PeterS

And why would increased military spending cause the Soviet Union to collapse. Gorbachev’s reforms did more to hasten the fall of the Soviet Union than anything else. By loosening controls over the people and making reforms to the political and economic elites, the Soviet government appeared weak and vulnerable to the Soviet people. They used their newfound powers to organize and critique the government and by 1991 they successfully ended Soviet rule.

In other words--THE END!!!

son of witless

You act as if the Soviet Empire was doomed to fail. No way to know that. What you say about them in the 1970s could have been said at other times and they did not collapse. Stalin's take over of farms in the 1930s had them in far worse shape and they did not collapse. Even into 1941, Hitler had been told by his military experts that the quality of Red Army units that met the Wehrmacht when they partitioned Poland, were abysmal. Hitler was sure that the Soviets were so rotten in 1941 that his army only had to kick in the door and the whole thing would fall down and yet the strength of the Red Army and the Soviet Union was it's resiliency. It's ability to take casualties and come back stronger was greater than any other nation.

To say that the USSR would have collapsed within 2 Presidents after Reagan has two flaws. First, there is no way to know that. Second you are acknowledging that yes Reagan did have something to do with it collapsing sooner rather than later. Reagan's restrengthening America and challenging the Soviets definitely weakened them. Also his support for dissidents in the Eastern Block and within Russia itself gave hope to those trying to topple the Evil Empire. Liberal Democrats were not especially known for encouraging freedom loving rebels at that time. Even then their hypocrisy was well known.

Your Jesus Transsexual blow job comment reflects accurately on you and your side of the debate.

eagleye13 Loc: Fl

Communism is always a failure when Elitists are not backing them up with Western funding. Red China is another example.
Now why would the Banking Cabal fund such an enterprise?

Raylan Wolfe Loc: earth

son of witless

Profit.

eagleye13 Loc: Fl

Bingo!
Massive profits.

PeterS

No way to know that the SU was going to fail? Where were you in the 70's and 80's? The Soviet Union financed the Vietnam War and then Afghanistan and in doing so shifted their economy from producing domestic goods to war goods all of which was exported else where as were a big chunk of domestic goods that should have gone to the Russian people. The Russia people were fed up which is why when Gorbachev eased up on the regulations they revolted. The Soviet Union, in that form, was done no matter what Reagan decided to do. But neither of us should pat ourselves on the back because the only thing that happened is they shed some satellites, changed their name to Russia, and switched from a totalitarian government to an authoritarian government just as repressive and dangerous as they ever were...

son of witless

You act as if the Soviets were your typical Western Democracy. They were not. Who cares whether the Russian people were fed up ? If they did not like their Socialist Paradise and complained they had their gas shut off to their little Socialist apartments, then their little job was taken away, and then it was the gulag. Men like Solzhenitsyn dared to resist, but it was not until the 1980s that it mattered. In fact, that he and his friends were not executed shows how weak the leadership was getting. They did not have the stomach to do what Stalin did.

The party elite could no longer keep the serfs in line the way the party does in North Korea. How come the North Koreans do not revolt ? They are in much worse shape than the Russians were in 1988.

As far as Russia today, they are not the Empire they were. They cannot project the level of power anymore. Places like Poland are in our sphere, not their's. Putin is well on his way to putting Humpty Dumpty back together again. It did not help that your mighty hero Obama allowed him to do it because the man knows no history at ALL! He told Romney in a debate that he was a moron for believing Russia was a serious threat again. You do remember that , , , , , RIGHT ???????

Funny how Russia went from nothing to now the number one threat in the mind of the jack ass party. We who are RIGHT and actually know our history always knew the threat. We did not have to be reeducated. We also realize that just like in WW2 the US will have to work with Russia against common threats. Back then it was Hitler, today it is ISIS and their brethren.

Reagan, Thatcher, and the Pope from Poland are the heroes, along with everyone else who stood up to the Soviets. That leaves out pieces of garbage like Teddy Kennedy.

