interesting article on Russia

[Truthmatters]

What We Don't Know About History Can Hurt Us - FoxNews.com

 

[California Girl]

More lies from Fox?

 

[Truthmatters]

You think?

Did you read it all the way through?

 

[PoliticalChic]

What We Don't Know About History Can Hurt Us - FoxNews.com

Actually, it was an interesting article...I'll send a rep in a moment.

1. But if you know anything about Thaddeus Russell, you must know his infatuation with jazz as an explanation of many things...in this case, the fall of the Soviet Union.

2. It is not an accident that Russell has had his work appear in many Left-Wing journals...I understand that Fox doesn't fall into that category... but, as I said, it was an interesting article.

3. I further understand they article of faith of Left-Wing doctrine, that President Reagan could do no right, pun intended, and that he certainly deserves no credit for the fall of the Societ Union....but rock 'n' roll as the reason???

4. Here, an article with a bit more grit, substance:

Many forces contributed to the fall of the "Evil Empire", but foremost among them was the deployment of those 464 cruise and 108 Pershing II missiles slated to offset triple-warhead Soviet SS-20s and Backfire bombers that could reach all of Western Europe (but not the American homeland). Needless to say, it was not the "theo-logic" of deterrence that drove the counter-deployment. The drama was not really about "circular-errors probable" or "hard-target kill capabilities." The name of the game was as old as Thucydides' disquisitions on Peloponnesian power politics. It was a pure test of will and strength, and on its outcome hung, as it turned out, history. Yet what a slender thread it was.

Enter Ronald Reagan, a president who, whatever else he was and did, was an extraordinary exemplar of "Only in America." He was an ingenue even by American standards, but as tough and hard-bitten as any Soviet general-secretary (post-Stalin, that is). He hated communism, but embraced Mikhail Gorbachev. He presided over the greatest peace-time military buildup in American history, but loathed nuclear weapons, confiding in An American Life that his "dream became a world free of nuclear weapons." He elevated supply-side economics from Arthur Laffer's back-of-the-envelope doodles to the reigning dogma of the White House and radically cut taxes--only to pragmatically raise them again in 1982 and 1983 when a "decent respect" for the opinions of Congress so demanded.

THE EUROMISSILES played a staring role in the final act of the Cold War. Militarily, they were but pawns in a nuclear world defined by 10,000 strategic warheads on either side. But on the Cold War's central chessboard, they looked like kings and queens that would complete the irresistible thrust of Soviet power lanched in the 1970s. One Soviet surrogate, North Vietnam, had beaten the United States in Southeast Asia. Another, Cuba, had anchored Soviet-bloc power in the darkest heart of Africa, in Angola. America had just lost Iran to the Islamists led by Ayatollah Khomeini, and with it, one of Washington's key allies in the Middle East. Finally, as Carter's America was being humiliated by Iranian hostage-takers and held up to ridicule by botched rescue gambits, the Soviets were forging into Afghanistan--as Alexander the Great had done on his imperial march to India. To complete the degradation of America, only two key allies--Turkey and West Germany--heeded Washington's call to boycott the Moscow Olympics of 1980. And the economy was wallowing in stagflation.

Reagan was made from far sterner stuff than was his Soviet counterpart. His genial grin and wise-cracking demeanor concealed a spine of steel when push came to shove. Yet at their next meeting in Reykjavik in 1986, where Gorbachev would not budge on the "Star Wars" question, Reagan was decisive and unforgiving. He recalls in An American Life how he stood up from the table to proclaim that the meeting was over. Then he turned to his Secretary of State: "Let's go, George. We're leaving." Like any good diplomat, Shultz was crushed by so much roughness, but Reagan was completely unfazed. Later on, he explained: "I went to Reykjavik determined that everything was negotiable except two things, our freedom and our future."

. Euromissiles, massive aid to the Afghan rebels, the Strategic Defense Initiative, the arms build-up, the INF deployment, the demonstrated willingness to use force (Libya), support for Poland's Solidarity moment and Soviet dissidents--these all added up to what Kennan termed an "unalterable counter-force at every point" while Reagan's even-keeled leadership minimized "indecision, disunity and internal disintegration within this country" (notwithstanding the less grandiose moments of Reagan's watch, like the withdrawal from Lebanon after the massacre of 241 Marines in 1983 and the unforgivably reckless Iran-Contra affair).

