Reagan's Legacy - How will he be remembered?

[Ming]

I think the personal crap has to stop...

Argue the TOPIC... DON'T INSULT the posters.

so...

CHILL

[Ted Striker]

Yeah Ming but you know what if someone takes a shot at me I'm not going to just sit there and take it.

[Ming]

And that's how you get restricted as well.. If you play their silly games, YOU BOTH LOSE

you are supposed to just ignore the stupid and silly and not even bother addressing the meaningless garbage they spew... they eventually go away after being ignored...

[OzzyKP]

Originally posted by Sava
the list of things you don't know **** about just keeps growing... why am I even wasting my time with some kid who can't even drive yet?

Ageism!

[The Mad Monk]

Crowds Wait Hours to View Reagan Casket

Jun 8, 5:55 PM (ET)

By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) - Waiting good-naturedly for as much as half a day in traffic jams and a parking lot, tens of thousands of people filed past Ronald Reagan's flag-draped casket in an outpouring that forced organizers to extend the viewing period Tuesday by four hours.

An estimated 52,000 mourners had passed by the coffin in the 24 hours after the viewing began at noon Monday at Reagan's presidential library. The nation's 40th president died Saturday at age 93.

Nancy Reagan, resting and preparing for funeral events in Washington, D.C., watched the scene on television at her Bel Air home in Los Angeles, said Joanne Drake, chief of staff of Reagan's office.

"'It is unbelievable what I am seeing on TV,'" Drake quoted the former first lady as saying. "'The outpouring of love for my husband is incredible.'"

The flow of mourners was interrupted briefly when Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry arrived. Standing before the casket, he made the sign of the cross, placed his hand over his heart, then left.

Traffic jams and the wait for shuttle buses encouraged camaraderie among the throngs, who passed the time sharing memories of Reagan and making new friends.

"It was really something. There was a kindred spirit out there as we waited," said Linda Peterson, 49, of Temecula, who left home with her son, Lee, 23, on Monday night.

Their 110-mile trip went swiftly until the last four miles to a local college parking lot, which took four hours to cover, and then there was a 4 1/2-hour wait to board a shuttle bus to the hilltop library.

"I wanted my son to know exactly what an honorable life is all about - a life of service with such passion," Mrs. Peterson said.

The viewing at the library in the hills west of Los Angeles was the first event in a week of national mourning. The body will be flown to Washington on Wednesday to lie in state at the Capitol, followed by a national funeral on Friday and a return to the library for burial at sunset.

Nancy Reagan, who accompanied the body to the library, received a message Tuesday from Pope John Paul II expressing "deep gratitude" for her husband's commitment to the cause of freedom.

Among the celebrities who came to the library Tuesday was actress Bo Derek, who said she became a Republican when Reagan became president, citing his belief in smaller government and optimism.

"It's something when you first see the flag on the casket," she said. "I'm stunned. He was such a great man."

The period in which Reagan's body was to lie in repose at the library was originally supposed to end at 6 p.m. Tuesday, but the overwhelming turnout forced an extension to 10 p.m. More buses were added to the shuttle fleet to handle the crowds.

The Red Cross handed out cups of water that were gulped down by mourners before they boarded buses for the return to Moorpark College.

Jesse and Joni Garcia of Woodland left their Northern California home at 6 p.m. Monday and finally walked past the casket at 9:45 a.m. Tuesday.

"It took five hours for the last five miles of the freeway," said Jesse Garcia, 52. They spent two more hours in the parking lot before boarding a bus.

"It's a lifetime event. I wanted to show my gratitude. I wanted to show my love," he said.

"He came home last night and said, 'We're leaving in 15 minutes,'" his wife said.

"I knew they'd think I was nuts," her husband added. "But he's a homeboy - our governor, our president."

Humbert Cabrera, 38, of San Diego, said while waiting in line: "He should be on Mount Rushmore. He was one of us. He lifted us all."

---

Associated Press Writer Jeff Wilson contributed to this report.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20040608/D8333BSG0.html

[johncmcleod]

So thanks for showing me your real ignorance, next time get your head out of a book and actually meet some real people who lived the situation first hand.

He quoted someone that was actually there. Reagan supported terrorist wars and atrocities in Latin America that left thousands dead. There is no excuse. It wasn't 'the right thing to do.'
The best reason was to 'stop the rise of communism.' Just because you don't like their type of government doesn't make it okay to support the murder of innocent people.

And Guatemala, Nicaragua, Honduras, and the invasion of Grenada, are not the only examples of Reagan's terrorist actions. Don't forget that he fully supported:

He supported the Indonesian occupation of East Timor, where one of the worst acts of genocide in the history of mankind was committed.

He supported the brutal, racist regime in South Africa.

He supported the remnants of the Khmer Rouge army, possibly one of the most brutal organizations in the history of mankind.

He supported UNITA and Renamo terrorist in Angola and Mozambique.

As for some of the dictators he supported, the list includes Pinochet, who murdered or tortured 170,000 people; General Suharto, who exterminated between half and one million suspected communists, many of them poor peasants; the list goes on.

Reagan is considered as a great leader who supported democracy and helped spread it throughout the world.

Can anyone name one example, just one, on how Reagan helped a country achieve democracy?

[The Mad Monk]

"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"

[Jaguar]

Pizzawned!

[St Leo]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk
Crowds Wait Hours to View Reagan Casket

Stalinism.

[Ted Striker]

Originally posted by Jaguar
Pizzawned!

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Ted Striker
You really have absolutley no idea what you are talking about, and the fact that you consistently have to provide mountains of cut and paste articles only proves the point.

You really have absolutely no idea of what you're talking about, and the absence of any sense of why people around the world in Asia, Africa and South and Central America loathe Reagan and the legacy of his dirty wars, proves my point.

Your response is a perfect example of this, and instead of arguing the points, you launch into a sad personal attack, not bothering to rebut any of the issues raised.

So a woman from El Salvador says thanks for saving my country- from what?

Democracy?

A decent future?

Instead we get the usual ' well the world isn't black and white'- so tell me what isn't black and white about Reagan's allies torturing and murdering the children of El Mozote?

I trust the testimony of the El Salvadoran, Guatemalan and Chilean refugees and exiles I met in London, many of whom had been through the care of Reagan's friends in Central and South America, and who had the scars, mental and physical, to prove it.

[Drake Tungsten]

I haven't noticed any loathing of Reagan amongst Asians. What would I know, though?

[Ted Striker]

Originally posted by molly bloom
blah blah blah

Don't launch personal attacks and you won't get them in return. Simple as that.

PWNED

[Jaguar]

OMFFG PWND!

[molly bloom]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
I haven't noticed any loathing of Reagan amongst Asians. What would I know, though?

Not much, evidently.