[Winstonm]

hrothgar, on 2011-December-15, 09:42, said:

I'm definitely not a Ron Paul fan.

With this said and done, Andrew Sullivan (who just endorsed Paul) raises some interesting points in the following piece:

http://andrewsulliva...is-wallace.html

Richard,

What part of the phrase "Fox propaganda" comes as a surprise to you?

[PassedOut]

Winstonm, on 2011-December-18, 12:53, said:

Johnson accomplishments: Medicare; Medicaid; food stamps; civil rights legislation; equal employment opportunity; Civil Rights Act of 1964

In contrast, Ronald Reagan cut domestic spending, reduced taxes on the wealthy, and dramatically increased defense spending to fight a strawman, a U.S.S.R. that was already collapsing of its own weight.

Johnson's presidency will always be tainted by his disastrous escalation of the Vietnam War, but he accomplished much domestically. It's important to note that, despite the increased domestic spending for Johnson's war on poverty together with his war spending in Vietnam, Johnson nevertheless reduced the US national debt as a percentage of GDP.

Indeed, every administration did so after WWII -- regardless of political party -- until Ronald Reagan ushered in the period of fiscal irresponsibility that started in 1980.

[blackshoe]

I didn't say any particular thing Johnson did "created" a welfare state. In fact, the creation was already done. Johnson just put icing on the cake.

As for the "straw man' comment, nice 20-20 hindsight there.

[Winstonm]

Quote

As for the "straw man' comment, nice 20-20 hindsight there.

It was no mystery to the intelligence agencies at the time that the U.S.S.R. was in trouble. Reagan's actions may have helped speed up the fall by coercing the Kremlin to try to match the US military build-up, but the death of the U.S.S.R. came from natural causes.

[blackshoe]

To be followed in the not too distant future, it seems likely, by the demise of our "noble experiment".

[JLOGIC]

Romney up to 67. Not considering selling.

[Winstonm]

This Yahoo! News headline probably picked the GOP nominee based on the qualifications:

Quote

Bachmann Wrong on Social Security, Jobs, Debt

[Winstonm]

Quote

Modern libertarianism is the disguise adopted by those who wish to exploit without restraint. It pretends that only the state intrudes on our liberties. It ignores the role of banks, corporations and the rich in making us less free. It denies the need for the state to curb them in order to protect the freedoms of weaker people. This bastardised, one-eyed philosophy is a con trick, whose promoters attempt to wrongfoot justice by pitching it against liberty. By this means they have turned “freedom” into an instrument of oppression.

www.monbiot.com

[blackshoe]

Bull. Banks "exploit" because government sets up laws and regulations that promote them doing so. Corporations wouldn't exist at all if the government didn't give them legitimacy. As for the rest of it, it's a con trick, just like it claims "libertarianism" to be.

[Trinidad]

Winstonm, on 2011-December-18, 21:42, said:

blackshoe, on 2011-December-18, 20:15, said:

As for the "straw man' comment, nice 20-20 hindsight there.

It was no mystery to the intelligence agencies at the time that the U.S.S.R. was in trouble. Reagan's actions may have helped speed up the fall by coercing the Kremlin to try to match the US military build-up, but the death of the U.S.S.R. came from natural causes.

Somehow, people in the USA are convinced that Reagan won the cold war. The rest of the world remembers that Reagan had nothing to do with it. If John Smith would have been the US President, he would have "won" it. In essence, it was the death of Leonid Breznjev that led to the end of the cold war.

After Breznjev's death, the USSR made some serious moves to end the cold war, starting with Andropov, put on ice by Chernenko during his one year of reign and continued by Gorbachev. Western Europe saw that and urged the USA to hold peace talks with the new USSR leaders, but Reagan essentially refused to negotiate seriously to the horror of the Western European population. Gorbachev made several attempts to bilateral talks. In the end, he just decided that the cold war just didn't make any sense and he ended it unilaterally.

