The GOP and Fox News have stumbled to a new low level of journalism. In their attempts to combat the START II Treaty and make President Obama look as though he doesn’t know what he’s doing, they threw former President Ronald Reagan under the “political bus”.
Sarah Palin even went so far as to claim that former President Reagan never said he wanted to reduce America’s nuclear weapons cache. The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c The Big Bang Treaty Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party
As a historian, I feel as though I need to weigh in just a little bit on this topic. It was, if I recall correctly, former President Reagan that proposed START I, in which The United States and then Soviet Union would reduce their nuclear weapons stores by 1/3 of their holding at the time. That treaty took until 1991 to be signed into action and ten years to implement.
START II, signed this week by President Obama and President Medvedev has renewed the quest for a nuclear free world, set out by former President Reagan. The claims from the right wing are that it will leave America defenseless. Let’s think about this: START II requires that the guidelines set out are implemented and completed no later than 2017. That is seven years from now! It also leaves America and Russia with just over 1,500 nuclear warheads each. 1,500 nuclear warheads are still enough to scorch the Earth at least four times over!
This new legislation is key to the way our world continues to grow. In terms of defense, I believe that America will continue to be safe. We still remain the world’s only super-power, and one out of two of the largest nuclear weapons holders in the world. The GOP is grasping at anything they can to try to gather followers. First fear tactics and now completely inaccurate reporting. At this point, they need to be careful. A Fox News poll issued today shows that the IRS is more popular among Americans than the Tea Party.
Do not listen to the rhetoric set forth by Republicans.
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