Unpleasant comments on President Reagan's passing:
web.stanford.com
“Randy Black writes: "Some rather unpleasant media comments about Reagan’s death. A pity…. What Cuba, the British media and an American say about Reagan: HAVANA - Cuba harshly criticized former President Ronald Reagan and his policies on Monday, saying he should ``never have been born.'' In the first reaction to Reagan's death from the communist government, Radio Reloj said: ``As forgetful and irresponsible as he was, he forgot to take his worst works to the grave,'' the government radio station said. ``He, who never should have been born, has died,'' the radio said.
http://news.bostonherald.com/nationa...71&format=text
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Columnist Christopher Hitchens for Vanity Fair comments: “He was as dumb as a stump. He could have had anyone in the world to dinner, any night of the week, but took most of his meals on a White House TV tray. He had no friends, only cronies. His children didn't like him all that much. He met his second wife*the one that you remember*because she needed to get off a Hollywood blacklist and he was the man to see. Year in and year out in Washington, I could not believe that such a man had even been a poor governor of California in a bad year, let alone that such a smart country would put up with such an obvious phony and loon.”
http://slate.msn.com/id/2101842/
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British Media, Greg Palast, The Guardian, comments: “Ronald Reagan was a conman. Reagan was a coward. Reagan was a killer….Well, my friends, you can rest easier tonight: the Rat is dead. Killer, coward, conman. Ronald Reagan, good-bye and good riddance.”
http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/pu...cle_8675.shtml
RH: Regrettable as these comments may be, there is an explanation. For patriotic Americans, Reagan was the symbol of the nation. Naturally foreigners do not share this feeling. In Latin America, the reaction has been very mixed. In Central America, he is remembered as the backer of the contras and thus the cause of many deaths. This explains the vitriolic comment from Havana. In Argentina he is remembered as having helped Margaret Thatcher thwart its seizure of the Falkland Islands. In Europe it is fashionable to deride American politicians, and film star Reagan was doubly star-crossed. Finally, the supercilious criticism of Reagan is dated. I well remember the time when he was regarded here as a poorly educated buffoon. There has been a concerted effort to counter that view with the publication of books like Reagan in his own hand. It will be some time before a fair judgment of him is established.
From Moscow. Cameron Sawyer writes: "We may ignore the formulaic, ideological comments on Cuban radio -- it's quite possible the writer of them does not even believe them himself. As to Hitchens and Palast -- these reveal themselves with such comments as uncouth buffoons themselves. Palast's, in particular, pure gutter invective lacking all content, is simply beneath comment; albeit par for the course for the Guardian.
One may agree or disagree with Reagan's philosophy, but respect and even affection for the man is now common across the U.S. political spectrum. Reagan had grave flaws as an effective president; he was not a hands-on manager and simply could not cope with infighting among his own team. But he was an exceptionally eloquent and lucid political philosopher who was one of the greatest propagators of conservative ideas of his century. He was a fine writer, as his recently published radio speeches and letters show. Let us also not forget that he was an exceptionally dignified and courteous campaigner who treated his opponents with respect; something today almost unknown, regrettably.
May he rest in peace, well out of hearing of the few idiotic voices!"
RH: We would be interested in Russian comments, but not those made to Cameron, People would be polite to an American, especially those who know that Cameron is conservative. Randy Black writes "I remember Reagan as the gentleman I played golf with in Palm Springs in the early 70s when I was a young golf pro, the man I later covered as a journalist in the late 70s after I had left golf, and later still at the Republican National Convention in Dallas, and as the President who won 49 states, something not done before or again in the modern political era. He may have been a B actor; he may have been forgetful, but by gosh, he was a gentleman. As far is the accusations that he was dumb, I say, yeah, dumb like a fox".
From Paris, Carmen Negrin writes: " Sorry, but as a "patriotic" American, I don't consider Ronald Reagan as the symbol of the nation, neither as an actor, nor as Governor of California, nor as President. His politics in Latin America were indeed disastrous -even CNN Spanish referred to it- only surpassed by Bush's politics in the Middle East". RH; This would seem to represent an opinion common in France. We thank John Heelan for translating an article which gives a balanced account:
"Randy Black should be aware that the dismissive Greg Palast comment is atypical of the UK media attitude on the passing of Ronald Reagan. Most commentaries I have read from different wings of the political scene seem to agree, whether or not one agreed with Reagan's policies,that it is undeniable that his Administrations refreshed the United States' belief in itself and pulled its economy out of the doldrums. Further the consensus is that the man himself attracted affection and respect even when things were going wrong.
In my opinion, the following Reagan obituary in Spain's El País- hardly as admirer of US right-wing politics- gives the fairly balanced view reflected in most serious European newspapers. [My translation- usual apologies]
The Hypnotiser of America
Carlos Mendo (El País, 7 June 2004 p.58)
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Originally Posted by Earl
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