The Unfortunate Truth About Ronald Reagan -- Neither a Great Nor Good President

[deminks]

http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Unfortunate-Truth-Abou-by-Sam-Hamod-110205-595.html

There is so much mythology about Ronald Reagan that it's pathetic. The myth and the man were two different realities. I don't mean to disrespect the dead, but I do want the truth to come out.

1. Shortly after his election, the truth did come out -- he had made a deal with Iran's Rouhollah Mousavi Khomeini to release the "hostages" that had been taken in exchange for weapons that were trans-shipped through Israel. Thus, the negotiations of President Carter to free them were deliberately made to fail, with Reagan's help.

2 Within months after taking office, Reagan closed all government-run mental hospitals in the United States. Those of us in Washington, D.C. witnessed hundreds of homeless people on the streets from the hospitals; people who could not talk clearly, people who had been under medical care for various mental disorders -- veterans, the elderly, both men and women, and children. We saw these poor souls sleeping on ventilation heating grates while it was freezing out and others didn't know what to do but to use newspapers as cover for their bodies because many were not even given winter coats before being pushed out of the hospitals.

(snip)

6. Reagan is the president who attacked the democratically elected government of Granada under the guise of its being a communist ally of Cuba's Fidel Castro; none of which was true. Granada, under President Bishop was a socialist island, with only a local sense of community with the other countries of the Caribbean, but was no military ally of Castro. Also, Reagan and his liars said there was an airport that could take Russian and Cuban jets, which was not true. Some of us who were part of the Third World Journalists, went to Grenada; the airport was barely able to take a two-engine propeller plane, let alone a jet of any sort, especially a fast-flying fighter plane that would need a long runway! In this attack on Grenada, Reagan killed the whole government as well as the 15-20 policemen who kept order on the Island because Grenada had no special armed forces to fight against the American invasion. Incidentally, several Americans were killed during accidents on landing and parachuting into the island. Ironically, after the invasion and takeover of Grenada, Reagan and his foppy non-combat general, Alexander Haig, stood together and declared, "America is back!" As if killing Grenada wiped out our defeats in Korea and Viet Nam.

(snip)

9. Incidentally, as a side note, let it be known that Reagan was not a great speaker, not the "great communicator" as George Will labeled him. Many of Reagan's speeches were written by George Will, and Reagan read them on the teleprompter, and then Will praised the alleged Reagan speeches (written by Will) in the Washington Post and on ABC-TV weekend and even weekday news programs. Thus, even the myth of Reagan as "the great communicator" was a lie perpetrated by Will and his media colleagues who were right-leaning politically. Interestingly enough, Will was always talking about ethics, but when the truth of his secretly writing speeches for Reagan and then praising them in the Post and on ABC-TV, he was never fired, but was allowed to carry on as if he had done nothing wrong in any ethical or professional way. Ironically, when Helen Thomas recently spoke out with the truth, people like Will and others jumped on her for being wrong and unprofessional!

(end snip)

Much more at the link.

All show and no go. Much like the later all hat and no cattle.

[LinkUP]

1. Fairness doctrine?

Didnt he also help to rescind the fairness doctrine? basically allowing the media to become what it has today? Prob worst thing he did if you ask me

[MBS]

2. my thoughts exactly.

Speaking as a victim of his governorship as well as presidency, the continuing hero-worship of Reagan has always puzzled me and continues to depress me. I keep remembering what Roslynn Carter once said, "Reagan makes us feel comfortable with our prejudices." OH, YES. Obama was right in saying that Reagan's presidency was transformative in a way that Clinton's was not . (Clinton's gift was to not make things worse; he held the line for us (yes, with some real improvements along the way), but he didn't/couldn't change the mythological narrative, in large part, because, sadly, the country didn't want the narrative to change). Reagan's election was transformative, alright, but not in a way that should make us feel good about ourselves or the state of our country. Only now is there a glimmer of hope that we might finally be growing out of this horrible era. .but, even now, there are growing pains, with half of our country throwing tantrums (or worse) in reaction to even that tiny stirring of change.

[unblock]

3. the narrative is only a symptom. the cause and the real problem is the shift in the power structure

1980 was a pivot in the power structure, the time when corporate power had finally, after the self-inflicted wounds of the 1920s and the legislative shifts of fdr, recovered to the point where they could seriously exert influence on the federal and in particularly the domestic agenda (they already had foreign policy, even eisenhower saw that.)

obama has essentially zero chance of changing this power structure. he can make a few minor dents against it from a legislative perspective, and he can certainly *offer* a better narrative, but WHERE IS THE POWER STRUCTURE ON THE LEFT?

unless and until democrats and liberals truly ORGANIZE and FIGHT BACK in a way that exerts genuine power against corporate control, we can never hope for more than occassional presidents who merely hold the tide, and when republicans get *their* turn, they'll get genuine and lasting advances of *their* agenda.


the internet is a great means for organizing, and democraticunderground.com could even play a role. but for now, we're just talking, we're not hurting the corporate power structure even slightly. and marching on washington obviously doesn't accomplish a thing.

until there are widespread strikes, big and truly effective boycotts, workers who quit en masse whenever an employer is found to have polluted excessively or knowingly rolled out toxic products, investors who dump stocks of unethical companies, and so on, the corporations will continue to buy elections and policies and narratives.


merely voting for the more left of the two candidates offered is simply not enough.

[Bunny]

4. He terrorized the mentally ill with the deinstitutionalization that left

so many people on the streets, with no money, no meds, and no hope. For those who were hanging on, he delivered the death blow by throwing them off of SSI, cutting the lifeline to any sense of normalcy they had to cling to.

Reagan was an evil man and if there is a hell, I hope he's burning there.

[MBS]

5. and he did this when he was governor, too

.. that, and his politicization of environmental issues, are two of his most shameful legacies.

[starroute]

6. Reagan was their bizarro-world equivalent of FDR

The right has no positive, progressive story-line of its own, so it attempts to coopt the iconic figures and movements of the left. In this narrative, Reagan is their FDR equivalent, which is why they keep trying to prove the point by slapping his name on as many monuments as possible and even getting him onto the currency. They want history to say there were two great transformative presidents in the 20th century, FDR and Reagan.

On the other side of the balance, they're determined that the left should have its own Nixon -- a president so corrupt and discredited that he continues to be held up as an object lesson for small children to heed and avoid. That was why they attempted to impeach Clinton and why they keep muttering about impeaching Obama.

And then there are little things, like playing up the Tea Partiers as the second coming of the 60's counterculture and trying to paint them as revolutionaries when they're simply corporate enablers.

Look at any right-wing myth and you'll find a left-wing actuality turned inside out and stood on its head. It's simply what they do because they don't have anything better.

[a la izquierda]

7. You're actually honoring the dead...

in places like Nicaragua and El Salvador by posting this. Thanks