OOC:It lays the blame at the feet of the hardliners (Republican and Democrat, and Reagan among them) who wanted to get involved in Vietnam in an Americanized war and who refused withdrawal. And it wasn't the cost of the Great Society, but both it and Vietnam (the Great Society would have been fine if not for Vietnam's price tag). Similarly, its not the expense of current upkeep that caused economic problems in the 1970's, but the after effects of funding the Great Society and war.OOC: That still lays the main fault at the feet of the Democrats for getting into Vietnam and instituting the Great Society. Somebody said something about Nixon "stabilizing" Vietnam, so we can assume some variety of win there, or at least a non-loss, and that probably isn't expensive any more.
IC: If we scale back, the Soviets will see it as an opportunity. The only thing that stood between Western Europe and the Soviets in 1945 is the US Army, and the same is true today.
The myth of the knuckle dragging Slavic goon out for land and bloodshed is just that; a myth.