# 10 things I hate about Ronald Reagan **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 5, 2004, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840 "2004-06-05T19:06:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/61 "2004-06-05T22:37:03Z")
> [@rfgdxm](#): > > Wouldn’t a disgraceful post here being one that was a truly pathetic attempt at flaming? 😉 Either that, or one that contained an insufficient quantity of intemperate language. ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/62 "2004-06-05T22:39:36Z")
Let’s face facts, he’s basically been dead for several years, his body just didn’t degrade as quickly as his mind. He’d been largely in seclusion since 1994. Why it’s suddenly necessary to hate him now is beyond me. **Apos** is right, it’s not like his death is going to magically change anything. But I guess, at least on this board, a person and his/her politics are inseparable. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/63 "2004-06-05T22:41:24Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > Repeat, so we’ll go with Grenada and Panama. He did Grenada because he was protecting US citizens, much like Carter did at Desert One. The difference? Reagan was successful. Panama? Well, he protected US (and world) interests by getting rid of Noriega, who was a drug runner, despot, and was in control of the country with that most vital sealane, the Panama Canal. However, the US DID support Noriega early on, so for that mistake I’ll be charitable and give you a half a point for that one. Not going to nitpick you to shit right now - the Belmont is about to start - but Bush the Elder did Panama. Both Panama and Grenada were illegal invasions of soveirgn countries. Mmmhh? sound familiar? But that’s OK with you, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/64 "2004-06-05T22:44:57Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > Actually, **milroyj** , I went and looked up the word a few weeks ago when I heard it used to refer to Clinton, and the connotations of the word “regime” bothered me, as obviously it does you per Reagan. I decided “regime” was a perfectly good word to use for someone’s presidency. > > I shan’t bother to link to a dictionary for you. You don’t need to link to a dictionary, I know what regime means. Personally, I haven’t seen the word used to refer to the Clinton Administration on the SDMB, though. If I’m wrong about that, I welcome examples. ---
**Author:** ![SallyStar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SallyStar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SallyStar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/65 "2004-06-05T22:46:01Z")
> [@Early Out](#): > > As a proud Guest on these Boards going all the way back to May of two-thousand-aught-four, I think you should do the only honorable thing possible - resign in protest. I think you’re right, this thread is a disgrace to SDMB. It only assists SDMB towards the post counts, artifically, on [big-boards.com](http://big-boards.com), and keeping it in 35th place. How unfortunate ☹ ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/66 "2004-06-05T22:49:37Z")
Reagan served his country in the way he thought was right. I didn’t agree with his politics, but I take no pleasure in his death. He’s dead now, so let’s take a moment to respect the man’s passing, no matter how we felt about his presidency. We can discuss the errors he made and the legacy he left later, OK? ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/67 "2004-06-05T22:52:04Z")
> [@The 27th Evil](#): > > Wish I could remember your presidency. I’m sure he often wished he did, too. I certainly don’t mourn his death and, frankly, I’m glad he’s gone. Policies enacted by presidents don’t stop the day they leave office (as others have pointed out here) and the legacy of his policies linger across the world today, from the people who lost loved ones to the death squads in Central America he funded, to the air traffic controllers he fired in 1981 - people whose skills were so specialized they couldn’t find the same kind of work again (I knew one of them as a friend of the family when I was a kid, and his life was a living economic hell for years afterward) to the ongoing mess in the Middle East due to heavy US economic dependence on oil. Reagan was a thorough son of a bitch and whatever he may have done to benefit that thin slice of the rich at the top of American society, he did at the expense of the rest of the world. I don’t believe in a heaven or a hell, so I can’t wish him a speedy journey to either destination. But what I can hope is that the bastard will be long forgotten by the time I am 93. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/68 "2004-06-05T22:52:52Z")
Senator Kerry has issued a statement, according to CNN: “Today, from California to Maine, from sea to shining sea, Americans will bow their heads in prayer and gratitude that President Reagan left such an indelible stamp on the nation he loved”. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/69 "2004-06-05T22:53:14Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > Not going to nitpick you to shit right now - the Belmont is about to start - but Bush the Elder did Panama. You’re right. Mea culpa. > [@](#): > > Both Panama and Grenada were illegal invasions of soveirgn countries. Mmmhh? sound familiar? But that’s OK with you, isn’t it? And you’re a dirtbag for that little crack above. Desert One wasn’t an invasion? I’m sure that you would have supported the illegal invasion, killing of foreigners on their own soil, and violation of foreign territorial airspace if the mission had brought the hostages home. Oh, and by the way, that was sponsored by Jimmy Carter, famous peacemaker. You people and your “illegal war” crap. Some of you have absolutely no understanding of why some missions are undertaken. My erroneous judgment about this most recent war is not really relevant to what we’re talking about, except to get in a cheap-shot at my expense. Shows a lot of class there. ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/70 "2004-06-05T22:57:38Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Reagan’s dead, and the only tragedy in it is that it happened twenty years too late. That’s disgusting. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/71 "2004-06-05T23:03:42Z")
Personally, I think some of the expressions of hatred so far on this thread ARE a little extreme. There aren’t many worse ways to go, IMO, than Alzheimer’s, and I feel truly sad for any person and family that has to go through that kind of hell. On the other hand, I already find myself disgusted thinking of the ways in which some (certainly not all) elements of the Right has, and will, seek to exploit him and his memory by deifying him and whitewashing all of his bad points. Already Nancy had to put the kibosh on efforts to replace FDR with her husband on the dime, and I can only imagine that Reagan himself would’ve been disgusted by it all. Plus, I have to scratch my head when some people react like this: > [@](#): > > When I heard the news, I could hardly stand up, I had trouble breathing. It felt like one of my parents died. I’m still so choked up, I’m having difficulty typing this. I mean, I can understand mourning a man you feel was a great President, but this feels somewhat extreme, an example of the deification I mentioned before. I can only sit in wonder about it all… ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/72 "2004-06-05T23:04:46Z")
