Hillary Clinton Lauds Reagans on AIDS. Gay Twitter Erupts.
Source: New York Times
In the days since Nancy Reagans death on Sunday, she has been praised for her work on a range of causes, from preventing drug abuse to supporting Alzheimers disease research.
But on Friday, Hillary Clinton praised Mrs. Reagan as a force in confronting another disease: HIV/AIDS, which was killing alarming numbers of gay men and others during Ronald Reagans two terms.
It may be hard for your viewers to remember how difficult it was for people to talk about HIV/AIDS back in the 1980s, Mrs. Clinton, who was attending Mrs. Reagans funeral in Simi Valley, Calif., told MSNBCs Andrea Mitchell. And because of both President and Mrs. Reagan in particular, Mrs. Reagan we started a national conversation, when before nobody would talk about it. Nobody wanted
anything to do with it.
The problem with Mrs. Clintons compliment: It was the Reagans who wanted nothing to do with the disease at the time.
<more>
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2016/03/11/hillary-clinton-lauds-reagans-on-aids-gay-twitter-erupts/?_r=0
bigwillq
(72,790 posts)And I'm sure non-gays also had issue with Mrs. Clinton's remarks.
sarge43
(28,946 posts)This one does.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)bigwillq
(72,790 posts)Unless Bernie approves of it first, then she will be all for it and proclaim she's a champion of same-social marriage.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)Everyone knows HRC checks the opinion polls before she evolves on the issues.
Elmer S. E. Dump
(5,751 posts)Gay Twitter made me laugh have to admit. I for one think equating Nancy Reagan with starting the conversation about HIV/AIDS is shocking. She turned her back on her dear friend Rock Hudson which was absolutely awful.
840high
(17,196 posts)zentrum
(9,866 posts)Elmer S. E. Dump
(5,751 posts)The non-gay part of the twitterverse was boiling and came very close to erupting, as well.
Ilsa
(61,710 posts)Has she gone senile? Is she intentionally rewriting history to get Raygun Dems' votes, while ignoring the support of HIV/AIDS victims, survivors, and their loved ones?
This is crazy. Nancy Reagan has many things to be complimented for. This isn't one of them.
rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)which party she belongs, like when she voted for the Iraq War.
Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)OwlinAZ
(410 posts)She lies and panders always saving then ugliest of her vitriol for those in her own Party.
Electing her would be a big mistake.
kcjohn1
(751 posts)Lying and pandering comes so easy to her. Whatever crowd she is with she tries to please. One day she is proud to be called "moderate" and "center", and the next she is telling us she is progressive who likes to get things done.
Many politicians are like this. They are just lot better than her. For someone who is a bad liar, she should stop lying and things would be so much better for her.
zentrum
(9,866 posts)for Raygun votes and LGBT votes. It's a two-fer in her calculations.
840high
(17,196 posts)JackRiddler
(24,979 posts)Do it long enough and you lose track of your own bullshit.
This was a pure own goal. Kicked it right in. No reason, nothing whatsoever to be gained from it.
Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts)There isn't a day that goes by where she says something totally disconnected to reality.
Ilsa
(61,710 posts)Her campaign has written off most progressives and Bernie supporters in the GE. She's counting on moderate Republicans and 3rd Way/Conservative Dems to carry her.
Major Hogwash
(17,656 posts)New Yorkers will not look the other way now.
They will not "hold their nose" and vote for her now.
She has come completely unhinged.
Geronimoe
(1,539 posts)Hillary still acts like gays are 2nd class citizens. A difficult conversation? It was a virus killing people!
Ilsa
(61,710 posts)get the public to pay attention at all. My friends and I lost friends, patients, to HIV/AIDS and related illnesses. I sat across from my husband's coworker's wife, who refused to mourn the loss of her little brother to the disease, "because he brought it on himself, not living the way God intended." Since we were in a business-related setting, I just sat there in shock that anyone could be so cruel about her family. (I didn't want to get hubby fired.)
Kall
(615 posts)I mean, apparently it applies to this and weeks-long lies about being under Bosnian sniper fire.
sofa king
(10,857 posts)Nancy Reagan condemned her former friend Rock Hudson to a grisly death by refusing to request his transfer to a particular hospital in France, where Hudson's doctor could treat him. She could have intervened on his behalf and at least alleviated his suffering as he was dying of AIDS, but she refused.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/chrisgeidner/nancy-reagan-turned-down-rock-hudsons-plea-for-help-seven-we#.gfdBqj24go
As a direct result of that, Hudson's publicist decided to go public with the AIDS story, which completely changed, well, damned near everything, eventually.