In Europe, no one thought that the cold war was won by anybody (other than perhaps the people of Eastern Europe who due to Gorbachev had gained considerable freedom). As a matter of fact, there was a strong feeling that the cold war was lost by everyone who participated in it. My generation grew up in continuous fear and in the knowledge that the amount of nuclear shelters would be insufficient to take care of every one. The East and West had spent a large part of their resources on a useless conflict.

Actually the first time that I seriously heard someone utter the idea that Reagan had won the cold war was when I moved to the USA in '93. I was astonished.

Rik

[mike777]

Trinidad, on 2011-December-21, 14:17, said:

Somehow, people in the USA are convinced that Reagan won the cold war. The rest of the world remembers that Reagan had nothing to do with it. If John Smith would have been the US President, he would have "won" it. In essence, it was the death of Leonid Breznjev that led to the end of the cold war.

After Breznjev's death, the USSR made some serious moves to end the cold war, starting with Andropov, put on ice by Chernenko during his one year of reign and continued by Gorbachev. Western Europe saw that and urged the USA to hold peace talks with the new USSR leaders, but Reagan essentially refused to negotiate seriously to the horror of the Western European population. Gorbachev made several attempts to bilateral talks. In the end, he just decided that the cold war just didn't make any sense and he ended it unilaterally.

In Europe, no one thought that the cold war was won by anybody (other than perhaps the people of Eastern Europe who due to Gorbachev had gained considerable freedom). As a matter of fact, there was a strong feeling that the cold war was lost by everyone who participated in it. My generation grew up in continuous fear and in the knowledge that the amount of nuclear shelters would be insufficient to take care of every one. The East and West had spent a large part of their resources on a useless conflict.

Actually the first time that I seriously heard someone utter the idea that Reagan had won the cold war was when I moved to the USA in '93. I was astonished.

Rik

Interesting post that no one in Europe thinks not only was anyone responsible for winning that war but that in fact it was lost.

"My generation grew up in continuous fear and in the knowledge that the amount of nuclear shelters would be insufficient to take care of every one"

Indeed America must have felt like an alternative universe where we are patting ourselves on the back for winning a war that Europe feels was lost. We looked at those pictures coming out of Berlin of the fall of the wall very differently than your Europe did.

[blackshoe]

It has been said that the "verdict of history" cannot be known until at least half a century has pass. So I would say that we have a few years to wait.

[kenberg]

Trinidad, on 2011-December-21, 14:17, said:

Somehow, people in the USA are convinced that Reagan won the cold war. The rest of the world remembers that Reagan had nothing to do with it. If John Smith would have been the US President, he would have "won" it. In essence, it was the death of Leonid Breznjev that led to the end of the cold war.

After Breznjev's death, the USSR made some serious moves to end the cold war, starting with Andropov, put on ice by Chernenko during his one year of reign and continued by Gorbachev. Western Europe saw that and urged the USA to hold peace talks with the new USSR leaders, but Reagan essentially refused to negotiate seriously to the horror of the Western European population. Gorbachev made several attempts to bilateral talks. In the end, he just decided that the cold war just didn't make any sense and he ended it unilaterally.

In Europe, no one thought that the cold war was won by anybody (other than perhaps the people of Eastern Europe who due to Gorbachev had gained considerable freedom). As a matter of fact, there was a strong feeling that the cold war was lost by everyone who participated in it. My generation grew up in continuous fear and in the knowledge that the amount of nuclear shelters would be insufficient to take care of every one. The East and West had spent a large part of their resources on a useless conflict.

Actually the first time that I seriously heard someone utter the idea that Reagan had won the cold war was when I moved to the USA in '93. I was astonished.

Rik

I certainly would not argue that "Reagan won the cold war". But I would even less agree with the general view expressed above. I don't think I even agree that the European view is nearly as uniform as is being suggested.

