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Imperator · #9 (**permalink**) 06-22-2008

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Originally Posted by TSGracchus

Well, I'll say that he deserves this much credit for ending the Cold War. One, he didn't get us into a nuclear war (which is the only way we could have lost it). And two, when Gorbachev showed up, he was willing to negotiate with him and adopt a friendlier approach to the new Soviet regime, which showed that he wasn't quite the ignorant cowboy some people thought he was. Other than that, the Soviet Union was an unsustainable enterprise, an attempt to be a military superpower on an inadequate economic foundation. The cold war showed that a rigidly socialist economy underperforms a mixed or managed-market economy just as a laissez-faire economy does. The Soviet Union's failure was a given, sooner or later. You would think that those ideologically opposed to socialism would understand that.

And many folks don't remember just hpw difficult it became to move against the tides of "just let it be"....he refused to get rolled in Finland, re; negotiations of a new salt treaty and gorby sensed he was dealing with someone who would go the distance. He deployed the mrbm Pershings in Europe against fierce resistance.
I'd say gorby and he came along at the right time. Plus of course the system wasn't viable and it was a matter of time yes, but how much time?

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I don't think Obama is "far left." He's just, as the article said, well to the left of Clinton. But there's a reason to that, Clinton took the party way to the right.

I think obama is starting from a place further left than clinton did. He had to contend with a rep. congress, an issue wholly of his own making and he there by moved to center to an extent. Obama is moving center and has a lot further to go becasue he knows he has not a shot in hell winning on a lib platform.

This raising of the ssi threshold will fade as well, its a loser for him and I would say, he,s foundering when it comes to discussing economics, McCain is no genius in that area but he appears to be making fewer policy gaffes like this one.

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Nowadays, the country has evolved, the generations have aged and shifted, and the cultural divide isn't what it used to be, and it's time for the Democrats to return to their roots, which means being centrist socially and on foreign policy and to the left economically. I think that will play well right now.

good luck with that, people have come to see blind entitlement spending as just a sop to buy votes absent methodology to ensure they are efficient and actually doing some good. Add to that the dems have no nor will have any truck with foreign policy that basically doesn't have us laying down in the road , socially the divide is been greater. They cannot even discuss these issues honestly, schip, abortion nor for that matter immigration, etc.

Itsa interesting to see the noise the blue dog dems are making in congress which may sppt some of your thesis ( they are by and large and have run on Con. Values). They basically forced pelosi to allow the vote on the new Fisa wire tapping issue etc. Plus of course the dems passing the funds for iraq last week sans any debate and the wire tap , in their minds gives them security credibility, in other words a pander, good luck to them. Next they’ll be saying we are making progress in Iraq because it has become so apparent only a fool even though they are partisan would still dispute the pubic is beginning to feel that way as well. This recognition will not save them in that arena. The baby alex d is a perfect display of that they have to grab onto, in 06 the ads were Iraqi streets blown up, loses of soldiers, the gritty life of living on the edge in sadr city et al…..