Joe Biden Smacks Down Lieberman AND McCain
When he’s good, he’s good.
Read his WSJ editorial (published today) response to Joe Lieberman’s very public bedwetting from Wednesday. Biden starts:
Sen. Lieberman is right: 9/11 was a pivotal moment. History will judge Mr. Bush’s reaction less for the mistakes he made than for the opportunities he squandered.
And here is the gist of what the BushCo belligerent foreign policy misses:
At the heart of this failure is an obsession with the “war on terrorism” that ignores larger forces shaping the world: the emergence of China, India, Russia and Europe; the spread of lethal weapons and dangerous diseases; uncertain supplies of energy, food and water; the persistence of poverty; ethnic animosities and state failures; a rapidly warming planet; the challenge to nation states from above and below.
He goes on to critique the McCain adoption of the same belligerence and contrasts that with how Obama says he wants to orient our foreign policy.
Biden for VP!
Do you think this is an endorsement of Obama?
Tags: 2008 Presidential, Barack Obama, Foreign Policy, Joe Biden
I am up to Joe for VP. While it is true that he screwed up by voting for the war he seems to have recognized his error (unlike Clinton).
BTW – Blogging on this just emboldened our enemies. I hope you are happy.
No endorsement here so far but a true account of the mess we are in and how to correct it.
It always surprised me how the voters could pick Obama a real empty suit over Joe who really has the most experience
Well written, but wrong.
I disagree with Senator Biden that our current policy is ineffectual. It took a while but now we have the world putting pressure on Iran and cracks are showing. The policy seems to be working. It was the old Clinton policy of neglect which allowed them to be in the situtation they are in. It gave us both Iran and N. Korea. Mr. Bush has been on clean up duty. He has brought the world along and deserves credit not slights.
We may well have to go to war if sanctions don’t work, but I pray they do. Yes, we must talk with Iran. We are, but we shouldn’t allow them to use talks without preconditions to delay and distract us. They want one thing, that is time. To give them time by cutting our allies out of the mix and starting from scratch with uncondidtional talks is the height of folly.
Joe L. 1 Joe B. 0.
Biden for SecState. His recurring foot in mouth disease is too much of a risk for the campaign trail.
David it appears that you have been watching FOX NEWS to long
Biden is absolutely correct in his assertations here. The priorites we judge to be the highest concern typically do not cause much concern overseas, and the ones we seem to give the lowest priority like infectious disease, starvation etc get the most coverage. And the emergence of China, India, Brazil, Russia and Europe are potentially the best thing that could happen as long as we do not try to force our will on them.
agree with Anon, he gets the Sec State nod. It just makes sense
For those who think this is a bad thing, imagine someone taking all that weight off of our shoulders in foreign affairs….it would be refreshing. And we reduce the chances of war.
Have mercy, David — if you are going to post in the reality-based community, you need to be, you know, based in reality.
Clinton imposed rounds of sanctions on Iran AND ON RUSSIAN firms because of this nuclear business. He also got the Chinese (via diplomacy, wouldnt ya know) to stop building plants for the Iranians. I don’t think those sanctions on the Russians survived the BushCo administration. Clinton had an agreement with the N Koreans to cease producing plutonium which, of course, went by the wayside when BushCo came to power. The (certainly imperfect) Framework was ridiculed and mocked by BushCo until very recently when their own diplomats negotiated the very same (imperfect) agreement. But we did have alot of saber-rattling along the way of N Korea building their bombs on the BushCo watch.
Also on the BushCo watch — the world’s Greatest Superpower reduced to speaking to Iran (Iran for cryin out loud!) via surrogates in Western Europe. The only people talking about unconditional talks are the repubs lying about the Obama position. It only masks the sheer stupidity of not talking to a dangerous country that we ought to have lines of communication with. Even Jim Baker agrees with that. If you’ve ever played the game Diplomacy, you know that there is no way to win that without talking to everybody.
