Saturday, February 12, 2011

Re: Ronald Reagan’s Real Legacy: Death, Heartache and Silence Over AIDS

Yet another homophobic, insulting, vicious attack, in clear violation
of this group's rules, decorum, and mission statement.

On 2/11/11, Mark <markmkahle@gmail.com> wrote:
> TommyTomTom,
>
> Condoms are worn for a plethora of reasons.... like to stop the spread of
> STDs other than HIV.
>
> Like I said the promiscuity of the gay community has still not slowed EVEN
> WITH THE INFO YOU WOEFULLY SAY WAS LACKING THEY ARE STILL INFECTING EACH
> OTHER AT THE RATE OF OVER 17,000 CASES PER YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> Let the stupid bastards die, do not spend one cent of my tax dollar on an
> idiot.
>
> On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 6:45 PM, Tommy News <tommysnews@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Markie Mark-
>>
>> You're an idiot.
>> This happened before it was widely known that condoms prevented most
>> HIV infections. If Reagan had opened his mouth and told people that,
>> many lives would have been spared. Instead, he let his Fundie henchman
>> proclaim that AIDS was God's punishment on those thousands who became
>> sick and died.
>>
>> Reagan, by his silence, is responsible for all the lives that were
>> lost. Their blood is on his hands.
>>
>>
>> On 2/8/11, Mark <markmkahle@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > HEY TOMMY !!!!!
>> >
>> > They were too stupid to wear a CONDOM ?????? Or were they waiting for
>> your
>> > proposed and prayed for nanny-state to help them on with one ????
>> >
>> > On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 5:54 PM, Keith In Köln <keithintampa@gmail.com
>> >wrote:
>> >
>> >> You're an idiot.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Tue, Feb 8, 2011 at 3:51 PM, Tommy News <tommysnews@gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>> >>
>> >>> Reagan took about six years before he even mentioned the term "AIDS".
>> >>> His fundie beliefs backed up his homophobic friends like Jerry
>> >>> Falwell, etc. who went around screaming and preaching that gays
>> >>> deserved to die and AIDS was their punishment from God. Reagan
>> >>> abandoned his gay friends from Hollywood in favor of Conservative
>> >>> politics.
>> >>>
>> >>> During those years of silence, thousands of deaths and many thousands
>> >>> of infections could have been prevented if Reagan had simply spoken
>> >>> out, and ordered prevention, treatment, and research. Reagan was
>> >>> indeed directly responsible for all those deaths and infections due to
>> >>> his inaction and silence.
>> >>>
>> >>> Ronnie did NOTHING while thousands of people died.
>> >>>
>> >>> Nothing beats diversity, especially when it's a diversity of
>> >>> scary-stupid.
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On 2/7/11, THE ANNOINTED ONE <markmkahle@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>> > Shit Tommy, I can't get a 20 dollar hooker to screw me without a
>> >>> > condom yet 17,000 more gays per year are infected in the US because
>> of
>> >>> > this simple item....
>> >>> >
>> >>> > Again..... Why should I care about an IDIOT ???
>> >>> >
>> >>> > On Feb 7, 4:57 pm, Tommy News <tommysn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >>> >> Ronald Reagan's Real Legacy: Death, Heartache and Silence Over AIDS
>> >>> >> by Karen Ocamb on February 6, 2011 | 12:12 PM
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> Reagan AIDSgate poster via ACT UP New York
>> >>> >> America is gushing Sunday over former President Ronald Reagan in
>> >>> >> recognition of what would have been his 100th birthday. Produced by
>> >>> >> Reagan groupies, the long-weekend celebrations at the newly primped
>> >>> >> Reagan Library and Museum in Simi Valley are glitzy and reverent
>> >>> >> evocations of an imagined man.
