Wingnuts like to pretend that
Presidents Day is a holiday for the exclusive celebration of ronny raygun, their favorite pretender and a man they lionize as an earthbound
saint crossed with the world’s manliest cowboy. So it’s a good idea to remember raygun’s
real legacy: a bad pretender surrounded by bad people who did bad
things. Here are five of the worst things raygun did as pretender to
remind you exactly the kind of leader he was.
5. Reagan Stole Money from the Social Security Trust Fund
Remember those Saturday Night Live
sketches in 2000 where Al Gore promised to put Social Security in a
lockbox? (If you’re too young to know what I’m talking about, Al Gore is
the man who invented the Internet and came up with the global warming
hoax.)
No junta was as corrupt as ronny raygun’s, not even tricky dick’s. His attorney general resigned after
he was involved with a company that received illegal no-bid contracts.
His secretary of the interior, who thought his job was to sell off
federal lands to defense contractors, was indicted on multiple counts of
perjury.
The reason Gore was so committed to
protecting Social Security is that Ronald Reagan used the funds as his
personal piggy bank. After his tax cuts devastated the federal treasury,
ushering in the era of giant deficits we’re still mired in today,
Reagan raised Social Security taxes, ostensibly to protect Social
Security for future generations. Instead, he dumped that money into the
general treasury fund to reduce the deficits he had created. Speaking of
corruption…
4. raygun Filled His Junta With Corrupt People
raygun’s vice pretender and successor, the shrub; daddy, pardoned six separate people for their roles in the
Iran-Contra affair, including raygun’s National Security adviser and his
secretary of defense. Speaking of Iran-Contra…
3. Reagan Presided Over the Iran-Contra Affair
In 1985 and 1986, ronny raygun sold
arms to Iran, locked in a horrific war with Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, for
cash and the release of U.S. hostages. The sales to Iran violated
sanctions against Iran.
But much of the money that came from the
sales was diverted to fund the Contras, wingnut rebels fighting the
left-wing Sandinista government of Nicaragua. That was in violation of laws against helping the Contras.
As noted above, the shrub's had to pardon several raygun aides in the wake of the scandal. Speaking of aides…
2. raygun Refused to Mention AIDS, Then Cut Funding for Research
In the early 80s, a horrific new
epidemic ravaged America’s gay population. Because so many of the
victims of AIDS were gay, the right-wing viewed the disease as a kind of
divine retribution for their sins.
raygun didn’t mention AIDS in public
until September 1985, after more than 10,000 people had died from the
disease. In 1986, raygun called for a report on AIDS but also proposed
cutting federal funds for research and patient care as treatments were
just starting to make it to market. Speaking of inhumanity towards his
fellow man…
1. raygun Opposed Sanctions on Apartheid Era-South Africa
When Congress looked likely to pass
sanctions on South Africa to battle apartheid in 1985, raygun vigorously
opposed any action. In order to stop moderate Republicans from
defecting, he issued a half-assed executive order imposing some
sanctions.
The next year, when Congress realized raygun’s sanctions didn’t have teeth, it overwhelmingly passed a bill
imposing real sanctions on the racist regime. raygun vetoed the bill.
Happily there were enough votes to override his veto, and the sanctions
became a key part of the eventual end of apartheid.
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