Barack Obama displayed inspiring leadership on Friday. He also promoted public health, fought bigotry, and helped calm raging paranoia. His heroic act? He hugged somebody.
Nina Pham, the first person to be infected with Ebola within the United States, had just been declared disease-free and discharged from the National Institutes of Health. Obama is a rational, science-friendly guy, so he knew she wasn’t any danger to him. It didn’t take courage to hug her.
And yet, another modern president failed a similar test. Facing the greatest public health crisis of his administration, Ronald Reagan was not heroic. He was a dithering coward.
The hateful, homophobic, racist response to the AIDS crisis is one of the most shameful episodes in recent American history. Within a few years after the first AIDS cases were reported in 1981, scientists knew the disease was transmitted primarily by sex, blood transfusions, and shared needles.
The article goes on to revisit the fear mongering and hatred displayed by the conservatives, while others worked diligently to provide accurate information to help put American minds at ease.
Sadly when the country needed a strong leader there were none to be found.
But Ronald Reagan? He didn’t do a goddamn thing. He was president when the first cases were reported. He was president when Congress, the National Academies of Science, and anybody with a sick loved one or a conscience called for the federal government to do more to fight the medical and social crisis.
Reagan could have spoken out against panic and called for compassion; the man knew how to give a powerful speech. He could have hugged an AIDS patient, or at least shaken hands. He knew (or should have known) that wouldn’t have been dangerous—just as well as Obama knew hugging a recovered Ebola patient wasn’t dangerous. It would have made a difference.
I love pointing out all of the ways that Barack Obama is a better President than Ronald Reagan. Partly because it drives conservatives crazy, but mostly simply because it's true.
Thankfully we have a leader like Barack Obama in these troubled times and not a "B" actor playing the role of a leader like we did back in the 80's.
I love and respect President Obama and truly believe he'll go down in history as one of our best POTUS!
ReplyDeleteHe moves steadily along and beats the Republicans every step of the way which drives them friggin' nuts. Just think how even more effective he'd be if they stopped blocking him in the U.S. Congress! The Republican party is going to pay at the voting booth November 4th!
Their asses need to be shown the door in Congress as well as across the nation in the governor positions, legislatures and communities.
Ronald Reagan is Sarah Palin's wet dream.
ReplyDeleteI still wonder, if McCain had won, when Sarah would have quit as she got bored of being a #2.
DeleteWould Sarah been down with the Reagan White House astrologer doing all her scheduling?
DeleteI'll never forgive the Reagan era when the mental hospitals were closed. That's when the epidemic of homelessness began and now mentally ill are in our already over-crowded prisons. Aids was a bigger epidemic back then which Reagan ignored.
ReplyDeleteAnd I so NOT love politicians using ebola as a political football of fear. Politicians like Chris Christie think they know better than doctors, nurses and scientists who have worked with ebola for years. Thanks to Teapublicans they stopped us from having a Surgeon General as they will do anything and everything to make Obama look bad above all else.
GW was a well known germaphobe too as evidenced by this 24 second clip when he shook hands with Haitians and then wiped it off on Clinton's shirt:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkxA2BnxvXU
Amen to what you said. I never saw homeless people until Reagan.
DeleteM from MD
I always give the wingnutz shit about Reagan. If he were running today, the neocons wouldn't go near him...Reagan was a liberal, except for one thing; Trickle down...I could write for an hour on all the reasons he was actually a liberal, from legalizing abortion as gov, to raising taxes 11 times, or the fact he amnestied 3.8 million illegals, interestingly enough to help bust the unions like he did with air traffic control.....but that's the point..I can list his 100% factual record, for everyone to see, and the wingnutz respond calling me a liar and denying everything, they don't care, facts matter none, they hate every non-white and blame blacks for welfare, even though 9 of the top ten welfare states are Red, and as for the great Teabag experiment in Kansas, they are still in denial as the Kansas economy is in ruins...they are fucking nutz, or totally stupid, I'm betting on 50/50
ReplyDeleteYou have a lot to learn about Reagan, and about context, and about just how far RWR moved the bar.
