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well at least it was a good game... I thought we were going to get slaughtered... good season BucksJeremy
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foreign policy expert by osmosis
Location: Mansfield, OH
For as long as I can remember caring about politics, national security has been one of the issues that matters most to me. I’ve always wanted to be more knowledgeable about foreign affairs and especially about what’s going on in Iraq. I wish someone would have told me earlier that all I needed to do to become an expert was to take a trip abroad, have a bunch of reporters follow me around, and schedule a few good photo ops.
Thanks to a stellar (and by stellar, I mean sickening) front page article on Barack Obama’s ventures abroad I read in USAToday recently, I now hold the key to becoming America’s next national security know-it-all.
Part of the article reads: “He is meeting with heads of state, being trailed in the Middle East and Europe by dozens of journalists, and delivering a public address in Berlin . . . One goal of the trip is to quell doubts about whether the 46-year-old, first-term senator has the background and skills to handle national security concerns in a post-9/11 world of shifting alliances and terrorist threats.”
There are a million things wrong with this excerpt but I’ll start with two. First, let’s talk about one of the goals of his expedition. I would love to meet the person who decided that Obama would “quell doubts” about his ability to handle America’s foreign policy just by taking this trip. Of course I think it's extremely important for our elected officials to visit other countries, meet with their leaders, and see first-hand the conditions of the rest of the world. But let’s be serious … Barack Obama makes his first trip to Afghanistan and his second trip to Iraq and all of a sudden he knows enough about the circumstances of those countries to be the authority on our national security? Give me a break.
Second, the author includes “being trailed … by dozens of journalists” as if that belongs on the list of things that are helping him accomplish such a goal.
If all it takes to be able to successfully handle America’s interests abroad is a visit to a foreign country, McCain qualified for that a really long time ago. McCain has spent his entire adult life serving our country as a member of the U.S. Navy in the Vietnam War, as a U.S. Congressman, and now as a Senator. He is the Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services and has visited the places Obama is just now visiting for the first time, many times throughout his years of service. Since 2005 (the year Obama became a U.S. Senator), McCain has visited over 20 other nations (including several trips to the Middle East) while Obama has spent the majority of his only senate term campaigning.
You tell me who is more qualified to “handle national security concerns in a post-9/11 world of shifting alliances and terrorist threats.”
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Just a thought.
Our current president had so little experience in foreign affairs that he ran his "advisors" as a part of his campaign.
He didn't even know all the names of world leaders.
And his administration's foreign polices seem to have turned out pretty well.
Good Luck...
This whole "inexperienced" meme that Repubs are latching on to is really quite pathetic. Overseas trips like the one that Obama took generally are for little more than photo opportunities. Obama never claimed that the prupose of the trip was to suddenly make himself an expert on the region. Obama took the trip so that voters in America could see him rubbing elbows with foreign leaders and looking like he belonged.
I find it more than a little hypocritical to criticize Obama's recent trip to Iraq as a cynical photo-op while failing to mention McCain's famous stroll around the Baghdad market. (Yeah. Remember that one? Where he was wearing a bullet-proof vest, surrounded by an armed guard of twenty or so and watched by two helicopters? Yeah. And he left saying that Baghdad was as peaceful as Indiana. What did our senior senator learn from that fact-finding mission?)
How would spending more time in the Senate make Obama more prepared to be President? How did John McCain's time as a prisoner-of-war give him executive experience? On every single foreign policy question that has come up during this campaign, McCain has been proven woefully misinformed and has demonstrated a total lack of understanding of the world. (Here's a game: find Czechoslovakia on the map. No? How about Iraq's border with Pakistan.) All that experience, and the man doesn't understand the map whatsoever. (I know. I know. Why does he have to have a Master's in geography to be the President?)
Look at the issues facing our country. If you look at the proposed policies of John McCain and think, "Wow. I'm so inspired by his complete inability to dream up any new ideas whatsoever," then you should probably vote for him and pray for your soul.
Huh - Good Luck?
First off you are misusing the term ‘meme’ here, the use of the word “inexperienced” by politicos on both sides of the fence has been going on for quite awhile as a descriptor but it not a full cultural trait, doesn’t contain all the parts of such, and is thus is not a ‘meme.’
Secondly, why are you even on this forum if you aren’t a conservative or Republican? This is a forum for conservatives who are mostly students to exchange ideas and see conservatism in action. I don’t go into Democratic or Socialist student forums and cause trouble by being rude and condescending. Frankly, I don’t know how old you are but in the real world you’ll need to learn how to temper your criticism with complements as well if you are to work and get along with people of divergent beliefs – otherwise you will be out of a job. If you’re over 25 years old then you might want to start taking a look as to why at your age you are still behaving in such a childish manner.
