The Greatest Appeasement of All Time

A nice little discussion on Right From Left got me to thinking about how much has changed in Right Wing thought over the last couple years. As I was saying to Kent, there has been no bigger supporter of terrorism and dictators than Ronald Reagan. There is no denying, not even in the Right Wing Fantasy World, that Reagan openly armed, funded and supported Saddam Hussein and bin Laden's jihad in the 1980s. Today, however, Bush and his final realm of support, the Right Wing, want to label Barack Obama and anyone who doesn't support war without end as being an appeaser for wanting to have talks with Iran's president.

Having talks with a country that doesn't see eye to eye with yours is nothing new. And after my Reagan talk on Right From Left, it dawned on me that no president in American history held more talks with countries wanting to blow us to smithereens than Ronald Reagan. Here this whole time I've been arguing that Reagan was an appeaser for arming, funding and creating bin Laden, and then I realized that arming terrorists is not what the neocons and the Right Wing is interested in. It's TALKING with so-called enemies that the right wing wants to portray as appeasement. Well, Reagan wins there also.

In today's world, Reagan would be considered an appeaser for wanting to hold talks with the evil Soviet Empire: the only enemy in our history with the ability to destroy the entire world in a matter of seconds. Arming Saddam and bin Laden is no big deal. Propping up the Saudi Royal family is hogwash. But holding talks is "appeasement" and treason. And only shows "inexperience" and a lack of judgment. It's perfectly acceptable to the Right Wing to arm and fund terrorists, but to want to TALK with them is plum craziness. Reagan talked with the Soviets more and signed more treaties than anyone since WWII. And at the time the Right Wing was no easier on him than they are today with Obama and anyone who doesn't want knee jerk wars.

According to the neocons and the Right Wing there's nothing worse than wanting to TALK with perceived threats. However, supplying them weapons that they use on their own people and weapons that they now kill our troops with and supplying them with unimaginable amounts of money and intelligence while propping up ruthless dictators is a tough macho manly warrior thing to do.