The World Has Been Waiting, Mr. President

With the end of the Bush era officially complete, it is time for not only the country, but the world to look forth with a new vision and way of settling its differences.

Palin Provides McCain Foreign Policy Advice? Really?

I guess when you are always full of shit, it is easy to spew more and more of it especially as a politician of the GOP sort. John McCain delivered a real doozy this morning when talking to NPR, saying that he has consulted with Sarah Palin many times in the past about foreign policy issues. Yeah, he's talking about Sarah "I live near Russia" Palin. Seriously, you can't make this up.

From ThinkProgress:

In an interview this morning with NPR, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said that he has often turned to Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) for foreign policy advice:

NPR: Given what you’ve said Senator, is there an occasion where you could imagine turning to Governor Palin for advice in a foreign policy crisis.

MCCAIN: I’ve turned to her advice many times in the past, I can’t imagine turning to Senator Obama or Senator Biden because they’ve been wrong. They were wrong about Iraq, wrong about Russia –

NPR: But would you turn to Governor Palin?

MCCAIN: I certainly wouldn’t turn to them, and I’ve already turned to Governor Palin particularly on energy issues and I’ve appreciated her background and knowledge on that and many other issues.

What the hell is McCain talking about here? There really isn't much there in Sarah's bucket of experience, especially when it comes to foreign policy. The woman practically admitted earlier to Couric that she had no idea what Hamas is when she unwittingly offered her support for them.

As for turning to her many times in the past, would McCain be referring to August or September, because he only met her once or twice before selecting her to be his VP choice.

Barack Obama: Live From Berlin

I tried his UstreamTV feed, but it just couldn't handle the traffic, so here is MSNBC's feed:

Matt Yglesias Explains How So Many Heads Are In The Sand Regarding Our Foreign Policy Debacle

How do the Republicans screw up foreign policy and how does foreign policy screw up the Democrats? Joshua Micah Marshall of TPM interviews TPM grad Matt Yglesias on the subject that is written right into his new book's title:

What McCain's Foreign Policy Might Look Like

With the utterances of "Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" and "We'll be there for 100 years" one can only assume that a McCain Presidency would yield more George W. Bush style politics as well as similar ways of relating to other countries. Not only is this about the man in question, but the people around him. So what type of things have his foreign policy advisers mentioned thus far in the media?

From ThinkProgress:

“The [Iraq] war itself will clarify who was right and who was wrong about weapons of mass destruction. […] History and reality are about to weigh in, and we are inclined simply to let them render their verdicts.” [The Weekly Standard 3/17/03]

“There’s been a certain amount of pop sociology in America … that the Shia can’t get along with the Sunni and the Shia in Iraq just want to establish some kind of Islamic fundamentalist regime. There’s almost no evidence of that at all. Iraq’s always been very secular.” [NPR, 4/1/03]

“Iraq already has confounded many Western ‘progressives’ who doubted that the Arab world could ever make progress. The bus may be rickety and it may have lost some passengers, but — guess what? — it’s on schedule toward its final destination: democracy.” [Los Angeles Times, 3/4/04]

“I think we ought to execute some air strikes against Syria, against the instruments of power of that state, against the airport, which is the place where the weapons shuttle through from Iran to Hezbollah and Hamas. I think both Syria and Iran think that we’re cowards.” [Fox News’ Big Story with John Gibson, 7/17/06]

“If we can’t leave a democracy behind [in Iraq], we should at least leave the corpses of our enemies. The holier-than-thou response to this proposal is predictable: ‘We can’t kill our way out of this situation!’ Well, boo-hoo. Friendly persuasion and billions of dollars haven’t done the job. Give therapeutic violence a chance.” [New York Post, 10/26/06]

Oh and yes, there is plenty more where that came from. So when voters go to choose between McCain and Oba the Democratic nominee, they better keep those quotes in mind.

Experience? What Experience?

Hillary Clinton likes to trumpet herself as the 'experienced' candidate, but longevity in Washington (and Little Rock) doesn't really mean that much to voters. People want to know concrete examples of what she has done to backup those claims. Well, she did list some things, like helping in Macedonia, Northern Ireland and even Rwanda. Um, Rwanda, hey Hillary don't you remember how that genocide went? Obviously more people than just me thought the Rwandan example was a bit strange, so some people started doing some detective work.

From The Chicago Tribune:

Earlier in the campaign, she and her husband claimed that she had advocated on behalf of a U.S. military intervention in Rwanda to stop the genocide there.

