It is hilarious to ME, to witness phony conservaives, upon learning that Reagan, strong Law & Order man, strong National Security man, really did talk tough, and act tough.
They attempt double-back-flips, pretzel contortions to claim that what was said and done was "different," etc.
I was a college student, soldier, then again college student during the period in question. I lived it, and remember how Reagan handled it.
Most that are claiming it was "different," a) didn't live it, b) look silly, to the point of looking sort of something akin to stupid, c) may be amateur or paid disruptors, d) by opposing Trump they are taking the side of the very "establishment" they claim to oppose.
Call them "Sea Island" Republicans," where the forces of Karl Rove meet Mitt Romney, Mitch McConnell, Silicon Valley, Goldman Sachs, etc.
That is the TRUE world of "anybody but Trump."
In that world, they have empathy and sympathize with rioters and disruptors. They advocate kumbaya understanding instead of "overly harsh" words and phrases. You are, in reality, wimpish--just exactly like Obama.
You lack even the first clues about handling such situations, for your career in constitutional debates have given you zero real world experience, on the ground, with much of anything. You are indeed, professional talkers.
The fact that in May 1969 Reagan endorsed law enforcement to go out and crack some heads, if necessary, surprised you. Caught off guard, and completely unschooled in the FACTS of that era, you resort to "it was different."
I'm guessing we are nearly the same age and my recollection of Reagan was that he was forthright, law, order and America great and first.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tear_down_this_wall!
The "tear down this wall" speech was not the first time Reagan had addressed the issue of the Berlin Wall. In a visit to West Berlin in June 1982, he'd stated "I'd like to ask the Soviet leaders one question [...] Why is the wall there?",[2] and in 1986, 25 years after the construction of the wall, in response to West German newspaper Bild-Zeitung asking when he thought the wall could be "torn down", Reagan said, "I call upon those responsible to dismantle it [today]".[3]
On the day before Reagan's 1987 visit, 50,000 people had demonstrated against the presence of the American president in Berlin. During the visit itself, wide swaths of Berlin were shut off hermetically from the event to suppress further anti-Reagan protests. The district of Kreuzberg, in particular, was targeted in this respect, with movement throughout this portion of the city in effect restrained completely (for instance the subway line 1 was shut down).[4]The speech was also a source of considerable controversy within the Reagan administration itself, with several senior staffers and aides advising against the phrase, saying anything that might cause further East-West tensions or potential embarrassment to Gorbachev, with whom President Reagan had built a good relationship, should be omitted. American officials in West Germany and presidential speechwriters, including Peter Robinson, thought otherwise. Robinson traveled to West Germany to inspect potential speech venues, and gained an overall sense that the majority of West Berliners opposed the wall. Despite getting little support for suggesting Reagan demand the wall's removal, Robinson kept the phrase in the speech text. On May 18, 1987, President Reagan met with his speechwriters and responded to the speech by saying, "I thought it was a good, solid draft." White House Chief of Staff Howard Baker objected, saying it sounded "extreme" and "unpresidential," and Deputy US National Security Advisor Colin Powell agreed. Nevertheless, Reagan liked the passage, saying, "I think we'll leave it in."[5]