Ronald Reagan, though dismissed by Europeans as a second-rate actor and fondler of cue cards, possessed that magic faculty that separates run-of-the mill politicos from history-molding leaders. "I didn't understand", recalls Time's Joe Klein, "how truly monumental, and morally important, Reagan's anti-communism was until I visited the Soviet Union in 1987." He continues with a seemingly trivial vignette. Attending the Bolshoi Ballet, he was nudged by his minder: "'Ronald Reagan. Evil empire', he whispered with dramatic intensity and shot a glance toward his lap where he had hidden two enthusiastic thumbs up. 'Yes!'"

When an American president manages to pluck the soul strings of those who have been raised to fear and despise what he represents, he surely deserves the honorific 'great.'
The "amazing and mysterious" life of Ronald Reagan - National Interest, The Articles | Find Articles at CBS MoneyWatch.com

 

[California Girl]

You think?

Did you read it all the way through?

Didn't read it. But you keep insisting that everything from Fox is lies.... so this must be too, right?

I tend to read books and properly researched and sourced academic articles rather than crap from the media.... even Fox. My bad... I don't fit in your 'hysterical right wing Fox News viewer'.

 

[The Infidel]

What We Don't Know About History Can Hurt Us - FoxNews.com

Its got to be a lie..... Faux news = lies

Didn't read it. But you keep insisting that everything from Fox is lies.... so this must be too, right?

Its kind of like the selective hearing syndrome many "children" seem to have.

 

[Mad Scientist]

So is TM gonna' leave her Failed Liberal ideas behind? From the article:

Which leads me to the most destructive myth about history: the idea that if we are to prosper, government must make smart plans for us. I was taught that in college, and despite the failure of the Soviet Union, many government leaders still believe it.

 

[The Infidel]

So is TM gonna' leave her Failed Liberal ideas behind? From the article:

Which leads me to the most destructive myth about history: the idea that if we are to prosper, government must make smart plans for us. I was taught that in college, and despite the failure of the Soviet Union, many government leaders still believe it.

 

[SFC Ollie]

I would say that this guy has it wrong.

Or maybe Truthmatters agrees with him when he says (in the same book):

“In the summer of 1957, a Baptist preacher in the segregated South issued a series of fiery sermons denouncing the laziness, promiscuity, criminality, drunkenness, slovenliness, and ignorance of Negroes,” says Thaddeus Russell; from the book A Renegade History of the United States. “He suggested that blacks were ‘thinking about sex’ every time they walked down the street. They were too violent. They didn’t bathe properly. And their music, which was invading homes all over America, ‘plunges men’s minds into degrading and immoral depths.’”
...............................

After an introductory chapter, the second and third chapters are, “The Freedom of Slavery” and “The Slavery of Freedom”. Old research is presented pointing out how many of the slaves missed the plantation and didn’t enjoy freedom after the Civil War. Evidence is presented to show how many of the efforts of the government and civil leaders were ineffective against the renegades. Oh, and that preacher in 1957? None other than Martin Luther King, Jr. According to Russell, “the immoral black people [King] denounced did more to destroy segregation than did the civil rights movement.”

Read more: Book Review: A Renegade History of the United States by Thaddeus Russell - seattlepi.com

 

[GoneBezerk]

Sure people in Iran love American culture, but not their leaders and those with the guns that protect the regime.

Sure people in the former USSR loved "Elvis," coca-cola, blue jeans, etc but their leaders at the time liked being in charge of them more.

The same can be said of North Korea, China and even Iraq under Saddam. People like our western culture, hell even Al Qai'da deep down likes our culture of porn, music, booze, etc despite it being counter to their so-called utopia.

The 9/11 hijackers got hookers, drugs and gambled months up to their "jihad" because deep down they are full of shit....but does that make them any less dangerous? No, but liberals ignore these facts out of stupidity or they intend on letting outsiders bring down our culture via force.

