so let's not gloat over the death of a 93 year old man with alzheimers but let's not forget the real legacy he left. death, and deficits. the man illegally funded a war that killed thousands if not millions. (for you conservatives out there) he didn't intervene when he knew iraq was developing chemical weapons. he gave weapons to iran (our most dangerous enemy in the middle east). he helped train muslim extremist in order to shed more blood against the soviets, who now attack us. here is a brief part of the timeline of his presidency compliments of pbs:
November 13: In a nationally televised speech to defend against charges concerning arms sales to Iran, Reagan admits sending some defensive weapons and spare parts to Iran, but denies it was part of an arms for hostages deal. "Our government has a firm policy not to capitulate to terrorist demands.... We did not -- repeat, did not -- trade weapons or anything else for hostages, nor will we." Polls show that the American people do not believe Reagan.
November 22: Meese's office discovers the Iran-Contra connection. When searching North’s office, they found a memo dated 4/4/86 from North to Poindexter, which included an amount that to be sent to the Contras from the profits of the Iran sales. North, who had spent the night shredding papers, later called the diversion of funds, "a neat idea."
February 2: Reagan testifies to the Tower Board for a second time. His testimony is inconsistent and confused. The Board pointed out Reagan hadn’t known about August shipment of anti-tank missiles, but Reagan had said he DID know. When asked for an explanation, Reagan picked up a briefing memo he had been provided and read aloud: "If the question comes up at the Tower Board meeting, you might want to say that you were surprised."
February 20: A Reagan memo to the Tower Board reads: "I don’t remember, period." "I’m trying to recall events that happened eighteen months ago, I’m afraid that I let myself be influenced by others’ recollections, not my own.... The only honest answer is to state that try as I might, I cannot recall anything whatsoever about whether I approved an Israeli sale in advance or whether I approved replenishment of Israeli stocks around August of 1985. My answer therefore and the simple truth is, ‘I don’t remember, period.’"
February 27: Although reluctant at first, Reagan yields to pressure from his advisors and Nancy to fire Chief of Staff Donald Regan. Reagan calls Howard Baker to offer him the position of Chief of Staff. Donald Regan finds out through CNN -- only after Baker has accepted. He is furious.
March 4: On national television, Reagan acknowledges mistakes on Iran-Contra. "A few months ago I told the American people I did not trade arms for hostages. My heart and my best intentions tell me that’s true, but the facts and evidence tell me it is not. As the Tower Board reported, what began as a strategic opening to Iran deteriorated, in its implementation, into trading arms for hostages. This runs counter to my own beliefs, to administration policy, and to the original strategy we had in mind. There are reasons why it happened, but no excuses. It was a mistake." Reagan’s approval rating rebounds to 51%.
yea reagan makes me sick. and it wasn't just foreign policy. in Dick Cheney's own words "Reagan taught us deficits don't matter." Reagan was responsible for changing the conservatives into worse spend thrifts than the liberls. Reagan was also responsible for opening politics up to good looking faces with no brains (arnold?). He graduated from a small christian college with a C average. he drove up the debt more than any liberals have and claimed to be a republican. he supported richard nixon (one of the biggest crooks in american history perhaps after reagan himself and bush and his cronies, can we say "enron"). he helped perpetuate a general distrust and disenchantment with american politics that was started by Nixon and perpetuated by Clinton and Bush. was he the worst president in american history, maybe. he was responsible for as many deaths as andrew jackson although he didn't wipe out an entire culture. he drove up the debt more than any president before him and cut taxes and raised spending at the same time. possibly making in impossible to pay back (who knows). he was responsible for the biggest recession since the great depression. he should be the person that real conservatives hate. so i dont know why every road and airport these days seems to be named after him. i guess he did have a successful acting career. perhaps in the future we will all be flying to and from brad pitt and jennifer lopez international. we'll see....
