As for the facts that Roger presents...
Alan Greenspan, btw, is a Democrat, married to ultra-liberal Andrea Mitchell of NBC News.
This is one such 'fact' that I myself found extremely mystifying. Is Alan Greenspan a Democrat? Why have I never heard that before?
I googled Alan Greenspan and read the Wikipedia post about him. Wikipedia didn't mention Greenspan's political affiliation. But there was someone on these boards who said that you can learn about a person's convictions by looking at his friends, so let's look at the some of the people that Wikipedia lists among Greenspan's friends:
In the early 1950s, Greenspan began an association with famed novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand's philosphy was that government is evil and the individual is good. Her philosophy inspired such things as deregulated banking and supply side economics. Remind me, isn't supply side economics a Republican specialty?
In the summer of 1968, Greenspan agreed to serve Richard Nixon as his coordinator on domestic policy in the nomination campaign.
Hmmm. Richard Nixon. Remind me, wasn't he a Republican?
a 33-year stint interrupted only from 1974 to 1977 by his service as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Gerald Ford
Gerald Ford. Remind me, wasn't he a Republican?
First appointed Fed chairman by President Ronald Reagan in August 1987
Ronald Reagan. Wasn't he a Republican?
Wikipedia points out that Greenspan served as Chairman of the Federal Reserve under four Presidents, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. That means he served under three Republican presidents and one Democratic president. Well, that clinches it, doesn't it? Anyone who has had any associations with any Democrats at all must be a Democrat himself, no matter how many Republican friends he has got. Right?
You cite Greenspan's marriage to Andrea Mitchell as proof that he himself is a Democrat. Well, I don't know about you guys in America, but in Sweden it is not unknown for married couples to agree to disagree on matters of politics. Besides, according to Wikipedia Mitchell and Greenspan were married in 1997, eleven years ago, and they may have grown apart politically since then. Mitchell certainly seems to have some 'not-so-Democratic' credentials, as she was apparently involved in the Valerie Plame case. But in any case, Mitchell is twenty years her husband's junior, and her relative youth just might mean that she has an easier time evolving politically than her husband does. And personally I just don't consider the political leanings of a person's spouse sufficient information to draw conclusions about the party affiliation of the person himself.
(I'm not sure I absolutely believe that Andrea Mitchell is 'ultra-liberal' in the first place, Roger. We have only your word for it that she is, just as we have only your word for Greenspan's supposed affiliation with the Democratic Party.)
I would say that on balance, Alan Greenspan looks a lot more Republican than Democratic.
Ann