So Mrs. Clinton is telling a hard, dark truth when she says that "both President and Mrs. Reagan in particular, Mrs. Reagan" started a national conversation about AIDS--by refusing to help, is the silent parenthetical that we can all sneer about.
It's a pretty damned clever way to say that Nancy Reagan was an evil witch who betrayed her friends, but that's what I see Mrs. Clinton saying in that statement--and it's all wrapped up in the usual bullshit sentimentality so that the knuckledraggers will never notice.
But we can notice.
Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)sofa king
(10,857 posts)I am not defending Mrs. Clinton's honesty, here. I am applauding the dark cynicism of her press agent, for offering a statement complimentary enough for conservative assholes to ignore, yet venomous enough to remind the better informed of us about the real Reagan legacy of murderous hatred, inequality, betrayal and dishonesty.
Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)And yes that did sound like a lame defense, no matter how imaginative.
sofa king
(10,857 posts)I know this is a touchy subject and I'm really not trying to hurt any feelings.
I can easily be wrong, too, because the safe play at this point is for the HRC camp to hold its silence and never speak of this again. So I will never know for sure.
Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)If Bernie had gone to an Osama bin Laden funeral and talked about him giving money to orphans in the US (that didn't happen I am sure), I wouldn't defend that. Now Nancy Reagan didn't kill thousands of people. Reagan did that. He killed a whole lot of people by not having resources put in place to stop things like the blood banks getting blood with the virus in it, by not educating the public the virus was out there and they should take precautions to have safer sex, and the early funding was a joke. On top of that I have seen how effective the WH can be in reducing cultural stigmatization. No President can make people nicer to each other, but I have seen how President Obama changed culture almost overnight on gay marriage. Now about the only people I see talking bad about that are rabid right wingers. Ronald Reagan could have done the same thing as Princes Diana. He could have introduced his friend Rock Hudson to the United States as his friend first and foremost and as a victim of the AIDS virus.
Herman4747
(1,825 posts)exxo1111
(55 posts)I read that her advisers have told her to never say I made a "mistake". Or say the word "mistake". It weakens her position. Makes her look soft.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........................................................
Given the polls, her problem isn't being perceived as soft, but as honest. She should say after one of these whoppers ----- Gee, I made a mistake, I meant--- blah, blah, blah. Don't know if it will help, but it will look better.
fbc
(1,668 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)Maedhros
(10,007 posts)Doctor_J
(36,392 posts)her gay fan club. they already know shes an enemy and choose to ignore it.
nichomachus
(12,754 posts)Adding a flip to her flop.
Maybe she should have run this through a few more focus groups.
I fully expect her to retract her apology at some point.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)It's worth noting she isn't apologizing to the people she hurt with her comments, but instead is apologizing for merely making a factual error.
Arazi
(6,829 posts)but no way. Nobody was stigmatizing Alzheimer's, ever
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)So yeah, time to put the boots on because the bullshit is getting pretty deep.
elljay
(1,178 posts)so Nancy certainly did not start a national conversation on the subject in the 80s. In fact, it is very likely that Reagan's Alzheimers began during the Reagan presidency and this was known by Nancy. However, she hid this knowledge, apparently because she valued power more than she respected the security of our country and the rights of Americans to have a president who was fully mentally competent.
https://reaganlibrary.archives.gov/archives/reference/alzheimerletter.html
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/side-effects/201101/when-did-reagans-first-signs-alzheimers-appear
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)He also toasted the people of Bolivia while in Brazil and told a fake Medal of Honor story to a group of real Medal of Honor recipients. His handlers increasingly kept him away from the press and impromptu questions farther into his presiduncy.
elljay
(1,178 posts)nilram
(2,894 posts)and we were talking about his Alzheimer's all during his term, not just after he was diagnosed.
Feeling the Bern
(3,839 posts)HIV/AIDS non-policy in the 1980s because AIDS was considered a gay disease and the Reagans were well known homophobes, explain your support for Clinton now.
I'm sure it will be enlightening
Cavallo
(348 posts)And they were citing articles on how well he did fighting aids - one Hillary supporter presented Regan's mass funding to fight Aids(?) as a secret that should be more well known...
Feeling the Bern
(3,839 posts):sarcam:
hrc shills have nothing left but atwater tactics and rovian lies. duers supporting reagan? hrc fans have lost their damn minds.
GoldenMean
(49 posts)I just posted on her facebook page.
How about that Hillary praising Nancy Reagan for her AIDS legacy!
That sound you hear is Rock Hudson doing 1000 rpm.
Oh!, hold on she misspoke!
That sound you hear is the Hillary Express crashing into reverse.
tabasco
(22,974 posts)Clinton is proving herself unfit to be the Democratic nominee.
