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The Foreign Policy Election

First it was Jeb Bush. Now it’s Marco Rubio. For other Republicans, it’s all about Hillary Clinton and Benghazi. Meanwhile, Scott Walker has tripped over his own feet while discussing the world and Chris Christie, who has something to say about everything, has little to say yet on foreign affairs.

Why is this important? Because 2016 is shaping up to be a foreign policy election. Yes, there will be talk about taxing the wealthy, cutting taxes to the wealthy, what to do about entitlements and the middle class, abortion, immigration and health care, but right now, the world seems to be blowing up and countries are looking to the United States to help fix what ails them.

President Obama has wisely not gotten us involved in a foreign adventure despite calls by the hawkish neocon crowd over on the right to send troops to Syria. And Lebanon. And Iraq. And other places. Which sounds like the good-old-fashioned response that George W. Bush followed and that was a terrible mistake. And it all sounds heroic and noble until the body bags start coming back and the soldiers return with severe damage to their bodies and minds.

What 2016 presents for the country is an opportunity to be creative with our foreign policy. The Cold War has been over for more than 20 years, but the mentality remains, this time with China as the Soviets and North Korea as the Cubans. ISIS is a tremendous threat to Middle East stability, but they are alienating other countries in the region, who are showing more of a propensity to fight on their own. We can support our friends, but right now there is little reason for us to get more soldiers involved.

It will be interesting to see where the debate goes from here. Rand Paul has been championing a more isolationist foreign policy as a basic belief. Hillary Clinton certainly has the experience, but she hasn’t enunciated a specific policy yet. Can Mike Huckabee, Carly Fiorina, Rick Perry, Martin O’Malley and Bernie Sanders come up with credible ideas? Perhaps, but I’ve come to a conclusion that’s even more true now than it was in 2004.

We should have elected John Kerry as president when we had the chance.

For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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jewish Politics republican candidates

Poll Shows Israelis Prefer President Obama Over Republican Wannabes

The Brookings Institute for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland conducted a poll of 500 Jewish Israelis between February 22nd to 26th, and found that when compared to the other Republican candidates, President Obama is the man for the Jewish people.

The survey also polled Jewish Israelis’ feelings on the US presidential race, with respondents preferring President Barack Obama to all his Republican rivals.

Overall, among Israeli Jews, Obama led Santorum 34% to 21%, Gingrich 31% to 27%, Paul 34% to 24%, and Romney 32% to 29%.

 

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Politics republican candidates

Thomas Friedman – Republicans Should Just “Sit This Election Out”

Thomas Friedman of the New York Times writes:

WATCHING the Republican Party struggling to agree on a presidential candidate, one wonders whether the G.O.P. shouldn’t just sit this election out — just give 2012 a pass.

You know how in Scrabble sometimes you look at your seven letters and you’ve got only vowels that spell nothing? What do you do? You go back to the pile. You throw your letters back and hope to pick up better ones to work with. That’s what Republican primary voters seem to be doing. They just keep going back to the pile but still coming up with only vowels that spell nothing.

There’s a reason for that: Their pile is out of date. The party has let itself become the captive of conflicting ideological bases: anti-abortion advocates, anti-immigration activists, social conservatives worried about the sanctity of marriage, libertarians who want to shrink government, and anti-tax advocates who want to drown government in a bathtub.

Great analogy. Republican presidential candidates for 2012 amounts to… nothing!

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Mitt Romney Politics republican candidates

Fidel Castro on G.O.P Presidential Race – The Greatest Competition of Idiocy And Ignorance

Cuba’s ex-president Fidel Castro, made an observation that I think is worth a mention in this post. Castro called the Republican presidential race “the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance that has ever been.” I must say, I agree with that observation.

Politico reports;

Castro made his comments in his latest column of “reflections” on a Cuban government website, attacking the Republican candidates two days after their debate in Florida.

“The selection of a Republican candidate for the presidency of this globalized and expansive empire is – and I mean this seriously – the greatest competition of idiocy and ignorance that has ever been,” he wrote, according to The Associated Press.

During the debate, Mitt Romney responded to a question of how he would react to a 3 a.m. announcement of Castro’s death by referencing the Jan. 19 death of Cuban prisoner Wilman Villar.

“We just had, with Wilman Villar, his life was just lost in a hunger strike fighting for democracy,” Romney said.

Castro wrote that Villar was a common criminal and not a political dissident, the AP reported.

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Newt Gingrich Politics republican candidates

Ron Paul Attacks Newt Gingrich – “It’s About Serial Hypocrisy” – Ad

Out of all the candidates running for the Republican nomination, Ron Paul is the only one going all out. His campaign is bringing out these ads faster than Newt Gingrich can tell you the name of his present wife.

The new ad is called “Serial Hypocrisy,” and in it, Gingrich, the present leader in the Republican race who is now trying to sell himself as a Washington outsider  tagged to clean up the Washington game, is heard saying, “if you’ve been Speaker of the House, you’re always an insider.”

But pay no mind to the 84 ethics violations brought against Newt Gingrich when he was Speaker of the House. Christian Conservatives – Newt’s your man!

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