Hmm, I'm really old so I vividly remember Reagan being president.

First of all, I remember growing up in the age of the "Bomb". We were all terrified of WWIII starting with Russia and the world being destroyed a'la "Dr. Strangelove".

Also, we were coming off of Carterism. Ahh, Carter. The gas lines, the Iranian prisoners, Billy Beer. America's self esteem was at a very low ebb. Reagan made us feel GOOD to be American again. I know that might sound trite to some, but it's important to those who include their nationality in their idea of self, which is a common American condition.

AIDS came upon the world stage as some bizarre anomaly that noone had ANY idea about. Like all diseases that are "new" and misunderstood, AIDS stirred up fear. However, to be honest, it was considered a "Gay" disease. We weren't really all that scared of it. I'm not trying to be insensitive, only trying to convey the mood of the masses.

We WERE scared of being destroyed by radiation. Because atom bombs kill people of ANY race, creed or sexual orientation, you see.

Anyway, Reagan WON the cold war. The freaking COLD WAR. The war we fought in Korea, Vietnam and every other shitty CIA- driven bizarre backstabbing bullshit foreign government toppling action America has always been accused of doing.

It's like those who are saying "Reagan didn't fund AIDS enough" are really trying to find some typical liberal spin to pin on Reagan. Reagan no more caused the epidemic of AIDS than he personally shot Freddy Mercury in the back of the head.

So really, excuse me if I find the assertion that Reagan didn't do enough to fund AIDS research; therefore, AIDS spread more rapidly to be ludicrous. Noone even knew what AIDS WAS. AIDS was no more understood than the cavemen grasped the implications of poor prostate health.

I too attended funerals of friends that died from AIDS. All gay men in their mid to late 30's or 40's. It was sad yes. My mother has breast cancer, that too is sad. Reagan died of Alzheimer's. Sad.

In hindsight, it's too bad he didn't fund more research for that. Perhaps he could defend himself now.