James Carroll on START and Republicans

[MBS]

Though I think he gives way too much credit to Reagan (whose election, IMHO, was the first sign of the political disease that still afflicts our country, and was, in particular, responsible for the move of the national Republican party to the extreme right) , it's nevertheless a strong piece in its condemnation of Republicans playing partisan politics with matters of urgent global consequence (And he is right, at least, in his implication that the current Republican members of congress are even worse than Reagan-- something which I once thought wasn't possible. .so far we have fallen.. )
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/11/29/fallout_from_a_us_treaty_failure/

The concluding paragraphs:

Reagan would be ashamed of Senate Republicans. He would be appalled by the ignorance of men and women who regard nuclear arms as just another occasion for partisan advantage. He would shake his head, that Reagan mystification: What don’t you understand about this treaty’s historic urgency? How crazy are you?

Schizophrenia, as the word suggests, assumes a kind of split, disorder co-existing with health. But Republican nuclear madness now is total. Americans should be clear about what has happened. The Senate naysayers are drivers of trucks in a convoy whose cargo is the future of the planet. They are careening down a midnight mountain road, without headlights. And they are drunk.

[Tippy]

1. K&R.....problem being Reagan's headlights were getting dimmer too

[karynnj]

3. suggesting that this was a GHWB goal ???

Even if true, it likely works better to keep pointing out to Republicans, who seem to think that Reagan was near God like, that he started this process.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Yeah, Reagan started by deploying new missiles

Cruise missiles in Europe, and the MX ballistic missile. This article claims he was turned towards warhead and missile reduction by strong public pressure, and the opportunity to do it when Gorbachev took power in the USSR: http://www.bostonreview.net/BR25.2/wittner.html

So one might say he was 'schizophrenic' about it too. But his end position was for talks and reduction, and that's what current Republicans are fighting against.