When asked which president I disapprove of the most, I usually say Nixon, and if I'm in a silly mood, I'll say Truman, but I never take the opportunity to blast Reagan. There's a reason, despite Ronald Reagan being a world class douche, he's loved. It's blind love, and it's hypocritical. Do you hate Nixon? Yes? Then you should hate Reagan too, because he has accomplished the same terrible acts, the only difference is, (and I think this is more horrifying) Reagan genuinely thought his actions were justified.
Edmund Morris, who wrote a biography on Ron Ron said, "Once he made an emotional commitment to this or that policy or story, no amount of disproof would cause him to alter his belief in it." Ronald Reagan was an actor, a proud propagandist who didn't let annoying facts get in the way of a good story. He was probably the most gifted speaker and speechwriter, a man who could fill your heart with American patriotic poetry, and every word was shit. Ronald Reagan would say such unchecked nonsense like, "Welfare queens are driving around the south side of Chicago in Cadillacs, you can get an apartment with eleven foot ceilings and twenty-foot balcony, a swimming pool, laundry and play rooms on welfare and other Federal programs that states should be administering. Tax-free!" Was any of this true? No, of course not, but it sure made a blue collar family man nod his head and shake his fist.
Reagan got elected by pretending that he was upset at "How weak America appeared to the rest of the world." We had just bugged out of Vietnam, and the new generation of Americans didn't see war as something we should be focusing on as a nation. However, Ronald knew how to spin us back in his direction, and he started with feigned outrage at Ford giving the Panama Canal back to Panamanian leader Gen. Torrijos. "The canal zone is not a colonial possession. It is not a long-term lease. It is sovereign United States territory every bit the same as Alaska and all the other states carved from the Louisiana purchase. We should end these negotiations and tell the general: We bought, we paid for it, and we intend to keep it!"
Oh man, that last sentence is a whopper, doesn't it just make your chest swell with pride? Don't be distracted by the fact that the Panama Canal is in no way shape or form a sovereign United States territory, and not giving it back is in full violation of dozens of UN sanctions and bi-laws that we signed, don't draw your attention to the massive outcry of journalists, Time magazine articles and major media outlets screaming that we had already promised to give Panama back the land we mugged them for, just listen to that line, "We bought it, we paid for it, and we intend to keep it!"
What Reagan had done was capitalize on the post-Vietnam embarrassment that every American felt. We got pushed around over in Asia, and we certainly weren't going to get pushed around in our own hemisphere. Reagan went on to say in that speech that won him North Carolina, "South Americans respect the macho, I think if we respond with firmness, we might not earn their love, but we will earn their respect." What a dick.
These aren't opinions, these are lies, and the difference between them can be seen with Ronald's huge exaggeration of the Soviet threat. Here are some quoties from a 90 minute television special that Reagan purchased, free from debate, free from counter arguments, just 90 minutes one on one, America and The Gipper:
"There is one problem that must be solved or everything else is meaningless. I am speaking of the problem of our national security. Our nation is in danger, and the danger grows greater with each passing day. The Ford administration is asleep at the wheel while Cuba's communist strongman Fidel Castro continues to export revolution to Puerto Rico and Angola and a score of places in between. We sacrificed democratic Taiwan to China,. Then there was the Panama Canal give-away. Worst of all, the Soviets are cleaning our clocks when it comes to war making capabilities. The Soviet army outnumbers our 2 to 1, and with reserves 4 to 1. They outspend us on weapons by 50 percent. Their Navy outnumbers ours in ships 2 to 1. We're outgunned in artillery 3 to 1 and their tanks outnumber us 4 to 1. Their strategic nuclear missiles are larger, more powerful, and more numerous than ours."
None of these statements about Soviet military superiority were true, in fact the Soviet Union was a mess. The infrastructure was collapsing, the lack of social safety nets were starting to take their toll on the Russian elderly population, hunger was rampant, murder an epidemic, their army was a tattered shell of what it once was. Reagan didn't like all that truth mumbo jumbo though, red scares were good for buisiness, good for America, so he responded to these truth facts by saying, "The evidence mounts to the fact that we are #2 in our world where it has been proven that it is dangerous, often fatal, to be 2nd best." 2nd best!? Fuck that, this is the USA! We are 2nd to nobody! See how that works? Pretty smart stuff.
The Iran-Contra scandal is obviously a terrible abuse of power and an example of how privatizing a war for personal gain is an impeachable offense for a president, but aside from that there is another human rights violation that Ronald commited. Grenada. The Isle of Spice. The island where 45 US college students were housed on a university campus that Reagan wanted to save. Did the kids need saving? No, but rescuing these kids from a country that talked to Fidel on the phone every couple of months would look so good on Reagan's re-election campaign resume'. So, without telling Congress, (they would tell him no anyway). Ronald Reagan got the Navy SEALs to launch a covert and highly secret attack on the island of Grenada, to save these perfectly happy and perfectly safe college kids. The only problem was that Reagan was so afraid of Congress finding out, (because, you know, it was illegal), that not even the pilots of the drop planes knew what was up. The result was 8 Navy SEALs killed in action, dropped in the middle of the Carribean Sea in the middle of the night, drowning in their parachutes, because not enough information had been exchanged. They weren't even allowed maps! This is why Ronald Reagan is the worst president that we've ever had, he literally killed American soldiers, to promote his own fame and public stature. It's a good thing that we haven't had any president do anything similar since then.
Oh shit.
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