Chomsky on Reagan's Legacy -- by Amy Goodman

[Khephra]

Amy Goodman, June 9, 2004

The network and newspaper coverage of the death of Ronald Reagan has brought forth a chorus of praise from Democrats and Republicans alike. Much of the reporting and commentary, under the guise of respecting the dead, has represented a dramatic rewriting of the history of the Reagan years in office.

Looking back at the Reagan presidency doesn't mean we actually have to look back. Many of the same people who populated his administration are in the George W. Bush administration as well: James Baker, Elliot Abrams, Paul Wolfowitz, Colin Powell, John Poindexter, John Negroponte, just to name a few.


Democracy Now's Amy Goodman asked leading dissident Noam Chomsky to reflect on the policies of Reagan's administration during his 8 years in power and Reagan's influence on the current Bush Administration.

more.............

http://www.guerrillanews.com/human_rights/doc4614.html

[mmm]

1. Chomsky is amazing

He could fill volumes on Reagans 'Legacy'

[struggle4progress]

2. Great short discussion!

"... the people now in office in Washington have the unique honor of being the only ones in the world who have been condemned by the World Court for international terrorism."

[myopic4141]

3. The past comes back to haunt.

We have been called "haters of America" by the Conservative Right for criticism of the geopolitics of past Administrations. What especially comes to mind are the criticism's aimed at the Reagan Administration for arming or the allowing of arming Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction (chemical weapons) and supplying targeting information on where to use them. The actions have been compared to the giving of Hitler the poison gas used in concentration camps and the supplying the addresses of the Jews to be rounded up and gases in said camps. The comparison is apt and the criticism warranted since many of those who supplied Saddam Hussein are part of the current Administration. The people in charge now being the people in charge then have the same mindset now as they did then. The same mean, soulless, tunnel visioned, and sadistic individuals put forth the policies in the same manner now as they did then. The acceptance of torture by these people is no surprise because it is part of their core principles of "the end justifies the means". Why should it not be a surprise when these individuals are the very same people that mined the harbors in Nicaragua, ignored the drug trade (also abetted in the drug trade), and overlook (as well as promote) the atrocities of secret police throughout Central America in support of the Contras.
The secrecy which abounds this Administration does not surprise either since these very individuals ran a secret parallel government during the Reagan Administration to thwart the will of Congress which brought the "Iran amok scam". Now, they do not have to hide from Congress since many of the same ilk control Congress; but, they still have to work in the shadows so the general population does not discover how depraved these individuals truly are. There is no genuine guilt displayed by any of the individuals when the truth comes to light. Only disingenuous platitudes to quell the masses be they directly from the practitioners or the media sycophants. Much is being hidden through unchallenged revisionist history in the guise of not speaking ill of the dead.
For many, Reagan did not raise the spirit of America for the spirit had not fallen in those who understood America. Instead, the spirit was only raised in the mean spirited who did not believe in the principles of America when they could act with little or no consequence. Their vision of America was a corrupt vision that shamed many of us by not holding to the core principles. In effect, they told us through their actions that un-American principles were better and more powerful. There is only one truth and that is that Bush and company are like Reagan and company in all aspects which is not a good thing giving the depraved indifference towards human life of all involved. Neither believes in the Constitution which means that they do not believe in America.