[WeatherOp]

Yes that would be your fault for voting them in, but that would make you ashamed of voting them into power, not make you ashamed of being an American, corrrect?

[aldo_14]

Yes that would be your fault for voting them in, but that would make you ashamed of voting them into power, not make you ashamed of being an American, corrrect?

There's a difference?

[Rictor]

Here - http://www.exile.ru/2006-May-19/the_cold_war_timeline.html - you can read the verbose version, on wtf has been going on with Russia, Yukos and Cheney and co.

So there are other people who read the eXile, even here. You, sir, are a gentleman of descriminating taste and readership. Or something.

And yes, Russia's coming back and I'm damn happy to hear it. Hopefully they'll stop the US, but more importantly EU, from struting around like they own Europe and provide some much-needed counterbalance to the world's newest "benevolent empire". Also, those of us who have a fetishistic love of Soviet/Russian military technology now have something to look forward to.

[Janos]

The article certainly needs more hyperbole, there wasn't nearly enough.

[Nuke]

its like 1% facts and 99% bloat, i quit after paragraph 4, this writer likes to ramble and make himself look good, i really dont need him to tell me the world sucks, that part is obvious.

[Kosh]

I'm not sure how much of Russia's comeback is really a comeback. All of its growth is centered on gas and oil exports, and they don't seem too interested in changing that.

[Nuclear1]

I would imagine it's a combination of the hypocracy of supporting allied yet repressive regimes whilst criticising another country for pretty much the same thing, and the feeling of duplicity in the way a country that could have been an ally was simply ignored and sidelined in favour of a unliteral path that arguably only threatened them and China.

But, the actions of other can make you ashamed of being an American?

Representative Democracy is about YOU ELECTING politicians, who REPRESENT YOUR morals, political views and ideals.
Hence Cheney and co. give a clear cut idea of what America thinks of the rest of the world - it was you guys who voted them into power.

True, but many average Americans, my parents included, didn't vote for Bush/Cheney to start a second Cold War or wiretap phonelines.

Fact of life: politicians lie. They can say whatever they want during an election, but once they get into office, it's up to them to do what they want with their power, even if they may lose their power.

I'm not ashamed to be an American; ashamed to call myself a Republican, possibly, but not of my country.

[karajorma]

True, but many average Americans, my parents included, didn't vote for Bush/Cheney to start a second Cold War or wiretap phonelines.

So what does that make them? Gullible? Stupid? Lazy? Easily swayed by the media?

It's not like people haven't been warning them about that sort of thing. It's not like there haven't been enough warnings about the sort of person Bush was. Hell after 4 years with him in charge you'd have to have stuck your fingers in your ears and hummed very loudly not to know what he was. And yet the majority of Americans who expressed a preference voted for him.

If you don't know what your politicians are going to do with the power you give them, you bloody well shouldn't be giving them that power in the first damn place.

[Rictor]

In all honesty, a Cold War 2 scenario is good for the world. Why, you ask? Because America is infinitely better at projecting its soft power than its hard power. As long as America uses diplomacy, economic influence, supporting the opposiion and other such methods to get its way, in other words discrete, "peaceful" methods, they will be able to influence a significant portion of the world's nations. But as soon as the guns and hard rhetoric come out, as soon as they show their teeth, nations instinctivelly put up the barricades and start pushing back. For the price of the Iraq War America could have bought itself cooperation from the entire Middle East for a decade, if only it had been smart about it.

And since I am against any projection of American power, I support them when they use the less effective of two approaches. Look at the results of six years of Bush's militancy: Russia is kicking ass after a decade of poverty and powerlessness, South America is increasingly turning against America, the US is widely hated or at least mistrusted, especially in the Middle East with rival powers rising (Iran, Saudi, Turkey), China is allying with Russia to keep the US out of Asia, the US has lost whatever support it had in Central Asia and the Cauceses etc etc. My only hope is that Bush and/or his succeesor will increase the agressive rhetoric, increase their meddling in foreign countries, start more wars and abuse more rights, both at home and abroad. Because every day that a hawkish imperialist sits in the White House shortens the lifespan of the American empire.  Althought I fear that the power vaccum left behind, at least in Europe, will quickly be filled by the EU, which is far better at doing the soft-power dance and will therefore be more successful in making everyone in the region its *****.