Ronald Reagan was a conman. Reagan was a coward. Reagan was a killer.
In 1987, I found myself stuck in a crappy little town in Nicaragua named Chaguitillo. The people were kind enough, though hungry, except for one surly young man. His wife had just died of tuberculosis.
People don't die of TB if they get some antibiotics. But Ronald Reagan, big hearted guy that he was, had put a lock-down embargo on medicine to Nicaragua because he didn't like the government that the people there had elected.
Ronnie grinned and cracked jokes while the young woman's lungs filled up and she stopped breathing. Reagan flashed that B-movie grin while they buried the mother of three. [more]
See also: Planet Reagan, by William Rivers Pitt and 66 (Unflattering) Things About Ronald Reagan by the editor of the Nation, David Corn.
Of course, Reagan had many good qualities--i.e., he loved to read (unlike Bush the Minor). But he was also responsible for tens of thousands of deaths. He created homelessness. Etc. I never applaud anybody's death, but it is important to be reminded of the actual policies and actions of a man when he dies and not just the loss of his charming smile, eh?
Post a Comment