Theos-Talk Archives (June 1997 Message tl00400)

On Mon, 16 Jun 1997 06:17:02 -0400 (EDT) "K. Paul Johnson"
<pjohnson@leo.vsla.edu> writes:
>I have let the past five or so digests go by unread; knowing
>just by the headers that the posts would be by and large not
>worth reading (IMO) and containing silly arguments.
>
>I read today's and confirmed that judgment, with such howlers
>as: Tom saying Jimmy Carter would have "laid down our weapons"
>in the struggle with the Soviet Union.  Tom, are you under 25?

The statement that Carter would have "laid down our weapons" was meant as
an exaggeration, to be more relevant as a type of example in the
discussion over whether _any_ self-defense was justified than it was
meant to be historically accurate.  Those who advocate that all
self-defense is wrong should advocate that we lay down all of our
weapons.


>the military buildup of the 1980s, and the increase of tension with the
>Soviets, *began* under Carter after several years of detente
>under the Republiicans.  The Olympic boycott was symbolic of
>this.

Then why do Democrats, in trying to pass off the responsibility for the
accelerated budget deficits in the 1980s, cite Ronald Reagan's military
buildup, instead of their own increases in spending, as the primary
culprit?  And I have never heard anyone imply that Carter was more
responsible than Reagan was for winning the Cold War.  Are you saying
that it would have been done even faster and more efficiently under 12
more years of Carter/Mondale than it was under Reagan/Bush?


>Or the statement that "Besant supported CWL" in the case
>of the boys' claims of sexual abuse.  She was deeply involved
>in the proceedings that led to his resignation from the society
>in 1906 and publicly condemned him.  Two years later she let
>him back in, but never endorsed what he had been doing.

She might not have endorsed what he did, for all I know, but she
certainly supported him personally.  "Letting him back in" seems like
quite an understatement in light of how closely they worked together and
how much she depended on him over the next few decades.