but I am so dancing on ronnie reagan’s grave right now
he was everything i didn’t want my country to be, and we’re still stuck with his ideas.
rot, reagan, rot.
This will be considered unamerican
Published
It's the heart's the crazy bus driver
Be My Blog 
he had at least a ten year head start.
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You know, your the first person that said this.
For years I’ve heard people bitching about Reganomics, things that he did etc. Now that he’s died every thread I read was how good of a President he was, a true statesman etc.
Bonus for Substitute, remember when AOL accidentally made live his “tribute” area in 1993 or so?
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The best president that ever lived.
They said the same about Nixon when he died. Go figure.
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Y E S !!!!!
FINALLY!
I hated him then, I have hated him ever ever ever since. I don’t care if he turned into a drooler, he was a total crazed shithead. Burn burn burrrrn!!!
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BEST. DEATH. EVER.
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HAHAHAHA! YOU WIN!
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I dunno, I think your icon might be the winner of everything ever.
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You know, I just insisted that my housemates turn off the local NPR affiliate. They and the BBC are going to spend the entire next news cycle offering oral service to the memory of the dear departed. Bleh.
The man couldn’t even utter the word “AIDS” while thousands of people were dying on his watch.
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I take that back:
http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.11.14/news.extra.reagans.html
Although AIDS was first reported in the medical and popular press in 1981, it was only in October of 1987 that President Reagan publicly spoke about the epidemic. By the end of that year 59,572 AIDS cases had been reported and 27,909 of those women and men had died.
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I figured there’d be some of this and righfully so.
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how quickly people forget
Of course, Carter and Mondale would have been much better, right…
Reality check: Adverting nuclear war was much more important than economics or national health care.
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Re: how quickly people forget
How quickly is right. I remember not being sure if next week was going to come when he was in power. If you’re saying he averted nuclear war, I am going to have to call bad memory on *you*. Afghanistan was one of the most stressful periods in my lifetime, not to mention of my friends.
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Re: how quickly people forget
*Scratches head* I don’t remember having a nuclear war, but I do remember Reagan developing a policy that:
1. Ended the recession of the 1970s
2. Collapsed the Soviet Union without major conflict
3. Created about 20 millions jobs and an endless stream of technological advancements through defense spending.
Reagan wasn’t perfect, but he’s the most important American politician in the last 50 years (since FDR). He deserves more respect than the ignorant hypo-critics who reap the benefits of his policies (yet have the nerve to spit on his grave. seriously, wtf?) are giving him.
If you can accurately depict how different the world would be had Carter gotten re-elected, then you should realize how much we have benefited from the Reagan administration.
As for Afghanistan, they are fighting us with 30 year old Soviet technology (and some of our own unfortunately). A much better situation than if the Soviet Union was still around to supply them.
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Re: how quickly people forget
Actually, I live in Canada, and we generally believe that Reagan was a militaristic nutcase. I also do believe that Carter was the better choice. I am probably a little more left wing than you are, living in a nice peaceful socialist country and all. =)
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Re: how quickly people forget
So Canada doesn’t benefit from the dissolution of the Soviet Union? Or the strength of the American economy? Or the growth of technology?
Unfortunately, the United States doesn’t have the luxury of being a “peaceful socialist country” due to the inherent flaws of NATO. Maybe Carter would have been a better fit for Canada.
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Re: how quickly people forget
p.s. I mean afghanistan in the 80s, not the recent afghanistan. I meant what I said about you forgetting. =)
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Re: how quickly people forget
1980s Afghanistan was a direct product of Carter not dealing with the Soviet situation.
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Re: how quickly people forget
Man, I want some of whatever it is you’re smoking. Must be some powerful shit.
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Re: how quickly people forget
Don’t fucking call me or my friends “ignorant hypo-critics”. You were what, 3 then? I lived it.
Reagan ran up huge deficits, enriched his friends, fought an illegal war in Central America, let the bankers and stockjobbers defraud us, and put thousands and thousand of working poor Americans on the street.
He supported Guatemalan and Salvadoran murderers and torturers and hired a gang of barely-not-convicted thugs to run our government. His campaign was sponsored by laundered Mafia money.
If you’re going to give him credit for the absence of nuclear war, prove your case better. Why conservatives continue to revere a big spending liar like Ronnie is a mystery.
