Uh-oh! Most Americans are “appeasers”
June 2nd, 2008 at 02:19pm Pat Cunningham
The latest Gallup poll SHOWS that two-thirds of Americans, including almost half of those who identify themselves as Republicans, agree with Barack Obama that it’s good policy for the U.S. president to meet with leaders of countries considered our enemies.
John McCain (who’s been having trouble understanding who’s who and what’s what in Iraq) and his best buddy George W. Bush say that talking with our adversaries is tantamount to appeasement.
POSTSCRIPT: At no extra charge, HERE’S AN ITEM wherein it’s argued that McCain gets his “assessments of Iraq terribly wrong” despite his many visits there. The charge is made by war correspondent Michael Ware, who’s spent far more time in Iraq than has McCain.
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10 Comments Add your own
1. Menlo Bob | June 2nd, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Acccording to your formulation good policy is the same as being popular. Care to employ that line of reasoning on gun control, the death penalty or gay marriage? Next question the American people need to know is ‘what does Barack Obama intend to do’? So far he\’s claimed to both meet unconditionally AND to meet with conditions. Maybe he could decide before we\’re asked to.
2. Pat Cunningham | June 2nd, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Bob: Where did I write that “good policy is the same as being popular” — or anything along those lines? I simply reported that Obama’s policy is popular. That doesn’t make it good policy (although I happen to think it is a good policy). Hey, I remember when most Americans thought the war in Iraq was a good idea. Of course, in the beginning, most folks also thought Iraq was involved in 9/11. We all know now, thanks to Falwell and Robertson, that 9/11 was God’s punishment of America for gay people, the ACLU and abortion.
3. Menlo Bob | June 2nd, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Thanks for validating comment 1.
4. Menlo Bob | June 2nd, 2008 at 5:45 pm
You like polls–here’s a poll you’ll like. McCain has more support than Obama on the war, national security, the economy and taxes.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/issues2/articles/mccain_trusted_more_than_obama_on_economy_iraq_national_security
5. Pat Cunningham | June 3rd, 2008 at 7:34 am
Bob: You like polls? Here’s a poll you’ll like. The latest Gallup Poll has Obama leading McCain: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-06-02-poll_N.htm
6. Menlo Bob | June 3rd, 2008 at 11:01 am
Look, I don\’t put much credence in any single poll taken months before people are focused on a vote. You seem (by this post) inclined to accept them. People in the news business are dazzled pseudo knowledge.
7. Pat Cunningham | June 3rd, 2008 at 11:09 am
Oh, I get it, Bob! The poll to which you linked in Comment No. 4 is worthy of our immediate attention. But the poll to which I linked in Comment No. 6 should be dismissed as a mere fleeting aberration. And you figured nobody would notice your hypocrisy in this matter? Guess again, Bob.
8. redrover | June 3rd, 2008 at 11:24 am
When it comes to how the US government should deal with tyrants who abuse human rights, John McCain’s views are decidedly inconsistent and consistently contradictory.
In other words, there are some tyrants he would isolate and oppose and others he would engage with and appease.
For example, here is John McCain speaking on the topic of US relations with Communist Cuba, on May 20, 2008:
“The Castro regime enforces strict limits against freedom of expression, of association, of assembly, of movement, of speech. Last year, as many as 5,000 citizens served sentences for the vague crime of “dangerousness.”
“Yet tyranny will not forever endure, and as President, I will not passively await the day when the Cuban people enjoy the blessings of freedom and democracy. It is in our national interest to support their aspirations and oppose those of the Castro regime, one that harbors fugitives from U.S. justice, expresses unrelenting hostility to America, and shoots down unarmed civilian aircraft. I wish the other presidential candidates felt similarly.”
SOURCE:
Remarks by John McCain on Cuban Independence Day
May 20, 2008
http://www.johnmccain.com/informing/news/Speeches/c6208dbe-e868-4917-b4e6-f56c363d20c7.htm
And here is John McCain speaking on the topic of US relations with Communist China:
“Chinese leaders will do whatever is necessary, no matter how inhumane or offensive to us, to pursue their own interests. And they lead a nation of extraordinary potential, that is, whether we like it or not, becoming a great power. America must engage China if we are to maximize our influence over how that immense nation emerges as a world power. [However]. engagement does not require us to cede to China advantages that come at the expense of our own security.”
SOURCE:
www.mccain2000.com/ “Position Papers” 4/30/99 Apr 30, 1999
http://www.ontheissues.org/International/John_McCain_Foreign_Policy.htm
I tell you what: If I had to live my next life as political dissident in tyrannical country, I would MUCH rather be a political dissident in Cuba than in China.
Just look at what the Communist Chinese thug government did to Chen Guangcheng, a blind lawyer who was investigating and forced abortion and sterilization abuses by a local municipality and suing on behalf its victims:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2006/07/18/china13766.htm
At the end of the day, John McCain is nothing more than just another stooge for a corporate-sponsored foreign policy status quo that has inflamed anti-Americanism all around the world.
When a brutal dictatorship behaves in ways that are good for business, their human rights abuses are of no consequence or significance: that’s John McCain’s philosophy, and Wall Street just loves him for it.
Who the hell is he to call anyone else an appeaser?
9. Kaus | June 3rd, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Red, since you don’t believe in occupation, I am a little suprised that you would care about negotiating. According to some of your posts, it is none of our business what rogue nations do in China or Cuba or Viet Nam. If you don’t have anything to go to the table with (force and annihiliation or money), there is no point to negotiating.
10. Menlo Bob | June 3rd, 2008 at 4:13 pm
No hypocricy, I never said I believed the poll I linked to–you did. My poll countered your poll resulting in the observation that no poll is worthy of attention.
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