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All Of Us Almost Died

on criticizing Reagan's legacy upon his death

Forum: QueerDisability list
Date: 06/06/2004

On 6/6/04 6:05 PM, "Ron Johnson" wrote:

Consider this: What if your best friend died? What if it were someone you idolized - say a parent, teacher, sports figure, clergyperson, politician, etc.? Suppose it were your own passing? Now, imagine others circulating eMails full of vitrial, & hate - reviling that special person, or you, pointing up *every* bad or improper thing done, in death?

But what if the dead person is not your friend, but instead his behaviors while he was alive was responsible for the deaths of many of your friends? And if the only medium in which people could talk about that fact were email--since television, newspapers, radio, etc. are not saying anything about it?

Besides, it is ridiculous to compare the death of a former U.S. President with the death of any person in the world. Of course his life and legacy is put under closer scrutiny than that of an average person--after all, he was at one time the Most Powerful Person Of The World.

-- and the bad things, remember them as the simple human failings we all have - even Presidents!

That's what I'd call something like having sex with an intern and lying about it. *That* would be a "simple human failing." Intentionally neglecting the pleas of tens of thousands of sick and dying people as the silent epidemic overshadows large segments of population while you are the Most Powerful Person Of The World is definitely not.

In short - turn this page in America's history - look back to the past and see it for what it is - the past, but look boldly towards the future and the boundless possibilities it holds!

Yes, but we desperately need to preserve history for what it was. The relatively recent history of early AIDS crisis is quickly being forgotten and lost as we speak. Many conservatives today claim, for example, that at the time nobody knew what was going on and therefore Reagan could not have done much to address the epidemic anyway.

That's simply not true. That's historical revisionism. We must keep pointing that out, and refuse to let our respect for those mounrning his death reduce us to silent complicity to historical revisionism.

Emi K.

--
http://eminism.org/ * Putting the Emi back in Feminism since 1975.