Tales from the Cold War

Liz Cheney, daughter of the former vice president of the United States, repudiates President Obama’s version of the Cold War:

Speaking to a group of students, our president explained it this way: "The American and Soviet armies were still massed in Europe, trained and ready to fight. The ideological trenches of the last century were roughly in place. Competition in everything from astrophysics to athletics was treated as a zero-sum game. If one person won, then the other person had to lose. And then within a few short years, the world as it was ceased to be. Make no mistake: This change did not come from any one nation. The Cold War reached a conclusion because of the actions of many nations over many years, and because the people of Russia and Eastern Europe stood up and decided that its end would be peaceful."

The truth, of course, is that the Soviets ran a brutal, authoritarian regime. The KGB killed their opponents or dragged them off to the Gulag. There was no free press, no freedom of speech, no freedom of worship, no freedom of any kind. The basis of the Cold War was not "competition in astrophysics and athletics." It was a global battle between tyranny and freedom. The Soviet "sphere of influence" was delineated by walls and barbed wire and tanks and secret police to prevent people from escaping. America was an unmatched force for good in the world during the Cold War. The Soviets were not. The Cold War ended not because the Soviets decided it should but because they were no match for the forces of freedom and the commitment of free nations to defend liberty and defeat Communism.

Just so.

With President Obama, it’s to the point where his groveling to and rewriting history for our enemies and frenemies has become so frequent that we are beginning to become complacent in refuting his fantasies. Good thing that pundits like the fearless progeny of Darth Cheney have not.

(Thanks to Drew M. at Ace of Spades HQ. Drew thinks that Miss Cheney and her father should be on the 2012 GOP presidential ticket and, to that end, has a most excellent slogan.)

Comments

[cpodug]

Apparently, history is not a required major for either a lawyer or community organizer, and most certainly not for POTUS.

[Mike]

As I tell all the young snots when they mention something about the Cold War: You're welcome!

[Buford Gooch]

My only quibble with Drew M is that it should be Liz Cheney and her mother who are the Republican ticket in 2012.

[baldilocks]

BG: that would be awesome in its cranial detonation alone!

I haven't seen so many women with balls since The Crying Game.

:-P

[Kwongdzu]

I haven't seen so many women with balls since The Crying Game.

Yes, let the girls have a go at it. That would be something. Cranial detonation lineup would also have to include Sarah Palin and Michele Bachman. Oh, and there should be a job for Debra Burlingame in there somewhere too.

[Mike]

Oh J, that is gross.

[baldilocks]

Oh sorry :::snicker:::