And here is the thing about the Iranians and their bomb (actually this goes for any country who wants one) — we won’t really stop that. We can negotiate this capability away, but if a country wants this capability there is little we can do to stop it. We can slow it down, but any country who is hell bent on a weapon will get it. Nuclear weapons are no longer an arcane technology — it takes work , money and patience to get there.
The BushCo belligerence in this thing has basically given these folks time to strengthen their hand.
Joe B – 1; Joe L -wetting his bed; David – clueless
Let’s not let this be about Clinton. Or even so much about Bush (Maybe I just don’t want to have to think about him?). Let’s keep our focus one what we do starting next January to get things moving in a positive direction. I think Joe Biden should be a part of that, even if only as an adviser. I’m comfortable with him as Sec. of State (or even as VP). And I’d like to think that Sen. McCain, should he somehow beat my candidate, is smart enough to consult with Joe B., if only on the down-low.
… and when Lieberman gets smacked, Carper flinches.
Well I see that Obama has picked Mr. Johnson to do his VP search if this one turns out like his last two we might as well kiss November Good bye
TruthTeller is surprised that the voters chose Obama over Joe. The media is behind it. Think back…..debates. Was anyone other than Obama and Clinton given much chance to shine? No!!! Biden, Dodd and Richardson were all pushed aside in all coverage in order to give as much publicity to O and C as possible. It’s pretty bad when our government can be chosen by the media.
TT – are you saying Edwards hurt Kerry TT?
Let’s not get crazy.
Edwards didn’t hurt Kerry. Kerry hurt Kerry.
TT is just looking for a fight.
Sure Joe, let’s go with that. Hunger and Disease? Fine, you tell me how to convince the junta in Burma that they should help their own people or let foreign aid workers in to do it for them. Ethnic animosities and state failure? Sure, you tell Mugabe he lost the election fair and square, and that he has to stop Zulu (ZANU-PF party) oppression of the Shona (MDC.) Oh, and while you’re down there, swing by and save Darfur from state-sponsored genocide. Chavez is trying to destabilize Columbia, but for some reason we’re not allowed to have free trade with our best ally in that region. Hooray for diplomacy!
G-rex if you think for a moment Colombia is our ally you need a check up from the neck up. Alvro Uribe is a fascist snake who kills union leaders and supports drug cartels. Second, China can handle Myanmar. Third, we are headed off a cliff economically and need to get our own house in order. Finally, we should not interfere in the internal affairs of other nations.
Biden’s plan to split Iraq up is nothing but modern “colonization”. He is doing just what the Brits did by drawing fake lines in the sand. The Iraqis have stated again and again…we are Iraqis first, and WE do not want our country split up.
Biden gets no place in Obama cabinent in my book. He has shown that he could care less what the Iraqis want…he has shown that he believes he knows better than they themselves. Notice he says nothing about the fake consitution Bremmer forced the Shia Parliment to sign. Talk about disenfranchisement, he has just excluded the Kurds and all the Sunnis, from any place of power in that Shia government. Today, I called his office in DC, to oppose his stupid plan for Iraq and urged him to speak with Professor Khan at the U of Del, who actually has a plan. Biden has no plan, Biden is just a modern day colonizer.
And to Pandora….Kerry and Edwards won the election was stolen from them, just like this one will be as well…the same ole faulty machines have plagued this entire primary…in every state, yet corporate media refuse to comment on it. JohnMcInsane will win, because Bush/Cheney have committed war crimes, committed treason(Plame) and they cannot permit a democrat to take the seat, they need Mccain who will pardon them both just like Ford did with Nixon and Agnew. Bush and Cheney are terrifed. Rove under subpoena there house of cards will fall. I am shocked that Obama says he refuses to “impeach them”…huh! The worst traitors and war criminals in american history and this “change” agent refuses to do anything to rid us of the Patriot Act, bring back Habeus Corpus, turn this country back to the Geneva Conventions and international rule of law. Sorry I am getting off Obama…and on to Ralph Nader the Independent Party candidate who was in DC calling for impeachment and return back to Pre Bush/Cheney.