Maybe McCain needs to improve his knowledge of geography; I don’t know as I haven’t met him in person or quizzed him. Not being a big TV watcher - too busy researching more complex scientific an anthropological puzzles and renovating my house - I’ve missed whatever moments you alluded to in your post. Still if you look at my criticism of the initial poster, and Obama both were tempered with compliments to both parties as well.
Last – but not least – why does ‘new’ equal better. I am all for new things that add value, pleasure, beauty, or increase production in our country. However just because an idea is new doesn’t mean that it is better. Change for change’s sake – even when the new idea or practise is harmful – is just as idiotic as not changing to something better because one is afraid of change.
All I can say Good Luck is please for your own sake grow up!
You have a point - but....
I am NOT an Obama supporter politically because as a conservative I don't agree with his proposed solutions on the issues. I have meet him and he was a nice guy so I like him as a person, but like I've said to my friends I'd never vote for him in a political position because the political difference between us.
Nevertheless though I agree with your point that one trip overseas + journalists does not a foreign affairs expert make I don't think that as a person, more importantly a Senator, Obama doesn't have the right to speak his mind and opinion on the matter to the President - that's part of his job - even if I personally don't agree with his opinion.
As for the media following him around like a lovesick puppy dog, I chalk that one up to the obvious strong liberal bias of most of our media outlets. This is no surprise to any of us at this point, and also not his fault.
But Obama does have something considered (at least by those that hire our diplomatic core) VERY useful in foreign affairs, and that is having lived in a foreign country and having a foreign parent. Being (like Obama) an American with a parent from a foreign country, and having lived part of my formative years overseas I can tell you it gives you a unique perspective, skill set and ability to relate to non-American's that even those who have gone overseas several times as part of the military don't have. Many in our military can spend years not going off base, and thus not really learning the other culture or how to relate to it.
Selling people in other countries into being pro-American interests especially to someone of a VERY different culture is a hard thing let me tell you. This is something I don't think McCain with his military background will do easily which is why I hope that he picks someone as is running mate who does have that skill set - too bad Bobby Jindal publically turned him down because Jindal does have it.
There is a strong anti-American military sentiment overseas that one has to get around in order for you to get things done in other countries and McCain's military background which is good for domestic support will be seen as a negative overseas should he become President.
I for one am sick of military actions and wars and would like to see use more diplomatic ways of getting what we need and want without hurting other cultures. I am not saying we should never go to war; just that it should be a last option after everything else has been exhausted.
I am not saying this skill set can't be learned, but it takes a LOT of travel and cultural immersive travel at that to learn this skill set - something Obama does have in his background literally since birth.
Come to think of it maybe that is what Obama should do instead of direct politics, go into the diplomatic core.
It is "Diplomatic Corps",
It is "Diplomatic Corps", like Medical Corps and U.S. Marine Corps, not "core", like in an apple. One of your school teachers didn't do her/his job very well. A hand dictionary is always a good thing to own. It really improves one's ability to communicate. It sets a good example for our younger generations. Never stop learning throughout your life.
And thanks, College Republicans, for all of your work!
White House here I come!
I have already booked my trip. I'm going to shake some hands, kiss some babies, and take some pictures. White House here I come!
More Power To You
Refreshing to watch the next generation grow and be involved on the right side of history. I hope your accomplishments catch fire in other colleges. My generation will perpetuate a nasty far reaching mess if Fannie & Freddie & the housing debacles are bailed out. Somewhere along the line the fiddler has to be paid. Somewhere people have to learn that not everybody is cut out to be a CEO and that it is necessary to EARN your living. The saftey nets in this country are just that SAFTEY NETS - not to be confused with a monthly check that was earned. Too many looking for something for nothing and too many willing to exploit that by having OTHERS GIVE something for nothing. Unfortunately, I'm responsible for putting pandering republicans into office that belong on the other side of the isle.
Amen!
Extremely well written blog post Christie. I agree with you 100% I come from a long-time military family from my grandfather right down to my sons. My daughter-in-law is in Kuwait even as I type this comment. We all know that foreign policy is a lot more than a little trip over the ocean in a jet with reporters. The audacity of a man who has just 147 days experience in the senate to think he's anywhere near ready to be commander-in-chief! Not only is it foolish but it is dangerous!
Keep up the great work and ya'll stay safe.
Thank you
THANK YOU to all in your family for giving service to keep this country free. (My dad WWII, brother Vietnam).
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