Libs going back to the Soviet revolution have tried to undermine our society, but they would have you believe McCarthy was full of shit. He reached with some of his claims but he wasn't wrong on many others.

So when you see or hear a liberal telling you to not worry about Al Qai'da or their fellow communists....they're full of shit.

 

[BoycottTheday]

I loved landing at the old downtown HK airport, freaking cool it was, weeee....

Sorry, carry on.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

What We Don't Know About History Can Hurt Us - FoxNews.com

Actually, it was an interesting article...I'll send a rep in a moment.

1. But if you know anything about Thaddeus Russell, you must know his infatuation with jazz as an explanation of many things...in this case, the fall of the Soviet Union.

2. It is not an accident that Russell has had his work appear in many Left-Wing journals...I understand that Fox doesn't fall into that category... but, as I said, it was an interesting article.

3. I further understand they article of faith of Left-Wing doctrine, that President Reagan could do no right, pun intended, and that he certainly deserves no credit for the fall of the Societ Union....but rock 'n' roll as the reason???

4. Here, an article with a bit more grit, substance:

Many forces contributed to the fall of the "Evil Empire", but foremost among them was the deployment of those 464 cruise and 108 Pershing II missiles slated to offset triple-warhead Soviet SS-20s and Backfire bombers that could reach all of Western Europe (but not the American homeland). Needless to say, it was not the "theo-logic" of deterrence that drove the counter-deployment. The drama was not really about "circular-errors probable" or "hard-target kill capabilities." The name of the game was as old as Thucydides' disquisitions on Peloponnesian power politics. It was a pure test of will and strength, and on its outcome hung, as it turned out, history. Yet what a slender thread it was.

Enter Ronald Reagan, a president who, whatever else he was and did, was an extraordinary exemplar of "Only in America." He was an ingenue even by American standards, but as tough and hard-bitten as any Soviet general-secretary (post-Stalin, that is). He hated communism, but embraced Mikhail Gorbachev. He presided over the greatest peace-time military buildup in American history, but loathed nuclear weapons, confiding in An American Life that his "dream became a world free of nuclear weapons." He elevated supply-side economics from Arthur Laffer's back-of-the-envelope doodles to the reigning dogma of the White House and radically cut taxes--only to pragmatically raise them again in 1982 and 1983 when a "decent respect" for the opinions of Congress so demanded.

THE EUROMISSILES played a staring role in the final act of the Cold War. Militarily, they were but pawns in a nuclear world defined by 10,000 strategic warheads on either side. But on the Cold War's central chessboard, they looked like kings and queens that would complete the irresistible thrust of Soviet power lanched in the 1970s. One Soviet surrogate, North Vietnam, had beaten the United States in Southeast Asia. Another, Cuba, had anchored Soviet-bloc power in the darkest heart of Africa, in Angola. America had just lost Iran to the Islamists led by Ayatollah Khomeini, and with it, one of Washington's key allies in the Middle East. Finally, as Carter's America was being humiliated by Iranian hostage-takers and held up to ridicule by botched rescue gambits, the Soviets were forging into Afghanistan--as Alexander the Great had done on his imperial march to India. To complete the degradation of America, only two key allies--Turkey and West Germany--heeded Washington's call to boycott the Moscow Olympics of 1980. And the economy was wallowing in stagflation.

Reagan was made from far sterner stuff than was his Soviet counterpart. His genial grin and wise-cracking demeanor concealed a spine of steel when push came to shove. Yet at their next meeting in Reykjavik in 1986, where Gorbachev would not budge on the "Star Wars" question, Reagan was decisive and unforgiving. He recalls in An American Life how he stood up from the table to proclaim that the meeting was over. Then he turned to his Secretary of State: "Let's go, George. We're leaving." Like any good diplomat, Shultz was crushed by so much roughness, but Reagan was completely unfazed. Later on, he explained: "I went to Reykjavik determined that everything was negotiable except two things, our freedom and our future."

