Fighting Reagan’s Legacy

[Say_What]

<clips>

On June 5, one of the most popular U.S. presidents of the 20th century died peacefully in California. Yet, Ronald Reagan’s eight years in the White House were far from peaceful, especially for Central Americans. Since his death, the mainstream media have heaped praise upon this cold warrior, constantly reiterating his “great achievements.” Occasionally, they briefly mention the Iran-Contra scandal or the record budget deficits run up by this champion of small government, but for the most part—as during his years in office—Reagan’s Teflon-coating remains as slick as ever.

While many in the United States remember this “American hero” fondly, millions of Central Americans recall the havoc caused by his military and economic policies. Reagan assumed office in the shadow of the Vietnam War; an era when popular opposition to U.S. jingoism made direct military intervention into Third World civil wars politically impossible. Despite this obstacle, Reagan successfully escalated U.S. military intervention in Latin America to levels not seen since the mid-1960s. Arming and training militaries in El Salvador and Guatemala, and counterrevolutionaries in Nicaragua, he waged proxy wars throughout the region. His administration, and many in the U.S. Congress, turned a blind eye to the Salvadoran Army’s gross human rights abuses as they funneled more than $4 billion in military and economic aid to that tiny country. The Reagan administration also blocked regional attempts at achieving peace, while significantly contributing to the deaths of some 70,000 Salvadorans and the displacement of another million, many of who came to, and remain in, the United States.

In the mid-1980s, the Iran-Contra scandal broke. In what was arguably a far greater violation of the U.S. Constitution than anything perpetrated by the Nixon White House, the Reagan administration illegally sold weapons to Iran and used the proceeds to illegally fund counterrevolutionaries in Nicaragua. Reagan’s Contra war cost 30,000 Nicaraguan lives and devastated the country’s economy. Additionally, the World Court found the United States guilty of “unlawful use of force,” or international terrorism, for its mining of Nicaragua’s harbors. Never was Reagan’s Teflon-coating more evident than during the Iran-Contra hearings when the president repeatedly answered the investigating committee’s questions by simply stating: “I don’t recall.” Reagan’s blatant obstruction of justice had little effect on his popularity ratings and he left office in January 1989 with the highest approval ratings of any president since FDR.

The Reagan administration’s military exploits extended beyond Latin America and also left a lasting legacy. It supplied Afghanistan’s Mujahideen rebels with billions of dollars in aid and high-tech weaponry, including Stinger surface-to-air missiles, which helped the Muslim guerrillas overthrow the Soviet-backed Afghan government. Both the Taliban government and Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda evolved out of the CIA-supported Mujahideen rebel movement. Following 9/11, retired Soviet Army General Makmut Goryeev, a veteran of his country’s war in Afghanistan, reminded the U.S. public, “Let us not forget that was created by your special services to fight against our Soviet troops. But he got out of their control.”

http://www.nacla.org/bodies/body75.php

[PROGRESSIVE1]

1. Reagan should have been personally held responsible for....

his crimes in Central America.

[swinney]

2. 66 Geat things for Reagan's Legacy

--------------------------RONALD REAGAN RECORDS AS FIRST---------------------------
(1900-1989)

(Peggy Noonan pay attention)

