Reagan - Nasty Little Events of His Admin.

66 (Unflattering) Things About Ronald Reagan

By David Corn, The Nation
June 6, 2004

Editor's Note: This list of "66 Things to Think about When Flying in to Reagan National Airport" appeared in the Nation on March 2, 1998 after the renaming of Washington National Airport after Ronald Reagan. As Corn says, "the piece remains relevant today – particularly as a cheat sheet for those who dare to point out the Reagan presidency was not all that glorious and was more nightmare in America than morning in America."



The firing of the air traffic controllers, winnable nuclear war, recallable nuclear missiles, trees that cause pollution, Elliott Abrams lying to Congress, ketchup as a vegetable, colluding with Guatemalan thugs, pardons for F.B.I. lawbreakers, voodoo economics, budget deficits, toasts to Ferdinand Marcos, public housing cutbacks, redbaiting the nuclear freeze movement, James Watt.



Getting cozy with Argentine fascist generals, tax credits for segregated schools, disinformation campaigns, "homeless by choice," Manuel Noriega, falling wages, the HUD scandal, air raids on Libya, "constructive engagement" with apartheid South Africa, United States Information Agency blacklists of liberal speakers, attacks on OSHA and workplace safety, the invasion of Grenada, assassination manuals, Nancy's astrologer.



Drug tests, lie detector tests, Fawn Hall, female appointees (8 percent), mining harbors, the S&L scandal, 239 dead U.S. troops in Beirut, Al Haig "in control," silence on AIDS, food-stamp reductions, Debategate, White House shredding, Jonas Savimbi, tax cuts for the rich, "mistakes were made."



Michael Deaver's conviction for influence peddling, Lyn Nofziger's conviction for influence peddling, Caspar Weinberger's five-count indictment, Ed Meese ("You don't have many suspects who are innocent of a crime"), Donald Regan (women don't "understand throw-weights"), education cuts, massacres in El Salvador.



"The bombing begins in five minutes," $640 Pentagon toilet seats, African-American judicial appointees (1.9 percent), Reader's Digest, C.I.A.-sponsored car-bombing in Lebanon (more than eighty civilians killed), 200 officials accused of wrongdoing, William Casey, Iran/contra. "Facts are stupid things," three-by-five cards, the MX missile, Bitburg, S.D.I., Robert Bork, naps, Teflon.

 

nice sig.....

 

Yeah, he was a crook in many ways. But he wasn't half as bad of a president as Bush (both jr. and sr.).

 

hmmmm....and how are they crooks?

 

This is hardly worthy of a reply. Let the man and his policies rest in peace. I wanna find your grave so i can shit on it. How would you like that?

 

"I wanna find your grave so i can shit on it"

Yep GA that is just a great example of you kicking another "totally moronic shit-spewing liberals ass" you truly are one of the worlds great wits, I mean a line from you and people feel their asses have been soooooooooooooo like kicked.

 

I actually saw those 66 things on another website. Some of those things jump out in my mind.

 

This would be a fair comment if of course he had not been directly responsible for sending so many people people to their graves before their time.

More Proof Only The Good Die Young by Greg Palast

by: Durrell on: 7th Jun, 04

06/06/04: "ICH" You're not going to like this. You shouldn't speak ill of the dead. But in this case, someone's got to.

Ronald Reagan was a conman. Reagan was a coward. Reagan was a killer.

In 1987, I found myself stuck in a crappy little town in Nicaragua named Chaguitillo. The people were kind enough, though hungry, except for one surly young man. His wife had just died of tuberculosis.

People don't die of TB if they get some antibiotics. But Ronald Reagan, big hearted guy that he was, had put a lock-down embargo on medicine to Nicaragua because he didn't like the government that the people there had elected.

Ronnie grinned and cracked jokes while the young woman's lungs filled up and she stopped breathing. Reagan flashed that B-movie grin while they buried the mother of three.

And when Hezbollah terrorists struck and murdered hundreds of American marines in their sleep in Lebanon, the TV warrior ran away like a whipped dog ... then turned around and invaded Grenada. That little Club Med war was a murderous PR stunt so Ronnie could hold parades for gunning down Cubans building an airport.

I remember Nancy, a skull and crossbones prancing around in designer dresses, some of the "gifts" that flowed to the Reagans -- from hats to million-dollar homes -- from cronies well compensated with government loot. It used to be called bribery.

And all the while, Grandpa grinned, the grandfather who bleated on about "family values" but didn't bother to see his own grandchildren.

The New York Times today, in its canned obit, wrote that Reagan projected, "faith in small town America" and "old-time values." "Values" my ass. It was union busting and a declaration of war on the poor and anyone who couldn't buy designer dresses. It was the New Meanness, bringing starvation back to America so that every millionaire could get another million.

"Small town" values? From the movie star of the Pacific Palisades, the Malibu mogul? I want to throw up.

And all the while, in the White House basement, as his brain boiled away, his last conscious act was to condone a coup d'etat against our elected Congress. Reagan's Defense Secretary Casper the Ghost Weinberger with the crazed Colonel, Ollie North, plotted to give guns to the Monster of the Mideast, Ayatolla Khomeini.

Reagan's boys called Jimmy Carter a weanie and a wuss although Carter wouldn't give an inch to the Ayatolla. Reagan, with that film-fantasy tough-guy con in front of cameras, went begging like a coward cockroach to Khomeini pleading on bended knee for the release of our hostages.

Ollie North flew into Iran with a birthday cake for the maniac mullah -- no kidding --in the shape of a key. The key to Ronnie's heart.