. Euromissiles, massive aid to the Afghan rebels, the Strategic Defense Initiative, the arms build-up, the INF deployment, the demonstrated willingness to use force (Libya), support for Poland's Solidarity moment and Soviet dissidents--these all added up to what Kennan termed an "unalterable counter-force at every point" while Reagan's even-keeled leadership minimized "indecision, disunity and internal disintegration within this country" (notwithstanding the less grandiose moments of Reagan's watch, like the withdrawal from Lebanon after the massacre of 241 Marines in 1983 and the unforgivably reckless Iran-Contra affair).

Ronald Reagan, though dismissed by Europeans as a second-rate actor and fondler of cue cards, possessed that magic faculty that separates run-of-the mill politicos from history-molding leaders. "I didn't understand", recalls Time's Joe Klein, "how truly monumental, and morally important, Reagan's anti-communism was until I visited the Soviet Union in 1987." He continues with a seemingly trivial vignette. Attending the Bolshoi Ballet, he was nudged by his minder: "'Ronald Reagan. Evil empire', he whispered with dramatic intensity and shot a glance toward his lap where he had hidden two enthusiastic thumbs up. 'Yes!'"

When an American president manages to pluck the soul strings of those who have been raised to fear and despise what he represents, he surely deserves the honorific 'great.'
The "amazing and mysterious" life of Ronald Reagan - National Interest, The Articles | Find Articles at CBS MoneyWatch.com

10 minute standing O!!!!!!

That was great!!

 

[gautama]

Sure people in Iran love American culture, but not their leaders and those with the guns that protect the regime.

Sure people in the former USSR loved "Elvis," coca-cola, blue jeans, etc but their leaders at the time liked being in charge of them more.

The same can be said of North Korea, China and even Iraq under Saddam. People like our western culture, hell even Al Qai'da deep down likes our culture of porn, music, booze, etc despite it being counter to their so-called utopia.

The 9/11 hijackers got hookers, drugs and gambled months up to their "jihad" because deep down they are full of shit....but does that make them any less dangerous? No, but liberals ignore these facts out of stupidity or they intend on letting outsiders bring down our culture via force.

Libs going back to the Soviet revolution have tried to undermine our society, but they would have you believe McCarthy was full of shit. He reached with some of his claims but he wasn't wrong on many others.

So when you see or hear a liberal telling you to not worry about Al Qai'da or their fellow communists....they're full of shit.

The certified Obamarrhoidal Idiot.....more accurately, simply the Congenital Idiot TruthDoesn'tMatter ....... 'distinguishes' herself again !

Surprise !!!

 

[GoneBezerk]

What the fuck are you talking about?

Obama...? I am not an Obama fan. Learn how to read.

Sure people in Iran love American culture, but not their leaders and those with the guns that protect the regime.

Sure people in the former USSR loved "Elvis," coca-cola, blue jeans, etc but their leaders at the time liked being in charge of them more.

The same can be said of North Korea, China and even Iraq under Saddam. People like our western culture, hell even Al Qai'da deep down likes our culture of porn, music, booze, etc despite it being counter to their so-called utopia.

The 9/11 hijackers got hookers, drugs and gambled months up to their "jihad" because deep down they are full of shit....but does that make them any less dangerous? No, but liberals ignore these facts out of stupidity or they intend on letting outsiders bring down our culture via force.

Libs going back to the Soviet revolution have tried to undermine our society, but they would have you believe McCarthy was full of shit. He reached with some of his claims but he wasn't wrong on many others.

So when you see or hear a liberal telling you to not worry about Al Qai'da or their fellow communists....they're full of shit.

The certified Obamarrhoidal Idiot.....more accurately, simply the Congenital Idiot TruthDoesn'tMatter ....... 'distinguishes' herself again !

Surprise !!!

 

[Steelplate]

Sure people in Iran love American culture, but not their leaders and those with the guns that protect the regime.

Sure people in the former USSR loved "Elvis," coca-cola, blue jeans, etc but their leaders at the time liked being in charge of them more.

The same can be said of North Korea, China and even Iraq under Saddam. People like our western culture, hell even Al Qai'da deep down likes our culture of porn, music, booze, etc despite it being counter to their so-called utopia.

