Ronald Reagan was a conman. Reagan was a coward. Reagan was a killer.

[ Reader responses below article. And remember, Ronald Wilson Reagan = 
Insane Anglo Warlord. -d ]

KILLER, COWARD, CON-MAN
GOOD RIDDANCE, GIPPER ...
MORE PROOF ONLY THE GOOD DIE YOUNG
Sunday Jun 6, 2004
by Greg Palast

You're not going to like this. You shouldn't speak ill of the dead. But 
in this case, someone's got to.

Ronald Reagan was a conman. Reagan was a coward. Reagan was a killer.

In 1987, I found myself stuck in a crappy little town in Nicaragua named 
Chaguitillo. The people were kind enough, though hungry, except for one 
surly young man. His wife had just died of tuberculosis.

People don't die of TB if they get some antibiotics. But Ronald Reagan, 
big hearted guy that he was, had put a lock-down embargo on medicine to 
Nicaragua because he didn't like the government that the people there 
had elected.

Ronnie grinned and cracked jokes while the young woman's lungs filled up 
and she stopped breathing. Reagan flashed that B-movie grin while they 
buried the mother of three.

And when Hezbollah terrorists struck and murdered hundreds of American 
marines in their sleep in Lebanon, the TV warrior ran away like a 
whipped dog … then turned around and invaded Grenada. That little Club 
Med war was a murderous PR stunt so Ronnie could hold parades for 
gunning down Cubans building an airport.

I remember Nancy, a skull and crossbones prancing around in designer 
dresses, some of the "gifts" that flowed to the Reagans -- from hats to 
million-dollar homes -- from cronies well compensated with government 
loot. It used to be called bribery.

And all the while, Grandpa grinned, the grandfather who bleated on about 
"family values" but didn't bother to see his own grandchildren.

The New York Times today, in its canned obit, wrote that Reagan 
projected, "faith in small town America" and "old-time values." "Values" 
my ass. It was union busting and a declaration of war on the poor and 
anyone who couldn't buy designer dresses. It was the New Meanness, 
bringing starvation back to America so that every millionaire could get 
another million.

"Small town" values? From the movie star of the Pacific Palisades, the 
Malibu mogul? I want to throw up.

And all the while, in the White House basement, as his brain boiled 
away, his last conscious act was to condone a coup d'etat against our 
elected Congress. Reagan's Defense Secretary Casper the Ghost Weinberger 
with the crazed Colonel, Ollie North, plotted to give guns to the 
Monster of the Mideast, Ayatolla Khomeini.

Reagan's boys called Jimmy Carter a weanie and a wuss although Carter 
wouldn't give an inch to the Ayatolla. Reagan, with that film-fantasy 
tough-guy con in front of cameras, went begging like a coward cockroach 
to Khomeini pleading on bended knee for the release of our hostages.

Ollie North flew into Iran with a birthday cake for the maniac mullah -- 
no kidding --in the shape of a key. The key to Ronnie's heart.

Then the Reagan roaches mixed their cowardice with crime: taking cash 
from the hostage-takers to buy guns for the "contras" - the drug-runners 
of Nicaragua posing as freedom fighters.

I remember as a student in Berkeley the words screeching out of the 
bullhorn, "The Governor of the State of California, Ronald Reagan, 
hereby orders this demonstration to disperse" … and then came the 
teargas and the truncheons. And all the while, that fang-hiding grin 
from the Gipper.

In Chaguitillo, all night long, the farmers stayed awake to guard their 
kids from attack from Reagan's Contra terrorists. The farmers weren't 
even Sandinistas, those 'Commies' that our cracked-brained President 
told us were 'only a 48-hour drive from Texas.' What the hell would they 
want with Texas, anyway?

Nevertheless, the farmers, and their families, were Ronnie's targets.

In the deserted darkness of Chaguitillo, a TV blared. Weirdly, it was 
that third-rate gangster movie, "Brother Rat." Starring Ronald Reagan.