1.First to turn America into a DEBTOR nation
2. First to increase DEBT faster than growth of national income in eight years
3. First to increase DEBT faster than growth of gdp over eight years
4. First to double the deficit in just eigh t years
5. First to “almost”: triple the national DEBT in just eight years
6. First to increase SPENDING by 80%--over 8 years.
7. First to SPEND more in eight years than was spent in prior 50 years.
8. First to have “real” INTEREST RATES of 8% after averaging 1% over 35 years.
9. First to keep PRIME INTEREST RATES at 20%.
10.First to over value the dollar to the yen at rate of 262 yen to 1 dollar.
11.First to have served as Governor and increase STATE SPENDING by 112%
12.First to have HOME LOAN INTEREST RATES as high as 16%
13. First to CUT TAXES by 60% for his rich pals
14. First to allow the SAVINGS AND LOAN INDUSTRY to be raided after signing a deregulatory bill and proclaiming “I think we have hit the jackpot”. Come and get it the vaults are unguarded.
15. First to deal with TERRORISTS
16. First to send an AUTOGRAPHED BIBLE to a man he called “The Satan of Terrorists”.
17. First to have an ADMIRAL plead the Fifth Amendment.
18. First to have a stealing, lying, gutless wife abusing MARINE LT. COLONEL plead the Fifth Amendment.
19. First to have a “sitting” CABINET MEMBER INDICTED
20. First to have an ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE INDICTED.
21. First to have an ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE SENT TO PRISON.
22. First to have over 100 MEMBERS OF AN ADMINISTRATION CHARGED WITH CRIMES..
23. First to have more members of his administration charged with crimes than CUMULATIVE TOTAL OF ALL OTHER PRESIDENTS in the twentieth century
24. First to set a record for the LARGEST ONE DAY PERCENTAGE DECLINE in the DOW in history. 10-19-87
25. First to have over $10,000,000 INCREASE IN WEALTH from serving for 8 years as president.
26. First to testify ”under oath” 130 times that ”I DON’T REMEMBER” .
27. First to have an Admiral with a photographic memory testify 128 times “ I DON’T REMEMBER”.
28. First to undergo BRAIN SURGERY a few months after leaving office. No pain no gain.
29. First to, repeatedly, FALSIFY HIS WIFE’S AGE. As tho anyone cared.
30. First to promote his religious faith and never have an ACTIVE CHURCH MEMBERSHIP.
31. First to never use the term JESUS CHRIST in speeches.
32. First to seek GUIDANCE FROM THE STARS not from God
33. First to have had a SHOTGUN WEDDING.
34. First to have worked as a SHILL in Las Vegas.
35. First to call a Stealing, Lying, Psychotic, wife abusing Marine a “LIAR.
36. First to have been OPENLY ALIENATED from his children.
37. First To have served with ALZHIMERS
38. First to have UNEMPLOYMENT AT 10.8% since great depression.
39. First to attack a small unprotected nation with 88,000 inhabitants and 10,000 bb guns then PROCLAIM -“America stands tall again”— “we have whipped the Vietnam Syndrome”-we have defeated communism”. Gosh! What if we had whipped Cyprus?.
40. #1-in FARM FORECLOSURES
41. #1-In BANK FAILURES
42. #1-In SAVINGS AND LOAN FAILURES
43. #1-In Percent increase in PERSONAL BANKRUPTCIES
44. #1-In recorded MISSTATEMENTS
45. #1-In never having a single press conference in which he did not make at least one or more INCORRECT STATEMENTS.
46. #1-In needing a staff person standby during press conferences to tell the press “WHAT HE REALLY MEANT”.
47. #1-In having SERVICEMEN KILLED during peacetime.
48. #1-In largest DROP IN POPULARITY in one week.
49. #1-In being first to HONOR NAZI STORM TROOPERS by calling them” Innocent Victims”
50. #1-In being first to be labeled “BRAIN DEAD AFFABLE DUNCE’ by this writer.
51. First to lie-over and over-to reporters “I DO NOT DYE MY HAIR my barber uses a special shampoo”
52. First to have a wife who ”forced” him to WEAR THREE SUITS in one day
53. First to boast “Not bad for a DUMB GUY who worked only 20 hours per week”.
54. First to have his wife sit nearby and WHISPER ANSWERS to questions
55. First to FALL ASLEEP while the Pope spoke
56. First to invite the Pope to visit the White House and “BRING THE WIFE AND KIDS”
57. First to have his press secretary remove him from the microphone because he could not answer questions. Then, as the reporter
yelled out “answer my question” he replied “MY HANDLERS WON’T LET ME SPEAK”. Quick get the white coat.
58. First 20th Century president to have historians RATE HIM BELOW every president of the 20th except for Richard Nixon. 1994 Poll.
59. First to give us a First Lady with a past reputation for giving the BEST BJ in Hollywood.
60. First to suggest his eldest son undergo PSYCHIATRIC examination
61. First to have been voted in British polls (twice) as the ”MOST FEARED LEADER IN THE WORLD” sic em Rambo.


62. First to serve as Governor on a ”conservative” platform and INCREASE SPENDING BY 112%.
63. First Governor TO INCREASE personal income taxes by 60%, tax increase on cigarettes by 200%, state tax collections by 152%.
64. First to have a Special Assistant say on national TV “sometimes you had to HIT HIM ON THE HEAD with a 2 x 4 to get his attention”
65. First to have his official biographer state on national TV ‘After he was shot in 1981he GOT SLOWER AND SLOWER EACH YEAR. His speech got slower. He deliberated more and he hesitated more when he spoke. He lost his physical quickness and would not make decisions on the spot. It was a very, very slow and steady mental and physical decline”.
66. First to have a POPULARITY RATING OF ONLY 35% after his first two years in office.
67. First president to have been DIVORCED
68. First president to have the Geriatrics Department of a major
university study his behavior and conclude that AFTER THREE YEARS IN OFFICE HE HAD ALZHIMERS.

------------------------------------ THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE-------------------------------------------
Clarence Swinney—Burlington NC.—[e-mail]

[swinney]

3. Reagan Domestic record far short of Clintons

Comparing Democrat’s hero-CLINTON—versus Republican’s hero--REAGAN
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.JOBS—grew by 43% more under Clinton.
2.GDP---grew by 57% more under Clinton.
3.DOW—grew by 700% more under Clinton..
4.NASDAQ-grew by 18 times as much under Clinton.
4.SPENDING--grew by 28% under Clinton---80% under Reagan.
5.DEBT—grew by 43% under Clinton—187% under Reagan.
6. DEFICITS—Clinton got a large surplus--grew by 112% under Reagan.
7.NATIONAL INCOME—grew by100% more under Clinton.
8.PERSONAL INCOME—Grew by 110% more under Clinton.
SOURCES—Bureau of Labor Statistics (www.BLS.Gov)--Economic Policy Institute (EPI.org)—Global & World Almanacs from 1980 to 2003 (annual issues)
www.the-hamster.com (chart taken from NY Times)
National Archives History on Presidents. www.nara.gov

Please submit comments to [e-mail] or P.O. Box 3411-Burlington NC-27215