The 9/11 hijackers got hookers, drugs and gambled months up to their "jihad" because deep down they are full of shit....but does that make them any less dangerous? No, but liberals ignore these facts out of stupidity or they intend on letting outsiders bring down our culture via force.

Libs going back to the Soviet revolution have tried to undermine our society, but they would have you believe McCarthy was full of shit. He reached with some of his claims but he wasn't wrong on many others.

So when you see or hear a liberal telling you to not worry about Al Qai'da or their fellow communists....they're full of shit.

First off... McCarthy was full of shit. There was a threat... as there is now, of Communists, terrorists and the boogeyman that no one knows. That is the price of living in a FREE society. Which is why we have FREE elections and a Constitution. I know... you Conservatards think that anything proposed by a Democrat is treason... but the truth is... This country is very much a hybrid of Capitalistic and Socialistic philosophies.

Neither total Capitalism Nor total Socialism is a good thing. We saw what total Capitalism can do in the Robber baron days of the Early Industrial Revolution. People were working for slave wages for 80 hour/week and still not having a pot to piss in. On the other hand, we can see what Total Socialism(and it's more extreme cousin.. Communism) can do.

What MADE America unique was our ability to force the two opposing forces to tolerate each other. But that tolerance seems to be tested at the moment with the Tea Party thrown into the mix.

Let me just say this... most of those Tea Party people have no idea what they are asking for. MOST of them are people who work for other people(or companies). What are they gonna do if it's deemed OK to pay them $5/hour for their work and demands that they work 60 hours/ week to be considered full time?

Those are the types of things that happen when you "deregulate". Those types of things are what brought us labor unions. Do you REALLY think that Big Business and Industry won't try to go back to those heady days of slave wages, long hours and perhaps even company stores and company script(look it up)?

Yes... there are a lot of honest businessmen out there.... But there are also a lot of scumbags, and if you are desperate for a job... the scumbags will always be hiring, qand the decent ones won't.

 

[mudwhistle]

What We Don't Know About History Can Hurt Us - FoxNews.com

I read all the way through it.

It says freedoms are why Hong Kong is so wealthy.

In New York it takes months to wade through the bureaucracy to start a business but in Hong Kong you can do it overnight.

Kind of flies in the face of what Democrats want, doesn't it?

 

[GoneBezerk]

Steelplateinhead -

The communists in this country during the Cold War worked with the Soviets to undermine this country, they were not harmless freaks living in communes outside American culture.

The communist spy that worked at Los Alamos gave nuclear secrets to the Soviets and spent time in jail only later to be released by Democrats later. Guess where he ended up...China where he helped them get the bomb. From there that info went to Pakistan and North Korea.

Yeah, communists are so innocent to dumbfucks like you. Get off my radar you piece of shit.

Sure people in Iran love American culture, but not their leaders and those with the guns that protect the regime.

Sure people in the former USSR loved "Elvis," coca-cola, blue jeans, etc but their leaders at the time liked being in charge of them more.

The same can be said of North Korea, China and even Iraq under Saddam. People like our western culture, hell even Al Qai'da deep down likes our culture of porn, music, booze, etc despite it being counter to their so-called utopia.

The 9/11 hijackers got hookers, drugs and gambled months up to their "jihad" because deep down they are full of shit....but does that make them any less dangerous? No, but liberals ignore these facts out of stupidity or they intend on letting outsiders bring down our culture via force.

Libs going back to the Soviet revolution have tried to undermine our society, but they would have you believe McCarthy was full of shit. He reached with some of his claims but he wasn't wrong on many others.

So when you see or hear a liberal telling you to not worry about Al Qai'da or their fellow communists....they're full of shit.

First off... McCarthy was full of shit. There was a threat... as there is now, of Communists, terrorists and the boogeyman that no one knows. That is the price of living in a FREE society. Which is why we have FREE elections and a Constitution. I know... you Conservatards think that anything proposed by a Democrat is treason... but the truth is... This country is very much a hybrid of Capitalistic and Socialistic philosophies.

