million, $1.2 million of which went to purging liberal senators.
The Reagan REvolution, Part I
The election of Ronald Reagan and a Republican Senate in the election of 1980 was the first significant victory in the conservative’s sustained and successful drive to capture long-term control of the United States government. Its impact was so great that it has been called the “Reagan Revolution. “It marked a dramatic shift in policies, as Republicans began to make progress in rolling back the New Deal and successive Democratic domestic programs. Great progress was also made in reorienting tax policy by scaling back progressive taxation and providing generous tax cuts to the rich and corporate interests. In foreign affairs, Reagan’s rhetoric and Star Wars initiative foreshadowed what was to come under Reagan’s self-anointed heir, George W. Bush, a departure from traditional bipartisan foreign policy toward a very assertive, nationalistic, and unilateralist approach to world affairs. It was also a huge personal triumph for a Reagan whose likeable manner and ability instilled trust. His ability to communicate easily won many converts to conservative ideas. Many Americans came to identify modern Republicanism with this cheerful, likeable man whose eight years in the White House presented a generally positive advertisement for the party and conservatism.
It is possible that the Reagan Revolution went farther than the Gipper realized or intended. In retrospect, it is clear that the Republican Party in the Reagan years had accepted supply side economics and that many in its ranks ceased to worry about growing deficits. President Reagan used supply side rhetoric, but his diaries indicate that he disagreed with the most zealous supply-siders, such as Jack Kemp. It was also a period in which the New Right gathered enough influence to take over the party in the 1990s. Reagan employed their rhetoric because it was very effective in attracting support, but he privately worried that these people were extremists and even wrote that Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Washington Times is “becoming as R. Wing as the Post is L. Wing.”
Reagan urged Americans to “stand tall” and “dream heroic dreams,” and employed the slogan “Let’s make America great again.” His optimism was appealing and people wanted to believe that it was, as he insisted in 1984, “morning in America.” Reagan’s optimism tapped into a deep strain in the American character. Over time, Americans developed an ethic of cheerfulness, which emphasized individual self-worth and the notion that people are masters of their own destinies. Cheerfulness became a symbol of virtue. It included an aversion to tears, helplessness and grief. It became almost a prerequisite for getting hired and was expected of employees. Eventually advertisers who believed it encouraged spending that commodified it. Sociologist saw it as the handmaiden of Republican complacency. It was an attitude consistent with Republican insistence that little was wrong with America and its capitalistic system. This outlook certainly appealed to people tired of Democratic worrying about social and economic inequalities.
It is possible that the Reagan Revolution went farther than the Gipper realized or intended. In retrospect, it is clear that the Republican Party in the Reagan years had accepted supply side economics and that many in its ranks ceased to worry about growing deficits. President Reagan used supply side rhetoric, but his diaries indicate that he disagreed with the most zealous supply-siders, such as Jack Kemp. It was also a period in which the New Right gathered enough influence to take over the party in the 1990s. Reagan employed their rhetoric because it was very effective in attracting support, but he privately worried that these people were extremists and even wrote that Reverend Sun Myung Moon’s Washington Times is “becoming as R. Wing as the Post is L. Wing.”
Reagan urged Americans to “stand tall” and “dream heroic dreams,” and employed the slogan “Let’s make America great again.” His optimism was appealing and people wanted to believe that it was, as he insisted in 1984, “morning in America.” Reagan’s optimism tapped into a deep strain in the American character. Over time, Americans developed an ethic of cheerfulness, which emphasized individual self-worth and the notion that people are masters of their own destinies. Cheerfulness became a symbol of virtue. It included an aversion to tears, helplessness and grief. It became almost a prerequisite for getting hired and was expected of employees. Eventually advertisers who believed it encouraged spending that commodified it. Sociologist saw it as the handmaiden of Republican complacency. It was an attitude consistent with Republican insistence that little was wrong with America and its capitalistic system. This outlook certainly appealed to people tired of Democratic worrying about social and economic inequalities.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Leo Wanta: A View of the World of Black Ops, Part 1
Leo Emile Wanta, a 63 year-old Appleton, Wisconsin native, is acknowledged to be a very effective commodities trader and international financier. Los Angeles commodities trader and Democratic operative Tom Hanneghan is no fan of Wanta but called him a "brilliant engineer" with "lots of technical skills." Wanta A worked for the U.S. intelligence agencies@ and A helped bring down the Soviet communist government.@ His government service included working for the U.S. Treasury, the CIA, and the NSC. He worked for the 1988 Bush campaign and raised $50,000 for Bush=s reelection. His activities as a US government operative are shrouded in mystery, but what little is known about them reveals that there is a vast world of clandestine activity that powerfully effects events.
