Ronald Wilson Reagan

[Grantref]

Why is it somehow a horrible, immoral thing to criticise someone just because they are recently dead? I agree that no one should be picketing Regan's funeral or butting in to his loved one's mourning to grill them about the man's AIDS policies. That would be immoral because of the pain it would cause to the people who had a strong personal relationship with the man. However, no matter how much you may respect or even revere him, no one here has a personal relationship with him. This isn't a forum of mourning, not a wake or a memorial. It's a web forum for political discussion, and political discussions get, well, political.

If Siou's criticisms of Regan's policies were valid 1 year ago, when he was alive, or 5 years from now when he's been long dead, they are valid today. If they are invalid, they are not invalid because he's dead but on their own lack of merit. Discuss them on that basis, not on the basis that the recently-dead are somehow above criticism.