Connecting dots ... NPR; Reagan Library, Lebanon, Grenada

[zbdent]

Was listening to NPR yesterday, and they were re-iterating that, after the 1983 Beirut bombings, Reagan pulled all the ships out of the area ... and "liberated" some (alleged) U.S. students in danger of becoming hostages in Grenada.

I had forgotten that these events had happened in rapid succession ... within days of each other.

In the vernacular of today's "liberal media" (had Reagan been a Democrat; look at the coverage of Carter's failed rescue attempt of the Iranian hostages), Reagan's pulling out of Beirut would have been "turning tail and running", with "trying to prove his manhood" by staging a new "threat" ...

Then something occurred to me ...

A few days before, there was a story about "children being presented with adult decisions".

One of the clips was about a group of children who were put in charge of the invasion of Grenada ... They were presented with the "options" which Reagan (allegedly) were presented with. Actually, just a number of "either/or" situations (anybody with any sense knows that there are rarely situations with clearcut binary decisions). The commentator did report that the library person did admit that the "simulation" was rigged to make Reagan appear in a favorable light.

So, the kids ended up doing what Reagan did (gee, with the system gamed to go make Reagan look favorable, how could they not?). This included facing the fact that "the media" blew the "surprise" of the fleet/armed forces being pulled out of the Beirut situation and heading toward Grenada. The group of kids were then put in front of another group of kids, the ones who were given the choices of "the media" (again, gamed to make Reagan look favorable). The kids in the Reagan/Grenada group were angry at the "media" for blowing the element of surprise.

I wonder if the Reagan/Grenada invasion kids would have been so "angry" at the "media" if they were given the CONTEXT of Reagan running away from what could have proved his manhood in Beirut (which, had it happened in 2001, Bush43 would have "gone after", just before going after some other, easier target, with the blessings of the "liberal media") to go for an easy victory over "communists" who might have taken a few students hostage ... (and yet, ignoring plenty of hostages kidnapped and held in Lebanon ...)

[FSogol]

1. Don't forget that Reagan via Ollie North sold the weapons to Iran that were used to kill 234 US

Marines in Beirut.