You know, I didn't hate Reagan.

[TennesseeWalker]

I was younger, much younger then. But I thought Ronnie was a nice old guy, and certainly didn't think he was Evil.

I didn't hate Poppy Bush, and I was even supportive when we went into Iraq the first time. Still young, though.

This guy, Shrub, though....I hated him when he stole the election....then I got over it on 9/11....and now, I have a blind fury for him...he's ruining this country.

I think the internet is going to change the world. I might have been blissfully ignorant of the way things really are without the immediacy of the internet. People who aren't online are much more likely to give the Evildoers the benefit of the doubt. Also, people who didn't go to college really either don't vote or don't think that their government would do these things.

An informed populace will end the days of the Republicans. I really believe that they rule by fear, and have no real ideas beyong making money and making people neurotic, with fear and sexual diapproval.

I'm sick of them all. I want their school of thought marginalized to the point of no return.

[Dookus]

1. I was in college when Reagan was elected.

I hated his politics. To my core.

But I always thought he was a nice guy and a stooge for those around him. He truly believed what he believed and wasn't in it for the money. I still think that.

His wife scared the bejesuz outta me, though.

[demgrrrll]

2. I started researching politics prior to and during the impeachment.

That process really opened my eyes. Up until that point I felt the same way you did. I had an immediate negative reaction to the Chimp and the unfairness of the SCOTUS decision was stunning to me. This regime is completely out of control and must be stopped. There is nothing else that is as important. I don't even get involved in the discussions regarding the primary race that are posted here. There isn't anyone and I mean anyone who could be worse than Bush. I will work til I drop to get Bush moved out of DC. He is a menace.

[MinnFats]

3. i hated that m******f***r the first time I heard his voice...

wait, that would have been "Death Valley Days," in which he displayed his shitty acting skills. so that was pretty neutral...then there was an actual movie with a plot, "The Killers" in which he played a crook hooked up with Angie Dickenson, pursued by even meaner crooks played by Lee Marvin and Clu Gulager. Saw it in the theater and it was on late night TV a couple of times but then after he went into politics it disappeared since Lee Marvin blasts him in the end.

The thing that got me was when he went after antiwar protesters on california college campuses with this battle cry:
"If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with. No more appeasement."
which convinced me he was malevolent, evil and willfully ignorant (which is not the same as being stupid) and he never did anything to dislodge me from that position. as time went on I came to despise that asshole. Still do.
Fucking lying hypocrite. Another Republican with indelible blood all over his hands..

[Feanorcurufinwe]

4. I did

[PurityOfEssence]

5. Aaah, well I hated him enough for both of us

He was well advertised, but at least he was no worse than expected. Junior, on the other hand, was amply advertised as a rotter of much worse proportions, and he's even been worse than that.

[Dookus]

7. Yes....

I agree. Both Bushes were evil - GHWB was bad, and his son is a stooge.

But I always felt sorta sorry for Reagan. He was used badly. Don't misundertand my feelings - Reagan's politics were horrible. But I honestly feel he believed he was doing well. He was wrong.

The thing we have to overcome, as progressives, is Reagan's incredible ability to "nurture" the country in times of crisis. When the shuttle exploded, or when the barracks in Lebanon were blown up, or when the plane-ful of Marines crashed in Alaska.... he was awesome. There really ARE times when we need to be comforted by our leader, and Reagan was excellent at that.

His policies sucked. His economics sucked. But he made us feel OK. I believe a certain General running for President can make us feel that way, too.

[TreasonousBastard]

6. I didn't hate any of 'em...

even Nixon, although I came close there. Nixon was slime, but a complex slime that inspired anger, sadness, and pity, but not hatred.

I disagreed with just about every one of Reagan's policies, and didn't think all that much of him as a President or a person, or even an actor, but I never hated him. I felt he was doing what he thought was right and proper, and he never went too far toward destroying the nation. Of course, back then we were better able to stop him from some of the excesses.

Shrub, though, is everything I have ever despised in a human being. Hate may still be too extreme a term, but disgust and revulsion pretty much covers it.

[Dookus]

8. Well said....

Reagan's rise was almost 25 years ago (which freaks me out, cuz my first presidential vote was for Carter). But things really WERE different then. The younger folk here won't remember that the "religious right" wasn't a factor before Reagan. Jerry Falwell became semi-famous in the '80 election, and mainstream in the '84 election.

Before Reagan, there really WERE republicans who weren't xtian nutcases. The Republican party is not historically bad. The RELIGIOUS RIGHT wing of the Republican part is the problem.

[Java]

9. As far back as 1980...I didn't hate Reagan

I thought he was a bit senile at the time (turned out he had Alzheimers)...

However when Reagan kicked off his War on Drugs and had congress pass Asset Forfiture Laws..(which clearly violated the 5th Amendment in respect to Property Rights)..then I began to dispise Reagan.

When Bush Sr. so conviently manipulated the US into getting into a War with Iraq, and promising to establish a democracy in Kuwait..and then leaving Saddam in power and exhorting Iraqi's overthrow Saddam Hussein and then turning his back on them as Saddam's forces identified rebellious Iraqis and started to slaughter them...

Then I dispised Bush Sr.

And when Clinton got into office..I was very hopeful..but Clinton started to sign all kinds of gun control legislation (violating the 2nd Amendment) and signed several peices of legislation into law which gave the FBI greater authority to conduct wiretaps, and spy on people with impunity..

Then I began to dispise Clinton...his lack of honesty over his affairs sickened me.

And Shrub...what does this cretin do? Oh..he uses 9/11 as an excuse for another burning of the Reichstag..and pushes for the Patriot Act.

