Not as incorrect as you might think. Until Reagan took the reins, the U.S. was lagging behind the Soviet Union pretty badly (due to some fairly inept leadership up to that point).
The fact was, Soviet Communism was evil. Flat out evil. How many lives lost in 'purges', how many lives broken? Not to denigrate the Jews, but Stalin made Hitler look like a shop clerk in the mass murder department.
Reagan was probably a lot sharper than people realize. He knew how much stress the U.S. economy could take, and figured it was worth it if he could break the Soviet Union. To be honest, I agree with the assertion; we might spend years rebuilding our economy, but at least we'd still BE here and not be a satellite of the U.S.S.R.
Did I agree with everything Reagan did? No. The Iran-Contra affair irked the hell out of me (although considering Reagan's no-negotiations-with-terrorists attitude, he might've been telling the truth about not knowing about the deals. Or that might've been early Alzheimer's setting in. Who knows?).
But it was nice to see a President who really believed we have a great country, and was willing to take on a monster.
--Toasty