But her involvement in the Northern Ireland peace process was primarily to encourage activism among women's groups there, a contribution that the lead U.S. negotiator described as "helpful" but that an Irish historian who has written extensively about the conflict dismissed as "ancillary" to the peace process.

The Macedonian government opened its border to refugees the day before Clinton arrived to meet with government leaders. And her mission to Bosnia was a one-day visit in which she was accompanied by performers Sheryl Crow and Sinbad, as well as her daughter, Chelsea, according to the commanding general who hosted her.

Whatever her private conversations with the president may have been, key foreign policy officials say that a U.S. military intervention in Rwanda was never considered in the Clinton administration's policy deliberations. Despite lengthy memoirs by both Clintons and former Secretary of State and UN Ambassador Madeleine Albright, any advice she gave on Rwanda had not been mentioned until her presidential campaign.

"In my review of the records, I didn't find anything to suggest that military intervention was put on the table in NSC [National Security Council] deliberations," said Gail Smith, a Clinton NSC official who did a review for the White House of the administration's handling of the Rwandan genocide. Smith is an Obama supporter.

Whether or not Smith supports Obama, she is only one of many that was around to document Hillary's "experience." Being First Lady may give you a front row seat to many spectacular examples of foreign relations in the moment, but that does not mean you actively participate and facilitate change. As the Tribune sums it up in the headline, there is "scant evidence" of her foreign policy experience that she merely claims to have.

Rudy Doesn't Remember Vietnam

I know that the Vietnam War was a long time ago, a senseless conflict that killed tens of thousands of Americans and millions in Southeast Asia. Rudy Giuliani acts as if he forgot all about it, specifically on how it ended. At a recent event in front of the Jewish Community Relations Council here in New York he showed his historical ineptitude.

From ThinkProgress:

[I]f we flee Iraq, if we do what the Democrats want us to do — which is to not only flee Iraq, not only retreat in Iraq, but give them a timetable of our retreat.

Have you ever heard of that in a history of war? Have you ever heard of an army being required to give a printed schedule of its release to the enemy? It makes no sense, does it? Whether you’re for the war or against it, you would never have an army retreat on a six- month, one-year, 18-month schedule explaining, We’ll reduce the forces by 20,000, then by 30,000, then by 50,000. Gee, you can then figure out when the forces are depleted enough so you can really do damage to them.

Giuliani needs to brush up on his history. A publicly-announced gradual reduction of forces is exactly what the United States did in the Vietnam War. On May 14, 1969, President Richard Nixon laid out an “eight-point peace plan” calling for the gradual withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Vietnam.

Whoops. Democrats are the ones that want a timetable to get out Iraq, so does most of the country. Rudy forgets that the first pullout in this manner was done by a Republican. Richard Nixon, even though he was a corrupt criminal in the White House, had a timetable to get out of Vietnam. Bush is also a corrupt criminal in the White House. Unfortunately he won't follow in the footsteps of Nixon. Getting out of us out of this war and resigning would have been a great way for him to go.

Now it is time for Rudy to brush up on some history of the United States. He really should keep his fat mouth closed until he does so.

Who's The Flip-Flopper?

Karl Rove may have capitalized on falsely pegging John Kerry as a flip-flopper, but it is master George Bush that excels at the practice. Not only did Bush reverse himself on important foreign policy mandates for Kosovo, he forgot what he said in the first place. Maybe all of those beers are having an affect on his already patchy memory.

From Crooks and Liars:

Bush at a press conference on Saturday:

Q: And on the deadline [for Kosovo independence]?

Bush: In terms of the deadline, there needs to be one. This needs to come — this needs to happen. Now it’s time, in our judgment, to move the Ahtisaari plan. There’s been a series of delays. You might remember there was a moment when something was happening, and they said, no, we need a little more time to try to work through a U.N. Security Council resolution. And our view is that time is up.

Bush at a press conference on Sunday:

Q: Thank you, Mr. President. Yesterday you called for a deadline for U.N. action on Kosovo. When would you like that deadline set? And are you at all concerned that taking that type of a stance is going to further inflame U.S. relations with Russia? And is there any chance that you’re going to sign on to the Russian missile defense proposal?

Bush: Thanks. A couple of points on that. First of all, I don’t think I called for a deadline. I thought I said, time — I did? What exactly did I say? I said, “deadline”? Okay, yes, then I meant what I said.