The collapse of the Soviet Union was apparently something of a surprise to those whose business it is to predict such things. These people are not stupid, so I would be wary of anyone who can explain what happened in two or three paragraphs.

Why empires collapse will not be explained in this post, but frequently a part of it seems to be that they start to believe their own propaganda. The Sun never sets on the British Empire? The Iraqis will welcome us as liberators? God will watch over us? Maybe not.

[Winstonm]

Quote

In a bizarre new stab at courting conspiracy nuts who believe President Barack Obama is a Kenyan, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has empowered a "birther posse" to look into claims by wackadoodles such as World Net Daily's Jerome Corsi that Obama's birth certificate from Hawaii is a forgery.

And in what is a naturally occurring connect-the-dot puzzle, Sheriff Joe Arpaio has endorsed none other than...Rick Perry for President.

[Winstonm]

And for those who don't know the good Sheriff of Phoenix-ham:

Quote

(Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday barred high profile Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio from detaining people simply for being in the country illegally, in a ruling that faulted the local lawman for enforcing federal immigration law.

The 40-page written opinion by U.S. District Judge G. Murray Snow came on the same day he issued legal sanctions against Arpaio over destroyed documents.

The decisions come as a further blow for the controversial sheriff, who already has faced rebukes from the U.S. Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security.

Both rulings by Snow stemmed from a 2007 civil lawsuit against Arpaio and his agency, which accuses his officers of racial profiling of Latinos in traffic stops the judge found were conducted as immigration sweeps.

The judge also said officers with the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department (MCSO), which covers Phoenix and surrounding areas, circulated emails that "compared Mexicans to dogs" and portrayed them "as drunks."....


EVIDENCE DESTRUCTION

Snow also cited the admitted destruction of emails and patrol records by Arpaio's office related to the case....

Separately last week, the U.S. Justice Department issued a scathing report accusing Arpaio and his deputies of engaging in a "pervasive culture of discriminatory bias" and violating civil rights laws....

Those efforts have earned him accolades in conservative political circles. Several candidates for the Republican presidential nomination sought his endorsement....

Too fair and balanced?

[PassedOut]

Seems that Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich both lack the basic competence to see that their requirements were met for entering the Virginia primary. It's still hard to see Ron Paul taking the nomination away from Mitt, but it's a strange year...

[Winstonm]

PassedOut, on 2011-December-24, 11:40, said:

Seems that Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich both lack the basic competence to see that their requirements were met for entering the Virginia primary. It's still hard to see Ron Paul taking the nomination away from Mitt, but it's a strange year...

I would like to see Michelle Bachmann win the nomimation because I am curious as to how many Americans would actually vote for her.

It would certainly save on the next US census - just count votes and you would get the number of US mentally ill.

[PassedOut]

Well now I see that it wasn't Newt Gingrich who failed after all: Newt Gingrich says Virginia Republican primary "failed"

Quote

Virginia party officials say he did not submit the required 10,000 signatures to appear on the 6 March ballot.

Mr Gingrich's team vowed to pursue an "aggressive write-in campaign" - although Virginia does not permit this.

[Winstonm]

PassedOut, on 2011-December-24, 21:47, said:

Well now I see that it wasn't Newt Gingrich who failed after all: Newt Gingrich says Virginia Republican primary "failed"

Maybe he should try for a Virginia "wish-in" campaign?

[hrothgar]

PassedOut, on 2011-December-24, 21:47, said:

Well now I see that it wasn't Newt Gingrich who failed after all: Newt Gingrich says Virginia Republican primary "failed"

What's most amusing about this is that Newt is a Virigina resident...

With this said and done, Newt may actually have a decent point:

Only two out of the six Republican candidates were able to qualify for the primary.

I'm not sure whether this means that the bulk of the Republican candidates are ill prepared for a national campaign, or, alternatively, that Virginia's requirements are too strict.

Does anyone know what happened last cycle?