4.08.2010

Ronald Barack Obama Reagan

The nay saying is in full voice this morning, lambasting President Obama for signing an anti nuke treaty with the Soviet Union. Solo singers led by drag queen extraordinaire Rudy Guiliani, with back up provided by welfare queen Michele Bachmann and the Sacajawea wannabe Sarah Palin, are screaming bloody murder today that Obama is soft and is making America less safe.

First off, Obama didn't really do anything except change the wording on an old treaty. If anything at all, he made the wording less bellicose, which may one day, down the road lead to real changes in attitude and arsenal strength. But right now, it's basically window dressing in preparation for the future.

Second, Congress must ratify any treaties for them to take affect. Care to wager a guess as to whether or not Obama can get 67 Senators to go along with the plan, especially since he needs the party of No to reach that number?

Third, the problem with invoking dead presidents like Ronald Reagan as an argument to bolster your fake argument is that his words can come back to haunt you.

Ronald Reagan talked openly about ridding the world of nukes. He was not a hawk when it came to nuclear bombs and massive arsenals of destruction. He talked about it. He wrote about it and he even worked toward it on many levels. Ronald Reagan hated nukes, and it is very safe to say, that he would disagree with the ladies Palin, Bachmann and Guiliani. He continued to perform as the leader of the strongest country in the world, however he never equivocated about his desire to ban nukes.

[F]or the eight years I was president," he wrote in his memoirs, "I never let my dream of a nuclear-free world fade from my mind."-Ronald Reagan.

In 1983 there was a made for TV movie called THE DAY AFTER. Reagan watched it along with the rest of America. It was an amazing movie, the pictures of which still exist in the minds of those who saw it. In his diary Reagan wrote that the movie left him “greatly depressed, “ and changed his mind on prevailing nuclear policy. Like Obama, Reagan was surrounded by war hawks and bomb them to hell wing nuts like Grover Norquist, Newt Gingrich and Jack Abramoff, to name a few. The movie was even shown on Russian television and later Reagan said it affected the Russians in a similar fashion. Even Henry Kissinger lined up against nukes, back in the day.

Considering the number of bombs and weapons that Russia and America already have stockpiled, this little treaty isn't even going to dent the pile, which makes the right's protestations against it, utterly senseless.

For those not old enough to remember, here is just five minutes of THE DAY AFTER. You can find the rest of the movie on Youtube, or better yet rent it and watch.

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