So then we wouldn't allow our Military to have their weapons loaded in hostile areas like in Beirut

We would have accelerated out of Control deficit spending

With much of that being on the Military industrial complex for toys that didn't work and the rest going to support groups that we will ewventually have to fight -Taliban, Saddam, etc.

Of course more tax cuts for the rich

And for the final greatness

Amnesty for ALL illegals with nothing done to stop the mass migration!

What the Reagan Doctrine might look like.

Agreed. We do need to raise taxes a bit.

Raising taxes, negotiating with terrorists, and giving amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. Sounds like a plan to me.

And it just HAS. To be the NEXT occupant, because we don't want to hate it just because it's Obama who is doing it, like Libya, killing ObL, killing Awlaki, or the jobs bill.

so cut our defense spending by 16%?

Reagan was committed to the idea of American exceptionalism. "The Reagan doctrine," wrote centrist scholar Walter Russell Mead, "was rooted in an unshakable belief in America as the indispensable nation." Today, there are those who are pushing the United States to "share sovereignty" and accept the authority of the "international community," especially such institutions as the United Nations, the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. Reagan would have just said no.



we don't have the military strength to go it alone anymore. we've allowed wall street to weaken our economy to the point where we lack the ability to be self sufficent and our social inequality has grown to the point where future generations now expect their standard of living to be LESS than the standard of living of the preceeding generation. And don't get me started on how we've allowed intellectual property laws to strangle innovation and growth rather than help bring new ideas/products to market more efficently.

yes - we need things to change. But the GOP ideas aren't very useful, nor are they grounded in reality (or sanity, for that matter). I'm not sure about some of the things the Democrats are saying either....but at least I could discuss them with the Democrats. the GOP defines political dissent as religious apostacy and threatens a witch hunt over budget negotiations.

mereninge: giving amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants

President Calderón, TEAR DOWN THIS US-MEXICO BORDER!

As an aside - I wonder how much longer we can last? the 1% isn't handling the Occupy protests very well at all, and despite the news blackout people are watching the cops commit acts of brutality against people who just want to be heard. unemployment is rising, the GOP seems hell bent on destroying the country just to get back at Obama for getting elected. we've lost the war on drugs. we nailed Bin Laden but still hear that we need to increase funding to deal with an increasingly vaguely defined enemy. nobody's really sure WHY we're in the middle east anymore.

Even at the state levels people aren't happy. Unions are being raped by GOP run legislatures, the fight over funding is getting nasty almost everywhere you look. we've seen more recall elections in the past two years than the country has seen in decades. rumors of dirty tricks squads and illegal police infiltration of protest movements abounds. people are out of work, they're afraid they'll lose their houses and are having problems feeding their kids. nobody seems to feel secure anymore. more and more people are starting to understand that all it takes is just one bad day and that's it - they're no longer 'middle class'.

But if you watch the TV ads it all looks normal. the newspapers all try to tell us that things are already getting better. that we shouldn't pay any attention to the protests, that the market has already turned around and that everyone will have a job any day real soon now. nobody talks about europe's economic implosions or how that will affect us. just buy something online and don't worry about it. go back to sleep, watch a game on TV and bang your wife/girlfriend. take some pills and it'll be ok.

But it's not ok. we're not getting better. things are getting worse, and if you step up and talk about it some cop will pepper spray you till you scream, then arrest you for blocking pedestrian traffic. people are starting to be afraid to mention all our problems in this country. so how much longer can we last?

You mean the president will have to refer to the first lady as "Mommy"?

RD: eat some jelly beans, get tarot card advice from skeletor, take a nap.

Weaver95: we don't have the military strength to go it alone anymore. we've allowed wall street to weaken our economy to the point where we lack the ability to be self sufficent and our social inequality has grown to the point where future generations now expect their standard of living to be LESS than the standard of living of the preceding generation....