DeleteRonald Reagan was not a liberal; he did not like government although he managed to profit from it for, what, 16 years as governor and then as president. He's the one who's responsible for this whole "don't-trust-government" mentality that is so prevalent among Republicans today. What amazed me during our primaries was the number of Republicans trying to get their party's nomination for the state legislature here in northern Michigan. One would think that they like government! What they want, of course, is to vote against their constituents at every chance and to rake in the benefits.
DeleteBeaglemom
for further reading, I recommend Elizabeth Glazer's "In the Absence of Angels. She was Starsky star Paul Micheal Glazer's wife who contracted HIV during childbirth hemorrhage treatment and both of her children received HIV via breast milk (first baby) and in -utero (second baby). Despite being a "hollywood insider", Reagen took a hell of a long time to pay attention to Elizabeths Pediatric Aids fight. Their first child Arielle died. Jake is alive because luckily he carries a gene that makes it harder for the virus to enter his t cells. He is alive and well.
ReplyDeleteI will fight until my last dying breath any attempts to have that murderer R. Reagan enshrined any further.
ReplyDeleteWhat a pathetic lack of leadership by he and Nancy when dealing with Aids.
"I will fight until my last dying breath any attempts to have that murderer R. Reagan enshrined any further."
DeleteA worthy cause AND a losing battle: The Ronald Reagan Legacy Project is an organization founded by Americans for Tax Reform president Grover Norquist that seeks to name at least one notable public landmark in each U.S. state and all 3067 counties after the 40th president.
In my county we officially named the 20 year old giant pile of smoldering discarded tires "The Ronald Reagan Pile of Smoldering Tires", a fitting tribute to one in a seemingly endless parade of The Republican League of Extraordinarily Inadequate Gentlemen.
I have the utmost respect for President Obama. No matter what he continues do his job. He has had to put up with the most vile people in government today and all the lies coming from the racists RWNJ's.
ReplyDeleteStaged photo op's are now the quality of inspired leadership?
ReplyDeleteThere really has not been any clear federal guidance or message to date with regards to the handling of ebola in any sense whether it be travel, quarantines, or treatment. The 'outbreak' might end up shriveling up (hopefully), or cases may continue to pop up, who knows, but you should be questioning why a photo op is considered leadership.
Did you actually read past the first line of the article?
DeleteEverything that Sarah Palin does involves photo ops, especially with Tri-g. What examples of leadership have been exhibited by Sarah Palin? None!!!
DeletePiss off.
DeleteGo away. The "photo op". Was to show there is nothing to fear. Some people need simple things to show them the truth. Hey, and maybe he wanted to show her he cared.
DeleteI'm too busy questioning why you get to vote.
Delete"There really has not been any clear federal guidance or message to date with regards to the handling of ebola in any sense whether it be travel, quarantines, or treatment."
Delete---------------------------------------------
Actually, there has been. The fact that the moronic American populace has been trained to shriek about how stupid the opinions of scientific experts are and to ignore them doesn't change that.
The President and numerous medical experts have spoken out and the right wing fear machine along with the mainstream media, just ignores them and keeps screaming that the President isn't doing anything.
11:21 sorry that anyone who questions a photo op as leadership gets to vote, so sorry.
DeleteAnd, unfortunately, Nefer, there are plenty so-called liberals who are more than ready to criticize the President without understanding the real story.
DeleteMore and more I'm beginning to realize many of my fellow liberals and progressives saw Barack Obama as some kind of "magic negro." When he didn't immediately conjure up world peace and make all their dreams come true, he became a disappointment and "no better than the other guy."
I'm not 11:21, but the problem, 12:13, is that your comment is illogical.
DeleteYour assumption that this was only a "photo op" is cynical and you clearly don't understand why the author of the article praises the President's leadership based on this photo (and in relation to Reagan and AIDS).
How long do you all think she was there for? 2 minutes, 3, 4 minutes? maybe spent the entire afternoon there discussing ther world series with the president?
