it makes clear the overwhelming importance of the eastern front,

No doubt, the USSR threw lives like candy at the Nazis, and the failed 1940 negotiations effectively put the Germans on shaky ground. But I wouldn't go so far as to assert that the death toll between the western and eastern fronts are a good metric for deciding how important the US was to the war effort.

"[The USA] took over the bulk of the military responsibilities of European allies"

I meant *after* WW2 was won - our occupation forces in west germany, and other parts west of the iron curtain, effectively provided our European allies with militaries they didn't need to maintain against the Soviets.

One bloodthirsty dictator beating another (slightly more) bloodthirsty dictator isn't quite as good a story as "America, World Police", but it's closer to the mark.

Actually, given Stalin's purges, one could argue that it was a bloodthirsty dictator beating another slightly *less* bloodthirsty dictator :)

I was always confused playing WW2 miniatures games as a kid in the 80s because the russians in 1984 were the "evil empire", but they were allies in WW2...took a lot of reading to figure out how that all fit together. But I'll argue that WW2 was really police academy for "America, World Police", and that the cold war really cemented our role there for the greater part of the latter 20th century. As we look at America's decline, especially during the Obama years, the pussies of the world will be wondering why the dicks aren't around to fuck the assholes who are shitting all over them.

Regarding the Russo-Georgian war, and effective tools like economic sanctions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R...

"US sanctions against Russia imposed by the Bush administration were lifted by the Obama administration in May 2010."

At least Bush sent in aid with military craft:

"Although the Bush administration considered a military response to defend Georgia, it was ruled out because of the conflict it would provoke with Russia. Instead, Bush opted to send humanitarian supplies to Georgia on military (rather than civilian) aircraft."

Any word on what the US is doing to help Ukraine?

Russian lives + allied food and weapons definitely did Europe big time - see my other comment on lend-lease.

That all being said, I suppose you could categorize the cold war as Team America vs. Team USSR -> which side would you rather live in, given the choice?

The alternative is now unfolding before your eyes.

The alternative is ISIS beheading people in Syria and Iraq.

The alternative is Boko Haram stealing girls with impunity.

The alternative is China dogging our planes with impunity in international waters.

The alternative is a nuclear Iran.

The alternative is Egypt in the hand of islamists.

The alternative is ambassadors dead in Libya.

The alternative is Taliban resurgent in Afghanistan.

Without Team America, you've got a double helping of the usual world chaos, as everyone realizes "Oh shit, it's not the far away Americans we really hated, it's this fucker next door! And his wife! And his kids! Who I can now shoot and kill in the name of Allah!". Yes, it's shitty to be hated for helping (although granted, the US fucks up hard now and again - I'm looking at you South American dictators), but there is no doubt in my mind that Team America's benefits have outweighed (even if only by a little, likely a lot), their detriments.

Of course, today we live in a different world, and we get to see the alternative.

The USSR doesn't even call it "World War 2" - it's "The Great Patriotic War". And yes, the USSR was tremendously important.

But who was arming (and feeding) them?

Yup, America, World Police -

http://englishrussia.com/2008/...

http://www.historynet.com/russ...

And somehow, Obama thought he could bluff the people who were willing to spend *lives* to advance their national aims. Bottom line, Putin is playing chess, and Obama is playing connect 4.

Right now the ocean is (on average) warming by quite a bit. Here is the latest data: http://davidappell.blogspot.co... . This may be due to natural cycles (which it is!), but if the ocean is warming, and the atmosphere is warming, then there is a radiative energy imbalance causing that warming. That's physics.

What we are seeing in atmospheric temperatures is a steady increase in temperatures due to GHG. Transposed on top of this is the natural ebb and flow of energy from the atmosphere to the ocean and back. This is called ENSO and PDO. When we are in a negative phase of the PDO and ENSO we see more energy moving from the atmosphere to the ocean. When we are in a positive phase we see a spike in atmospheric temperatures (See the super-ElNino of 1998 for example).

So what we are measuring makes perfect sense to a scientist. When you look at the evidence (if you are willing to look at the data at all) you see "desperate" people "trying to pretend" something or other. What nonsense!

When Great Britain stopped being a world power, and vied for "peace in our time" with Chamberlain, the average UK citizen's standard of living was dramatically affected by the aggression of Germany in WW2.

When the US finally became the world police, drawn into the conflict by the Japanese, and won the war for the allies, and took over the bulk of the military responsibilities of European allies, *that's* when UK citizens living standards went up.

Chew on that :)

Once you appear weak, and unwilling to stand for your "red lines", your competition simply won't take you seriously anymore.

Nothing Obama (or the international community for that matter) is willing to do will aver Russia from its course. At this point, the questions to be settled will be around just how much of Ukraine manages to stay independent at all.

While people may have been all pissy about Bush, unilateral wars, and Team America World Police, the fact of the matter is that it was better than the alternative. "America, Fuck Yeah" sure looks better than "America, Fuck No" at this point.

Actually, the CBO report is a lot more rosy than the GAO report (GAO being generally more reliable):

http://www.nationalreview.com/...

I wonder if the CBO report counts as astroturfing? :)

So, if the ACA reduces the deficit, but we build programs that spend that extra money and *more*, are we really reducing the deficit? :)

Compare the GAO report to the CBO report:

http://www.nationalreview.com/...

Spend a million dollars, and astroturf the meme "evil republican congress people are trying to influence you with memes".

Back in reality-world:

http://www.freedomworks.org/co...‘one-nation’-just-liberal-astroturfing

http://mashable.com/2008/08/08...

http://lonelyconservative.com/...

http://dailycaller.com/2013/02...