Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

The definition of "radical" is one who favors drastic political, economic, or social reforms.

Clearly, the group that banded together to form the Project For A New American Century group that were given key positions in the Bush administration were "radicals". In their case, they were on the far right fringe of political and social thought. History has recorded what they accomplished in those eight years, in foreign policy and with the economy. We were all mislead by George Bush in his campaigning that he was a compassionate conservative, that he would dampen the political partisanship that existed when he took office, and that he was a fiscal conservative. Re-read his inaguration speech. He was none of those things. The country was mislead and we're paying the price.

Barack Obama can be similarly criticized. He campaigned as one on the left side of center. But in the first months of his first term, he's governing and permitting the liberal Congress to legislate on the far left fringe of the political spectrum. We may have been fooled again, maybe not quite as badly as with W, but mislead nonetheless. Time will tell whether the damage that the country may suffer will approximate that of the previous administration. I hope not.

But in my mind, both administrations operated near the radical fringe, both right and left. If you disagree and believe that one group were "good guys" and the other "bad guys", so be it. We already know the measurable effects that one group had on our country and in a few years we'll have a better idea on how the other group affected us. Then we can either agree that both groups were a bit radical, or possibly give their governance another name.