Remembering Ronald Reagan and being outraged by what he done to our society!

(Michael C. Marino Aghast)

Comrades,

I am sorry whenever any person dies. Of course, I mean good and bad people alike. However I dread the Revision History that will be spoon fed to us in the next week by the proponents of ultra captialist conservatism. Let's set something straight here. We did not have the prosperity that the supporters of the Reagan Revolution bragged about in the 1980s. Although labor unions were already weakened by the time of his inaugeration, I will never forgive him for what he did to the Air Traffic Controllers in 1981. I will never forgive him for underming and attempting the overthrow the democratic-socialist Sandinista (FSLN) government of Nicaragua. I resented his support for the right-wing government and the death squads in El Salvador. When thinking about the problems of the Middle East, I remembered Ronald Reagan as a man that overtly sold weapons and befriended Saddam Hussein (while secretly dealing with the Iranian government). Let's not forget that the Ronald Reagan Administration also supported right-wing Islamic Rebels in Afghanistan in the name of fighting the Soviet Union in the 1980s; Afghanistan was one of the few areas where I saw the Soviets acted as a source of good. Upon hearing about the Iran-Contra Scandal that broke out in 1986, I was hoping to see Ronald Reagan impeached. For all of the nastiness behind Richard Nixon's wrong doings, Reagan was by far more dangerous and fanatically further right than Tricky Dick.

His demonization of government regulation over business, high taxes on the rich, of social welfare programs for the poor, and his antagonism over civil liberties is not viewed by the mainstream media. Instead, they like to place a cuddly teddy bear like fascade as his image. He was probably the worst president this country experienced since Calvin Cooledge. And the saddest thing is that George W. Bush is doing his best and his damndest immitating Ronald Reagan's worst qualities. I have often in the past four years referred to George W. Bush as "Ronald Reagan with visible fangs."

I can't remember anything about Ronald Reagan kindly, but there are certain things about Reagan that people associate with him that weren't true. His right-wing apologists will tell you that "Reagan defeated communism." The fall of the former Soviet Union should be given credit to former Gereral Secretary Mikail Gorbachev. He ended the dictatorship of the Soviet Union. Reagan, however, did everything he could to exerbate the continuing Cold War threat to even more dangerous levels. When visiting Bitzburg (sp?) Cemetery in the German Federal Republic (West Germany) in 1985, he delivered a speech that was "symphathetic to all those that fought on both sides in World War II as victims." Most of the German soldiers barried at the cemetery were German Nazi Officers and party members. Pat Buchanan who was the Communications Director in the Reagan Administration suggested for Reagan to do this. Surely, it was understandable why the Jewish community were upset over this. During the 1980s, it was the Reagan Administration that insisted on remaining on friendly terms with the racist Apartheid Government in South Africa. It took grassroots activism during that time that finally convince our government to impose progressive sanctions on South Africa until they release Nelson Mandela from prison and officially end Apartheid. It was the Reagan Administration that was silent over the issues of AIDS. Reagan was a homopobe; he was in close contact and sought advice from Jerry Falwell when trying to appoint Federal Judges. Reagan had comtempt for civil liberties. He opposed the ratification of the Equal Rights Admendment (ERA). His support for "law and order" brought back the public's support for the death penalty. He wanted to reverse all the progress that took place during the Earl Warren era in the US Supreme Court. Between his contempt for civil liberties, his right-wing based anti-Communism, his subtle bigotries, and his desire to return our society into the extreme hardships of pre FDR New Deal America will always forever have a bad impression upon me. Billy Bragg (a socialist fol/punk singer and member of the British Labour Party) was once asked at Camp [Solidarity] during the late 1980s Coal Mine Strike in West Virginia why he became a socialist. He said that it was Margaret Thatcher that entered his life in her own way that motivated him to become very politically active. In some ways, I relate to Billy Bragg. I became motivated in the 1980s when I saw the blatant unfairness and injustice that took place during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. Although I had the comfortable middle class upbringing in the 1980s, I saw misery and poverty around here in eastern North Carolina. It depressed me, and I was motivated as a result.

Your Favorite Norman Thomas Socialist!

Melvin Little