Over there, over there! American foreign policy and the GOP candidates

The President of the United States is charged with establishing the nation’s policy as it relates to our dealings with other nations. Specifically the President under article II of the constitution is charged with negotiating treaties, receiving and naming ambassadors, and is the commander and chief of the US military. Congress of course is hardly powerless. Treaties must be ratified, appointments confirmed and the power to declare war resides in the congress. Sometime it would make an interesting study to see where the power of commander and chief can go without a declaration of war and how constitutional is the War Powers Act.  It has never yet been challenged in court. But last time (the week before George Washington was our guest writer) we looked at military policy and as we examine foreign policy this time I want to emphasize particular issues that should be telling as to the overall views of the candidates of America’s place in the world.

There is a saying, “politics ends at the water’s edge”. This may have been true during the Second World War, but lets face reality, bipartisan agreement on foreign policy is almost as mythical as the lock ness monster, aliens in area 51, or an impartial press or a history of political civility. However I doubt foreign policy has ever been more politicized than it currently is. As much as I will remember 9/11 I will never forget Harry Reid going to the Senate floor saying “This war is lost,” or John Kerry calling our troops terrorists to whittle away at the support of the President and for the war effort to enhance their own political standing. Sometimes the American people really tick me off with their short memories, these guys and their ilk still have jobs for cryin’ out loud!

Barrack Hussein Obama came to power promising to fix America’s image in the world. He then proceeded to stand upon foreign soil which contains the blood of American GIs who shed it to defend the freedom of Europe and Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and apologized for the “mistakes and arrogance of America”. This same President deemed it provocative for our soldiers in Haiti to fly the American flag lest it look like an invasion, and in so doing demonstrated his own prejudice against our flag. You see to the Haitian people that flag would not have resembled a hostile invasion it meant a place where you could get food and medicine in safety. How is it that we the people elected a man who is hostile toward everything that is America?

To sum up the Barrack Obama foreign policy I would like to conjure up the image of Groucho Marx. Groucho has just been kicked out of some ritzy club and he gets up dusts himself off, shakes his cigar and says, “I don’t want to be a part of any club that would have me as a member anyway! Haven’t you got any standards around here? Jeesh!”  Likewise President Obama seems to hold the highest disregard for any nation lacking the self respect to be an ally of this God-awful USA. If I looked only at Obama’s record on Israel I would be convinced he is purely anti-Semitic, and I would suggest that his softball approach to Iran is based on the fact that Ahmadinejad doesn’t like that d--- Netanyahu either. But I will withhold the charge of anti-Semitism, Israel is not the only ally the President has snubbed, England, Australia, India have also been slighted, and not only in symbolic gestures like the return of a statue of legendary prime minister Winston Churchill, but in very substantive matters like having our secretary of state recommend that the Brits should negotiate with Argentina over the Falkland Islands, Or worse the selling out of Czechoslovakia and Poland over missile defense systems, leaving those countries vulnerable to Russian aggression. Being America’s friend is dangerous these days. Remember the world’s smartest woman referring to Hosni Mubarek as a valuable friend and a stable government until of course the polls turned against him. Now Mubarak was not a good guy, yet he did keep the peace with Israel and oppose terror organizations. That SOB had to go! But the only Arab Spring uprising we do not support is the one in Iran where our true enemy and real threat resides. Is it really any wonder that Somali pirates began attacking American flagged ships after Obama took command?  

Perhaps right now Mexico and the US have “issues” but our brilliant justice department decides to let guns go to Mexico as part of some stupid operation and then be used to murder and American agent and dozens of Mexican civilians.

Of course the Obama administration will point to killing Bin Laden and I’ll give him that one, but it was the policies of his hated predecessor that made that all possible.

I will continue next time looking at the Republican candidates in detail, but I think it is important to remember as we analyze the good and bad of individual policies of our guys, what are we running against.    

To say that we are without mistakes is silly; we have backed the wrong horse from time to time, Ike dropped the ball big time in 1956 in regard to the Hungarian Uprising, JFK’s early failure at the bay of pigs and his first Vienna Summit with Khrushchev lead the Soviets to believe they could move missiles into Cuba, George H W Bush after prosecuting a masterful victory in the first Gulf War allowed Saddam just enough wiggle room to put down the Shiite uprisings in 1991. Yet let us be honest America has never done so great a disservice to the free peoples of the world as when we cast our ballots for president Obama.

Until next time keep on the firing line!