Wanta claimed to be Ronald Reagan=s favorite “junkyard dog." He went to work for the US government in 1963 , working for the DEA and CIA, and became a Republican operative in 1965. In 1988, the Associated Press carried stories about his selling 30,000 automatic pistols to Manuel Noriega. It has been speculated that the guns had homing devices that later enabled the US to find Noriega=s security people. He was known to travel frequently with General Vernon Walters, an US ambassador to the UN, and visited FBI head William Sessions through the secret entrance to his office.
While fronting various Treasury operations abroad, he accumulated a fortune for himself. A prime front for the Treasury was his Aneko Credit PTE, LTD in Singapore. He also conducted business for the CIA through a front named Miracle Investments and AmeriTech, which seems to be partly owned by the CIA. He has been accused of working covertly to drive down the price of gold on the international market, but there is very little information on it. His 1992 tax documents listed his net wealth at $432 billion. It is likely he was fronting much of that for the government. He was a specialist in currency swaps and in selling and trading arbitraged guaranteed currency deposits called "prime bank guarantees" to banks for the US Treasury. Unfortunately, his funds and those of the Treasury were commingled, and the government continued to use his funds after he was no longer in a position to direct their use.
His great accomplishment was destabilizing the Russian currency in 1990-1991. One of his firms was New Republic/USA Financial Group Ltd. was used in this operation. US journalist Claire Sterling, who has a record of being friendly to the CIA, described the Great Ruble Scam in Thieves' World ( Simon and Shuster, 1994). Wanta came off as a scoundrel but a highly effective one.
In fact, he was working in cooperation with Israel and China and used the services of the Russian mafiya to acquire vast amounts of counterfeit rubles. He started with over a hundred billion dollars from the U.S. Treasury, money he repaid with interest. The idea was to accumulate rubbles and then present them for redemption as payment to debts owed the Soviet Union of for redemption other currencies or gold. Speculation with real currency against the rubble was also involved. Marc Rich, an Israeli agent and US citizen was also involved. The Chinese and Israelis helped him accumulate rubles on the black market. The accumulated funds were used to bring down the ruble and were used in part by the Chinese to pay debts. Some rubles were sold to east European countries, who also paid down their debts. Still others were used to buy 2000 tons of Russian gold. The rubble was pegged at $1.20 to a rubble, but they could not be legally purchased. Wanta and others started with more than a hundred billion from the US treasury and other funds and bought the currency at about .28 and sold them to people with debts to Russia at .88.
Wanta claimed to be Ronald Reagan=s favorite “junkyard dog." He went to work for the US government in 1963 , working for the DEA and CIA, and became a Republican operative in 1965. In 1988, the Associated Press carried stories about his selling 30,000 automatic pistols to Manuel Noriega. It has been speculated that the guns had homing devices that later enabled the US to find Noriega=s security people. He was known to travel frequently with General Vernon Walters, an US ambassador to the UN, and visited FBI head William Sessions through the secret entrance to his office.
While fronting various Treasury operations abroad, he accumulated a fortune for himself. A prime front for the Treasury was his Aneko Credit PTE, LTD in Singapore. He also conducted business for the CIA through a front named Miracle Investments and AmeriTech, which seems to be partly owned by the CIA. He has been accused of working covertly to drive down the price of gold on the international market, but there is very little information on it. His 1992 tax documents listed his net wealth at $432 billion. It is likely he was fronting much of that for the government. He was a specialist in currency swaps and in selling and trading arbitraged guaranteed currency deposits called "prime bank guarantees" to banks for the US Treasury. Unfortunately, his funds and those of the Treasury were commingled, and the government continued to use his funds after he was no longer in a position to direct their use.
His great accomplishment was destabilizing the Russian currency in 1990-1991. One of his firms was New Republic/USA Financial Group Ltd. was used in this operation. US journalist Claire Sterling, who has a record of being friendly to the CIA, described the Great Ruble Scam in Thieves' World ( Simon and Shuster, 1994). Wanta came off as a scoundrel but a highly effective one.
In fact, he was working in cooperation with Israel and China and used the services of the Russian mafiya to acquire vast amounts of counterfeit rubles. He started with over a hundred billion dollars from the U.S. Treasury, money he repaid with interest. The idea was to accumulate rubbles and then present them for redemption as payment to debts owed the Soviet Union of for redemption other currencies or gold. Speculation with real currency against the rubble was also involved. Marc Rich, an Israeli agent and US citizen was also involved. The Chinese and Israelis helped him accumulate rubles on the black market. The accumulated funds were used to bring down the ruble and were used in part by the Chinese to pay debts. Some rubles were sold to east European countries, who also paid down their debts. Still others were used to buy 2000 tons of Russian gold. The rubble was pegged at $1.20 to a rubble, but they could not be legally purchased. Wanta and others started with more than a hundred billion from the US treasury and other funds and bought the currency at about .28 and sold them to people with debts to Russia at .88.
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