Well, my friends, you can rest easier tonight: the Rat is dead.

Killer, coward, conman. Ronald Reagan, good-bye and good riddance.


--------------------
READER'S RESPOND TO REAGAN PIECE
Tuesday Jun 8, 2004
From: Andrew Date: Mon Jun 7, 2004 6:18:09 PM America/New_York Subject: 
CORRECTION: REAGAN ARTICLE I wanted to make a correction to your story 
about Mr. Reagan. You see, that Nicaraguan woman did not die of TB, nor 
because of Ronalds hollywood grin. She died because I fucked her in the 
eyeball, like your mother. Although both acts were consensual, I felt 
the need to share this with you Greg, because, well, I felt the need for 
you DISBURSE... now. right now. have a good day fucker. and don't talk 
shit about people who've done more while sitting on the can than you've 
done since you helped me fuck your mother in her eyeball. "look at the 
brains on greg-ster!!!!" From: Christopher Date: Mon Jun 7, 2004 1:16:51 
PM America/New_York Subject: Ronald Reagan Mr. Palast, I grew up in 
Reagan's hometown. I know where he came from and why he was a great man. 
You are apparently not. He was famous for all he accomplished. You were 
a complete unknown until the Drudgereport posted your article. Your 
hatred is proven by your slander of President Ronald Wilson Reagan. Your 
vanity is proven by the photo gallery of yourself on your website. By 
the way, communists are bad. Che was an idiot and Castro is a killer. 
Everyone knows this. I am not surprised to hear Michael Moore likes you. 
Chris Hage Dixon, IL USA From: Drew Date: Mon Jun 7, 2004 4:43:57 PM 
America/New_York Subject: Your Ronald Reagan Comments... Greg, This is 
in response to your comments at the 'working for change' website: 
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm? itemid=17066. I see that 
your comment sheet is now down on your cyber hole - gregpalast.com 
(probably thanks to Drudge)... Some conservative thinkers may say that 
your writing is dangerous - not me. I love to read fiction that's 
presented as fact, and then turn around and hand the writer a warm plate 
of his own ass - so here it is. Bon Appetit! Why do these stories 
seemingly never propagate to mainstream news sources as you say - 
because NO ONE BELIEVES YOU. Where's your proof? Can we get some 
legitimate sources here please, and not just some Nicaraguan named 
'Paco'? Why would Reagan care about Paco's dying wife anyway - what did 
she ever do for him? Has Paco's family ever paid a dime of taxes in the 
US? No. Does Paco work in a legitimate business where medical benefits 
would have addressed this? No. Did Paco's Communist government do a damn 
thing about this as they supposedly should have? No. Were you willing to 
give Paco's wife YOUR antibiotics that you probably had on you at the 
time? No. (After all, health precautions are strongly recommended when 
traveling to any tropical region, right) Do you donate part of your 
salary to Paco's family? No - so stop pretending you were there to ask 
for his daughter's hand in marriage or something. Finally, are 
antibiotics only made in the United States? I didn't think so. Painting 
a timeframe of the President of the United States laughing 
simultaneously while someone that he has no concern with in a third 
world country is dying is very clever - very clever indeed, and it's 
intention of making us think that for some reason Mr. Reagan is 
personally responsible for some woman's death in some godforsaken corner 
of a random jungle somewhere is equally clever as making us think that 
he was the damn pharmacist that told her to 'take a number', or made her 
smoke tobacco most of her life... Very, very irresponsible and equally 
gutless... ...typical of too many journalists these days. I like your 
statement "...because he didn't like the government that the people 
there had elected.". News Flash from 1979, the people there didn't 
"elect the government". Why don't you go just a tiny bit further towards 
the whole truth and say "...because he didn't like the Sandinista 
government in Nicaragua, which overthrew the Somoza government, because 
