[lbo-talk] Krugman on the 40 year arc of the Repugnican Party

[John Thornton]

Michael Smith wrote:
> On Fri, 2 Jan 2009 14:37:48 -0500
> Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>    
>   
>> There's no historical precedent for saying that an incoming D admin is  
>> going to intensify the attack on living standards. 
>>     
>
> Would it be fair to say that at best, they will press the attack 
> slightly less energetically? 

I don't know how you would quantify this.
I don't think you can.
Would a straight body count of enemy combatants be the metric?
A body count of Americans?
Both?
Some sort of ratio of the two?
Would a body count of civilians be included?
Total property damage and if so measured how?
Would German deaths in WWII in the fight to stop fascism (I know, I 
know) be considered the same as Vietnamese deaths in a naked war of 
imperialism of no redeeming value?
None of this is necessarily meant rhetorically. If someone really wanted 
to attempt to place the locus of blame for imperial aggression more at 
the foot of one American party or the other I would be very curious how 
they approach that subject.
I just don't think it can be done in any way that would be meaningful.

John Thornton