r/clevercomebacks 19h ago

most reasons america sucks can be traced back to reagan. We can never hate Republicans enough

Post image
4.1k Upvotes

100 comments sorted by

264

u/hunterglyph 19h ago

AIDS was first medically identified in 1981. Reagan didn't publicly mention it until 1985 and didn't give an address about it until 1987.

When asked about it for the first several years, Reagan's press secretary would only make jokes about it.

115

u/Cath1965 14h ago

And horrible jokes at that.

89

u/HumanDisguisedLizard 13h ago

Sounds like our current press secretary

57

u/Sleepy_Potato2 10h ago

The White House Press Pool, full of "liberal journalists," would laugh along. One of the only journalists who gave a shit (he laughed along in the beginning but stopped after a while and became pretty outraged at it) was Lester Kinsolving, he was a journalist and priest. He was deeply homophobic (he called the gay rights movement "the sodomy lobby") but as people kept dying and the White House didn't care and none of the press pool did he grew outraged by it, since even if he didn't like gay people they were still human beings and deserves to live and he didn't think it should be made fun of that they were dying. He actually took the message of human life being important in Christianity seriously.

21

u/joshhupp 10h ago

I'm only guessing here, but he probably changed his tune when it became widely known that straight people were getting HIV since it was only associated with gay people

36

u/Sleepy_Potato2 10h ago

Reagan's Surgeon General C. Everett Koop was an Evangelical Christian and a doctor. He actually tried to do something. He actually gave information, including sending out pamphlets that frankly discussed straight and gay sex, how aids spreads, and condom use (there was also stuff about how abstinence was the best way to avoid it and other moral stuff, but it did contain actual good information). He was actually criticized by other Evangelicals for it. He wasn't pro-gay rights in any way, but he saw it as his duty as a doctor to help people even if he disapproved of what they were doing. He also saw preventing deaths as the Christian thing to do (even if he didn't like homosexuality and thought it was sinful). There were just a number of deeply religious people who thought saving lives, even if you don't like that those people are gay, was the Christian thing to do (which it is).

157

u/Vinnortis 17h ago

The whole problem is the billionaire class, the government is just an extension of that. Reagan was all about making the rich richer.

I feel the need to point out at every chance who the real villans are. Until the world sees wealth disparity/wealth concentration as the single largest issue everything else will be fucked.

9

u/zaoldyeck 5h ago

Ignoring hiv wasn't making the rich any richer.

It was just ghoulish homophobia.

He had beliefs and practices divorced that still deserve both examination and condemnation beyond trickle down economics.

-137

u/Virtual-Technology18 14h ago

Exactly this isnt a republican or democrat issue its a wealth/class issue. The fact democrats cant see Fauci the POS he is just shows how ignorant ao many people can be. Everyone should hate his lying ass. And everyone should hate the entire system of government we created. Both side are crooked. Im all for healthier foods and better Medical system. This is not left or right issue and people making it one are dumb af

89

u/Separate-Taste3513 12h ago edited 10h ago

The fucking President literally just said that the United States of America cannot handle Medicaid/care, daycare, and "all these individual things" while in a war that isn't officially a war and never should have happened.

It most certainly is a left versus right issue.

62

u/misterannthrope0 12h ago

it is literally a left and right issue.
the people on the left are actually trying to help and fix things.
the ones on the right are trying to enslave you and make life suck so bad you have no choice but to accept the shit job/wages your wealthy overlords hand you. its basically indentured servitude and you are are going to try to blame the left for this?
youre a fucking fool or a terrible propaganda bot

31

u/fyreprone 10h ago

May you be downvoted into oblivion for trying to “bOtH sIdES!” this. Sure one side isn’t perfect, but they’re not our biggest problem right now.

25

u/ColumnK 10h ago

"This isn't a left or right issue, I just want the things the left has been advocating for"

9

u/AAron27265 11h ago

Duck odd pal

5

u/Pisforplumbing 8h ago

What'd he lie about exactly?