Personally, I would rather not sell arms to Iranian terrorists to fund secret crypto-fascist death squads in Latin America. Nor do I wish to send Marines into Lebanon without allowing them to shoot back, then cutting and running from Beirut emboldening Hizb Allah in the process. I'd prefer not to arm and equip the Mujahaddin in Afghanistan or train some guy named Bin Laden. On the other hand, I think supporting trade unions in Poland is pretty cool, but I still don't think its worth it.

as a country, I think we're starting to see the first fractures in our political union. the bible belt doesn't see the US in the same way that the New England states do. And the folks out west in Oregon and Washington state don't see the country the same way that texas and california do.

we've been able to paper over our regional differences for a long time...but they haven't gone away. With more and more stress being applied (from economic troubles to social policy matters) those fractures are starting to become more prominent.

Now i'm not saying that we're going to break up into several smaller states....but I am saying that regional politics are probably going to become more prominent from this point forward.

Reading this thread makes me think we should have listened to John Titor.

So when we talk about the "Reagan Doctrine", do we now omit the part where Reagan proved that deficits don't matter? Or do they matter temporarily while Obama is in office, but won't matter again when a GOPer takes over?

/is it even possible to suck more Reagan-cock than Obama does?

sinschild: MaudlinMutantMollusk: You mean the president will have to refer to the first lady as "Mommy"?

I suppose anything is better than "Baby Mama".

Really?

themindiswatching: Reading this thread makes me think we should have listened to John Titor.

if that comes true, i'm gonna travel down to florida and find that kid before he grows up then punch him in the nose for being an arrogant prick.

A Dark Evil Omen: Or... We could try using some good ideas, instead. Just a thought.

any article that opens with an invocation of krauthammer and reagan pretty much precludes that possibility.

t3knomanser: Weaver95: but I am saying that regional politics are probably going to become more prominent from this point forward.

Which isn't inherently bad. But the problem is that politicians are invested in using wedge issues to drive national politics. Everybody wants to enforce their regional political ideas at the national level, and it just isn't going to work. While I'm in favor of a strong federal government, we need to re-evaluate how the relationship between citizens, states and the fed work.

that's the thought that worries me the most - we've got TWO political parties, both of whom spend a lot of time abusing wedge issues and single issue politics to distract voters from core issues (such as budget problems and/or the war on drugs fight). every time voters start to ask uncomfortable questions, there seems to be some designated hitter pop up and change the subject to 'abortion' or 'gay marriage'.

but how much longer can we keep going? we like to believe that our country can overcome any/all problems that we face. But we seem to be going out of our way to avoid facing a number of issues (drugs, wall street theft, inequitable distribution of wealth, to name a few). we can't ignore reality forever. eventually something is gonna snap. So what happens when the bottom drops out of our country and we've spent DECADES dividing people with wedge issues? we're teaching people to hate each other over ideology, not come together and find a workable compromise. I don't see any of this ending well.

i'm still not sure why we even keep the TSA around anymore. we've smashed the big name terrorist organizations. Bin Laden is dead. Even the Pentagon has gone on record saying that large scale terrorist attacks are a thing of the past. So why are we increasing funding for the TSA? why is the TSA even a seperate agency? we could reduce their numbers, fold them into Homeland Security and focus on training people to look for 'lone wolf' attacks and how to deal with them if/when they happen.

randomjsa: So if Reagan was fiscally irresponsible... what is Obama? Fiscally insane? Fiscally out of his damn skull?

so you're admitting that Reagan was fiscally irresponsible?

Reagan was a senile old fool who saw the world as a Hollywood "B" movie. We sure need more of that.

Weaver95: As an aside - I wonder how much longer we can last?

Depends on if we spot a kid named Nehemiah Scudder. HIM we need to punch in the junk as soon as he gets found.

LasersHurt: ಠ_ಠ

That's all I have to say. Really. Wow.

Everything in moderation, my dear friend.

randomjsa: So if Reagan was fiscally irresponsible... what is Obama? Fiscally insane? Fiscally out of his damn skull?

How about "fiscally beholden to the republican terrorists in Congress".

Here's a chart, because I know you righties hate reality.