President Obama has spent the last four years working to getting us out of two wars started by the previous Republican administration. We are now out of Iraq and on the way out of Afghanistan thanks to him. We could probably end our post at that and make the point that we do not want another Republican at the helm of US foreign policy. But, for completeness, let’s zero in on what we could expect with regards to foreign policy from a Romney administration.
Mitt Romney’s first chance to show what he can do from a foreign policy perspective came with his trip to London this summer. You probably remember what an EPIC FAIL it was but just to remind you, here is a great video about it.
His second chance to show what kind of president he would be from a foreign policy perspective came with the tragic attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Rather than waiting for the facts and giving a measured response he saw an opportunity for cheap political benefit and jumped at it. I think the Obama campaign characterized it correctly
When our U.S. diplomats were attacked in Libya, The New York Times said Romney’s knee-jerk response ‘showed an extraordinary lack of presidential character, and even Republican experts said Romney’s remarks were ‘the worst possible reaction to what happened.’
That about sums it up for me!
Not the kind of person that I want handling foreign policy for the US.
Here is a great post from the-reaction.blogspot.com on this topic.
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Obama on Romney: Ready, Fire, Aim!
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| You didn’t realize I was quite this clueless, did you? |
According to CBS News, President Obama used some gentle humour to address Mitt Romney’s widely lambasted criticism of Obama’s handling of recent violence in Egypt and Libya:
“There’s a broader lesson to be learned here,” Mr. Obama told “60 Minutes” correspondent Steve Kroft at the White House. “And I — you know, Governor Romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later. And as president, one of the things I’ve learned is you can’t do that. That, you know, it’s important for you to make sure that the statements that you make are backed up by the facts. And that you’ve thought through the ramifications before you make ’em.”
Asked if Romney’s attacks were irresponsible, the president replied, “I’ll let the American people judge that.”
You see, Mitt, that’s what a measured response sounds like.
On this, it was easy to think of the proverbial “3:00 a.m. phone call” and who would handle a national crisis better.
James Fallows made the point as comparative responses were unfolding earlier in the day:
On the longer-term temperamental politics, this is a very vivid example of what people mean when they talk about “the 3 a.m. phone call.” In these next few hours let us look very carefully at the first-reaction quick responses, and then the considered second-take positions, by the two candidates.* One or the other of them will be in charge of U.S. response to similar inevitable-surprise episodes in the next four years.
And just one more comment, this time from Josh Marshall at TPM:
Some moments show you when a candidate is ready or not to become President of the United States. I suspect last night will become one of those moments for Mitt Romney. The verdict will not be positive.
Pathetic.
thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard 