Monday, June 07, 2004

I remember Reagan: The man who ordered the killing of Berkeley gardeners

Can you imagine? In 1969, at People's Park, I actually got out there with a pick and a hoe. Me! We took a vacant lot in Berkeley and turned it into a garden. Then Ronald Reagan ordered troops with shot guns and tear gas to go after us. "They've killed James Rector!" we cried. Ronnie didn't care. The same man who turned in his colleagues to Senator McCarthy during the 1950s witch hunts was at it again.

The only thing good that happened from the Reagan governorship (California has still not recovered from it) was that Berkeley residents got to hold a wonderful memorial for our fellow fallen gardener. Now they are holding a memorial to Reagan. I would just LOVE to be a fly on the wall when Ronnie Fabulous tries to explain the death of James Rector to God.