Ronald Reagan, Greatest American- Page 3

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/28/05 at 6:26pm

Well, we should only speak good of the dead.

Reagan's dead...GOOD.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 6/28/05 at 7:08pm

"I know this has been discussed ad nauseum, but I want throw this fact in here: over 200,000 Americans had died of AIDS by the time Reagan publicly uttered the word AIDS; by that time it was already the nation's greatest crisis, and yet the President had said nothing."

It's scary to think what would have happened if not for the very few people in the public eye like Elizabeth Taylor who put a spotlight on AIDS when no one else would and eventually helped to change attitudes about it world-wide.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/29/05 at 12:07am

This thread made me remember a story:

A few years ago I dated this VERY hot guy, Tommy for a couple of months. He was this tall, blonde, surfer-type with a beautiful face and a tight, ripped body (he looked sort of like Christopher Atkins), who miraculously looked not a day over 25, though he was several years older than I was. While, I knew wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer, he was SO cute that I tried my best to ignore his intellectual shortcomings.

One night, we were at a bar having cocktails and the bartender (who was a friend of mine) and I started talking politics. We went on about this and that for the better part of a half an hour. Tommy sat there saying nothing the whole time with a dazed look on his face -- like a dog staring at a ceiling fan.

When the conversation turned to Reagan, suddenly Tommy broke his silence and piped up, "Oh, I voted for him." My bartender friend and I just ....... stopped. Our jaws dropped and we were speechless. Tommy just sat there with a stupid grin on his face. After about a half a minute, when we realized he wasn't joking, one of us regained his composure enough to ask

"You voted for Reagan?

"Yup. Twice."

"Ummmmmm.....why on earth would you vote for Reagan?"

"Well, because we have the same birthday."

He was TOTALLY serious.

I broke up with him that night.

Later, my bartender friend tried to tease me about having ever dated him. I reminded him about the enormous crush he (and half the people we knew) had always had on Tommy and he left me alone about it. From then on, I started doing a much better job of screening my dates for utter stupidity, no matter how cute they were.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 6/29/05 at 1:40pm

Oh Margo the things we do for the "Cute-But-Stupid" ones!

As someone very wise once said "They can be the most beautiful man in the world, but eventually you've got to get out of bed..."

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 6/29/05 at 2:41pm

Thank God that Magic Johnson came forward about his HIV. I remember almost cheering while watching his announcment on a wall of televisions at the local department store. I turned around and said, to no one in particular, "Good, now they are going to HAVE to pay attention."

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 6/29/05 at 2:50pm

Magic was amazingly courageous and perhaps did more to educate the general public about the realities of the virus than anyone before him. As such an amazingly popular athlete, he was able to reach many people who up to that point believed AIDS was only the concern of gays and intravenous drug users. His continued robust health and success as an entrepeneur in the years since has been an inspiration to millions.