Defending Reagan, Forgetting Her Job

[rusty charly]

Passing through the rotunda, he noticed the Reagan display. The ceremony was over, and the crowd had dispersed. Garcia got in line behind a man and his two sons who were signing the memory book. When his turn came he wrote: "My memory of President Ronald Reagan: Thousands of American men, women and children were dying from HIV and AIDS during his administration. The president did nothing. The president said nothing. Not until the very end of his second term was he even able to utter the word 'AIDS.' Reagan's silence and his administration's policies contributed to the suffering and dying of thousands of men, women and children."

-snip-

Staley says, "I thought I'd sign right below him. I wanted to read what he wrote first. Oh my gosh! He totally defamed Ronald Reagan about his having no stand on the AIDS situation and HIV and all that. It was very cruel. It was inappropriate, and it made no sense whatsoever that he would do that. I was very incensed. I loved Ronald Reagan!"


It's not something she wants to discuss in any detail, but she says that over the years her grandparents, parents, and husband have given Reagan "a lot of support." She fully shares their devotion. "I turned the page," she says. "I said, 'I'm not signing on that page.' I wrote my thing, and the photographer wrote his thing. As we were getting ready to leave we saw a security guard walking up, and the photographer mentioned it to him. He said, 'Some guy wrote something defamatory.' You know, you don't write hate messages in a public book."


Just then, Garcia happened to walk back into the rotunda. He saw a guard, a TV reporter, and a cameraman gathered at the memory book. He heard the guard say, "Was it the guy with two kids?" and the reporter respond, "No. It's signed 'Rick Garcia.'" He headed toward them.


Staley says, "He walked up and looked puzzlingly at us."


Garcia says, "She pointed at me and said, 'There he is!'"


http://www.chireader.com/hottype/2004/040618_1.html

[DenverDem]

1. "She had a right to express her opinion"

and therin lies the problem with American "journalism". It's all opinion, all spin, all unbelievable.

[the Kelly Gang]

2. must have irked her she couldn't have had him arrested

what the hell has happened to free speech ??
why have a book to write comments if they you can't write comments ??

2 people didn't do their jobs..the reporter and the policeman

[sniffa]

3. good for him

i think he was being too poLite.