Radical Islamic Terrorism

[cawacko]

This sounds a lot like word-smithing and back tracking. I am not sure how Gorby could have been the Head of State and spent his whole career in "an evil system", but not be "evil" himself. Whole lotta word salad and word-smithing going on there.

To speak more directly to your point, it if offensive to Russians to imply their nation is evil. And you can try to word-smith it and finesse it all you want, but that is exactly how it sounds to normal Russian people.

You also have more credibility calling other people evil, if you are capable of publically recognizing the evils in your own system.

That is not to say America has ever had anything like the Stalinism of 1930 to 1953, which was a level of evil rarely matched in modern human history.

But there has been, and continues to be a lot of bad shit that happens in this country. Going back to the internment of Japanese Americans, institutional racism, lynching, and corrupt and racist law enforcement in large areas of the country, and support for rightiwng dictators across the world, just to name a few. Reagan held us out as the "white shining house on the hill", without ever directly and publically confronting our flaws. To Russians, the rhetoric was that they are "evil", and we are "angels". You just do not have a shred of credibility when you pull crap like that.

That said, I understand your mind has absorbed decades of Saint Reagan mythologies, and there is no way for you to be convinced in five minutes that the whole "evil empire" schtick was just garden variety posturing and bluster.

And there's no question Reagan was posturing. That's what the "bully pulpit" is all about. That's what politicians, leaders, coaches etc. do. He drew a line in the sand at home about who/what the Soviet Union was.

[Bill]

Interesting question.

Though you can be sure hardly anyone in government couldn't answer either---unless it was through their own study because Obama's policy that deleted certain references to Islam from government training manuals.

Pretty insane, huh?

That will save Abdonald the trouble........ Good to see Islamic terrorism is dead now. & it's ok, cause rumpf did it......

[Taichiliberal]

Iran produces a lot of it's own weapons, but they still get help from China.

SA is reliant on US weapons / It's more about balancing the power then fueling a holy war

There is no "balance of power" when the people you are arming are indirectly funding the very organizations that have vowed to wipe you out of existence.

[Taichiliberal]

Reagan wasn't calling Gorby personally evil. He was saying their system was and he was correct.

Big fucking deal! Reagan was second rate actor who's career would not have been save for WWII, who screwed California as Governor and was nothing more than a posturing front piece for the right wing agenda that essentially delayed the fall of the Soviet Union while royally fucking up the American economy.

[cawacko]

Big fucking deal! Reagan was second rate actor who's career would not have been save for WWII, who screwed California as Governor and was nothing more than a posturing front piece for the right wing agenda that essentially delayed the fall of the Soviet Union while royally fucking up the American economy.

How did Reagan delay the fall of the Soviet Union?

[Taichiliberal]

How did Reagan delay the fall of the Soviet Union?

http://www.counterpunch.org/2004/06/...-the-cold-war/

[cawacko]

http://www.counterpunch.org/2004/06/...-the-cold-war/

Clearly not the general consensus on this line of thought

[cancel2 2022]

Yes he was.

Which is why the phrase "evil empire" was stupid as shit.

First of all, Gorby was not part of the "evil empire". He was a reformer of the soviet totalitarian system, and even the dim witted Reagan knew this. So I do not accept your premise.

That said, one always looks weak when they only have the bravado to say inflammatory shit in front of the safe harbor of a friendly audience, but won't use that word outside that comfort zone.

And if there is one things Russians can easily recognize, it is weakness.

Of course you could also call it being diplomatic, but I doubt you considered that as a possibility.

Sent from my iPhone 25 GT Turbo