Ronald Reagan

[Agathon]

Reagan did alot of good thing, his hard-line foreign policy was very important for cracking the communists. Particularly his financing of the Afghani rebels against the Soviets helped to bankrupt the USSR.

That people still believe this is testament to the power of propaganda. The Soviet Union was doomed for many reasons, most of which started before Reagan came to power.

And Carter actually started the Afghan thing.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Let us now praise Matt Cale, who put this webpage together; I've bolded my favorites:

Let His Own Words Indict Him -- The Real Ronald Reagan
Compiled by Matt Cale...

"Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do." -- 1981

"A tree is a tree. How many more do you have to look at?" -- 1966, opposing expansion of Redwood National Park as governor of California.

"I have flown twice over Mt. St. Helens out on our west coast. I'm not a scientist and I don't know the figures, but I have a suspicion that that one little mountain has probably released more sulfur dioxide into the atmosphere of the world than has been released in the last ten years of automobile driving or things of that kind that people are so concerned about." -- 1980, (Actually, Mount St. Helens, at its peak activity, emitted about 2,000 tons of sulfur dioxide per day, compared with 81,000 tons per day by cars.)

"Facts are stupid things." -- 1988, a misquote of John Adams, "Facts are stubborn things."

"Fascism was really the basis for the New Deal." -- 1976

"You can't help those who simply will not be helped. One problem that we've had, even in the best of times, is people who are sleeping on the grates, the homeless who are homeless, you might say, by choice." -- 1/31/84, on Good Morning America, defending his administration against charges of callousness.

"(The Contras are) the moral equivalent of our Founding Fathers." -- 1985

"I read every comic strip in the paper." -- 1984

"(Nazi soldiers) were victims, just as sure as the victims in the concentration camps." -- 1985

"How are you, Mr. Mayor? I'm glad to meet you. How are things in your city?" -- (Proving they all look alike to him when greeting the only African American member of his cabinet, Housing Secretary Samuel Pierce, June 12, 1981).

"We think there is a parallel between federal involvement in education and the decline in profit over recent years." -- (Explaining that the recession is due to educating children, April 26, 1983).

"He wrote in Braille, to tell me that if cutting his pension would help get the country back on it's feet, he'd like to have me cut his pension." -- (Telling a bald-faced lie about an "alleged" letter he received in order to justify further cuts in social programs, November 30, 1981).

"Just remember, for every person who is out of work, there are nine of us with jobs." -- 1982

"My name is Ronald Reagan. What's yours?" -- (To his son Michael, when attending his graduation from an Arizona boarding school, pg. 192, President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime by Lou Cannon).

"Why should we subsidize intellectual curiosity?" -- 1980

"I know all the bad things that happened in that war. I was in uniform four years myself." -- (In an interview with foreign journalists, April 19, 1985. Reality Check: Reagan spent World War II making Army training films at Hal Roach Studios in Hollywood.)

"We were told four years ago that 17 million people went to bed hungry every night. Well, that was probably true. They were all on a diet." -- 1964

And a few words from others.......
"He knows less about the budget than any president in my lifetime. He can't even carry on a conversation about the budget. It's an absolute and utter disgrace." -- (House Speaker Tip O'Neill after a meeting with Ronnie, November 23, 1980).

"He only works three to three and a half hours a day. He doesn't do his homework. He doesn't read his briefing papers. It's sinful that this man is President of the United States." -- (Tip O'Neill exasperated after meeting with Ronnie, October 31, 1983).

"God, he's a bore. And a bad actor. Besides, he has a low order of intelligence, with a certain cunning. And not animal cunning, Human cunning. Animal cunning is too fine an expression for him. He's inflated, he's egotistical -- he's one of those people who thinks he is right, and he's not right. He's not right about anything." -- (Movie director John Huston, after a meeting with Ronnie).

"What do you do when your President ignores all the palpable, relevant facts and wanders in circles?" -- (David Stockman, ex- Reagan Cabinet member, explaining what briefings with Ronnie were like, April 12, 1986).

"His answers to any questions about young men being killed for some vague and perhaps non-existent reason in Central America has been to smile, nod, wave a hand and walk on. And America applauds, thus proving that senility is a communicable disease." -- (Columnist Jimmy Breslin explaining Ronnie's ability to "get away with it").

