(no subject)
okay, political rant of the month.
I realize we should honor the dead and stuff, but fucking Ronald Reagan. As the DJ on KRock said yesterday, since when did he become a saint? Has everyone forgotten that he was one of the worst presidents of the last 50 years (second, maybe, to Nixon)? I mean, he screwed the economy over, authorized the overthrow of numerous legitimate governments, not to mention the whole arms for hostages thing, and he ignored the outbreak of one of the most deadly diseases of the past century. Which is to say nothing of Star Wars, brilliant idea that that was. As for crediting him with helping to end the Cold War? Bullshit. He did little more than agree with Gorbachev- without the USSR implementing glasnost etc., Reagan would have made no inroads in the standoff, and probably would have made things worse.
And yet he gets a week long tribute and the federal government shuts down for an entire day. I mean, yes, he was president, and yes that is an occasion for a memorial, but this is extreme. Even in the memorial speeches about him, all anybody could say was that he was a nice guy with a sense of humor- oh, yeah, who liked the squirrels outside the white house. You know, it seems like we should be remembering a president for the things he did, not just that he was a nice guy. All this makes me sad for the day that the currrent Bush dies, since we'll have to hear about how great he was.
I spent today thinking about Ray Charles. Now there's a sad passing.
I realize we should honor the dead and stuff, but fucking Ronald Reagan. As the DJ on KRock said yesterday, since when did he become a saint? Has everyone forgotten that he was one of the worst presidents of the last 50 years (second, maybe, to Nixon)? I mean, he screwed the economy over, authorized the overthrow of numerous legitimate governments, not to mention the whole arms for hostages thing, and he ignored the outbreak of one of the most deadly diseases of the past century. Which is to say nothing of Star Wars, brilliant idea that that was. As for crediting him with helping to end the Cold War? Bullshit. He did little more than agree with Gorbachev- without the USSR implementing glasnost etc., Reagan would have made no inroads in the standoff, and probably would have made things worse.
And yet he gets a week long tribute and the federal government shuts down for an entire day. I mean, yes, he was president, and yes that is an occasion for a memorial, but this is extreme. Even in the memorial speeches about him, all anybody could say was that he was a nice guy with a sense of humor- oh, yeah, who liked the squirrels outside the white house. You know, it seems like we should be remembering a president for the things he did, not just that he was a nice guy. All this makes me sad for the day that the currrent Bush dies, since we'll have to hear about how great he was.
I spent today thinking about Ray Charles. Now there's a sad passing.