Too Casual About a Potential Cataclysmic War by Steven Clemons

[Douglas Carpenter]

Too Casual About a Potential Cataclysmic War

Neither the U.S. or Russia should appease each other's worst behaviors -- but threatening war with cataclysmic potential with the world's only other arrmed-to-the-teeth nuclear heavyweight ought to be accompanied by more than a "perhaps so" when queried about a possible direct armed conflict with Russia.

If this race were between Joe Biden vs. John McCain, the choice for me would be very easy. But we are being forced because of the optics of this situation and the Palin sizzle and spin to compare Obama and Sarah Palin.

Obama has been studying foreign policy issues regularly over the last couple of years in the Senate -- but there is little doubt that his experience is limited.

But hers is even moreso.

To be clear, I would drop any support I held of Biden and Obama in a nanosecond if they responded like Sarah Palin did in the interview with Charles Gibson tonight.

War with Russia -- no matter its behavior -- requires more than a casual comment about a direct hot conflict betweent the world's two most heavily armed states.

The fact that Palin seems not to want to admit or is not aware of is that no matter our bluster, Georgia's irresponsibility in this encounter will delay both Ukraine's and Georgia's NATO entry.

Here is a clip from the Associated Press about the Palin interview tonight:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/09/12/america/NA-POL-US-Elections.php

When Palin was asked during the interview whether the United States would have to go to war with Russia if it invaded Georgia, and the country was part of NATO, Palin, who has been criticized by Democrats for what they say is her lack of experience especially in foreign affairs, said: "Perhaps so."
"I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help," she said in the interview with ABC News.

"What I think is that smaller democratic countries that are invaded by a larger power is something for us to be vigilant against ... We have got to show the support, in this case, for Georgia," Palin said, when pressed on the subject.

-- Steve Clemons

http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2008/09/too_casual_abou/

'

'

[Waiting For Everyman]

1. She's Bush in drag, only worse.

[justiceischeap]

4. I think Bu*h even knows better than to do or say what she did & that's saying a lot. n/t

[Douglas Carpenter]

2. one kick for the next shift

[Douglas Carpenter]

3. another kick for the next shift

[Inuca]

5. It's true, both Obama and Palin

have limited experience, and IMHO it's an exercise in futility to argue whose is more limited. But they differ vastly in how KNOWLEDGEABLE they are about various issues, and the difference is obvious to anyone with even an ounce of objectivity. They are also worlds apart in their intellectual abilities, but this is something more difficult to quantify.

I have dealt with students for more than 20 years. Palin sounded and looked exactly like an average student, who crammed before the final exam, smart enough to put together sentences that at least fit well together, but who does not have the faintest idea what she is actually talking about. All these years I kept telling my students, especially the ones in the more advanced classes, that I do not care if their answer is complete as long as it covers some of the relevant issues, and that instead they have to convince me that 1. they understand what's going on; and 2. they gave the issues some thought, as opposed to more or less quoting the book or my notes. I must say that on an average, no more than 10-15% of the students actually answered in such a way, but I would rather like to think that a potential president belongs to at the very least the top 15% of a potential class (though I fully agree that college grades are only a very partial reflection of one's abilities). And one more thing, Palin also looked like the kind of student that after a lackluster performance worthy of say a B, comes to argue with you that she actually deserves an A ("but that's exactly what the book says", even if the context is different, the quote irrelevant to the question, etc.).

[Overseas]

6. Does her duty to her religion, to hasten the Rapture, trump her duty to the nation,

to keep us out of war?