DeleteAre you still on about this, 12:14? Do you think people invited to meet the president spend the day with him and his kids? it doesn't matter how long she was with him. He made time for her and gave her a big hug (please read the article again and see why this is a big deal, especially in light of how Reagan responded to the AIDS issue).
DeleteI'm beginning to think you're not all that bright.
Don Young steps in it again.
ReplyDeletehttp://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2014/10/rep-don-young-gets-earful-woman-about
(KTUU) "Alaska Federation of Natives attendee Gloria Poullard confronts U.S. Rep. Don Young about comments he made -- and apologized for at AFN -- on suicide in Alaska." Her nephew, a high school student in Wasilla, had committed suicide the week before.
"Don't you shush me!
was it just me, or did anyone else hear Young say "all right, fuck it" as he disgustedly let go of her hand after trying to squeeze her into being quiet?
DeleteWhy do you think Palin adores Reagan so much? He's the template FOR $CARAH the Poseur Politician.
ReplyDeleteYep. Empty suits, the two of them. Take the contents of both of their suits and you still have nothing.
DeleteI am questioning why you are so stupid? 10:16. A 'photo op" which shows a leader doing something that others are irrationally afraid of doing is indeed leadership of the Show don't tell variety, of the "I wouldn't tell you to do something I would be afraid to do (non-hypocrisy.) And assuming no photo shop, a pic is worth 100 words and considered "proof."
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me a lot of what Princess Diana did with babies with HIV years ago. By the simple act of touching and holding them, she was able to diminish a great amount of the stigma and fear attached to them.
ReplyDeleteShe and President Obama have what so few in our government possess: compassion.
I was just thinking about Princess Diana and her compassionate treatment of people with AIDS. Some leaders strive to move us beyond fear; others fan the flames of fear.
DeleteGryphen, to no one's surprise, once again you are 100% WRONG!!!
ReplyDeletePresident Reagan - the first US chief exec to be beatified in the minds of his delusional psychophants (new word of the day) - desperately wanted to hug an AIDS patient. But St. Ron was also a leader who hired the best advisers he could find and - more importantly LISTENED to those advisers!
So when the secret official White House astrologer - who died last week - told the Commander In chief - and our nation's GREATEST conservative president since Herbert Hoover - that the stars and dingbat astrology charts didnt align properly for hugging an AIDs patient but invading the tiny Caribbean island nation of Grenada looked good, why, that's just exactly what President Raygun did!
So you can stop spreading lies about a president you didn't even know!!
WHO WRITES ABOUT PEOPLE THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW????
Damn, Beldar, you did it again! Luv ya!
Delete*Like*
DeleteI was seriously pissed off when the doctor decided to waltz into Belleview and announce his symptoms. I think your perspective depends on your own personal experiences. My niece just became a doctor and is working in Belleview, She said this doctor made working there close to impossible. Had he picked one of the designated sites, his grand entrance would have been expected and they'd have been equipped to deal with it more easily. After what they did to the female doctor in NJ, quarantined in a tent for no good reason, then sent home when she started talking about lawyering up, that's when Governor Backbone of jello put his foot down. Chris Christie used the same "we didn't know, we don't know, but everything's fine, she can go home (as long as it isn't new jersey) because she's asymptomatic and being held against her will.
ReplyDeleteWe lived in ground zero of the Aids Crisis in the "gay area" of Philly, and the same exact fears drove the crazies over the edge, and these poor patients died alone with no hope, no compassion and nothing but the minimum care. Read "And the Band Played On" for a "taste" of the treatment people got. It shows the worst in humankind doing nothing.
I am sorry, but I am having a hard time following the the non sequitor of your comments:
Delete"Had he picked one of the designated sites, his grand entrance would have been expected and they'd have been equipped to deal with it more easily. After what they did to the female doctor in NJ, quarantined in a tent for no good reason, then sent home when she started talking about lawyering up, that's when Governor Backbone of jello put his foot down. "
Barack Obama is a much better president than Ronald Reagan. There really is no argument.
ReplyDelete