President Clinton’s statement: “Hillary and I will always remember President Ronald Reagan for the way he personified the indomitable optimism of the American people, and for keeping America at the forefront of the fight for freedom for people everywhere. It is fitting that a piece of the Berlin wall adorns the Ronald Reagan building in Washington.” ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/73 "2004-06-05T23:07:54Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > And you’re a dirtbag for that little crack above. Desert One wasn’t an invasion? I’m sure that you would have supported the illegal invasion, killing of foreigners on their own soil, and violation of foreign territorial airspace if the mission had brought the hostages home. Oh, and by the way, that was sponsored by Jimmy Carter, famous peacemaker. Yes, you’re exactly right, shithead. Desert One was an invasion in force, specifically designed to overthrow the government of Iran, and conquer the country of Iran, for no valid reason except that the existing government was on our shit list. (I’m assuming that you are in your late 20’s, early 30’s. I am also assuming that you have read history to fill the gaps in the areas you did not live through. I’m also assuming that you recognize sarcasm when you see it.) Our intentions were to overthrow the government of Grenada, of Panama, of Iraq for no internationally legally valid reason. Now, shit for brains, ask me why Afghanistan is not listed among the above list of nations we have invaded for no internationally legally valid reason. Dipshit. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/74 "2004-06-05T23:08:07Z")
> [@milroyj](#): > > That’s disgusting. :mad: So long as you find me disgusting, I know I must be right. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/75 "2004-06-05T23:10:13Z")
> [@Airman Doors](#): > > Some of you have absolutely no understanding of why some missions are undertaken. I forgot to mention: I know the difference between a mission and an invasion. Do you? ---
**Author:** ![lexi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lexi/32/6806_2.png) [@lexi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexi)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/76 "2004-06-05T23:12:39Z")
As someone who used to fear Ronnie quite a bit as a child (he was a step worse than the boogie man) - I have no love lost for the death of this man - I echo miller’s feelings. 1.) Trickledown economics. What family is doing better now than in the 70’s - now 2 parents need to work to have an income to sustain a family - in the 70’s mothers in the middle class did not need to work. 2.) Fearing the bomb - who wasn’t afraid the whole world would go to smitherines with his finger on the button. 3.) His buddy relationship with Iraq. Who’s fault is it now? 4.) American policing of the world when the world doesn’t want them as thier cops. 5.) Blue suits & red ties - business men still wear those things - ewwww! 6.) Making really crappy movies. 7.) Turning in your Buddies cause they were “commies” 8.) Having GHWB as your 2nd in command 9.) Making GWB possible 10.) Not dying in your first term when Jodie Foster’s fan shot at him. ---
**Author:** ![GLWasteful](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f05b48/32.png) [@GLWasteful](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GLWasteful)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/77 "2004-06-05T23:13:26Z")
**Airman Doors, USAF** : > [@](#): > > Desert One wasn’t an invasion? I’m sure that you would have supported the illegal invasion, killing of foreigners on their own soil, and violation of foreign territorial airspace if the mission had brought the hostages home. Oh, and by the way, that was sponsored by Jimmy Carter, famous peacemaker. Slow the hell down there, Ace. How many US citizens were being held hostage in Grenada? When citizens have been taken hostage, there’s a whole helluva lot that I expect, and Desert One I expected. Damned shame that it didn’t work. And yes, Jimmy Carter pulled the trigger. Again, I fully expected him to. Weren’t we talking about Reagan? [quote] You people and your “illegal war” crap. Some of you have absolutely no understanding of why some missions are undertaken. [QUOTE] Well, see, when one sees a spade, one is quite likely to refer to it as a spade. Was Desert One illegal? Ayup, and it happened for all the right reasons. And as to why missions are undertaken, enlighten, please. Unless you’re just talking outta your ass and trying to burnish a severely tarnished presidential rep. ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/78 "2004-06-05T23:13:59Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > President Clinton’s statement: > > “Hillary and I will always remember President Ronald Reagan for the way he personified the indomitable optimism of the American people, and for keeping America at the forefront of the fight for freedom for people everywhere. It is fitting that a piece of the Berlin wall adorns the Ronald Reagan building in Washington.” Thanks for the quotes, **Liberal**. It’s good to see that President Clinton, as well as Senators Kerry and Clinton, have a lot more class than **Miller** could ever have. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/79 "2004-06-05T23:14:43Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > I forgot to mention: I know the difference between a mission and an invasion. Do you? I’m not sure you do. That’s a judgement military personnel are not allowed to make. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2004, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840/80 "2004-06-05T23:22:19Z")
> [@milroyj](#): > > Thanks for the quotes, **Liberal**. It’s good to see that President Clinton, as well as Senators Kerry and Clinton, have a lot more class than **Miller** could ever have. C’mon, **Milroyj** , you’re just annoyed that every Doper isn’t weeping for your fallen Christ–if a truck took out Bill Clinton, the board would be drenched with your estactic spooge. Don’t ask others to show class that you yourself don’t possess. As for me, like I said, Reagan was a patriot who served his country the best he knew how. I never liked his politics, but we can put that aside for a day to honor his passing. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/10-things-i-hate-about-ronald-reagan/248840.md?page=5)