Then the Reagan roaches mixed their cowardice with crime: taking cash from the hostage-takers to buy guns for the "contras" - the drug-runners of Nicaragua posing as freedom fighters.

I remember as a student in Berkeley the words screeching out of the bullhorn, "The Governor of the State of California, Ronald Reagan, hereby orders this demonstration to disburse" ... and then came the teargas and the truncheons. And all the while, that fang-hiding grin from the Gipper.

In Chaguitillo, all night long, the farmers stayed awake to guard their kids from attack from Reagan's Contra terrorists. The farmers weren't even Sandinistas, those 'Commies' that our cracked-brained President told us were 'only a 48-hour drive from Texas.' What the hell would they want with Texas, anyway?

Nevertheless, the farmers, and their families, were Ronnie's targets.

In the deserted darkness of Chaguitillo, a TV blared. Weirdly, it was that third-rate gangster movie, "Brother Rat." Starring Ronald Reagan.

Well, my friends, you can rest easier tonight: the Rat is dead.

Killer, coward, conman. Ronald Reagan, good-bye and good riddance.
Greg Palast is author of the New York Times bestseller, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. www.GregPalast.com
.

 

I noticed that article was written by Greg Palast, he blessed us with such a great read as The Best Democracy Money Can Buy. So maybe just maybe that article was a bit biased, just a little though.

 

So you immediately discount something written by Greg Palast, simply because he has an OPINION? Now do you similarly disregard the fawning CRAP being written and broadcast by Rush, Hannity, and the FauxNews crew? They have "biased opinions", too, ya know!

How about debating Palast's FACTS, rather than just dismissing them because you don't like him?

Oh, I forgot, you right-wingers don't bother to do that, right?

 

You mean saving the lives of so many? Jackass.....

This is spitting on the grave here, you know, being disrespectful. While I have no problem with debating the policies of President Reagan, it ain't cool to disrespect anyone when they die....even if they're some scum sucking terrorist. Anyway, if I was looking for a person to give me an honest policy debate, I wouldn't start with a dumbshit radical like Palast, he obviously gives the left a bad name.

 

.................

 

upon the deathof my grandfather, my mother had a very difficult time curbing all the mean raging things she wanted to scream at his grave. my father said one of his more brilliant quotes "why should you be expected to respect a man in death when you never respected him in life?" people can vent and scream all they like, in fact, we need to. it does the dead no harm, they feel no pain.

 

Maybe it's just personal belief, but I think that the dead should be respected. If you come up with logical reasons why you didn't like the person or the actions they took that's one thing, but I believe it to be much different when you insult them, I think that's wrong. Sure it's not physically hurting the dead, but it really sucks for those who did revere the person, in this case such as Nancy Reagan, heck she probably even loved him....how do you think she would feel about "More proof only the good die young....Reagan was a conman...."? I bet she didn't feel good at all.

 

Ellis i watch CNN for my news, i don't read O'Rielly books and i am for legalizing marijuana. I don;t trust Palast anymore than i trust Rush, in fact both of them should stop writing. How are you so sure Palast isn't lying? Are right-wingers the only liars?

 

well, honestly, it wouldn't be the first criticism of her husband she'd have to take. while i personally wouldn't spew hate to the mourners directly, out of respect, we're not talking to the mourners here. this is skip's barbeque, and if you don't like the way it tastes, you can go to another, i suppose. at leasts that's the way i've seen it go hereabouts.

while i respectfully mourn his passing, you will have to allow that many will not. it's not like anyone can honestly expect me to mourn the passing of anyone i disliked. and when it's a figure like the president, you're going to have to expect people wanting to piss on his gravesite.

 

I agree with all the anti right wingers--the bastards want all the money-I mean ALL the money.They bust unions,they tax the shit out of the working people,deny us a decent national health care system,topple governments when there is money to be made,and they lie thru their teeth every day on the RIGHT WING MEDIA.(liberal media ,my ass).And we take it ,year after year.Are we who see how this country really runs, paralized or what?911 was a real break for these warmongers--now they can suck us dry,while sucking all the oil and money out of Iraq.If bush gets in again,next is Iran and who knows where else.And they are certainly fond of calling people who care about the planet on which we live,environmental whackos.They are clinically insane as far as I'm concerned,to run this nation and the world the way they do.With benevolent and altruistic leaders of this country-considering our history and our constitution-america could begin to remake this world into a fantastic place to exist for all it's inhabitants.Everyone fed,housed,with decent and honest labor,complete medical --and with proper education for all who want--ah fuck it--they have every resource from the cop in the street to the H-bomb at their disposal-and they'll use 'em if you fuck with em'.---------------------------------scratcho---------------(and when I come back ,I'll tell you how I really feel)

 

Point taken kc, I guess I just try to defend the man and his legacy.

As far as skip.....at least he FINALLY took down the freedom of speech banner that he tried to pawn off on the old site.....matter of fact, I need to PM my thanks.

 

What the hell are you talking about? You act like contractors don't have anybody working for them.....which they do.....which means that they (the workers) are also gaining wealth.....hey I never thought of that one! Just because they don't have the capital to invest or the business savvy to provide jobs for others doesn't mean that other people aren't making a profit off of those who make a larger one. You see that is how the world goes round....the richer the rich get....the richer the working man gets. Bush isn't ripping us off man, he's giving us tax cuts! He's providing jobs! What's a prepubican anyway?

Oh and sorry to dissapoint you, but social programs only benefit a minority, the few. OUCH!