Now..we have Asset Forfiture Laws, citizens can be detained without charges or a trial for an indefinate period (violating Habeus Corpus), we have all kinds of gun control legislation (violation of the 2nd Amendment), we have a government that is spying on our email, and phone conversations..all the time...without a WARRANT..violating the 4th Amendment.

What was that clause in the Constitution defining an Act of Treason? Isn't subverting the Constitution an Act of Treason?

Why can't we have a president who had principles and defended Human Rights like we had with Jimmy Carter? I think Carter was the last president in the past 25 years who had a sense of ethics, a sense of morality.

[Hubert Flottz]

10. I hated the no good asshole!

And I still do! I hope he burns in HELL for the things he did to Unions, Veterans, Poor People, Old People On Social Security, and the mentally ill people he helped turn out on the streets by the thousands! Reagan was as bad for America as either Nixon, Bush I, or II! If you'd had to feed your kids or your parents then you'd know!

[ikojo]

11. I hated Reagan in 1980 and loathed

him in 1984. His policies made it possible for me to drop out of college. See my dad went on total disability and it was Reagan who did away with SSI benefits for college students over 18 whose parents were on total disability. I tried my hardest to pay for my education on my own but got seriously tired of not having food or money to pay my rent so I quit and got a job.

I seriously hated, loathed and dispised Bush I. His whole demeanor said "I was to the manor born and thus by birthright entitled and duty bound to serve the lesser massess." He had this arrogant smugness about him.

I protested against Bush I's war against Iraq in DC in January 1991. It was awesome! It's amazing how quickly a client state of the US can become an enemy once it no longer serves the interests of the corporate elite that really run this country.

Now don't get me started on Bush I's progeny...Bush the Second. What did this guy do in his life? He was born into a well connected and wealthy political family. Everything he attained in life was through a class based affirmative action policy.

[Brewman_Jax]

12. I did

and still do. That sorry bastard helped get the neocons into power and warp the American psyche. Because of him, it became okay, even fashionable, to bully the weak in society and blame them for all of society's ills. He created a bully mentality that still sickens the country to the present day. (for example, see freepers)

He awakened a discredited economic philosophy (supply-side economics) and fool the country into believing that it'll work. It didn't. He hosed the people into believing that he cared, as his corporate buddies benefitted from de-regulation. Jobs went out of the country by the scores. His policies introduced the word "corporate raider" to the lexicon. Towns died as jobs disappeared.

He rolled back social programs and civil rights. I was in college and saw my friends who didn't finish because of finances. They had trouble getting loans at a decent rate, if they could even get them.

There's more, but if I write too much, no one will read it. For more, read David (the Axe Man) Stockman's book.

May he rot in the hell of his own construction!

[Squeech]

13. I hated Nixon

I blame him for the mendacious, power-mad, winning-is-everything attitude of today's Repukes.

Reagan was merely a tool, a "useful idiot," for the BFEE and several lesser criminals (e.g. Ed Meese and Ollie North). I don't think he was personally evil, but most of the people around him certainly were, and the corruption was clearly established by the end of his term.

[Skittles]

14. I disliked Reagan intensely

he's a typical piece of shit republican. The big difference, however, is I DID ACCEPT HIM AS MY PRESIDENT because a majority of total f****ing greedy morons in this country DID ELECT HIM PRESIDENT.

[ewagner]

15. I had good reason to hate him

this may get a little long, please bear with me:

When he was elected, I was Mayor of a small Northern Wisconsin city of about 10,000. Beleive it or not, we were the biggest city in the region and we had a commuter airline that provided daily service to Chicago (after a LOT of stops of course). The comuter ailine was vital to our businesses which had a tough enough time making it in such a remote place.

Anyway, Reagan appointed Libby Dole as Sec of Transportation and she immediately went on this de-regulation, privatizations kick. She made a determination that all landing slots at major hubs (including Chicago) belonged not to the states or feds( the idea being to guarantee a network of air service throughout the country), but to the airlines and therefore could be bought and sold like commodities. Our local commuter airline immediately sold his four "slots" into/out-of Chicago to American airlines and went out of business. (The rumor was that each slot was worth $350,000) Overnight, LITERALLY OVERNIGHT our air service was gone! Within 24 hours, I had the CEO's of 3 of our major businesses in my office DEMANDING that I, as Mayor, do SOMETHING about it.

From that day on, everytime Ronnie or sweet Libby showed up on the TV screen, I gave them the one-finger salute....and continue to do so this day.

[Aristus]

16. I liked Reagan at the time and voted for Bush I twice.

Need I say more about how politically ignorant I was? My mother was furious when she found out I'd voted for Bush in '88. She's a school teacher, and knew way better than I did how bad Repuke policies were for public education. But I fell for Reagan's charm, and for Poppy's faux-patriotic rebop that got us into Iraq. I'm proud of my veteran status as a result of Gulf War I, but I'd rather none of this had happened, and paved the way for Bush II.

I've gotten a lot smarter since then, as you can tell; when the Chimp's handlers started their program to convince 'Murikkka that thier goon was a 'may-ann o' th'peeple' back in 1999, I distrusted them right away. Turd Blossom doesn't have Reagan's charm, no matter what the whores on Fox say. He reminds me of a clumsy misogynist trying to flirt with a feminist. No class, no grace, no style and no clue. To Hell with the lot of them.

[DerekG]

17. Who cares if Reagan meant well?

The majority of crimes inflicted against humanity were committed by men and women who prided themselves on adhereing to a set of principles--THEY are the ones who have the propensity to set the world aflame.

The sooner this asshole dies, the better. And a part of me hopes that his slow collapse into nothingness will be the least of his torments.

[ProfessorGAC]

18. I Never Thought Evil. I Thought Amiable Dunce

Just as clueless as Georgie Boy.
The Professor