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Re: how quickly people forget
Heh, no worries, iggy. I gave up and decided that I couldn’t afford long distance to the planet this person is on. =)
I remember spending so many years just waiting for a bomb to drop. Literally. I don’t remember being that paranoid since then, except for times of incredible personal stress. Like you say, I don’t think that someone who wasn’t there can understand what it was like.
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Re: how quickly people forget
That’s my point exactly Stimps, you don’t have to worry about the bomb because of the Reagan administration.
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Re: how quickly people forget
Well, I can separate personal assumptions from actual facts. Case in point
1989 123,869,000 117,342,000 6,528,000 5.3%
1988 121,669,000 114,968,000 6,701,000 5.5%
1987 119,865,000 112,440,000 7,425,000 6.2%
1986 117,834,000 109,597,000 8,237,000 7.0%
1985 115,462,000 107,150,000 8,312,000 7.2%
1984 113,544,000 105,005,000 8,539,000 7.5%
1983 111,551,000 100,834,000 10,717,000 9.6%
1982 110,204,000 99,526,000 10,678,000 9.7%
1981 108,670,000 100,397,000 8,273,000 7.6%
1980 106,940,000 99,303,000 7,637,000 7.1%
Huh, 7.1% unemployment when entered, 5.3% when he left. Where are these thousands of unemployment? Or were they the product of an inept State government? Yes, we have a national deficit because of it, and it took a couple years to get going but at least more families have roofs over their heads and the unemployment rate has stayed under 7% save the first year of the Clinton administration.
So 20 years of more employment, a better economy, a stronger defense program and the elimination of a superpower that wanted to spread across half the planet. For this we want to spit on his grave and denounce his administration as destroying America. Well, fuck it then, come up with a better solution and run for president.
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Re: how quickly people forget
I have OPINIONS on INTERNETS
duurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
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Re: how quickly people forget
I ARE QUOTE STATISTICALS FROM GOVERNMENT! MOD ME UP!!!!!
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I just really wish I had a picture of him from when he took off his hat and had half of it shaved for his brain surgery. I remember a friend of mine screenprinted it on to his shirt, with “SK8” written across his forehead.
It’s against my nature to dance. Schadenfreude is damn uncomfortable. But I know where you’re coming from.
A.
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Oh maaaan. I want that shirt. =D
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yeah, i don’t know. iran-contra… emptying all the public mental health facilities and basically creating a massive addition to the homeless population of this country… listening to these people on the news talking about how wonderful everything reagan ever did was makes me vomit in my mouth a little.
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Yes, creating a yuppie haven was terrible. =/ I never saw a politician that seemed to care less about people living below the wealthy, or one that seemed not to notice the needs of anyone outside of his own small vision of who was worthwhile in the world. Well, not until recently, at least. =/
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Re: how quickly people forget
1. I didn’t mention unemployment. You did. Read.
2. Enough with the flamewar in my LJ. TAKE IT ELSEWHERE.
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Re: how quickly people forget
So what do you mean by thousands and thousands working Americans on the streets?
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Re: how quickly people forget
Read. What does the word “working” mean?
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Re: how quickly people forget
Don’t flame, either clarify your statement for discussion or don’t post.
I have always respected you and thought of you as well-read and educated. I was surprised by your rather harsh remarks that the most influential president of our lifetimes deserves to rot in his grave. I was hoping you would provide some substantiating facts or evidence to clarify your opinion. I understand your remarks about the less than desirable people and governments the administration dealt with. I agree that ideally, and I’m sure Reagan would to, that that’s not the way to get things done. But in the environment that was the 1980s, I think you have to be ready to accept some unconventional means to a much desired end. The 1960s and 1970s were a terrible decades for the United States, financially and politically. The 1980s was a quick fix followed by undesirable, unforeseen consequences. But to point the finger at the president during those times, blame everything on him, and then imply that he should rot is his grave comes with no basis or thought in reality. It’s a very simplistic approach to something that was much larger than even the president. To fault someone for doing what they felt was the best for the country given the time and information available, just because socially its funny to blame the conservatives is below you. It takes decades of government debacles to create the situations we blame on administrations. Don’t scapegoat a dead man just because it makes a funny LJ thread. Admire the guy that had the balls to stand up and do what he thought was best for the country because I don’t see anybody here doing it.
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Re: how quickly people forget
You just said “don’t flame” when you started by calling me and my friends “ignorant hypo-critics”. That’s just ludicrous.
I said “read” because you responded to my statement about the working poor with an argument about unemployment. Twice. Working poor are by definition employed, and therefore not included in the unemployment figures. You are a very intelligent person and I assumed that you were ignoring my statement and responding with something else in order to be annoying. If you merely didn’t know the difference between “unemployed” and “working”, then I apologize.
