With College Football BCS Bowl implications abound on Saturday, November 12th, it’s likely that evening’s Republican Debate may have gone pretty much unnoticed. And I have to admit I too wound up reviewing highlights after football was done for the day.
This time the debate focus was foreign policy and judging from the overall tone for the evening, one can only wonder what a Presidency under Cain, Mitt, Perry or the others would look like.
First off, the common theme appeared to be a sort of a “one size fits all” approach; figure out what Countries are actually “friends” of America, and treat them accordingly. Texas Governor Rick Perry even went so far to suggest that EVERY Nation receiving aid from America should be “wiped out” and put under “review” including long-term U.S. Allies like Israel.
Presidential hopefuls Herman Cain and Michelle Bachmann came out in support of the return of “waterboarding” as a source of getting information from those alleged to be terrorists regardless of whether it’s considered torture or not. Backmann even bizarrely accused the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of running the CIA under the Obama Administration (an apparent jab at the post-Bush belief that alleged terrorists and International criminals must still be afforded basic human rights).
For Mitt Romney, this debate continued his week-long rhetoric that a vote for a President Obama in 2012 was a vote for Iran to have nuclear weapons. But while several candidates mentioned the possibility of war with Iran, no one had any definitive ideas on curtailing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
As for the bizarre (and no I’m not talking about his alleged behavior towards women); Herman Cain said he believed President Obama allowed the Arab Spring to “go on too long”! Cain was referring to the uprisings around the Middle East including the one ending Egypt’s 30 plus year reign of Hosni Mubarak. This is truly ironic given the Republican mantra or spreading “democracy” even to the point of “meddling” in the affairs of Countries that pose no threat to the free World. Newt Gingrich seemed to echo Cain stating the Obama Administration’s unwillingness to fight to keep Mubarak in Power made it look as if; (The United States)..”will abandon you in a heartbeat if they feel like it”.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve heard enough. The truth is, foreign policy isn’t black or white, it’s most often “gray”. Foreign policy isn’t “common sense governing” as Herman Cain likes to use as one of his buzz phrases. Foreign policy decisions require a lot of thought, careful planning, and most of all, the EXPERIENCE of traveling abroad frequently and we’re not talking about vacation destinations like Jamaica, Cancun, the wine growing regions of Italy, the beaches of Southern France and Hawaii.
Today we live in a vast Universe where being bi-lingual, educated, informed and a good listener, are all vitals keys to success. When candidates like Mr. Cain try and make us believe creating jobs and securing our Country have little or nothing to do with Foreign Policy, I smell a “dumb-down” a mile away!
Thanks to our increasingly “wired” World, we’re all connected. Whether it’s China’s frequently questioned trade agreements, the resignation of Italy’s Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Libya’s revolution or Greece’s debt; their issues ultimately become ours. And we need a President, House and Senate with experience, skills, morals, education and a willingness to engage our World head-on; even when the results of our actions and decisions may not be fully known for many years to come.
Give me a James Baldwin, Bobby Kennedy, Dorothy Height, Jimmy Carter, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Winston Churchill, Mary McLeod Bethune. Albert Einstein, Frederick Douglas, and yes I said it, BARAK OBAMA any day over Herman Cain, Sarah Palin or anyone else who jumps in front of us saying we need “simple”, “common sense” or a “State’s Rights” answer to everything. Knowledge is STILL power and anyone who tells you they can run our Nation without it is pretty much trying to convince you it’s “cool to be ignorant”.
That doesn’t pass the smell test with me.