Neither total Capitalism Nor total Socialism is a good thing. We saw what total Capitalism can do in the Robber baron days of the Early Industrial Revolution. People were working for slave wages for 80 hour/week and still not having a pot to piss in. On the other hand, we can see what Total Socialism(and it's more extreme cousin.. Communism) can do.

What MADE America unique was our ability to force the two opposing forces to tolerate each other. But that tolerance seems to be tested at the moment with the Tea Party thrown into the mix.

Let me just say this... most of those Tea Party people have no idea what they are asking for. MOST of them are people who work for other people(or companies). What are they gonna do if it's deemed OK to pay them $5/hour for their work and demands that they work 60 hours/ week to be considered full time?

Those are the types of things that happen when you "deregulate". Those types of things are what brought us labor unions. Do you REALLY think that Big Business and Industry won't try to go back to those heady days of slave wages, long hours and perhaps even company stores and company script(look it up)?

Yes... there are a lot of honest businessmen out there.... But there are also a lot of scumbags, and if you are desperate for a job... the scumbags will always be hiring, qand the decent ones won't.

 

[Steelplate]

Steelplateinhead -

The communists in this country during the Cold War worked with the Soviets to undermine this country, they were not harmless freaks living in communes outside American culture.

The communist spy that worked at Los Alamos gave nuclear secrets to the Soviets and spent time in jail only later to be released by Democrats later. Guess where he ended up...China where he helped them get the bomb. From there that info went to Pakistan and North Korea.

Yeah, communists are so innocent to dumbfucks like you. Get off my radar you piece of shit.

Sure people in Iran love American culture, but not their leaders and those with the guns that protect the regime.

Sure people in the former USSR loved "Elvis," coca-cola, blue jeans, etc but their leaders at the time liked being in charge of them more.

The same can be said of North Korea, China and even Iraq under Saddam. People like our western culture, hell even Al Qai'da deep down likes our culture of porn, music, booze, etc despite it being counter to their so-called utopia.

The 9/11 hijackers got hookers, drugs and gambled months up to their "jihad" because deep down they are full of shit....but does that make them any less dangerous? No, but liberals ignore these facts out of stupidity or they intend on letting outsiders bring down our culture via force.

Libs going back to the Soviet revolution have tried to undermine our society, but they would have you believe McCarthy was full of shit. He reached with some of his claims but he wasn't wrong on many others.

So when you see or hear a liberal telling you to not worry about Al Qai'da or their fellow communists....they're full of shit.

First off... McCarthy was full of shit. There was a threat... as there is now, of Communists, terrorists and the boogeyman that no one knows. That is the price of living in a FREE society. Which is why we have FREE elections and a Constitution. I know... you Conservatards think that anything proposed by a Democrat is treason... but the truth is... This country is very much a hybrid of Capitalistic and Socialistic philosophies.

Neither total Capitalism Nor total Socialism is a good thing. We saw what total Capitalism can do in the Robber baron days of the Early Industrial Revolution. People were working for slave wages for 80 hour/week and still not having a pot to piss in. On the other hand, we can see what Total Socialism(and it's more extreme cousin.. Communism) can do.

What MADE America unique was our ability to force the two opposing forces to tolerate each other. But that tolerance seems to be tested at the moment with the Tea Party thrown into the mix.

Let me just say this... most of those Tea Party people have no idea what they are asking for. MOST of them are people who work for other people(or companies). What are they gonna do if it's deemed OK to pay them $5/hour for their work and demands that they work 60 hours/ week to be considered full time?

Those are the types of things that happen when you "deregulate". Those types of things are what brought us labor unions. Do you REALLY think that Big Business and Industry won't try to go back to those heady days of slave wages, long hours and perhaps even company stores and company script(look it up)?

Yes... there are a lot of honest businessmen out there.... But there are also a lot of scumbags, and if you are desperate for a job... the scumbags will always be hiring, qand the decent ones won't.

You know... It's a HELL of a lot easier when you quote and type at the bottom.