they were instituting a widespread Communist doctrine." This was 
something that Reagan publicly swore to defeat. You also say that Reagan 
'ran away like a whipped dog' - which is only partially true - he WALKED 
AWAY, and took his proposed aid and relief money with him - just as the 
French did who were also there. Like a whipped dog or not - ok, I'll 
give you that if you must - terrorists are out of their minds and 
everything they do is inane anyway. Also, in your upcoming 'special 
elections edition' of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, I'd be willing 
to bet that you won't mention one word about Soros' intentions ( that he 
had publicly stated already himself ): Soros, as a private individual, 
is entitled to use his after-tax personal funds to support political 
candidates or parties within the parameters of U.S. election law. 
(source: OSI Statement 
http://www.soros.org/about/bios/a_soros/political) Also, in your quest 
for things that no one else knows (because they are simply untrue and/or 
only spun into a half-assed story), did you consider that in the battle 
for the White House in 2000, that the "Left" attempted to throw out 
votes from 13 Florida counties - specifically military ballots? Did you 
mention that the "Right" wanted the ballots that were simply dimpled or 
nicked to be thrown out ( with the likely intent that if you are too 
stupid to poke a damn hole in a sheet of paper, you shouldn't count ), 
and the Democrats wanted seemingly blank ballots to count? I wouldn't 
know if you said this for sure - because I'd rather remove my own 
foreskin with a warm spoon than to purchase one of your books. By the 
way, the parity that surfaced in the 2000 election was remarkable - only 
in the US would such a divisive situation NOT spur a civil war. Even if 
you didn't like the guy... ...ah hell this has been a total waste of 
keystrokes - you are probably snorting a line of coke off of a hooker's 
ass right now anyway. Frankly, your daddy should have rolled over and 
shot you onto the wall. Please continue to stink up the joint, because 
truth still needs enemies, and the world needs journalistic 
ditch-diggers too. Drew - Dallas, TX postscript: "working for change" 
should be renamed to "working for chumps" Date: Mon Jun 7, 2004 11:29:27 
PM America/New_York Subject: Your Reagan Commentary Palast Whether you 
agreed with him or not, pissing on his grave is the act of wuss, a 
coward,an indicative of a mind devoid of any integrity. Regardless, 
Reagan restored the hope in America (remember the "malaise?") He didn't 
contain the Soviet Union - he transcended it - which your collectivist 
buddies had caved in to. The deficit caused by the tax cuts? The revenue 
more than doubled. One third of the deficit was from increase military 
spending that got us the end of the Soviet Union (where would we be with 
a Soviet Union and terrorists today if the Soviets were still around?) 
Two thirds of the deficit increase was spending - from your Democrat 
friends. Somehow - this is forgotten. But pissing on his grave - and 
now? This is beyond opportunistic behavior. This is like the comedian 
who can't get a laugh - resorting to dick jokes. My father was a condom 
salesman. He would pass out a three pack sample in a handshake. To those 
he had distain for he would pass the sample to the other's hand, and 
say, "here, go stick them on your head and go fuck yourself." You would 
have qualified as an empty word processor. jim schwartz centennial, 
colorado 80111 From: Earl Date: Tue Jun 8, 2004 8:12:56 AM 
America/New_York Subject: Reagan He He He! What bottom feeders like you 
don't even realize is that Reagan will never be dead because his ideas 
will live on. In fact they are alive and well through George Bush right 
now. However, your Marxist philosphy is DEAD! Earl State Government 
Affairs Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. From: rbolson Date: 
Tue Jun 8, 2004 1:35:12 AM America/New_York Subject: Please forward to 
Mr. Palast Dear Mr. Palast: I was not surprised by your cowardly and 
