No, I don't know how many bases the US has overseas nor how many personnel we have stationed overseas but in asking that, you're deflecting. And just what do you mean by "If you look at the words from the mouths of those involved in foreign policy, as well as their attitudes and actions, that is clearly not true at all."
Can you tell me all of those "involved in foreign policy" upon whom your statement relies? And why you see it the way that you do?
I know full well what many of Janet Yellen's past activities have been. I also know what she has pushed for recently, as in this year, and is still pushing for.
I've read Biden's proposals in detail and frankly, they are the most progressive policies that have any chance at all of being passed at this time or in the next several years. Others, many of whom call themselves progressives, have stated what I did but without the words you've added, "ever contemplated", which I did not say, but you apparently added in an attempt to strengthen your claim, which means it isn't very strong on its own.
I am not going to question your wisdom but I've been around and politically active for longer than you've been alive, or at least longer than you've been of voting age, and I know full well Joe Biden is far from perfect and he did work with segregationists and racists but I also saw that compromise is the only way to move forward.
Of course Biden's Presidency won't be perfect and solve all of the problems we face but attacking it ahead of time is to play into the enemies hands.
And, no, I don't want to go back to the "old normal" and never said that.
But, if too many self-proclaimed "progressives" demand that everything be changed now, today, not incrementally, then yes, we will go back to the "old normal". That's exactly the attitude many Republicans and future dictators-in-waiting will then use against the left.
"Pure" progressives set us back in 1968, 1980, and again in 2000 and I pray it doesn't happen again because this country may, literally, not get another chance. People can bitch and moan and cry about all the injustice in the world or they can work together to improve it. What is good for a society is worth fighting for and demands patience; it can't just "happen" overnight, at least, not in the real world.
Non-land owning white men didn't have the right to vote at the end of the Revolutionary War, even though they did nearly all the fighting.
Slavery didn't end until after many decades of opposition and finally a civil war. Even then, Lincoln's proclamation only applied to southern states; it was a military tactic, not necessarily one of compassion and understanding, although that may have been part of it as well.
Women didn't get the right to vote until after many decades of protesting.
Child labor wasn't banned and Unions legalized until the during the Great Depression in the 1930s. Social Security began then. too, despite fierce opposition of the business class and (most) of the wealthy.
Medicare wasn't enacted until the mid-60s.
A woman didn't have the legal right to even have a bank account in her name without a husband or father or brother's approval until 1972.
The Clean Air and Water Act was the result of years of pressure from environmentalists. And I was old enough at the time to see the difference, especially after phosphates were banned from laundry detergents.
All of those things were "true progress" but none of them happened in the span of a few years or in the face of opposition from the very people whom they were intended to help.
Yes, true progress would be great but I hope it isn't going to be sabotaged once again by those who want everything done now and without compromise.