At which point assembled reporters started laughing at him.

The moment may be laughable, but the big picture surely isn't. How can there be anyone left out there that trusts this sad excuse for a man. He tries to change his mind from the day before, but that decision is saved because the reporter called him on his previous remarks. I'm not surprised at his behavior, the astonishment wore off long ago. I think the event that will amaze me most is when we get a competent President in 2009 when the nation elects a Democrat.

Ron Paul Gives Rudy Homework

Ron Paul made it all over the news with his fight against Rudy Giuliani not too long ago and he intends to stay there. Paul could tell by Rudy's 'caveman' response to his assertion that our foreign policy drives world hatred towards us. Apparently Mr. Mayor cannot accept the truth and his only possible option is to refer to the sound, logical reasoning of George Bush (*cough*). So Paul wanted to help out Rudy by giving him a reading list.

From WCBS-TV:

Among the books Texas Rep. Ron Paul said Giuliani should read, believe it or not, the "9-11 Commission Report."

"I'm giving Mr. Giuliani a reading assignment," he said Thursday at the National Press Club. "This is what I expect him to read before the next debate."

He's calling for Giuliani to read a total of four books, including "Dying To Win," "Blowback" and "Imperial Hubris." In addition, Paul said his campaign chairman said he would be happy to send Giuliani "Cliff's Notes," in case he is "too busy giving hundred-thousand-dollar speeches on national security."

Very nice hit at the end about the speeches. Paul certainly knows how to dig under someone's skin. Giuliani showed his pain by lashing out with a statement that had nothing to do with what Paul was talking about.

"Mayor Giuliani said it best," said a spokesman. "It is extraordinary and reckless to claim that the United States invited the attacks on Sept. 11. And to further declare Rudy Giuliani needs to be educated on Sept. 11 when millions of people around the world saw him dealing with the terrorist attacks firsthand is just absurd."

This isn't an education on 9/11. It is a course on how the world works with us in it. Actions have consequences both on a playground and the world stage. It seems Rudy was probably the schoolyard bully that just didn't care about who he hurt or what he wrecked.

Ron Paul knows what he is talking about when it comes to Osama. And he has friends with serious records to back up those statements. Michael Scheuer used to lead the CIA force that hunted Bin Laden. Michael said "This war has to do with our foreign policy and its impact in the Islamic world." It would be nice if Rudy actually read those books but I'm not holding my breath, the man is on track to be as thick-headed and stubborn as our current failure-in-chief.

Rudy's An Idiot

And he sounds just like Mr. 28% (George W. Bush) here talking about why we were attacked on September 11th. Playing on people's fears and using manipulative phrases is something that the President has inspired in at least this one Republican contender.

Republicans Cheer On Their Own Demise

As I watched a clip from the Republican debate last night, the fact that the Republican party is dying was reinforced for me. When Ron Paul was on stage and asked about our foreign policy he signaled a warning for his party. He reminded them that Republicans were anti-interventionist in the past and that that type of policy needs to be revisited. Instead of cheering for him, the audience was silent until Rudy spoke out of turn and wanted to start a fight with Paul over the truths he was speaking.

See, the Republicans do not want to hear about reality. They want to think Americans can do no wrong no matter what the effects are on other countries. And if someone from within the party mentions the cause of those effects, all hell will be unleashed on that poor soul. That was what Giuliani tried to do to Ron Paul. So did Fox News and the audience at the hall last night. They tried to make him seem out of step. Well Paul gave them all another dose of truth with the response to that question.

From Crooks and Liars:

Wallace: "Congressman Paul, you're one of six house Republicans who back in 2002 voted against authorizing President Bush to use force in Iraq. Now you say we should pull our troops out. A recent poll found that 77% of Republicans dissaprove of the idea of setting a timetable for withdrawal. Are you running for the nomination of the wrong party?"

Paul: "You-you have to realize that the base of the Republican Party shrunk last year because of the war issue, so that percentage represents less people. If you look at 65-70% of the American people, they want us out of there, they want the war over."

While Paul tries to stay in step with the majority of Americans, the Republicans refuse to adhere to the realities of the day. They will cheer on the war and anyone who picks up the flag and marches deeper into battle after George Bush is gone. The only problem is that while there are quite a few Republican troops on the front line, plenty of them are deserting and their ranks are being depleted as the war in Iraq drags on.