March 23

This day in sketchtory, in 1983, the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan created the "Strategic Defense Initiative," better known as Reagan's "Star Wars" initiative. It's purpose was to use ground and space-based systems to protect the US from attack by strategic nuclear ballistic missiles. What this involved was a variety of methods to destroy Russian nukes on their way to blow up Ron and his buddies, including lasers and mirrors in space.

It wasn't technologically possible at the time, and still might not be, yet the cost of the now mostly defunct program was at least $100 billion. Who can think about health care and unemployment and social security when there are godless commie bastards with their fingers on big red buttons?

And because of Reagan's sons comments in his recent book citing that his father may have had early stages of alzheimer's while in office, I like to believe he was just excited about the release of Return of the Jedi, which was released in theatres just a couple months later in May of 83.