"The frustration of dealing with a situation in which the schedule of the President of the United States was determined by occult prognostications was very great--far greater than any other I had known in nearly forty-five years of working life." -- (Donald Regan, For the Record: From Wall Street to Washington).

"Poor dear, there's nothing between his ears." -- (British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher).

[Ramo]

Zomibge regan can fukc himslef. **** hismellf. i tell you.. youl.. uou.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

Nancy or Margaret

Perkins.

Ah yes "democratically elected". Like Castro and other dictatorial strongmen are, right? Royo was a figurehead President who was a follower of Torrijos. Torrijos, however, stayed head of the National Guard, which held the power in the country. Torrijos was also responsible for numerous human rights violations, so he wasn't some good guy as you are trying to portray him.

And I'd trust Noriega's associate over some guy who was not involved saying "look at me!"

bull****, show me a source where Torrijos committed crimes. the only crimes being committed was by members of the School of the Americas, which Torrijos tried to have closed down, but which the US resisted. The school of the Americas was were the US army trained right wing paramilitaries in torture, guerrilla warfare, survival techniques and brutality. why would you trust noriegas man? noriega owed his position to the CIA/ america. he is therefore unreliable.

Actually, Lawrence, Carter, to his credit, began the support of the Mujahideen in Afghanistan.

actually, thats to carters discredit. reagan ramped it up like no other, especially with a guy called Osama bin Laden, our main man in the mujaheddin, who ended up benefiting when we taught many of the guys around him how to be terrorists.

[Shi Huangdi]

"
And Carter actually started the Afghan thing."

Right, but it intensified under Reagan.

[RGBVideo]

- Turned the heat on in Cold War, but ended up with a victory, against evil empire.

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Reagan said it was possible to win a nuclear war and even joked once to reporters that he'd started one. TeH Reagan was a dispensationalist, and at that time, one of their beliefs was that the U.S. was God's instrument on Earth to destroy the atheist USSR and bring about Armeggedon. Fortunately for humanity, the Soviets surrendered instead.

The biggest reason I hate Reagan currently is that some still think that "he was the man who won the cold war".

[Winston]

Afghanistan was invaded by the Soviets in 1979, they were running a puppet regime. Of course Reagan wanted to support the partisans who fought against the communists. At the time, it wasn't just a trivial matter, far from it. Many people thought the Soviets would push on further in order to gain for access to the Indian Ocean. The United States and most of its NATO allies boycotted the 1980 Olympics over the invasion.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

yeah, beacause if that ****hole of a country afghanistsan went commie, it meant that international financial markets would collapse, international trade would collapse, and the reds would take power everywhere. same thing for vietnam and korea. three useless wars supported by the US, and now we are paying the price for our idiodicy. many have already paid the ultimate price.

[Imran Siddiqui]

his election had nothing to do with Reagan

You keep trying to tell yourself that.

show me a source where Torrijos committed crimes.

http://www.cidh.oas.org/countryrep/Panama78eng/TOC.htm

When che and I agree on something, it's time to re-evaluate your opposition.

Why would you trust noriegas man? noriega owed his position to the CIA/ america. he is therefore unreliable.

Yeah, Noriega owed his position to the CIA. I didn't know that Torrijos was put in place CIA and they told him to put Noriega in such a position of power.

[Shi Huangdi]

Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia
yeah, beacause if that ****hole of a country afghanistsan went commie, it meant that international financial markets would collapse, international trade would collapse, and the reds would take power everywhere. same thing for vietnam and korea. three useless wars supported by the US, and now we are paying the price for our idiodicy. many have already paid the ultimate price.

The war in Afghanistan placed huge finanical strains upon the Soviet Union.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

When che and I agree on something, it's time to re-evaluate your opposition.

did you even read this report? its peanuts. it lists only 14 cases where there is a possibility of human rights abuses by the government. no institutional torture in jails. theres like two substantiated charges by political prisoners with regard to torture.

even the conclusion doesnt even mention 'human rights abuses.' nothing compared to say, Pinochet in Chile, an american protege.

