Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

I was surprised at how people reacted when I was vocally glad at the news of his death.

I think the author is trying to dismiss as a 'quirk' a totally valid observation. Look at Nixon, in many ways he was a liberal. The EPA was created under Nixon. The Reagan regime was worse than Nixon and what we have now is worse still. The above paragraph seems to be trying to perpetuate the myth that the Republicans have stayed where they were politically and that it is the Democrats that have moved far to the left

Who's "we," Rick?

I was only five when Reagan got elected the first time, and even I remember him as a batshit crazy old coot who was entirely too convinced of his own infalliability. By contrast with Reagan and Bush the Younger, Goldwater looks almost sane, although if you read any of his writing, you can more or less parse it down to "we like rights for white men, and the n*ggers and bitches are getting too uppity." It's like Code Word City in there, a veritable Anvil-to-the-Head Chorus as performed by the Republican Dogwhistle Orchestra.

Does anyone remember that "cute, cuddly gaffe" he made about launching the missiles in fifteen minutes? I can't even give him props for talking to Gorbachev, because even as a young teenager, it was pretty obvious to me that the oh-so-scary Soviet Union was on its way out by then. I think I was the least surprised person on earth when the Berlin Wall fell...