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> In this white-washed version of history, Reagan, not Soviet Prime
>> >>> >> Minister Mikhail Gorbachev (remember "glasnost," "perestroika,"
>> >>> >> and
>> >>> >> the impact of Levis, Coke and "Dynasty"?) is credited with "tearing
>> >>> >> down" the Berlin Wall; the trillion dollars in debt Reagan wracked
>> up
>> >>> >> during his "conservative" presidency is ignored; "supply-side" or
>> >>> >> "trickle-down" economics" still works, even though
>> >>> >> theory-originator
>> >>> >> David Stockman says it doesn't; the Reagan-approved secret
>> Iran-Contra
>> >>> >> scandal was patriotic, not subversive; and he is still the "Great
>> >>> >> Communicator" – who conned working-class "Reagan Democrats" while
>> >>> >> catering to the rich, creating a huge surge in homelessness,
>> reveling
>> >>> >> in unchecked deregulation and extolling union-busting with the mass
>> >>> >> firing of the over-worked, striking PATCO flight controllers – even
>> >>> >> before there were trained replacements.
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> After the depraved Vietnam War, the perennial dark and disgraced
>> >>> >> Richard Nixon, the short-term Gerry Ford and the confusing Jimmy
>> >>> >> Carter (who orchestrated the Middle East Peace talks but couldn't
>> free
>> >>> >> the Iran hostages or prevent long gas lines) – Reagan, the
>> "ah-shucks"
>> >>> >> bad B-movie actor (Bedtime for Bonzo), huckstered his scripted
>> >>> >> "vision" of "Morning in America" viewed from some exceptional shiny
>> >>> >> city on the hill. Reagan was the imaged Mount Rushmore president,
>> the
>> >>> >> right wing conservatives' longed-for King Arthur who would crush
>> >>> >> the
>> >>> >> Democratic Dream of FDR and the Kennedys and anyone who believed in
>> >>> >> social and economic justice promised by the "counter-culture"1960s.
>> >>> >> He'd already proven his anti-Communist bona fides appearing in 1947
>> as
>> >>> >> a friendly witness before the House Un-American Activities
>> Committee.
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> For LGBT people, Ronald Reagan's presidency was the far different
>> >>> >> "mourning in America." And unlike Nixon who was forced to resign
>> >>> >> for
>> >>> >> covering up the political Watergate scandal, Reagan didn't even
>> bother
>> >>> >> covering up his cold disdain, his deliberate neglect, his abject
>> >>> >> refusal to help gay men stricken in 1981 by a strange new
>> communicable
>> >>> >> disease that turned out to be AIDS. But there was no "AIDSgate" for
>> >>> >> Reagan; the White House agreed with the Religious Right that gays
>> >>> >> deserved what they got – they deserved to die.
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> Rev. Jerry Falwell, head of the Moral Majority, said, "AIDS is the
>> >>> >> wrath of God upon homosexuals." Patrick Buchanan, Reagan's Press
>> >>> >> Secretary, said AIDS was "nature's revenge on gay men." Antigay
>> >>> >> Gary
>> >>> >> Bauer, Reagan's domestic policy advisor, kept Surgeon General C.
>> >>> >> Everett Koop (selected because he was an anti-abortion Christian
>> >>> >> fundamentalist) away from Reagan:
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> "[In 1986] President Reagan asked the surgeon general to prepare a
>> >>> >> report on AIDS as the United States confirmed its ten-thousandth
>> case.
>> >>> >> Leaders of the evangelical movement did not want Koop to write the
>> >>> >> report, nor did senior White House staffers who shared Koop's
>> >>> >> evangelical convictions. As Dr. Koop related to me, "Gary Bauer
>> >>> >> [Reagan's chief advisor on domestic policy] … was my nemesis in
>> >>> >> Washington because he kept me from the president. He kept me from
>> the
>> >>> >> cabinet and he set up a wall of enmity between me and most of the
>> >>> >> people that surrounded Reagan because he believed that anybody who
>> had
>> >>> >> AIDS ought to die with it. That was God's punishment for them."
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> In his extraordinary book And The Band Played On about the early
>> >>> >> history of the AIDS epidemic, gay journalist Randy Shilts, who
>> >>> >> later
>> >>> >> died of AIDS, wrote that two events dramatically changed the course
>> of
>> >>> >> AIDS in America. The first was the announcement that closeted gay
>> >>> >> movie star Rock Hudson had AIDS and the second was the report by
>> Koop.