KamaAina
(78,249 posts)chervilant
(8,267 posts)While the Reagans were strong advocates for stem cell research and finding a cure for Alzheimers disease, I misspoke about their record on H.I.V. and AIDS, she said in a statement about two hours after her interview had been shown on MSNBC. For that, Im sorry.
She "misspoke." She seems to do that a lot.
840high
(17,196 posts)Enrique
(27,461 posts)the media would have lauded her bipartisanship, never mind pointing out the facts. those days are gone.
LS_Editor
(893 posts)Boomer
(4,170 posts)It is absolutely disgusting that she is either 1) so completely clueless about one of the most shameful periods of gay history in this country or 2) she is so eager to pander to the Republicans that she would fabricate this lie. TENS OF THOUSANDS of gay men died because of the Reagans.
stupidicus
(2,570 posts)It seems like she can't help but screw it up, in praise or in an effort to bury...
Maybe Bernie should remind her of her offenses of the smearing kind and how good it is for a troubled soul to fess up and seek forgiveness -- which always carries a price. As penance, she could pledge to never do it again and say "I felt the burn!" a few times...lol.
Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)big she may or may not be, to not do so would be political suicide. She's going to lose voters over this, no doubt about it.
stupidicus
(2,570 posts)her being compelled to versus choosing to do the right thing.
The ability to acknowledge a mistake, etc, is a desirable quality in a leader, and that's about the only good thing to be said about this situation. Given the self-serving nature of the act here it's hard to give it any mitigation value.
Depaysement
(1,835 posts)ConsiderThis_2016
(274 posts)David Brock giggled when he read that.
George II
(67,782 posts).......as a fake "scandal".
Her record speaks much louder than a single mistake which, again, was quickly corrected.
Boomer
(4,170 posts)This is slap in the face to the gay community. This isn't ancient history for many of us; we lived through this. THOUSANDS of gay men died as a result of the Reagans' distaste for us.
To hear a casual revisionist version of one of the most painful and shameful eras of gay life in this country may mean nothing to you, but I'm still livid over it.
George II
(67,782 posts)...Sanders' comments during this campaign and over the years, but I don't want my posts hidden.
Bye!
EvolveOrConvolve
(6,452 posts)it became politically expedient to not be anti-gay?
George II
(67,782 posts)BeanMusical
(4,389 posts)Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)...and it's just a coincidence that she evolved on gay marriage the exact same year public opinion went over 50%.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/183272/record-high-americans-support-sex-marriage.aspx
BeanMusical
(4,389 posts)She's so misunderstood.
EvolveOrConvolve
(6,452 posts)"I think a marriage is as a marriage has always been, between a man and
It's really hard to argue that her opposition to gay marriage isn't anti-gay. She sounds almost like a Republican here:
morningfog
(18,115 posts)And now praises the fucking Reagan administration on their AIDS policies.
I don't know if you lived in the US in the 80s, there is nothing to praise from them.
DeadLetterOffice
(1,352 posts)morningfog
(18,115 posts)Not a scandal, a major gaffe.
She's either clueless or believes that the fucking Reagans were noble on the issue of AIDS. They weren't.
winter is coming
(11,785 posts)Not the shit HRC tried to pull today. The notion that she was ignorant of what was happening during the 80s and stayed ignorant about it... no fucking way.
840high
(17,196 posts)roody
(10,849 posts)OwlinAZ
(410 posts)Bluenorthwest
(45,319 posts)bvf
(6,604 posts)Unbelievable. Condescension and outright lies in one nice, neat package.
FighttheFuture
(1,313 posts)840high
(17,196 posts)Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)Clinton praised... the Reagans on their response to HIV/AIDS?
Part of me is like "noooo, no she couldn't have... no."
But... there it is.
Dont call me Shirley
(10,998 posts)elmac
(4,642 posts)and naming post offices after ronny raygon
liberalnarb
(4,532 posts)Enthusiast
(50,983 posts)RoccoR5955
(12,471 posts)When Reagan stated that AIDS was a "Gay Cancer," and refused to give any funds for early research, he, in effect killed my brother. His wife was part of the players during that time.
Clinton's lie about Mrs Raygun being part of starting the national conversation had lost her vote from me for ETERNITY!
Duckfan
(1,268 posts)Hell Hath No Fury
(16,327 posts)of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 80s and watched a whole lotta people die here in SF, I have to say that is one of the more "interesting" bits of revisionist history I have ever had the displeasure of hearing.
There are some things that should never be forgotten by people, and how our government and leaders reacted (or didn't) during one of the biggest health crises the world has ever faced is one.
Glad she had the decency to correct her remarks.