W’s Legacy is starting to unfold in front of us.

[tjwash]

Saber Rattling. Nobody does it quite as well as the good old U.S. of A. We did it all through the sixties, seventies, and eighties. From the Cuban missile crisis, to the Soviet Union invading Afghanistan, we love to rattle and threaten, and point our weapons, and, well, lets just say we do it awfully well.

Currently, we have set our sights upon Iran, and my oh my how the sabers have been rattling. Dick Cheney says “Iran is at the top of the list of trouble spots”. CNN reports that “Iran is refusing to dismantle their nuclear program”. The White House makes it a point of leaking daily stories to the corporate run media frightening people into submission, “accidentally” telling everyone that the big bad brown people in the Middle-East are once again 45 minutes away from nuking New York city.

I’m going to quote one more American named George Carlin: “Bullshit”

Lets look at reality. Last year, China's oil giant Sinopec Group signed a $70 billion oil and natural gas agreement with Iran. This is nothing new or surprising actually, as Iran is China’s top oil supplier, accounting for 13% of their imports. This is the same China that has actively been buying up our national debt. In addition, the Iranians have actively been courting Russia's LukOil, to use the Neka port, with can currently deliver 120,000 barrels of oil a day, and can be upped to 300,000 barrels if need be.

China’s army is huge. They have nukes. They are developing a maneuverable re-entry vehicle their nuclear warheads. The MARV is designed to counter U.S. strategic-missile defenses. The warhead would also be used on China's new DF-31 long-range missiles and its new submarine missile, the JL-2. Russia has built up more nukes than we have. It was a major cause of their economic collapse in the late 80’s

Still think the Iranian government is worried about us?

This is a critical time in the history of the United States of America. The former Soviet Union, and the Chinese, with Iran as their catalyst, have a reason to put aside their differences and unite against a common foe. This is a period of time that needs to be handled with intelligence, tact, and diplomacy.

Unfortunately, we have a clueless saber rattling cowboy at the helm. Doubly unfortunate, is the throwing away of any semblance of diplomacy for John Bolton, who knows nothing of being a diplomat, and everything of being a trash talking blowhard.

In all reality, Bush Jr. will be known by our children as the President that restarted the cold war.

How many of you are old enough to remember the good old days of the cold war? How many remember the neighborhood “civil defense” teams? How many remember being in school and doing “duck and cover” drills? Of watching the TV and waiting for the end of the world to be announced? If you are under the age of thirty, you probably have no clue what I am talking about, and if that is the case, ask your parents, or your older relatives, and get ready.

We are most likely headed back to that real soon.

[murielm99]

1. I remember duck and cover.

We wore dresses, so it was embarrassing as well as scary.

I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis. I went down to check out the crawlspace in our house. I speculated about how long my family could survive in it, and what we would need. I wondered if I would ever get old enough to wear lipstick.

The threat has never really gone away, but it was lessened with the end of the Cold War. I felt okay about bringing children into the world.

* has no right to inflict this on us again. No right at all.

[WCGreen]

7. Kennedy went on the air to announce the Crisis

the night of my fifth birthday party...

So yea, I remember it well....

[tjwash]

11. I remember that like it was yesterday.

We lived in Florida at the time, and we all suddenly realized how close Cuba really was to our front door...

[WCGreen]

16. My mom and dad suddely grew real quite

and were riveed to the little B&W bouncy TV we had in the corner of the dinning room.....

I remember my big brother asking.... Are we gonna die....

And my father turning to him, as white as a ghost saying....

Our president won't let that happen.....

[DELUSIONAL]

27. I went to school on military bases -- and we KNEW we were

ground zero. Military bases are military targets. Yet we had the tuck and cover drills -- in wide open class rooms.

We were told that our dads were fighting the cold war -- the end all wars. Also -- when the cold war ended -- we lived with the illusion that the world would be at peace.

But as long as one despot like bushie can get control of the nukes -- then there will never ever be peace in the world. And anyway realistically there will probably always be wars over resources -- like oil and water, and land and perhaps sections of the oceans that can sustain life.

I grew up living a lie on a military base -- both military/industrial complex of both sides were using their citizens to make a few people very very rich.

So when the Berlin wall came down -- I thought -- so this is the end of the cold war and now the peace dividend can be spent on health care, cancer research, education -- R & D for alternative energy.

But I never did see a peace dividend -- have any of you seen a peace dividend?

What we are seeing is massive graft and corruption that out do anything done by previous administrations -- the Teapot Dome scandal is nothing compared to the Halliburton et al war profiteers.

Oh the tuck and duck I remember most was in Hawaii -- and there was absolutely no place to hide, except perhaps a tiny broom closet and I'm sure every other kid thought about the broom closet.

