The pundits always conveniently forget how Reagan launched his 1980 presidential bid in Philadelphia, Mississippi, standing up to say, "I support states' rights," in a town known solely as being the place where Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman were murdered by white supremacists while working on civil rights issues.
Then we have Reagan's famous Cadillac-Driving Welfare QueenTM, who only existed in Reagan's dementia-fueled bitchfests.
Then there was Reagan sending in the cops to beat Berkeley students senseless for having the audacity to hold a sit-in protesting the Vietnam War.
And let's not forget the small matter of Reagan having tripled the national debt.
Nice guy. Hopefully he's rotting in Hell.
I don't mean that as an attack on Gringo or anybody else. But the press covered up the ugly side of Reagan, and, yes, behind his pumping sunshine up our asses constantly was a very ugly old man who preyed upon racial and class hatred like no president since god-knows-when. It's only because of the fact that Junior's gotten more people killed that he doesn't top my list of Worst Presidents Ever. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
But I wasn't talking about his record: I was talking about a myth at another level, that of Reagan's popularity. His approval rates weren't as sky-high most of the time during his presidency, but by the time of his funeral, history was re-written in people's minds (plus a new generation came who only knew the myth, I guess). *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