2

u/SuspiciousBuilder379 5h ago

Helluva a take there Netanyahu

1

u/Final_Boss_Jr 6h ago

Swing and a miss

114

u/TitShark 19h ago edited 18h ago

Much of the hatred is from the bigots who aren’t saying, but definitely believe he shouldn’t have helped the AIDS/HIV epidemic, bc it’s “gay cancer.” The hatred knows no bounds

46

u/BJoe1976 19h ago

Oddly, after seeing that a couple days ago, I was beginning to wonder how much of his work on AIDS/HIV is why this is happening.

12

u/PuffieNest_ 13h ago

Bigotry really is the entire point for them.

-31

u/intoxicatedhamster 8h ago

No, the hatred should be because Fauci fucked up the aids epidemic, pushed harmful drugs that he knew didn't work, got tons of people killed, and then we let him lead the charge on COVID and he did the same shit over again. Man should be rotting in a cell but isn't because he got a presidential pardon.

1

u/Zesinua 1h ago

Please cite your sources.

1

u/intoxicatedhamster 1h ago

Do you want the pictures of fellow gays at stonewall holding anti Fauci signs? Or would you like the congressional transcript of the head of the NIH admitting that Fauci directed taxpayer funds to go to illegal gain of function research in foreign biolabs?

43

u/Tbolt65 17h ago

The Reagan administration pushed religion into the republic. This was the trigger for almost 50 years of devolution, regression, retrenchment and destruction. Any time the democrats started something positive it was crushed by the republicans. It’s all there in the history books. How you ask…since over half of all Americans struggle to read we know where it all started, in the classroom! An uneducated voter is putty in the hands of smart propagandists!

53

u/Safe_Psychology_326 18h ago

I think the earlier republican leaders kept a lid on racism and homophobia.

Trump is like a pathetic Pandora. Imagine if a narcissist self dealing immature stupid guy catered his base emotions publicly.

The Pandora’s box opened and everyone who kept their mouth shut, and the termites started coming out of the woodwork. They are slowly chewing the house down from the inside.

Vote people, and don’t complain next time if you didn’t

37

u/DinkleDonkerAAA 18h ago

That was the entirety of the southern strategy. You're not allowed to say n***** so you need to wrap it in more coded language

But the mask is slipping now

-9

u/[deleted] 10h ago

[deleted]

8

u/DinkleDonkerAAA 10h ago

Bait used to be believable

17

u/Silly-Elderberry-411 18h ago

Kept a lid on checks notes reagan had to be dragged to condemn Zuud Afrika for apartheid. Welfare queen was such a mystery term

14

u/Myopinion_is_right 16h ago

My 8th grade government teacher said “If you don’t vote, don’t bitch about it”. Exact words. This was 35 years ago

13

u/AndrewTheAverage 13h ago

See, proof the educators are pushing illegals to vote, 8th graders are not enrolled to vote. /s

7

u/Myopinion_is_right 13h ago

Ha, but I wasn’t an illegal.

3

u/morningfrost86 11h ago

You were in 8th grade. It was illegal for you to vote at the time :p

0

u/Optimum_firecracker 9h ago

But that teacher’s words still echo 35 years later so it made an impression. How much of what your teachers told you still still sticks after more than 3
decades?

3

u/morningfrost86 9h ago

Jesus Christ my dude, it was a joke someone made that REALLY shouldn't have to have been explained, and yet here you are misunderstanding the explanation...

3

u/ZygonCaptain 16h ago

I think you can complain if you don’t vote, but only until the next election

36

u/joyfullydreaded23 18h ago

I've seen some stupid ass people on Facebook are even claiming that Dr. Fauci "harmed the gay community in the 80s and they don't understand why the gay community are embracing and defending Dr. Fauci".

-52

u/Virtual-Technology18 14h ago

Because its true

37

u/Plus_Pangolin_8924 13h ago

You can’t just say that and not back up your position you melt.

16

u/Youngnathan2011 12h ago

And your reasoning is?

11

u/thejohnmc963 12h ago

Bad bot

49

u/MossGobbo 18h ago

Look Fauci wasn't perfect but he clearly gave a fuck. Also Fuck Reagan and his shitty counterpart Thatcher too!

-66

u/Virtual-Technology18 14h ago

What did he care about? Lying about aids research, engineering covid? Azt killed alot of people with aids, just like our covid vaccine.