banal rant about President Reagan, or the accompanying comments posted 
on your home page. I expected no less but I would not for a moment waste 
my time attempting to defend President Reagan's numerous and historic 
accomplishments as I am confident that, 1) he does not need defending, 
2) you and your typical reader are inherently ignorant and thus 
incapable of of recognizing his accomplishments, and 3) his tremendous 
and inspiring legacy will live on long, long after you have been 
rightfully forgotten. Your trite commentary is neither insightful, 
enlightening, nor intelligent, and your Web site reads like the typical 
insipid liberal laundry list of irrational hatred, anger, and senseless 
bitterness. Further evidence of your poltroon nature is your blatant 
failure to post your direct e-mail address on your Web site. It takes a 
brave man to viciously attack the late President and his family and then 
attempt to cower behind the Internet. After reading your repugnant 
rhetoric, I was reminded of the following Voltaire quote: "I have never 
made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord, make my enemies 
ridiculous.' And God granted it." How appropriate as you sir, are 
without question, reprehensible and ridiculous. In closing, let me add 
that I am comforted by the thought that as long as people like you, Al 
Franken, Janeane Garofalo, Michael Moore, and Ed Asner are the shining 
icons of Republican opposition, this country and the Republican party 
are indeed on solid footing and headed in the right direction. May God 
bless you, lift you from ignorance, grant you wisdom, and have mercy 
upon your soul, R. Bolson P.S. Please have the courage and courtesy to 
post this message--in its entirety--on your Reader's Respond section. 
You are a sorry, slimey piece of sh*t. You insult Ms. Reagan for being 
skinny? What are you, a fat ass? -- Stacey Noel -- Cool! I finally found 
a trailer park on the internet. -- Your nothing but a low life piece of 
shit! You will burn in hell! -- a normal american -- You're an asshole. 
That's my free speech. -- mike -- Great site. The humour was fantastic. 
Nothing is quite as amusing as a goofy little liberal fuck such as 
yourself. -- MrX -- HI Greg.!! YOU SILLY GOOSE! YOU ARE SUCH A KIDDER! I 
REMEMBER WHEN I DID SOME NAUGHTY THINGS WITH A MEMBER OF THE TEACHERS 
UNION AND THOUGHT I HAD AIDS. GOOD THING I DIDN'T BECAUSE RONALD REAGAN 
DIDN'T CARE ONE BIT ABOUT BUMPER FETISHES KEEP UP THE JOKES!! YOUR 
POTENTIAL FAN, MELONBELLYPUSGUT -- Dave Hoffman -- Terrific piece, Greg. 
Rick (an American in Japan) passed the reference to me, I had a look at 
it and passed it on to my email list of a couple of hundred. Rick and I 
had a comment to add: Geoff's comment: Palast didn't go back far enough. 
He's forgetting the the slimey role Reagan played as a so-called 
champion of actors, in delivering actors and other showbiz people to the 
slavering jaws of McCarthyism. Rick's comment: Although Palast doesn't 
mention it, the Raygun administration also gave us the "unified budget," 
which made it possible to loot the Social Security fund, thank you. But 
hey, what do rich people like the Gipper need with Social Security, 
anyway? Let them eat cake! best geoff (Keep them coming, Greg!) -- I 
believe in freedom of speech but your remarks are sickening. What you 
need is a good old fashioned ass-whipping. Derrell DeHart Crawford, Tx 
-- you pinko bed-wetting freak. -- Ray Rusch Too bad the teargas and the 
truncheons missed their mark Greg. After reading this looney left-wing 
propaganda I wish I could teach you some manners with a truncheon. 
Nicaragua's ugly civil war undoubtedly had vicitms on both sides. But 
Reagan had the common sense to recognize that communism was part of a 
broader threat - a threat that lefties like you spent decades 
apologizing for... Interestingly, it is the moguls of Hollywood that now 
hate Reagan the most - and the farmers and everyday workers that 
remember him with such admiration. That must kill you, leftist lackwit 