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> In an interview with me for the 25 anniversary of the June 5, 1981
>> CDC
>> >>> >> report of six gay men with what turned out
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> Rock Hudson - publicity photo
>> >>> >> to be AIDS, Hudson's publicist Dale Olson said Reagan called his
>> >>> >> longtime friend in July 1985 when Hudson was in a Paris hospital
>> >>> >> desperately looking for a cure for AIDS. Nonetheless, the "Great
>> >>> >> Communicator" remained silent. It's not as if Reagan was unaware of
>> >>> >> AIDS by then: on April 23, 1984, the CDC had reported 4,177 case
>> >>> >> and
>> >>> >> 1,807 deaths – something that came to the attention of the National
>> >>> >> Democratic Convention when a candlelight vigil of more than 100,000
>> >>> >> people marched from the Castro to Moscone Center.
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> California Rep. Henry Waxman, who held the first congressional
>> hearing
>> >>> >> on the disease at the Gay and Lesbian Community Services Center in
>> Los
>> >>> >> Angeles in 1983, wrote Washington Post in late 1985:
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> "It is surprising that the president could remain silent as 6,000
>> >>> >> Americans died, that he could fail to acknowledge the epidemic's
>> >>> >> existence. Perhaps his staff felt he had to, since many of his New
>> >>> >> Right supporters have raised money by campaigning against
>> >>> >> homosexuals."
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> Reagan finally mentioned the word "AIDS" in October 1986 and was
>> >>> >> virtually forced to deliver his first major speech on AIDS on May
>> 31,
>> >>> >> 1987 on the eve of the Third International Conference on AIDS in
>> >>> >> Washington. He was the invited by Elizabeth Taylor to speak at a
>> >>> >> fundraiser for the American Foundation for AIDS Research, which
>> Hudson
>> >>> >> helped start with a $250,000 grant given to Taylor. (Here's a link
>> to
>> >>> >> Reagan's entire speech.) Outside the tented-event were protesters
>> and
>> >>> >> yet another candlelight vigil.
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> Shilts wrote about Reagan's 20-minute speech:
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> "Reagan's program, of course, would do very little to actually stop
>> >>> >> the spread of AIDS. Though testing heterosexuals at marriage
>> >>> >> license
>> >>> >> bureaus created the illusion of action, very few of thse people
>> >>> >> were
>> >>> >> infected with the virus and very few lives would be saved. But then
>> >>> >> saving lives had never been a priority of the Reagan
>> >>> >> administration.
>> >>> >> Reagan's speech was not meant to serve the public health; it was a
>> >>> >> political solution to a political problem. The words created a
>> stance
>> >>> >> that was politically comfortable for the president and his
>> adherents;
>> >>> >> it was also a stance that killed people. Already, some said that
>> >>> >> Ronald Reagan would be remembered in history books for one thing
>> >>> >> beyond all else: He was the man who had let AIDS rage through
>> America,
>> >>> >> the leader of the government that when challenged to action had
>> placed
>> >>> >> politics above the health of the American people."
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> And not once did Ronald Reagan utter the word "gay."
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> Shilts:
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> "By the time President Reagan had delivered his first speech on the
>> >>> >> epidemic, of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, 36,058 Americans
>> had
>> >>> >> been diagnosed with the disease; 20, 849 had died."
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> Photo from WebMD's history of AIDS
>> >>> >> -www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/slideshow-aids-retrospective
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> On the USAID website, the statistics read:
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> "In 2009, 33.3 million people around the world were living with
>> >>> >> HIV/AIDS. More than 60 million people have been infected with HIV
>> >>> >> since the pandemic began. AIDS is the leading cause of death in
>> >>> >> Sub-Saharan Africa, and the fourth leading cause of death
>> >>> >> globally…..Almost 5,000 people die every day due to AIDS. AIDS
>> caused
>> >>> >> 1.8 million deaths in 2009. An estimated 25 million people have
>> >>> >> died
>> >>> >> from HIV-related causes since the beginning of the pandemic….There
>> >>> >> were 2.6 million new HIV infections in 2009, or almost 7,200 people
>> >>> >> per day."
