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Max Fisher is a laughingstock. His article is a variation on the theme of "we can't take Bernie seriously because he's not part of the establishment."
But back to the OT -- Eugene Debs did not have even one foreign policy advisor and he seemed to do OK. Foreign policy need not be complicated. As General Smedley Butler put it "there are only two things we should fight for: one is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket."
Bernie is indeed weak on foreign policy -- because he lacks a moral compass, not because he lacks an advisor.
I don't think he is wrong about the Clinton policy of locking out anyone that either opposed them or helped their opposition.
I also think that Bernie's apparent lack in command in foreign policy is his own doing.
Mieke Eoyang, currently the VP for national security at Third Way and previously a foreign policy advisor to Sen. Ted Kennedy and others in Congress, sent a few tweets in response to this piece arguing that Sanders' problem goes back years. He never really bothered to establish a team on foreign policy, she says, so went into the campaign without anyone to call on for help.
What this indicates to me is that Bernie never seriously considered running for the presidency and therefore didn't take the step that someone who was planning to do so would have taken.
In my view, this tends to imply that his foreign policy adviser will be Bibi if he is elected.
You’re right that Bernie never considered running for the presidency. This according to his brother who’s at Oxford. His brother said on BBC World Service the other day (after NH win) that Bernie initially was trying to get someone interested in running for the presidency a couple of years ago who would fix the problems Bernie saw as holding the country back.
They asked his brother about the fact that people were commenting that Bernie would be the first Jewish president. His brother shot that down with a derisive snort. He said Bernie’s religious background was immaterial to why he wanted to be a president. He specifically did not use the term ‘Bernie’s religion’. He said, believe me, it has nothing to do with it.
The complaints about lack of foreign policy experience are coming from reporters and Clinton supporters. They are saying the same about Trump. What’s Trump’s experience? Building in foreign countries? Bernie had enough smarts to oppose the Iraq war.
In 2002, Sanders gave this as his fifth reason for opposing the war. In my view, questions that should have been answered,
“Fifth, I am concerned about the problems of so-called unintended consequences. Who will govern Iraq when Saddam Hussein is removed and what role will the U.S. play in ensuing a civil war that could develop in that country? Will moderate governments in the region who have large Islamic fundamentalist populations be overthrown and replaced by extremists? Will the bloody conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority be exacerbated? And these are just a few of the questions that remain unanswered.”
So I’m not buying the trumped up (no pun intended) charges of no foreign policy experience.
I linked to this previously about Trump's foreign policy advisers. He does have some. Trump's major selling point on foreign policy is negotiating experience. And as a business person he has actually had to make decisions.
Trump's major selling point on foreign policy personally is negotiating experience. And as a business person he has actually had to make decisions. I don't think many think he will get taken in negotiations with foreign leaders, but rather will drive a hard bargain and win.
I saw Sanders in an interview a couple nights ago where he was asked about his foreign policy advisors. One of those he listed was J Street. I guess he has to rely on Israeli liberals to advise him on foreign policy. That actually might be a better place to get good advice than from any US establishment foreign policy advisors.
Bernie is a politician and like all politicians he has made many compromises to get where he is today. He may well be the lesser evil and perhaps even an improvement over the status quo, but since Bernie has a track record of kowtowing to the Democratic party and to Israel we have to expect more of the same if he is elected.
That said, Bernie did well on foreign policy in last night's debate. But then again, George Bush did well on foreign policy in the 2000 debates, claiming he would never use the military as a police force. We see how that turned out!
8 comments:
I'd recommend Benjamin Netanyahu, if he's not too busy. He and Sanders should get along just fine.
Max Fisher is a laughingstock. His article is a variation on the theme of "we can't take Bernie seriously because he's not part of the establishment."
But back to the OT -- Eugene Debs did not have even one foreign policy advisor and he seemed to do OK. Foreign policy need not be complicated. As General Smedley Butler put it "there are only two things we should fight for: one is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights. War for any other reason is simply a racket."
Bernie is indeed weak on foreign policy -- because he lacks a moral compass, not because he lacks an advisor.
I don't think he is wrong about the Clinton policy of locking out anyone that either opposed them or helped their opposition.
I also think that Bernie's apparent lack in command in foreign policy is his own doing.
Mieke Eoyang, currently the VP for national security at Third Way and previously a foreign policy advisor to Sen. Ted Kennedy and others in Congress, sent a few tweets in response to this piece arguing that Sanders' problem goes back years. He never really bothered to establish a team on foreign policy, she says, so went into the campaign without anyone to call on for help.
What this indicates to me is that Bernie never seriously considered running for the presidency and therefore didn't take the step that someone who was planning to do so would have taken.
In my view, this tends to imply that his foreign policy adviser will be Bibi if he is elected.
You’re right that Bernie never considered running for the presidency. This according to his brother who’s at Oxford. His brother said on BBC World Service the other day (after NH win) that Bernie initially was trying to get someone interested in running for the presidency a couple of years ago who would fix the problems Bernie saw as holding the country back.
They asked his brother about the fact that people were commenting that Bernie would be the first Jewish president. His brother shot that down with a derisive snort. He said Bernie’s religious background was immaterial to why he wanted to be a president. He specifically did not use the term ‘Bernie’s religion’. He said, believe me, it has nothing to do with it.
The complaints about lack of foreign policy experience are coming from reporters and Clinton supporters. They are saying the same about Trump. What’s Trump’s experience? Building in foreign countries? Bernie had enough smarts to oppose the Iraq war.
In 2002, Sanders gave this as his fifth reason for opposing the war. In my view, questions that should have been answered,
“Fifth, I am concerned about the problems of so-called unintended consequences. Who will govern Iraq when Saddam Hussein is removed and what role will the U.S. play in ensuing a civil war that could develop in that country? Will moderate governments in the region who have large Islamic fundamentalist populations be overthrown and replaced by extremists? Will the bloody conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority be exacerbated? And these are just a few of the questions that remain unanswered.”
So I’m not buying the trumped up (no pun intended) charges of no foreign policy experience.
I linked to this previously about Trump's foreign policy advisers. He does have some. Trump's major selling point on foreign policy is negotiating experience. And as a business person he has actually had to make decisions.
Josh Rogin, http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2016-01-31/the-trump-doctrine-revealedThe Trump Doctrine Revealed
Trump's major selling point on foreign policy personally is negotiating experience. And as a business person he has actually had to make decisions. I don't think many think he will get taken in negotiations with foreign leaders, but rather will drive a hard bargain and win.
After seeing the comment about Bernie maintaining Obama’s Russia position thru NATO, I retract my position on Bernie. He’s not ready for the job.
I saw Sanders in an interview a couple nights ago where he was asked about his foreign policy advisors. One of those he listed was J Street. I guess he has to rely on Israeli liberals to advise him on foreign policy. That actually might be a better place to get good advice than from any US establishment foreign policy advisors.
Bernie is a politician and like all politicians he has made many compromises to get where he is today. He may well be the lesser evil and perhaps even an improvement over the status quo, but since Bernie has a track record of kowtowing to the Democratic party and to Israel we have to expect more of the same if he is elected.
That said, Bernie did well on foreign policy in last night's debate. But then again, George Bush did well on foreign policy in the 2000 debates, claiming he would never use the military as a police force. We see how that turned out!
Never forget Bart's law #1.
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