America is still haunted by the ghost of Ronald Reagan's corruption

[marmar]

America is still haunted by the ghost of Ronald Reagan's corruption
For the last 40 years, it has been a slide down a slippery slope into authoritarianism and ignorance

By BRIAN KAREM
Columnist
PUBLISHED JUNE 20, 2024 9:29AM (EDT)


(Salon) America has always been corrupt.

A nation “discovered” by those seeking fame and fortune at any cost and colonized by religious fanatics who were kicked out of every decent country in Europe. When the early European settlers became entrenched on this continent, they displaced or killed indigenous people and brought with them enslaved human beings whose only sin was being born a different color than their captors.

....(snip)....

In short, America has always been caught between its ideals and its reality. As T.S. Eliot in his poem “The Hollow Men,” reminded us, “between the idea and the reality, between the motion and the act falls the shadow.” The shadow is the difference between our darkest actions and desires and our belief in justice.

....(snip)....

The closest we’ve come, in my lifetime, to living up to our ideals was after Richard Nixon was hounded from office. In the Bicentennial year of our country, we spoke of togetherness. We listened to the same music. We all wore the same wide ties and platform shoes. We practiced civil rights. During the four years of the Jimmy Carter administration, no one burned records, there was no emphasis on banning books, and the Roe vs. Wade decision meant women were empowered to be responsible for their own healthcare. While Carter was a devout Christian, the Christian Nationalists ran for cover. Then came the dark times ushered in by Ronald Reagan and his allies Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch. ........(more)

https://www.salon.com/2024/06/20/america-is-still-haunted-by-the-ghost-of-ronald-reagans-corruption/

[appalachiablue]

1. Reagan, Aids: The Reagan admin. neglect in addressing the crisis caused thoussnds of deaths.

Wiki. Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, oversaw the U.S. response to the emergence of the HIV/AIDS crisis during the 1980s. His actions, or lack thereof, have long been a source of controversy and have been widely criticized by LGBT and AIDS advocacy organizations. AIDS was first medically recognized in 1981, in New York and California, and the term AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) was adopted in 1982 to describe the disease.

Lester Kinsolving, a reporter in the White House press pool, attempted to ask many early questions on AIDS, but his questions were not taken seriously. The 1985 illness and death of Rock Hudson from AIDS marked a major turning point in how the American public viewed AIDS, with major policy shifts and funding increases coming in the wake of his death.

Reagan did not publicly acknowledge AIDS until 1985 and did not give an address on it until 1987.

Reports on AIDS from Surgeon General C. Everett Koop in 1986 and James D. Watkins in 1988 were provided to the Reagan administration and offered information about AIDS and policy suggestions on how to limit its spread. However, the administration largely disregarded the recommendations in the reports. Towards the end of his presidency in 1988, Reagan took some steps to implement policies to stop the spread of AIDS such as notifications to those at risk of infection and barring federal discrimination against civilian employees with AIDS, though these actions have been criticized as not wide enough in their scope and too late in the crisis to prevent the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans.

As gay men, transgender women, and LGBT people in general were disproportionately afflicted with AIDS, some critics have suggested that Reagan's lack of action was motivated by homophobia. A belief among Christian conservatives at the time, including those in the White House and activists close to it, held that AIDS was a "gay plague" and any response to it should emphasize homosexuality as a moral failing, though there is little consensus on to what extent Reagan himself took to these views. Reagan's response to AIDS is generally viewed negatively by LGBT and AIDS activists, as well as epidemiologists. Criticism of Reagan's AIDS policies led to the creation of art condemning the government's inaction such as The Normal Heart, as well as invigorating a new wave of the gay rights movement. - Background...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Reagan_and_AIDS