Letters to the Editor
-
I'd feel less guilty about not caucusing for Biden...
...if I knew for sure he'd be the next Secretary of State.
As it is, I'm trying to get over my 2003 commitment to Dennis Kucinich because I REALLY want a president who will create a cabinet-level Department of Peace and "reject war as an instrument of policy." Biden looks pretty attractive in that regard, but so do the other Dems (I've asked several), and I have only one week in which to make my choice.
Dan Clark
Muscatine, Iowa
-
It's easier to hide behind Foregin Policy bromides
Joe Biden would make a fine Secretary of State, but his focus on foreign policy at the expense of domestic policy makes him a less unappealing choice than the other candidates.
There are other flaws/weaknesses to be considered. A previous Presidential run was derailed when it was discovered that he had plagiarised his "Why is it that I am the first in my family to have gone to college/university" talking point from a speech by Neil Kinnock, the leader of the British Labor Party.
While that sort of thing may well be excused with the passing of years, what cannot be excused is his support for the usurious Bankruptcy Bill. How any Democratic Senate could vote for such a regressive bill, a bill written and drafted at the behest by the Credit Card industry, is beyond me. That alone should immediately disqualify him from Democratic Party's nomination.
-
...bromides
Sigh, that should be "how any Democratic Party Senator" (I know the Bankruptcy Bill was passed by the previous Republican-controlled Senate.)
-
There's a great world out there
The Republicans care only about tax cuts and contracts for their rich friends, the Democrats only about health care and entitlements. Both parties think that the country is so powerful and so distant from the rest of the world that what we do or fail to do can't get us into serious trouble. They both tell the people what they think the people want to hear about foreign affairs, in the hope that they can get the power to do the things they really want to do.
But there's a great world out there, much larger and more populous than the USA, and in total much richer. Our foreign policy does matter, and we'd better keep our wits about us.
-
Well, since his candidacy has been taken off life support
How about making him Secretary of State?
-
He'd probably make the best President out of anyone running
Unfortunately, he's not a media created sensation. Mike Huckabee has as much substance as cotton candy, yet he's been deemed a good story, so suddenly he's the big news. The media can only be blamed so much, though. The public eats this stuff up eagerly. We elected George Bush twice and it was crystal clear that he had no business in that office.
If we end up with another disaster in the White House, the American People need to look in the mirror.
-
Domestic and Foreign Policy A Tangled Web
...you can't separate the two...especially since the Bush administration has made such a mess of our foreign policy! How can we possibly isolate ourselves long enough to find the time and resources to fix domestic policy? It is our current foreign policy that is causing our domestic policy to hemorrhage!
And now I hear that Bhutto has been murdered in Pakistan. Oh, yeah, I really want a president with training wheels on in the White House right now!
BIDEN should be at the helm! And that plagiarism charge is really old blown-out-of-proportion news...instigated by, of all people, Michael Dukakis. If you'd check, you'd find that Biden ALWAYS attributed that speech to Neil Kinnock prior to this particular incident.
-
I hope I'm wrong,
but I fear come November the Democrats will wish they had nominated just another middle-aged white guy. The world is becoming more and more an uncertain place, and this might not be the time to do a grand experiment with the presidency. And I'm not so much talking about whether Clinton or Obama can govern (if Bush can be President, anyone can), but whether either one can be elected running against a McCain or a Romney.
-
He'll make a fine Secretary of State
and a lousy President. Talk about embracing the corrupt status quo in Washington.
As Einstein said, you can't solve a problem with the same thinking that created the problem. The Problem is the DC Bubble. We have to pop it, and Biden is the LAST guy to do that.
-
Forget experience, it's either celebrity or Jesus.
Biden's problem is that he just isn't very sexy from a media point of view. There's really no story there, except that he's probably the most qualified candidate in either party, though not perfect. But so what?
Thanks to the media, the Clinton and Obama campaigns have sucked up all the oxygen. Can a woman win?? What would Bill Clinton be like as the "First Gentleman" in the White House? Can a black win?? What would the beautiful Mrs. Obama be like as First Lady? These and other questions critical to the future of the country occupy the media.
At this point in American history is appears that you either have to be a celebrity, or a Jesus freak in order to be a serious candidate for the presidency.
Now that Benazir Bhutto has been assassinated, will the media pay a little more attention to the candidates' approach to foreign policy? I doubt it.
By the way, anyone who thinks that Biden not being president doesn't matter as long as he is Secretary of State needs to have a brief conversation with Colin Powell.
Of course, all of this really doesn't matter to me. I live in a state with a late primary, so the election will be over long before I "vote." My "vote" will mean nothing. So we'll see which celebrity or follower of the Lord Jesus Christ the early states pass on to the rest of us.
-
BTW
Here's some MORE good news from Afghanistan, just so you know!
More than 4500 Taliban members defect
"More than 4500 Taliban insurgents have defected since 2005 and up to 4000 others have been killed in action against British and Canadian forces in southern Afghanistan, according to military intelligence sources.
Many are believed to have deserted the militant side as a result of a combination of persuasion by British and Afghan government agents and the realisation that they could never counter Nato airpower, the single biggest cause of their losses in battle."
http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.1927676.0.More_than_4500_Taliban_members_defect.php