Ed Morrow talks about the upcoming movie about the Reagans:
It has become part of liberal folklore to blame Reagan for the AIDS epidemic because he didn’t immediately launch a massive research and education campaign when it first erupted. The fact is that for years, the danger of AIDS wasn’t accurately understood by most. Few guessed how terrible a scourge it would become. Even the gay community didn’t recognize the danger. Today, many have forgotten how confused everyone was by the appearance of a horrible illness that seemed like some monstrous plague risen from the Dark Ages.
With 20/20 hindsight, pundits have condemned Reagan for being slow to react, forgetting their own ignorance. They also forget that the federal research and educational programs that are now fighting AIDS were launched by the Reagan administration. Was enough money devoted to AIDS? Probably not. Enough money is seldom allocated to any disease, from cancer to tuberculosis. We’ll only know how much is enough after a cure is produced. In the meantime, the sums and the choices made will be debated, and if such a discussion was the substance of The Reagans, it might prove useful in helping us learn how to deal with future health threats. But that’s not what’s presented. Instead, we’re given a false history to justify hatred for Reagan. It also justifies complacency in those who failed to make the case for urgent action or did nothing at all to fight AIDS during the 1980s. They can excuse themselves by blaming Reagan.
Read it all.
Yes, I keep harping on this stupid movie that I haven’t yet seen (and am not likely to). But I’m not going to take it lying down, and neither should you.
According to the Drudge Report, they also have Reagan declaring he’s the Anti-Christ: http://www.drudgereport.com/rr5.htm
To be consistent, they should end the movie by having Reagan fly a plane into the World Trade Center.
This is an utter travesity. These people are attacking a man that cannot defend himself. If I had any relation to the Reagan family, I would be suing their ass for slander/libel. My only hope is that there is going to be something more interesting on TV like a toenail clipping competition.
no more cbs for me
no more cbs for me
if conservatives like you had half a brain, you would understand what the foundation of blaming reagan for the aids epidemic is: initial funding, even in a fraction of the amount we spend today (billions), would have gone HUGE lengths to help curb the AIDS epidemic through PREVENTION, not cure. the research into the cure for HIV/AIDS will go on for a long time, but the knowledge of how to stop its transmission and stop new infections was discovered by 1983. thanks to the gay community, which was not only well organized and well motivated, prevention programs were started by local support, only given federal funding after reagan finally recognized AIDS as a potential health concern for the nation in 1987. if reagan had given just a few million to effectively teach AIDS prevention and safe sex education, he could have stopped the spread of AIDS… us “liberals” were not asking for a cure.
as for your arguement that “few guessed how terrible a scourge it would become”, i beg to differ. most in the medical community knew, just like the medical community knew ANTRHAX was no biohazard to be toyed with during the post-sept11 threats. the fact is, if AIDS had first shown up in the straight, affluent, white community first, reagan would have been the first to jump to their aid.
And if liberal fuckwits like you had brains, it wouldn’t require the outlay of billions of taxpayers’ dollars to prevent people from engaging in behavior that’s likely to get them killed.
Sorry, dickhead: the vast majority of AIDS sufferers contracted the disease because they engaged in high-risk behavior. And still do.
And if you don’t like the name-calling, then don’t start with the insults yourself. By starting with it, you show me that you’re not worthy of anything but contempt. Find somewhere else to spout your bilge.