Time Capsule, or maybe it was bizzaro world?

Remember when Republicans were moderate people with mainstream views who actually came up with ideas of their own? I was just a kid during the Reagan years but wow what a different world we live in now.  A world with no Fox News.  No rambling pundit entertainers addicted to drugs.  What an era that would have been.

Here's a glimpse to what it looked like.  Former Reagan Secretary of State George P. Shultz in the WSJ yesterday lauding President Obama's handling of foreign affairs, most specifically nuclear diplomacy:

The treaty helps move our relationship with Russia in a more constructive direction, and it sets the stage for work with other nations in getting the nuclear threat under control. The NPR is especially interesting in its broad invitation to other countries to work with the United States on strategic issues, and in its recognition of the importance of addressing regional disputes.

The document recognizes that deterrence is not necessarily strengthened by overreliance on nuclear weapons. These weapons have not been used since 1945 and successive presidents have shown little appetite for using them except as a last resort. Instead, deterrence can be strengthened through more effective intelligence and through precision in the targeting of conventional weapons. We also have the capacity to target those individuals who might authorize the use of weapons of mass destruction. This 21st century version of deterrence is more relevant than one that is over-reliant on weapons that indiscriminately destroy large numbers of innocents.

Both documents are invitations to future work, and there is plenty to do if we are to maintain our safety and security.

What a different world indeed.  No mention of surrender.  No mention of Hitler or capitulation.  No mention of giant mushroom clouds exploding over our cities.  Nothing about failure or bowing.  Not even a single word about being weak or an appeaser.  There is no way Shultz would ever stand a chance in today's GOP.  He would be run out of town by fanatical mobs with pitch forks and signs about socialism.

Quite the contrary from those ancient times, the modern GOP is led by people like Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and that omniscient Sarah Palin; instead of experts like Shultz, whose life's work was spent in the international community, most notably as an expert in macroeconomics and world economies-- even a PhD in industrial economics.  Why should this matter?  Well, because Beck, Hannity, Limbaugh and Palin haven't a clue what they are talking about.  They are pundits, not experts.  Only one of them holds a college degree (which took her transferring to 6 different colleges to graduate) and the closest any of them have ever come to world affairs, much less in the nuclear realm, is watching "24" on teevee.   But these are the upper echelon of Republican "thinkers" and policy hawks.

Republicans today much prefer the tough, macho, divisive language of their current leaders over the sane calmness of their past.  They much prefer getting their politics from twats tweets and Facebook posts than from people that have devoted their life to the field.  It's a sickness that has taken hold of a national party that truly has a rich past in advancing this country.  Too bad it's long gone.