that you are! -- jcampbell -- I want on your list. Whoa, what a comeback 
to Ronnie today. Congratulations. jr -- John Robinson -- Loved it. Ding 
dong the bitch is dead. I remember what Reagan did in this country. 
25,000 dead of AIDs before he even said the word in public. I remember 
the Act Up die-ins. Glad Nancy had to see him suffer for years, too. Not 
because it gives me pleasure, but because it has renewed my faith in God 
and the universe. Thanks for helping me get through the day without 
puking over all the "Reagasms" going on. Love ya, Kerry -- Greg, in a 
time of reagan-iscance, this article was a breath of fresh air. i know 
you will receive plenty of negative comments, for dancing on the grave 
of the deceased, but i think it is worthwhile to know the truth. thanks 
tom -- -- tom l -- Kerry W Thanks for speaking the truth! As we used to 
say, "Right on, brother!" -Randy -- Thank you for speaking the truth. I 
was going nuts with all the falsehood I've been hearing, nonstop, in the 
media. -- Write on Greg, Write on! -Ray D -- *Thank you -- oh thank you! 
I have wanted to PUKE for the last two days. His legacy will be his 
inaction during AIDS emergence. I'm glad the asshole lived as long as he 
did I can't think of a better punishment for him or Nancy. -- Thanks for 
that obit, spoken from my heart. At least someone dares to speak of the 
emperors nonexisting clothes. -Regina C -- It's about time someone said 
it! You Go Greg!!!!! -- What a pathetic little pile of shit you are. 
remove me immed. and pray we never come face to face you sick demented 
little prick. -- Dear Mr. Palast....I once again feel completely elated 
by your words of truth, which is a no no in todays world. thank you so 
much, i was so sick of these lying tributes to this person. you are 
truly what i believe a journalist is all about. thank you so much for . 
-the Rose -- Thank you for telling the truth. -Jon -- Bravo for having 
the guts to continue to tell the truth. Americans have such short 
memories. Reagan was one of the worst presidents ever and yet the right 
wing imbeciles mention him in the same breath as FDR and Lincoln. Keep 
up the great work. America may wake up some day to the truth and I hope 
that happens sometime soon. Sincerely yours, Neil C -- Yes, and don't 
forget the mentally ill and the clinics that were going to help them 
once the asylums closed----the jails are doing the job now. You are 
great and we appreciate your hard work. -- Thank you for setting the 
record straight! Collective amnesia is to society what Alzheimers was to 
Reagan: the long good-bye. Frankly, I'd rather remember. Keep up the 
great work! -Sandina R -- THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SPEAKING THE 
TRUTH...THIS *FREAKSHOW* IN WASHINGTON IS ALREADY REWRITING HISTORY AND 
LINKING THE SUPPOSED TRIUMPHS OF THE REAGAN ERA TO SHRUB. WM. KRISTOL ON 
Cspan WAS SAYING THAT RONALD REAGAN WAS ALSO LOATHED INTERNATIONALLY AND 
WAS PROVEN BY HISTORY TO BE RIGHT AND BLAH, BLAH, BLAH...THEY WILL USE 
THIS DEATH AND THE FACT THAT HE WAS WELL-LIKED TO LEGITIMIZE THEIR 
ROTTEN POLICIES AND WE ARE VERY LUCKY TO HAVE YOUR VOICE AT THIS TIME, 
AND AT ALL TIMES, TO RATIONALLY AND CLEARLY TELL THE OTHER SIDE. I HOPE 
THAT PART OF THE LEGACY OF THIS GENERATION WILL BE A SHOWING IN THE 
HISTORY BOOKS OF THE HEROISM THAT YOU AND A FEW OTHERS HAVE EXHIBITED IN 
TRYING TO GET THE COMATOSE TO SEE THE FACTS. -- BRAVO. I was a student 
then too, and I remember the tear gas...with the exits blocked by the 
National Guard. (How did so many people forget that??) And I remember 
the cheese giveaway where he said he wished the people would get 
botulism from it. How about the "We start bombing in five minutes" joke 
where he didn't realize his mike was on....The "Great Communicator". 
What a joke. I never thought I'd hate a president more than I hated 
Nixon and then came Reagan. But I think that Bush Jr. has usurped his 
place of hatred in my heart. He's every bit as mean and dumb.

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