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> The terrible irony for LGBT people is that in the very beginning of
>> >>> >> the epidemic there was hope that Ronald Reagan would DO something.
>> >>> >> There was precedent for the government acting quickly to stem a
>> public
>> >>> >> health crisis. In 1976, just five years earlier, the government
>> rushed
>> >>> >> to stop an outbreak of Legionnaires disease at an American Legion
>> >>> >> convention in Philadelphia.
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> (Corrected) And perhaps even more importantly, in 1978, as former
>> >>> >> governor of California, Reagan publicly opposed the Briggs
>> Initiative
>> >>> >> – the antigay measure proposed by associates of Rev. Jerry Falwell
>> and
>> >>> >> Anita Bryant. Opposition by the hugely popular governor helped
>> >>> >> significantly in the measure's defeat. As a result, Reagan received
>> >>> >> gay support in his presidential bid against Jimmy Carter in 1980,
>> >>> >> as
>> >>> >> well as the more effective Religious Right.
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> But once in office, Reagan turned his back on the gay friends and
>> >>> >> staff he and his wife Nancy had known for years.
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> Most historians and political pundits will look at the ripple
>> >>> >> effect
>> >>> >> Reagan's two terms in office – from 1981-1989 – continues to have
>> >>> >> on
>> >>> >> American politics. But for many LGBTs, myself included, I cannot
>> hear
>> >>> >> the man's name without thinking of so many other names now
>> effectively
>> >>> >> wiped from the collective memory – names like Michael Callen and
>> Paul
>> >>> >> Monette and Connie Norman and Wayne Karr. So many names – and with
>> >>> >> each name, memories of joy and rage and a kind of spirituality in
>> >>> >> confronting death with dignity – in spite of the government's
>> >>> >> disgusting deliberate neglect.
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> Names Project AIDS Quilt - via WebMD
>> >>> >> -www.webmd.com/hiv-aids/slideshow-aids-retrospective
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> Former President Ronald Reagan died on June 5, 2004 – 23 years to
>> the
>> >>> >> day when the CDC's first report on AIDS appeared. Reagan had
>> >>> >> apparently been living in seclusion with Alzheimer's Disease — the
>> >>> >> progressive disease that causes loss of memory and mental
>> >>> >> abilities.
>> >>> >> People gushed for a week remembering the "Great Communicator" who
>> was
>> >>> >> entombed at his grand presidential library and museum like a
>> political
>> >>> >> Elvis: Simi Valley as the political Graceland. There his groupies
>> >>> >> gather again, while those of us who remember his legacy of horror,
>> >>> >> neglect and death still struggle with an un-ending heartbreak of
>> what
>> >>> >> might have been had our government cared and our friends not ...
>> >>> >>
>> >>> >> read more »
>> >>> >
>> >>> > --
>> >>> > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
>> >>> > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
>> >>> >
>> >>> > * Visit our other community at
>> >>> > http://www.PoliticalForum.com/<http://www.politicalforum.com/>
>> >>> > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
>> >>> > * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> --
>> >>> Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
>> >>> Have a great day,
>> >>> Tommy
>> >>>
>> >>> --
>> >>> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
>> >>> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
>> >>>
>> >>> * Visit our other community at
>> >>> http://www.PoliticalForum.com/<http://www.politicalforum.com/>
>> >>> * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
>> >>> * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
>> >>>
>> >>
>> >> --
>> >> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
>> >> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
>> >>
>> >> * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
>> >> * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
>> >> * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > --
>> > Mark M. Kahle H.
>> >
>> > --
>> > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
>> > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
>> >
>> > * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
>> > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
>> > * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
>>
>>
>> --
>> Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
>> Have a great day,
>> Tommy
>>
>> --
>> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
>> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
>>
>> * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
>> * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
>> * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Mark M. Kahle H.
>
> --
> Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
> For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
>
> * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
> * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
> * Read the latest breaking news, and more.


--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy

--
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* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
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