You have any proof of these doings... or are you just gonna have me take your word for it.... BTW... Did you read my post or stop at "McCarthy was full of shit"? Yes... there are threats... there will always be threats... But(once again) that is the price you pay for living in a FREE COUNTRY. McCarthy was on a witch hunt... period. That doesn't mean he wasn't right on occasion, but he made plenty of innocent people suffer that never were Communists.

That would be the equivalent of saying.... if we fuck with 10,000 Muslim Americans lives and bag one true "terrorist", it will be worth it. Sorry, I don't buy into that ideology... and if you are a true believer in Freedom, neither would you.

 

[GoneBezerk]

The point is no matter how overboard McCarthy went with his claims, there was a threat from Communists that was covered up by the left in this country for numerous reasons.

Today the left is covering up the threat of islamofascism and it got us 9/11 and numerous attacks on Americans worldwide.

No matter how much you try to love the enemy, they hate you and will kill you when they get the chance.

The Jews in 1930s Germany thought the threat of the brownshirts would pass over and that Hitler fella would soon be put away by the general public....

You know... It's a HELL of a lot easier when you quote and type at the bottom.

You have any proof of these doings... or are you just gonna have me take your word for it.... BTW... Did you read my post or stop at "McCarthy was full of shit"? Yes... there are threats... there will always be threats... But(once again) that is the price you pay for living in a FREE COUNTRY. McCarthy was on a witch hunt... period. That doesn't mean he wasn't right on occasion, but he made plenty of innocent people suffer that never were Communists.

That would be the equivalent of saying.... if we fuck with 10,000 Muslim Americans lives and bag one true "terrorist", it will be worth it. Sorry, I don't buy into that ideology... and if you are a true believer in Freedom, neither would you.

 

[mudwhistle]

Sure people in Iran love American culture, but not their leaders and those with the guns that protect the regime.

Sure people in the former USSR loved "Elvis," coca-cola, blue jeans, etc but their leaders at the time liked being in charge of them more.

The same can be said of North Korea, China and even Iraq under Saddam. People like our western culture, hell even Al Qai'da deep down likes our culture of porn, music, booze, etc despite it being counter to their so-called utopia.

The 9/11 hijackers got hookers, drugs and gambled months up to their "jihad" because deep down they are full of shit....but does that make them any less dangerous? No, but liberals ignore these facts out of stupidity or they intend on letting outsiders bring down our culture via force.

Libs going back to the Soviet revolution have tried to undermine our society, but they would have you believe McCarthy was full of shit. He reached with some of his claims but he wasn't wrong on many others.

So when you see or hear a liberal telling you to not worry about Al Qai'da or their fellow communists....they're full of shit.

First off... McCarthy was full of shit. There was a threat... as there is now, of Communists, terrorists and the boogeyman that no one knows. That is the price of living in a FREE society. Which is why we have FREE elections and a Constitution. I know... you Conservatards think that anything proposed by a Democrat is treason... but the truth is... This country is very much a hybrid of Capitalistic and Socialistic philosophies.

Neither total Capitalism Nor total Socialism is a good thing. We saw what total Capitalism can do in the Robber baron days of the Early Industrial Revolution. People were working for slave wages for 80 hour/week and still not having a pot to piss in. On the other hand, we can see what Total Socialism(and it's more extreme cousin.. Communism) can do.

What MADE America unique was our ability to force the two opposing forces to tolerate each other. But that tolerance seems to be tested at the moment with the Tea Party thrown into the mix.

Let me just say this... most of those Tea Party people have no idea what they are asking for. MOST of them are people who work for other people(or companies). What are they gonna do if it's deemed OK to pay them $5/hour for their work and demands that they work 60 hours/ week to be considered full time?

Those are the types of things that happen when you "deregulate". Those types of things are what brought us labor unions. Do you REALLY think that Big Business and Industry won't try to go back to those heady days of slave wages, long hours and perhaps even company stores and company script(look it up)?

Yes... there are a lot of honest businessmen out there.... But there are also a lot of scumbags, and if you are desperate for a job... the scumbags will always be hiring, qand the decent ones won't.

Sorry, but Obama is the wild card here, not the Tea Party.

He's the one throwing everything out of whack.