I thought the cold was a result of global warming.

The guest was Steven Hayward, fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. Among othre things, he mentioned that we were closer to a nuvlear exchange with the USSR in late 1983 than we were during the Cuban Missle Crisis.

Heyward's a very sharp guy - we interviewed him on the NARN last year.

And while tensions were high in '83, I think part of the point is that the likelihood of an exchange in '62 was much lower than popular mythology has it.

Well, someone from the AEI certainly wouldn't tout Reagan, because after all MPR never has conservatives on, that's why Limbaugh et.al. are an appropriate counter-balance.

I don't think tensions in 83 were anything like as high as 62, that's overstating the risk to aggrandize the actor. We were replacing one class of missile, with a better class, no one got embargoed, we didn't have bombers on alert, and as far as we know, neither did the Soviets.

Having said that, I agree with Mitch the risk in 62 was also overstated, in part because the victors write the history, it helps Kennedy's mystique.

PB

Just for clarification though, Mitch, do you seriously think bombing Iran is a good idea or are you simply poking fun at Hillary? Because I think we have plenty of war for right now, but you know, I'm just a pessamist, maybe we really can fight in a mountainous terrain against 100 million Iranians while keeping 1/3rd of our Army in Iraq to keep it from exploding in civil war.

PB