The chorus of adulation that always attends any mention of former President Reagan in the mainstream media ignores the outcomes of his administration's policies. It is due to Reagan's poor decision to support Bin Laden and the Islamic resistance in Afghanistan that we are bogged down in Afghanistan today, just like the Soviets from 1979 - 1989. Apparently, the conservative right-wingers in the U.S. felt guilty for what they inflicted upon the Soviet Union and were determined to inflict the same injury upon the U.S., although it is likely the final tab for our war will exceed anything incurred by the frugal Soviets.
I do not think anyone would mind a communist Afghanistan today. Certainly, no Republicans blink at buying goods manufactured in communist China. A modern communist Afghanistan would have been far preferable to what is there now and what may be there in the future. Women would have been better off in a communist Afghanistan.
Incidentally, why is it that the U.S. is hostile toward Communist Cuba, while maintaining cordial relations toward Communist China? China's government is far less ethical than Cuba's. To be sure, the government of Cuba is a dictatorship, but it does not appear to be of quite the same character as Iran's. China has shown belligerence to Taiwan, a U.S. ally, going so far as to threaten the little island-nation with total annihilation. The U.S. should at least have the same scope of relations with Cuba as it does with China, in order to be morally consistent. Otherwise, the hypocrisy is clear for all to observe.
Reagan was a loyal friend to Osama Bin Laden and other Islamic fundamentalists, even going so far as selling arms to Iran in a covert manner. Reagan was unable to see past the anticommunist rhetoric he had immersed himself in during his career. According to his worldview, communism was the only threat. He was wrong about that, just as he was wrong about a great many other things.
Reagan began in earnest the great budget-busting deficit spending that was to lead to today's enormous federal debt of eleven trillion dollars. Rather than be a good steward of the economy, Reagan siphoned funds from taxpayers to the defense industry on the pretext of guarding against a phantom Soviet threat. It is due to the policies of Reagan and succeeding administrations that the U.S. is in the economic situation that it is today. The only area of manufacturing where the U.S. retains a high competence involves weapons of war. However, war is not a product that consumers in other nations wish to buy. Hence, the trade deficit.
Until greater numbers of voters elect liberal, left-wing politicians, then it can be anticipated that the U.S. will spend all available monies on weaponry and gadgets of war. Under any Republican administration, it can be anticipated that the U.S. will engage in counter-productive overseas adventures to feed the egos of vain old men who like to play at being armchair generals. It is the only thing that is capable of amusing their simple minds. Toy soldiers, bombs, boom, boom, I win, you lose. Republicans despise science, education, research, and development, because these things tend to challenge their preconceived beliefs about the world and about reality. This is why Republicans tend to reduce funding for education and scientific research, while increasing funding for weapons and wars. A vote for a Republican is a vote for barbarism, corruption, and ignorance. Today, the U.S. is still reeling from eight years of neglect and decay under the G. W. Bush administration. It may take eighteen years to repair what was undone in eight.
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