Several Romney campaign advisers and Republican lawmakers continue to mistakenly refer to Russia as the Soviet Union, MSNBC host Chris Matthews pointed out during his "Sideshow" segment on Thursday's Hardball.
For instance, Michele Bachmann had this to say last year on Jay Sekulow's show: "What people recognize is that there's a fear that the United States is in an unstoppable decline. They see the rise of China, the rise of India, the rise of the Soviet Union and our loss militarily going forward."
And then there was John Lehman, a Romney foreign policy advisor who said on April 26 that "we are seeing the Soviets pushing into the Arctic with no response from us."
Of course, the Soviet Union ceased to exist some 20 years ago. But "neocons still think and feel in Cold War terms," Matthews said. "They miss the Cold War."
Romney himself had a slip in April while discussing Russia. Speaking at a Republican National Committee event, he said, "Obama entered into an agreement with the Soviets, excuse me, with Russia" by negotiating the START treaty with with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev.
And then on Wednesday, there was Richard Williamson, Romney's top foreign policy adviser. At a Brookings Institution event, Williamson ripped Obama's policy in Syria, saying that the country is “strategically important to the Soviet Union.”
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I have always assumed it was due to wishful thinking. Life is more fun, for some, who really like a big bad bear, to scare everyone about.
The Soviet Union ended 20 years ago. What is a poor conservative going to rail against if America has no enemies that require huge military expenditures in their home districts? We had the Red scare and the rise of the Klan in the 1920's. We had McCarthyism in the early 1950's. Now Michelle Bachmann wants to start the whole hysteria thing with the Muslim Brotherhood call to arms. God help all of us if we reduced our military budget and invested in our country building green energy and bullet trains so we can compete against the BRIC's and the Asian Pacific-rim countries. America might have a strong middle class with decent paying jobs with benefits. We would have no need for supply side conservatives then. Why would anyone want so much progress for our country?
They are people who have no inner motivation. They need enemies to give their lives meaning. I don't need communists to make me work nor do I need Republicans. The key word is "inner motivation." For the GOP there is no reason to live if it's not to seek status over some enemy. Sad but true.