Things the name Ronald Reagan brings to my mind

[murdoch]

Iran-Contra
Mining Nicaragua's harbors
calling the Contras the "the moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers"
Placing a funeral wreath on the graves of SS soldiers in Bitburg
The El Mozote Massacre
FBI informant
Shill for General Electric
Firing the Air Traffic Controllers
Red-baiting the nuclear freeze movement
The endless lies ("stories") he concocted to make his point
Trying to reclassify ketchup as a vegetable when cutting school lunch programs
Starting his presidential bid right where three civil rights workers were murdered, the speech about "states rights"
Sending the Marines to Lebanon, pulling them out when bombed, then invading Grenada two days later for good PR
Consulting astrologers when scheduling meetings


But for me worst of all:

His manner when appearing on TV as governor gleefully eating grapes as the mostly Mexican farmworkers were on strike

Anyone who might fall for the propaganda that Reagan was always jovial, friendly, optimistic etc. should watch his TV appearances when the poor, mostly Mexican farm workers were on strike. Watch his expression and mannerisms if you are any judge of personality. He obviously got the same sadistic thrill out of stomping on the poorest brown Californians as Margaret Thatcher did during her miner's strike in her own way. He was true scum. Of course, America holding up people who get a sadistic thrill out of stomping on the weakest in society is very normal, it's fitting he is so associated with the flag, the military, anti-communism, free markets, America, mom, God and apple pie.

[liberal N proud]

1. Union busting

2 years of unemployment

So many other things to hate about that SOB

[SoCalDem]

2. claiming that trees were responsible for more air pollution than cars

Ronald W. Reagan 40th President 1981-1989

The Genius of Ronald Reagan: Direct Quotes from the Gipper Himself

"Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do." -- Ronald Reagan, 1981

"A tree is a tree. How many more do you have to look at?" -- Ronald Reagan, 1966, opposing expansion of Redwood National Park as governor of California


"Abortion is advocated only by persons who have themselves been born. "

"I have flown twice over Mt St. Helens out on our west coast. I'm not a scientist and I don't know the figures, but I have a suspicion that that one little mountain has probably released more sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere of the world than has been released in the last ten years of automobile driving or things of that kind that people are so concerned about." -- Ronald Reagan, 1980. (Actually, Mount St. Helens, at its peak activity, emitted about 2,000 tons of sulfur dioxide per day, compared with 81,000 tons per day by cars.)

"Facts are stupid things." -- Ronald Reagan, 1988, a misquote of John Adams, "Facts are stubborn things."

"We think there is a parallel between federal involvement in education and the decline in profit over recent years." -- Ronald Reagan, 1983. (It's always good to run the Department of Education to make money.)

"Fascism was really the basis for the New Deal." Ronald Reagan, 1976, on his failed campaign for the Republican nomination. (Moron.)

"The best minds are not in government." -- Ronald Reagan. (Not in his government anyway.)

"You can't help those who simply will not be helped. One problem that we've had, even in the best of times, is people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless who are homeless, you might say, by choice." -- President Reagan, 1/31/84, on Good Morning America, defending his administration against charges of callousness.

On 8/24/85 President Reagan tells an interviewer that the "reformist administration" of South African president P.W. Botha has made significant progress on the racial front. "They have eliminated the segregation that we once had in our own country," says the President, "the type of thing where hotels and restaurants and places of entertainment and so forth were segregated - that has all been eliminated." (In response to questions a few days later as to whether President Reagan actually thought racial segregation has been eliminated in South Africa, Larry Speakes said "Not totally, no.")

[madrchsod]

9. fascism was really the basis....? now that is funny

his dad and brother finally found steady work when the ccc/wpa came to dixon, his father finally had steady work,i guess he could work with a hangover and his brother did`t have to sell bathtub gin to my dad`s friends. after they got these jobs ronnie became a fdr democrat. my dad worked for the ccc/wpa for a year before he found full time work.

[ixion]

3. Central American Death Squads in Grenada, Panama, El Salvador

and on.

Escalating the so-called 'war' on (some) drugs, and pushing crap like Zero Tolerance to trash our civil liberties.

[socialshockwave]

4. Don't forget about

the "welfare queen" business.

[provis99]

5. what the name Ronald Wilson Reagan brings to mind:

the number of letters in each of his three names: 666.

[barbtries]

6. this one's me:

Trying to reclassify ketchup as a vegetable when cutting school lunch programs

yep. ketchup as a vegetable. i never really got over that one. at the time i had young children and i (sorry to say) was not nearly as engaged and informed as i am today. when i recall reagan it's that and the fact that from that time on, i found myself saying many, many, many times, "the rich get richer, the poor get poorer."

welfare queens my ass. mental health. i guess that's from his days as governor of my state.

asshole. he was an asshole and his legacy is for shit.

[bobbolink]

7. 417,000 disabled people cut from disability, and thousands and thousands of suicides as a result.

Yet, that hardly ever gets mentioned.

[madrchsod]

8. an opportunist...

he took advantage of the situations he was put into. from his early days in dixon when he sucked up to the swells to my hollywood when he hit pay dirt when he married nancy.

my dad would be amused about the deification of ronnie

[TheCowsCameHome]

10. Currently taking up valuable space in California real estate.

[craigmatic]

11. AIDS and crack are what I think of when I think of reagan.