PeterS

President Johnson had at the time a habit of recording all of his phone conversations, and newly released tapes from 1968 detailed that the FBI had “bugged” the telephones of the South Vietnamese ambassador and of Anna Chennault, one of Nixon’s aides. Based on the tapes, says Taylor for the BBC, we learn that in the time leading up to the Paris Peace talks, “Chennault was despatched to the South Vietnamese embassy with a clear message: the South Vietnamese government should withdraw from the talks, refuse to deal with Johnson, and if Nixon was elected, they would get a much better deal.” The Atlantic Wire:

In the recently released tapes, we can hear Johnson being told about Nixon’s interference by Defence Secretary Clark Clifford. The FBI had bugged the South Vietnamese ambassadors phone. They had Chennault lobbying the ambassador on tape. Johnson was justifiably furious — he ordered Nixon’s campaign be placed under FBI surveillance. Johnson passed along a note to Nixon that he knew about the move. Nixon played like he had no idea why the South backed out, and offered to travel to Saigon to get them back to the negotiating table.

PeterS

snip<<Gorbachev's policies of glasnost ("openness") and perestroika ("restructuring") and his reorientation of Soviet strategic aims contributed to the end of the Cold War. Under this program, the role of the Communist Party in governing the state was removed from the constitution, which inadvertently led to crisis-level political instability with a surge of regional nationalist and anti-communist activism culminating in the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev later expressed regret for his failure to save the USSR,
Where do you hear Reagan's name invoked? Now read you last sentence!!! You're saying what I've been saying all along...


Their power is in their military and nuclear weapons. The threat is the same as when they were the Soviet Union.


Since you cons are brothers with the Russians it understandable that you see no fear--the fact remains that they are the number one enemy of democracy today...

Michael Rich Loc: Lapine Oregon

The number one enemy of our Republic are the homegrown progressives..'hands down'..

son of witless

And this is relevant to why the Soviet Union collapsed decades later because of ? ? ?

trucksterbud

As always, more FAKE NEWS from the FAKE NEWS SOURCE....!!! Rayloon Wolfie has SAID IT...!!! So, IT MUST BE TRUE...!!

Kinda strange - Wolfturdie - MSN, State of the Nation, ZeroHedge - all have articles about the unemployment numbers, and the FACT that Trump is bringing jobs back........some of those jobs are the VERY JOBS your loverboy OBammyboy sent overseas.....???....!!! How in the world did you miss that one snowflake...??

Go back and try again Rayloon.... Your reporting just didn't cut it....

How much do you get paid to TROLLLLLL.....???

son of witless

" Gorbachev's policies of glasnost ("openness") and perestroika ("restructuring") and his reorientation of Soviet strategic aims contributed to the end of the Cold War. Under this program, the role of the Communist Party in governing the state was removed from the constitution, which inadvertently led to crisis-level political instability with a surge of regional nationalist and anti-communist activism culminating in the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev later expressed regret for his failure to save the USSR, "

Uhhhhh, the selection of Gorbachev as leader was a sign of the coming collapse. I can't remember, but I think there were a couple of very old decrepit men who preceded Gorbachev. He was the first non hardliner to rule. The first ideologically weak leader. To say that he caused it by " glasnost ("openness") and perestroika ("restructuring") " is to misunderstand reality. " glasnost ("openness") and perestroika ("restructuring") " was the last desperate phase of a dying empire. Gorbachev had the right idea, but it was too late. If he had come to power 5 years earlier maybe he could have saved his country, but then he may not have done it.

Either " glasnost ("openness") and perestroika ("restructuring") " would have been started earlier or a Stalinesque total clamp down would have been required.

" Since you cons are brothers with the Russians it understandable that you see no fear--the fact remains that they are the number one enemy of democracy today. "

That is precious. Your side has a history of cozying up to the Russians and stabbing America in the back. Just now I do not have Obama's misdeeds in front of me, but I had previously mentioned that disgusting figure of a man Teddy Kennedy. Here is an article you might just find interesting.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/08/27/ted-kennedy-soviet-union-ronald-reagan-opinions-columnists-peter-robinson.html#2a6e39a1359a

eagleye13 Loc: Fl

"" Since you cons are brothers with the Russians it understandable that you see no fear--the fact remains that they are the number one enemy of democracy today. ""

Well it has been pretty much proven that Russia was not undermining our "Democracy" (actually a Republic). Try? Maybe. What do you think the CIA has been up to?
Any one here want to speculate on who or what has been undermining our Republic/Constitution?
Who gets our politicians elected?
Who makes our laws?
Have we a problem with a corrupt "Deep State"?