In the environment that was the 1980s I still think that supporting murder and terror in direct contravention of the Constitution of the United States of America was a crime and not a necessity.
Who said that I was trying to be funny, or to “blame the conservatives” because it’s a social thing. I don’t think Reagan was funny at all. I think he trashed my country’s values and screwed me and my friends very hard.
I don’t blame “everything” on him. Who said that, either? Stop inventing things. I blame him for his policies, his actions, and his speech. That’s not scapegoating, it’s judging based on a person’s public personal.
This isn’t the debate team. There’s no “winning” here. This is my journal. You have every right to disagree, but you can’t just be insulting and dismissive.
I am doing what is best for my country. I am supporting candidates I believe in and voting for them, and paying my taxes. And I’m opening my damn mouth as loud as I want because in my America, we’re supposed to.
Don’t insult me. Don’t insult my friends. And do your homework.
I assume you’ll need the last word so you can feel that you’ve “won”. Please consider yourself to have already had that, and enjoy the glow. You haven’t changed anyone’s opinion.
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Re: how quickly people forget
The thread started with you dancing on a dead guy’s grave. It was flame bait to begin with. As for “winning”? It’s blog, I’m not trying to change opinions, just trying to get people to think a little bit before they jump on the bandwagon of the week.
As for the working poor, ya the 80s sucked for the working poor. What was a good decade for the working poor? Since WWII, the working poor have continued to get screwed. Why? It’s economics, not politics. Same thing happened in the late 50s-60s. Wives started to work to support their families. Eisenhower introduced some Trickle Down type cuts to spur the economy. It worked because businesses bought into the idea, then 10 years later they got screwed because they overextended due to Trickle Down and the government changed to a different theory, one that was adverse to business. So comes the 1980s, Reagan tries TDE because it worked before. What happens? All the guys that were their 30s in the 1960s and saw the government change from TDE and screw them over are now in their 50s and high level managers. They realize that they shouldn’t buy into it again and pocket the profits. Lower levels of employment get screwed. Reagan’s fault? Doubtful. He tried a proven method for spurring the economy and decisions by businessmen hurt the lower classes. Ironically though, the economy still grew, which technically is good for all Americans. So, yes, I can understand the anger over the 80s, especially being a 20 something at the time, probably the worst hit age group. But not for Reagan, all I see is anger looking for a face to blame.
As for values, well, my opinion on our country just must be different than yours. I believe most of the morally questionable behavior that took place during Reagan’s years happened during all the administrations. The difference? Ease of information. Since Watergate, everyone in the political system loves the sensationalism and the way the American people buy it. Just look at the media. It’s a joke, and in that joke we lose the real story. What Reagan knew, did, or was oblivious to is lost. There simply is no information there to make a character judgment of any kind. Kennedy was elected by dead West Virginians that voted 3 times. FDR/Truman purposefully drove us into WWII by causing Pearl Harbor and then dropped not one, but two atomic bombs on a country (not that both decisions weren’t neccessary). Frankly, I haven’t seen much in the 20th century from the White House that has shown values or morals. Are we meant to piss on every President’s grave?
So ya, I still believe you are on the bandwagon and am thoroughly interested as to the proof you are not.
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Rotty
The messy thing is that Reagan rotted mentally and physically for years before he actually died. Messy. Wet/dry vac messy.
* I wonder how much panegyric mourning the people in Grenada are doing. Or Guatemala.
* When I finish my time machine, I will alter history so that for the years 1980-1988, the role of president will be filled by a bar of Dove hand-soap. I do this not merely for amusement, but
because I am curious to see how lavishly everyone will praise the bar of soap for its wise leadership in collapsing the Soviet Union (which of course Gorbachev had nothing to do with) as well as its leadership of the economy.
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Re: Rotty
All hail the Dove! I applaud its lathery goodness. It has wisely lead our people.
I’m assuming you chose Dove intentionally. Excellent choice. Also, excellent point about Gorby, who was in no way responsible for anything like peristroika or glasnost, had no original ideas and had nothing to do with the dismantling of the Soviet state.
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Bang.
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wow i must be simple.
some guy ..
died.
Some may think he’s the “Evil Satan” or others a “Hero”
either way he’s still dead and .. well there’s very few folks i’d enjoy seeing that happen to. I wouldn’t waste emotion like that on a politician.
*goes back to his cookies*
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