[Perky]

2. umm the word is not unfold,,its unravel.......n/t

[Dez]

3. I did the duck and cover deal

although I was too young to understand about nuclear power.
America has to stop using the word 'war' so much. There is a war on terror, war on drugs, war on cancer, war war war! How did this happen that we can become such a society which can only wage war on so many things.

I think a lot of us knew that Shrub was a warmonger, before he was even elected. We knew he was lying about getting us into Iraq. And now he's set his sights on Iran. How many wars do you think he can wage in his total of 8 years??

[electropop]

15. It won't be 8 years.

He'll be impeached and removed within a year.

[Nightjock]

18. Damn RIGHT!!!!!!!!

[xxqqqzme]

21. from your keyboard to

goddess' ear.

[Boomer]

4. I remember "duck-and-cover"

Ah, the innocent days of yore when we naively believed that crawling under our desk and putting our arms over our head would effectively protect us from the annihilation of a nuclear bomb.

I'm too old and too creaky to crawl under a desk now, and too wise to bother with such futile efforts at self-preservation. This time around I'll practice slugging down a glass of wine as I wait for the fireball to take me out.

[opihimoimoi]

6. This PNAC Shit has roots going back to 1947...the fruits are now ripe

[CityZen-X]

5. Bu$h*t's Legacy

R. Clarke once asked Bu$h*t "how do you think history will record your presidency"? The Chimp answered something to the effect-what does it matter we will all be dead by then!

[Arkansas Granny]

8. I remember "duck & cover" too.

I remember the public service ads that showed you how much food and water to stash away for each family member so you could survive until it was safe to some back out. I always thought they were the source for Department of Homeland Security's recommendation of duct tape and visqueen. There was an eery similarity.

[tnlefty]

10. Welcome to DU, Arkansas Granny!

:hi:

[Arkansas Granny]

24. Thanks!

I truly love this place.

[tjwash]

13. Yes the bomb bomb shelters.

They had manuals, and salesmen for bomb shelters. And the PS ads showing how much food and water to stock them with.

Ahhh Capitalism...:eyes:

[spuddonna]

14. welcome to DU! :)

My mom told me stories about the 'duck and cover' drills they did. She went to a Catholic school, and an alarm would sound and they had to jump under their desks.

As soon as the alarm stopped, her teacher walked around pointing at kids who hadn't gotten under their desk quickly enough saying, "You're dead, you're dead, your leg is gone, you're dead..."

I remember listening to this and my jaw was on the ground.

[mcscajun]

9. Old enough to recall...young enough to want to live a while longer yet.

I was not quite 11 when President Kennedy and Premier Krushchev went toe to toe over Cuba, and the world held its collective breath. I wasn't old enough to fully understand, but old enough to be well and truly scared.

I recall 'duck and cover' drills (not under the desks, but the in the glass-enclosed chicken wire-walled stairwells -- ponder that a moment) and believing (thanks to the nuns teaching our school) that the Communists were going to crawl over the windowsills and take over -- make us 'die for our faith'. We grew up on all kinds of horror stories, secular and religious. It was a scary time.

It is again.

[xxqqqzme]

23. I was in high school

during the Cuban Missile Crisis; our psychology class spent the entire week talking about it from a psychological view - how the fear was working; what our families were doing 2 prepare. I was scared but somehow that class everyday until it was over kept me grounded.

[KG]

12. not just W's legacy. this is the consequence of keeping a large standing

military. you can make every problem look like a nail, coz you've got the worlds biggest hammer.

this country needs to be demilitarized.

[Vincardog]

17. The Chimp is doing everything he can to break the military

His 'final solution' involves mushroom clouds.

[FogerRox]

20. I did the duck & Cover too-

recently read a book on the missle crisis

The Russians put 4 subs in the area each with 1 15 KT warhead on a SLBM. ANd orders to use it---------

HOw friggin close we were to losing 4 cities--- ANd U R right --- upthread-- the comment about your DAD saying the President wouldnt let it happen --- /YES--- JFK didnt let it happen.

[Imagevision]

19. They're at it again, promoting another war - WMD's except that

Iran admits to having them and aren't sweating the US. an iota!

So, rumor has it that Bush will go nuclear in Iran? not before we have a nuclear 9-11. Is that what General Byrnes was demoted for? Anytime someone tries to speak the truth, they're smeared or dead.

[proud patriot]

22. I love your sig picture

:-)

[yowzayowzayowza]

25. Indeed!

n/t

[tjwash]

26. That was one of my favorite all time stories.

Theodor Geisel was one of the best at getting his messages across, and "The Lorax" was his most ingenious story ever.

"The Sneetches" was a good one too...