Yeah, Noriega owed his position to the CIA. I didn't know that Torrijos was put in place CIA and they told him to put Noriega in such a position of power.

torrijos was killed by the CIA. noriega inherited the throne when torrijos went down in flames for resisting reagan. him and his flunkies were in power because the CIA took out a democratic leader.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

The war in Afghanistan placed huge finanical strains upon the Soviet Union.

yeah, and now its come back to bite us. has anyone noticed that the more we **** with everyone, the more it comes to bite us in the ass?

[Lawrence of Arabia]

btw, do you know how many human rights abuses it would have found in america today? first of all it would have questioned the 2000 election, especially in florida. it would have questioned our jail system were suspected gang members can be kept locked up indefinitely, or guantanamo bay, or the patriot act, and jose padilla, and the beating of minorities by white cops.

[Imran Siddiqui]

nothing compared to say, Pinochet in Chile, an american protege.

So if it isn't Pinochet, he's alright?! Why don't you ask Father Hector Gallegos? Oh wait, you can't. Torrijos's regime kidnapped him and he was never heard from again. Interesting that he was part of the political opposition.

But since it isn't as much as Pinochet, it's ok.

And the fact that they used torture in their prisons? Nah, wasn't as much as Pinochet. Of course since there weren't as many people alledging torture it never happened, even though the report says it did!

Fair trials? Nope. But since it ain't as bad as Pinochet, let's forget about it!

Let's look at the report's conclusion:

In the first period (1968-1972) the Government of Panama exercised its powers in a very arbitrary fashion, resulting in serious violations of basic human rights. Political activity was practically suppressed by the severe military regime.

In the second period (1972-1977), the regime adopted a political-juridical structure consecrated in the Constitution of 1972. Insofar as the situation of human rights, there was an evident improvement, although the following types of violations were noted: 1) the expatriation of Panamanian citizens for political reasons, in clear violation of the constitutional norms; 2) restrictions on the freedoms of assembly, expression and association, especially with regard to politics; and 3) interference in the judicial process by government officials. There has not been effective protection in the above cases because of the existence of important factors that seriously affect the independence of the judicial power, with consequent, negative effects on the freedoms and guarantees related to the due process of law.

torrijos was killed by the CIA.

You keep telling yourself that because some flunky with no power wrote a book pumping himself up.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

So if it isn't Pinochet, he's alright?! Why don't you ask Father Hector Gallegos? Oh wait, you can't. Torrijos's regime kidnapped him and he was never heard from again. Interesting that he was part of the political opposition.

so one human rights violation is enough to condemn the leader as a mass murderer and mass human rights violator? why dont you try growing up and getting out into places were the lines arnt so clear. its easy for you to sit in the US and condemn everything, but out there in the wild, its a little more gray. the stuff alleged in this report is PEANUTS compared to the average. in fact its so little that its hillarious that you would bring torrijos as an example of a human rights abuser.

and yeah, lets look at the conclusion. do you see anywhere "mass murdereing of political opponents" or "mass graves" or "institutionalized torture?" nope, because you are making a storm out of nothing. did you bother to read the appendix?

According to the chapter on conclusions, the report intends to reflect the status of rights in Panama up to June 1, 1978. Without analyzing at this time whether that purpose is fully accomplished, and refraining from examining specific aspects of the report, we believe that to close it at that date would not give a suitable impression of the Panamanian situation. From June until the present date, basic changes have occurred which, in our opinion, should be included in the report. These changes which, in o7ur opinion, should be included in the report. These changes are of such importance that they cannot be left aside. The report, if published in its present version, would reflect some situations that no longer exist.



For example, on last October 25 the National Assembly of Municipal Representatives approved an Act amending the Constitution of Panama. This act amends Articles 41, 129, 140, 141, 143, 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, 150, 151, 152, 153, 154, 157, 163, 164, 172, 173, 180, 181, 235, 237, and added Articles 153A and 153B.



Next we should like to comment on the content of the constitutional amendments and other significant aspects, which in our opinion, should be taken into account for inclusion in the Commission's report.

quite convenient to end the report right before elections were held.

You keep telling yourself that because some flunky with no power wrote a book pumping himself up.

until you a) read the book and b) come up with a source not compromised as I have shown with your last guy, you have no choice but to accept Perkins' statements. you are swalling the US oil multinationals PR hook and sinker. how does it feel to get used so thoroughly?