The Real Reagan
by Philip A Farruggio
www.dissidentvoice.org
June 7, 2004



 

May his spirit rest in peace now, and may the "Spirit" of this great nation take heed. Ronald Reagan is going to be tributed with being the great optimist who took America forward. For whom? For what?

Reagan, for those who forget, was the President who gave "aid and comfort" to many repressive regimes throughout the world -- especially Saddam Hussein. During the early and mid 1980s, Hussein was gassing the Iranians and his Kurdish citizens, while Donald Rumsfeld (remember him?) was Reagan's special envoy to Iraq. Did he tell Saddam to "cease and desist"? Or did he travel there to offer more military and economic aid? You connect the dots. And where did Saddam get most of his biological weaponry? Through "Uncle Ronnie's" free market US companies, that's where. Many Iraqi democratic activists were either jailed or executed by the Hussein regime, and Reagan did absolutely nothing!

We all know about the Iran-Contra debacle, where our President failed to "remember" what Oliver North and company were up to. As far as El Salvador, who can forget (Reagan supporters can) the nuns and priests who were murdered, along with any others who spoke out, by the death squads -- many of them trained at Ft. Benning's infamous "School of the Americas" aka the "School of the Assassins."

On the home front, it was under President Reagan that the Savings and Loan industry was deregulated, allowing for all the corruption and scamming that followed -- debts that generations of Americans will have to pay off! Reagan opened the door to the "Me 80s", which stories like "Wall Street" are based upon -- "Greed is Good" and all that. Military spending increased under Reagan, and social programs died, leaving millions of poor Americans with little hope. Yet, Ronald Reagan is trumpeted as the great cheerleader for America.

A great man, called by some the Son of God, once said: "We are our brother's keeper" ... "As you do to the lowest , you do to me".....

Remember this too when they come to honor Ronald Reagan.

P. Anthony Farruggio is the founder of FAER (Florida Association for Economic Reform). This Brooklyn NY born, bred and educated (Brooklyn College '74) son of a longshoreman, has had over 40 columns posted on progressive sites and newspapers since the 2000 election, including NewsInsider.org , Buzzflash, Dissident Voice and Counterpunch.com. He can be reached at PAnthonyF@aol.com. 

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