When Republicans want support for their travesty de jour, they attribute it to the patron saint of the Republican Party, St. Ronnie Ray Gun. St Ronnie wore a white hat, rode a white horse, and could do no wrong. That St. Ronnie may have been or done the exact opposite, matters not, because they have the Republican Reichsministry of Propaganda, Faux Noise, to parrot their lies. Now they are claiming how St. Ronnie would NEVER gave allowed chemical weapons use.
A top Republican lawmaker on Thursday invoked Ronald Reagan to say that Obama was weak for not acting more directly in response to Syria’s alleged use of chemical weapons, ignoring the fact that Reagan’s White House looked the other way when chemical weapons were used in the 1980s.
Former House Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) appeared on Fox News arguing for a military response to the Syrian government’s alleged use of chemical weapons on civilians. While pushing the same limited strikes plan that the Obama administration wants, Ros-Leithein attacked the president for not moving more forcefully against Damascus. In doing so, she told Fox that Reagan never would have stood for the sort of attack that killed an estimated 1,400 civilians…
…What Ros-Lehtinen seems oddly unaware of, however, is that Ronald Reagan did exactly the opposite. For the majority of the 1980s, Iraq under Sadaam Hussein was locked in combat with the Islamic Republic of Iran in a war that killed more than 1,000,000 people on both sides. The United States explicitly backed the secular Hussein over the Ayatollah Khomeini’s government in Tehran, still smarting from the embassy hostage crisis that had only ended when Reagan took office. That backing not only included the shipment of tons of weapons to support Baghdad, but also looking the other way when Iraq unleashed its chemical weapons stockpiles — including sarin and mustard gas — against Iranian civilians and soldiers alike… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Think Progress>
That’s not all Republicans in the Reagan administration actually sold Saddam the components for chemical and biological weapons and instructed the Iraqi military in their use. Lawrence O’Donnell has the story.
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As much as Republicans try to claim the moral high ground on this issue, the bottom line is this. Republicans, led by their patron saint, are so morally bankrupt that they were responsible for Saddam’s use of chemical weapons. They have no room to talk about Obama’s dilemma.
22 Responses to “Reinventing St. Ronnie Ray Gun”
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Sometimes I wonder if Republicanus/Teabaggers don't worship at the alter of St Ronnie Ray Gun 5 times a day! St Ronnie was a blistering fool, and obviously this Republicanus/Teabagger is too stupid to check her facts. I hope this comes back to bite her in the ass!
As I recall, Hussein used chemical weapons on Iranian soldiers and civilians, but also on Kurds in Iraq. He was just as bad as Al-Assad. Given St Ronnie's complicity in providing the expertise and components of the chemical weapons, he is another Republicanus that should have been tried at The Hague for war crimes. I wonder if St Peter got him at the pearly gates and sent him south to the land of excessive heat?
St. Ronnie Ray-Gun did prefer a warm climate. And he does deserve to get it.
Amen, Patty, AMEN!!! (I was shocked to see that a friend on C2 thinks Ronnie is a near saint – we had corresponded pnly about animals – and I happened to see a comment of hers on Ronnie – oh MY!!!).
You are absolutely right Lynn, and Saddam gassed the Marsh Arabs too – and wasn't his legend that he rode over the desert on a white horse to take power… rather like 'St' Ronnie's legend!
Are uou saying you want your Ray Gun Extra Crispy? 😈
Absolutely! . . . in perpetuity!
YES!
Do you want fries with that? 😀
Was Ronnie a better actor than his B list status lead us to expect – or is it just that they can fool such a large amount of the populace at any one time? Very good Think Progress article TC – many thanks.
Yes, Pat, they can fool a large amount of the populace because most of us are not paying enough attention to anything but reality shows..
No, he was not, Pat. He was playing to an audience of stupid sheep.
I was living in Little Rock, Ark. when Reagan first ran for president. I wasn't politically active at the time, but since I happened to be in the area when he stopped by during the campaign, I attended his stump speech. Listened to him for about ten minutes and walked away thinking "this man is a fool." Wish I'd paid closer attention.
Reagan BS'd his way into the presidency on the premise that government was the enemy, and then he and his handlers did everything in their power to make it so. This part of his "legacy" is the one most Republicans follow so avidly today.
You were right about your assessment then, and it still applies to his followers today, John.
Ronnie probably had no idea of what he was doing. He was, after all, an actor. Feed him a script, and he regurgitated to on cue.
Ib think he was almost as much a puppet as Bush.
Silly, silly TomCat … St. Ronnie Raygun sold Sarin to Saddam Husein because everyone knows that Raygun declared Sarin is a vegetable.
Or am I confusing it when Raygun declared that KETCHUP counted as a VEGETABLE so he could cutback school lunch funding. (Those Rethuglicans know America can't be providing good nutrition to all the children of those "colored folks".)
I am surprised Scott Walker hasn't resurrected the "kethcup is a vegetable" too.
I remember when he came out with that ketchup routine, and laughing my ass off.
Republicans are vegetables. so we can drom all the Republican politicians, pundits, and propagandists on Syria!
I have always been amazed at the sainthood bestowed on Reagan. He sold chemical weapons to Iraq. He broke unions, he rewarded his wealthy friends while raising taxes on the rest of us. And Rumsfeld! Is there no end to the evil in that man? I wonder how much profit he made from the sale of the chemical weapons.
That congress woman probably couldn't help herself, she is from Florida.
She's a Republican. If she told the truth, she'd be unemployed!
Ronald Regan sent and supported sales and gifts of Chemical weapons to Saddam. Then George W. Bush invaded Iraq due to Weapons of Destruction. It seems these Republican play two ends against the middle.
Especially when you ad in that GHW Bush's Ambassador gave Saddam permission to invade Kuwait.