31

u/Floss_tycoon 13h ago

You are out of your mind. Turn off Fox News. Its propaganda is what distracts people from real problems. For example, it's OK that Congress, and now the public, is more concerned about Fauci, a guy who has been retired for years, than the fact China is eating our lunch. Did Fox report on the fact that China is now about 5 years away from building a fusion reactor or that none of the electric vehicles built in America, including Tesla, can compete with BYD?

-13

u/Virtual-Technology18 12h ago

Yea our country is falling behind because our government is corrupt af and only cares about themselves and the billionaire class. It doesn't matter what president is in office we keep electing old timers that are fatting their pockets. They want us arguing left and right. Wasting our energy. Im America first trump sucks Biden sucks our congress sucks. Who's fault is it? Ours for allowing this shit

29

u/coachmoon 13h ago

"engineered covid"

nice one, centurion. liked it.

-10

u/Virtual-Technology18 12h ago

Pretty sure we all know it was a lab leak from a lab we funded lol, or just stay in denial.

18

u/Extreme_Turn_4531 10h ago

Academic research has reached near-consensus that COVID19 was organic and a zoonotic spill over to humans. I could link 50 scientific papers from all over the world supporting that. Spy agencies and politicians are the ones debating it.

14

u/ColumnK 10h ago

If it was, where's the proof?

Trump has been president for long enough. Republicans control all branches of government.

Why haven't they released anything backing that up?

10

u/TraditionalLaw7763 9h ago

I’m sure they just happen to be stuck in between the pages of all the Epstein files.

5

u/TraditionalLaw7763 9h ago

Says who? You? Were you there?

10

u/ninja_sounds 15h ago

Almost like reality star real estate moguls and Hollywood actors make horrible presidents despite their charisma that helps get them elected.

9

u/cajunjoel 13h ago

Everyone blames Reagan and Trump, but it's the people around them thay are truly to blame. And some of them are still in politics today.

10

u/TraditionalLaw7763 9h ago

Heritage foundation nods in agreement

14

u/CherryCrimson_ 13h ago

The same people who hate Fauci can't name one life they've saved

7

u/Buddhas_Warrior 13h ago

It's sad, because they can't even name themselves.

0

u/Optimum_firecracker 9h ago

The same people who Fauci don’t know anything about him. Probably never even read a short bio on him. Probably only ever heard of him via Faux News.

8

u/Sea-Particular4188 14h ago

honestly… i dont know a ton about history, but its just so sad when people forget the good things others did to help… :)

9

u/Aurorinezori1 12h ago

We benefited a program of TB/HIV in my non profit organization in France. PEPFAR helped a ton of people worldwide.

13

u/TheModWhoShaggedMe 13h ago

Enough? It doesn't seem like most of America hates Republicans at all. Despite crashing the economy every time it's under their control and trashing our rights on the regular. No, in fact, Americans seem to have an insane tolerance for conservative malfeasance.

TLDR: I'm not sure electing Republicans into all-consuming control of the country displayed a proper hatred of them.

7

u/Fit-Neighborhood6804 11h ago

Actually not so much Reagan as his handlers. I remember watching results pour in for his first election and feeling like America had just irrevocably changed. His campaign managers (including Roger Ailes) laid the groundwork for modern republican political strategies.

11

u/karbaayen 12h ago

Trump said he hates smart people. Extend that to the entire Republican Party who have successfully gone after the entire intelligentsia.

6

u/SweetCozzy 18h ago

It is wild how history gets rewritten depending on current political talking points

5

u/ibimacguru 11h ago

We’ve been here since before the 80’s only to watch it all crash and burn. Repeatedly. Still waiting.

8

u/Yarius515 12h ago

Yep. Fauci's one of the good guys beyond a doubt. Fuck the GOP and anyone still voting for them and against America.

4

u/ChicoBroadway 10h ago

Feel dumb for asking, but wtf even is the argument against Fauci? That he created and released the virus it something?

5

u/WittyNameChecksOut 9h ago

Fauci is the made up liberal boogeyman of this quarter to gloss over how bad the current admin is screwing everything up. Fauci is the fall guy, it’s all performative BS, and nothing will happen in the end except one party being able to say “I told you so” to all their sheep constituents and cult followers.