In large measure, Joe and Joe are BOTH right.
I always meant to ask you this Liz, if the Sunnis are the more enlightened branch of Islam and the Shi’ites are all fundamentalist snake handling crazies, why is it that the Shi’ite’s in Iran are the most westernized, most educated, and most civilized populace in south west Asia, apart from the Israelis? My friend Baram hates the fact that his country is run by fundy whack job mullahs, but he’s pretty sure that some day the Iranian people will be allowed to act like normal people. He’s just not sure how that’s supposed to happen.
G-Rex, what I have always noticed is that Iranians want to be western so much that their regime keeps them from being so. That will change as soon as we change our tact in dealing with them. When they see their leaders and NOT the US as a hinderance or a threat they will change the regime on their own. They do not like being held hostage by the mullahs (any more than we do) but I think as Iranians they have pride in their nation. If we were to attack their nation the people would rally to the defense of their nation.
Just like we would if we were attacked. And if we attack them it does not prove how strong we are it proves that we can bully a weak nation who probably cannot respond to us.
That is the text book definition of bullying.
For example, I seriously doubt we are going to try to bully China becuase they will not tolerate that bullshit.
I think we should not interfere in the internal affairs of other nations. Peaceful trade, commerce, and cultural exchange have done more to promote better living than our ever army has and it has been this way for a long time. The less we use our military strength the stronger our nation is.
The less we use our military strength the stronger our nation is.
That used to be the conservative position.
Hi anon, those are the words of the nation’s second president, Thomas Jefferson. He was right then and he is right now. No interference in other nations with the public purse and the less we use our strength the greater this nation will be.
Sorry anon I meant third President. I was reading Adams (2) and Madison (4) so I have been thinking of them.
Grex: The Shia are the fundamentalists, uneducated ones who the Sunnis when in power forbid them to walk the streets banging themselves with chains….they wear the birka…its the Sunnis who were educated professionals, who were westernized. The Shia have the majority of population, but the Sunni governed. The Kurds are sunni too. That is true of many muslim nations, and a big reason why the Sauds told Bush not to invade. The invasion has done more for Iran governed by Shia…now empowered by this invasion. Professor Khan expert in mid east affairs is featured in Delaware Today. Even he who travels and lectures all over…says that Bush did more for Iran than they could have ever hoped to have accomplished.
And the young Iranians are also want democracy and many are pro western. If the Bushites attack Iran they will turn the young against the US, it will destroy any chance of the young turning overthrowing the mullahs and sharia law.
Russia and other nations will never support an attack on Iran. And if the US does another pre emptive strike…we can be sure they will join the other side….talk about WW3?
Obama is absolutely correct. We must have diplomacy. Iran has not invaded another country in 250 years…they are scared as hell we are going to invade, which makes them sabre rattle, always on guard and fearful. As the Professor says, when George Bush is out of office the world will give a sigh of relief. If Obama is elected (and viewed as an international mindset) the world will think we had a crazy in…but now hes gone…and we can reset back to o.
The Professor is correct, if you look at the other nations everyone except Israel…they all want diplomacy. Israel wants the US to attack Iran just like they wanted us to do Iraq…our blood, our treasury and their perceived enemy. Look at the IAEA reports…the Iranians are co operating…remember the IAEA said the same about Iran…but the neo cons couldnt wait…and preemptively struck and look at the mess we have.
I think Biden should keep the smack down up. Call them a-holes or something, make Delaware’s dissent from administration policy loud and clear.
I know he has to be pretty upset when he starts using the word “malarkey” that typically means the gloves are about to come off. If I could tell our distinguished senator one thing it is this, keep the gloves off, let the smack down begin in earnest