I wrote in my prefatory remarks:

Given that, what's important is not a military prescription for the Cold War that happens to resonate with Bush's approach to terrorism. What's important are the eternal principles that inform a modern Democrat (and Progressive and Liberal et al).

So what's the point of quoting all the material referring to how to fight the Cold War? The Soviet Union was rattling its sabers, we rattled ours; the US and USSR were at least speaking the same language of power. What can Bush hope to accomplish by rattling sabers at terrorists?

If memory serves, what Kennedy's referring to in the way of a tax cut was dropping the very highest tax rates from their historic high of about 70% down to about where they were before the recent rounds of Republican tax cuts for the wealthy. That makes it very much an apples-to-orange comparison--modern Republicans aren't trying to bring down the wealthy's tax rates from 70%, where there's room to argue fairness; they're trying to reduce tax rates for the wealthy further from already historically-low rates.

They ain't making Democrats like they used to.

Just for the sake of argument, let's say that that's so. How useful is the present as a predictor of the future? My point is that Conservatives are particularly bad at anticipating change and planning for it, and seem to exist in a perpetual state of surprise (and outrage) that the world stubbornly persists in going its own way in utter disregard of Conservative plans.

Do you think that Democrats can lose several elections in a row and watch Republicans trying to undo fifty years of progress, without learning and adapting and...yes, growing? Democrats have been a little slow to react, but as I've observed before, the Progressive/Liberal/Democratic side has been roused from its slumber and is developing the means to fight back and win.

I have no choice but to commit the perfect cliche: You've awakened the sleeping giant.

Enjoy!