Star Ledger: A Brit offer an analysis of the neocons vs. Ron Paul
Published: Thursday, April 26, 2012, 5:40 PM
By Paul Mulshine/The Star Ledger The Star-Ledger
http://media.nj.com/star-ledger/phot...1840-large.jpg (John O'Boyle/The Star-Ledger)Ron Paul campaigns with state Senator Mike Doherty in Trenton
H.L. Mencken long ago observed that the daily press in the United States is far inferior to that of other countries.
We certainly see that in the failure by just about every major media outlet to realize the difference between genuine conservatives and the adherents of that liberal internationalist philosophy known as "neo" conservatism.
Fortunately, the Brits can handle such obvious distinctions.
Here's an article in which writer Tim Stanley notes the obvious about the latest great neocon hope, Marco Rubio:Rubio’s target is obvious: Ron Paul, Rand Paul, and those elements of the Tea Party Right that dissented on Libya. Given that it barely scraped 20 percent in most primaries, it’s amazing how much the Paulite revolt seems to have upset the Republican establishment. In fact, Rubio’s entire speech (and it’s a long one) reads like a step-by-step rebuttal of the Paulite critique of neoconservative foreign policy – the belief that America has a moral duty and a strategic interest to promote global democracy.
And this: Nevertheless, it’s hard not to be troubled by Rubio’s all-encompassing vision of American hegemony. Especially if you’re not American. Another quote: “What happens all over the world is our business. Every aspect of [our] lives is directly impacted by global events. The security of our cities is connected to the security of small hamlets in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.”
Apparently, if some goatherd in the mountains of Afghanistan loses one of his flock to a landmine, the consequences for Topeka, Kansas could be terrible. The absurdity of the theory that literally every security problem in the world is a direct threat to the United States is but one example of Rubio’s naïveté. In his vision, America never makes mistakes and everyone loves it. Small nations regard the US as their protector against bigger nations, whose wickedness is irrational: “Other countries look apprehensively on the growing influence of newly emerging powers in their midst, and look to the U.S. to counterbalance them.”
That's a polite way of saying what is obvious to anyone paying attention: Rubio is an idiot, plain and simple. He seems to not have learned a thing from the fisacos in Iraq and Afghanistan.
And he is the worst sort of idiot, the type who poses as if personally courageous while proposing to lay the actual risk on others.
Aside from that, of course, there is the sheer mathematics of the situation. The reason the Republican establishment so fears Ron Paul is they know he's right. Even if we follow his advice and stop trying to run the world we won't be able to balance the budget in the foreseeable future under their projections.
They all claim they want to cut taxes. Yet they also claim they want to police every corner of the planet, as per Rubio. The two goals are irreconcilable.
Mitt Romney joins in the neocon rhetoric, but I suspect he's smart enough to know that it's just rhetoric. The next Republican president will have to adopt a foreign policy much more like Ron Paul's than Marco Rubio's.
Read the entire article to get a good glimpse of the lines of argument here - and how badly the talking heads of mainstream media fare at comprehending them. The exception of course is Pat Buchanan. As you can see, the writer has recently published a biography of Buchanan. I suspect that's where he got the comprehension of American history totally lacking among the neocons and the media.
A Brit offer an analysis of the neocons vs. Ron Paul | NJ.com