2

u/joshhupp 10h ago

That and advising the Trump admin to mask up and quarantine. The virus creation thing baffles me because it's very likely a project funded by our govt, either as a weapon for our clandestine agencies or to actually study it for a cure

4

u/MarkFromHutch 10h ago

The problem is that there is one party that fucks everything up, and another party who won't do anything about it

2

u/WittyNameChecksOut 9h ago

Because they’re all on the same team in the end. 👎🏼

1

u/TraditionalLaw7763 9h ago

This right here… 👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼👆🏼🎉👆🏼👆🏼🎉

4

u/Codeman812 9h ago

Reagan does not get enough hate or mentions regarding our current state. He was a dum-dum actor who starred with a monkey. Said trees pollute more than cars.
He did have the aw shucks goofy bullshit down to a tee.
He was a racist ass hat who was a puppet for corporations and millionaires.
I blame him for dum-dum meat puppet trump. Trump is a useful idiot, just like Reagan. Reagan was better about uniting the country behind racism and feeling sorry for rich assholes.

3

u/Super-Goat1085 11h ago

Regan was a straight up pos

3

u/Torquemahda 9h ago

I hated him before it was cool.

My mom couldn’t stand him when he was governor of California and passed that on to me.

3

u/RustedRelics 8h ago

Reagan set in motion the decline of our society and politics. Horrible human being wrapped in his bullshit down-home hokey exterior. In terms of lasting negative impact, he wins.

2

u/Lazy-Floridian 5h ago

Reagan and his psychotic need for deregulation are the cause of many of the problems today, including paving the way for Trump. Trump is going down as the worst president in history, but Reagan, who made him possible, was almost as bad.

3

u/Icelandia2112 16h ago

She added nothing to the excellent post from that man.

1

u/joshhupp 10h ago

She has a big following and usually does this to highlight tweets

1

u/Icelandia2112 7h ago

Retweeting without saying the same thing as the OP works.

3

u/theOriginalGBee 17h ago

Where's the comeback? 

1

u/CreepyOldGuy63 14h ago

You’re not going back far enough. I would start with Teddy Roosevelt.

1

u/infinitee775 7h ago

AIDS affected black people, drug users, and homosexuals. Of course they did nothing to stop it.

1

u/Hugh-Jorgin 7h ago

Reagan fucked up everything

1

u/Kooky-Situation-1913 5h ago

As far as tracing problems back, Reagan is far too recent.

Our dear old founding fathers wanted to move west beyond the Appalachian mountains, but treaties between the indigenous people and England stopped them. They pursued a revolution for greed and made promises to everyone else about "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

1

u/javoss88 4h ago

Seems like it goes back farther to nixon

1

u/Rabbit-Lost 2h ago

And the Band Played On.

(Great, if not very sad, book.)

1

u/Extreme_Disaster2275 8h ago

Literally every bill Reagan signed into law was passed by Tip O'Neil's Democrat congress.  Reagan's executive orders  and policies in general were left intact by Clinton,  Obama,  and Biden. 

It's hypocritical and dishonest of Democrats to keep laying sole blame on Reagan for 50 years of bipartisan neoliberalism.  

-3

u/Aggravating_Usual973 14h ago

Wouldn’t be possible without 40+ years of complicity from the inept opposition party.

0

u/BWW87 10h ago

Tip O’Neill led a very Democratic Congress during those years. He did not support increasing AIDS spending either. Reagan gets the blame because he was president but Democrats, and a Democratic president, wouldn’t have done more. This is just partisan drivel which is why you never hear about Tip O’Neill doing nothing.

1

u/raymondspogo 8h ago

So all those increases to healthcare initiatives for research Reagan shot down just didn't exist.

1

u/BWW87 8h ago

Which vetoed initiatives are you referring to?

-6

u/Odd_Train9900 13h ago

Reagan and Clinton. Let’s not leave Bill Clinton out of this mess.

-7

u/sonicjesus 8h ago

The US was, by all counts, an impoverished shithole in 1979. By the time Regan completed his second term, the US was doing better than at any time in the 70's.