- Mar 16, 2012
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I guess they were hoping we would forget all the decades of the Democrats running interference for the Soviets, and the Left’s history of fighting for commies all over the world.
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But during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union posed an existential threat to our democracy, not so much. Most Democrats opposed the Reagan policies that led to the fall of the Soviet empire. They fought the Reagan defense buildup and his Strategic Defense Initiative (which Sen. Edward Kennedy dismissed as “Star Wars” and Sen. John Kerry called “a dream based on illusion”). They supported the Soviet-supported nuclear freeze movement and opposed Reagan’s deployment of intermediate-range nuclear missiles to Western Europe. They criticized Reagan’s efforts to arm freedom fighters seeking to overthrow Soviet puppet regimes and support to pro-American governments fighting communist insurgencies.
Old habits of appeasement die hard, so when the Cold War ended the Democrats continued their soft line toward Moscow. Democratic opposition to President George W. Bush’s withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was more strident than that of Vladimir Putin. There was virtual silence from Democrats when President Barack Obama callously threw Poland and the Czech Republic under the bus by canceling our missile defense agreements in an effort to appease Moscow.
In 2012, when Mitt Romney called Russia our “No. 1 geopolitical foe,” Democrats mocked him mercilessly. Obama told Romney, “The 1980s, they’re now calling to ask for their foreign policy back.” And Vice President Joe Biden said Romney “acts like he thinks the Cold War is still on.” The Republican focus on Russia was considered laughable by most Democrats.
Not only did Democrats oppose Reagan’s policies, they heaped scorn on his blunt anti-Communist rhetoric. After Reagan called on the Soviets to “tear down” the Berlin Wall, Democratic House Speaker Jim Wright declared that he had “utter contempt for Reagan” because he had “spoiled the chance for a dramatic breakthrough in relations between our two countries.”
The hypocrisy of the Democratic Russia hawks
Those unpredictable Democrats. Now they are Russia hawks.
But during the Cold War, when the Soviet Union posed an existential threat to our democracy, not so much. Most Democrats opposed the Reagan policies that led to the fall of the Soviet empire. They fought the Reagan defense buildup and his Strategic Defense Initiative (which Sen. Edward Kennedy dismissed as “Star Wars” and Sen. John Kerry called “a dream based on illusion”). They supported the Soviet-supported nuclear freeze movement and opposed Reagan’s deployment of intermediate-range nuclear missiles to Western Europe. They criticized Reagan’s efforts to arm freedom fighters seeking to overthrow Soviet puppet regimes and support to pro-American governments fighting communist insurgencies.
Old habits of appeasement die hard, so when the Cold War ended the Democrats continued their soft line toward Moscow. Democratic opposition to President George W. Bush’s withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty was more strident than that of Vladimir Putin. There was virtual silence from Democrats when President Barack Obama callously threw Poland and the Czech Republic under the bus by canceling our missile defense agreements in an effort to appease Moscow.
In 2012, when Mitt Romney called Russia our “No. 1 geopolitical foe,” Democrats mocked him mercilessly. Obama told Romney, “The 1980s, they’re now calling to ask for their foreign policy back.” And Vice President Joe Biden said Romney “acts like he thinks the Cold War is still on.” The Republican focus on Russia was considered laughable by most Democrats.
Not only did Democrats oppose Reagan’s policies, they heaped scorn on his blunt anti-Communist rhetoric. After Reagan called on the Soviets to “tear down” the Berlin Wall, Democratic House Speaker Jim Wright declared that he had “utter contempt for Reagan” because he had “spoiled the chance for a dramatic breakthrough in relations between our two countries.”
