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Santorum: Forigein Relations

Tigger said:
Peter, I'm an Isolationist. Under my philosophy there would not have been missions to Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Iraq or Afghanistan. Nor would we be a member of NATO.



I don't believe the US does or should have allies outside of our own borders. Nor should we have international missions to cooperate with anyone on.
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That might have worked in 1900 but that is a totally impossible way to live in this day and age. In a global economy it would be impossible for any country to survive in this way. The US does not have the manufacturing capacity or the natural resources to thrive.
 
Peter King said:
That might have worked in 1900 but that is a totally impossible way to live in this day and age. In a global economy it would be impossible for any country to survive in this way. The US does not have the manufacturing capacity or the natural resources to thrive.
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Then we really don't deserve to thrive or survive, do we? It is a terrible showing of weakness for any society to be reliant on others for its basic needs.
 
Tigger said:
Then we really don't deserve to thrive or survive, do we? It is a terrible showing of weakness for any society to be reliant on others for its basic needs.
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Ofcourse you deserve to thrive, the US has other sectors of the industry that manufacturing countries/agricultural countries do not have. Or specialized industry that exists nowhere else in the world.

And I disagree, a country is not weak for not being able to produce/manufacture/grow everything at home anymore. The world is a different place now than before and each countries has its certain types of industry/service that it is best in and trades on an equal footing with other countries to obtain that which it does not produce itself because it was not economically viable to do so.
 
Wiggen said:
really? Which ally of the United States has Barack Obama accused of murdering its elderly citizens? I get tired of this 'both sides do it argument'. It's intellectually lazy and it isn't true.
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If you want to artificially narrow the scope of my remark so as to create a false dilemma, feel free -- just don't expect me to fall for it.

There are countless examples of the politics of hysteria coming from both sides of the isle over the past couple of decades. You'd have to be living under a rock to miss them.
 
Peter King said:
Ofcourse you deserve to thrive, the US has other sectors of the industry that manufacturing countries/agricultural countries do not have. Or specialized industry that exists nowhere else in the world.
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That's like saying I deserve to have a brand new 54" flat-screen tv in my condo while I can't pay my rent or food bills, Peter. Basics FIRST, then the fancy stuff can be dealt with after the fact.

Peter King said:
And I disagree, a country is not weak for not being able to produce/manufacture/grow everything at home anymore. The world is a different place now than before and each countries has its certain types of industry/service that it is best in and trades on an equal footing with other countries to obtain that which it does not produce itself because it was not economically viable to do so.
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Everything, no. However a country should be able to provide for its own basic needs if it wants to be able to consider itself something beyond the third world.
 
Tigger said:
That's like saying I deserve to have a brand new 54" flat-screen tv in my condo while I can't pay my rent or food bills, Peter. Basics FIRST, then the fancy stuff can be dealt with after the fact.
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No, that is saying that the US has the technology to produce the 54" inch flat screen TV with multimedia internet and computer functions. The US sells that to people in other countries and with that money they can buy what they need like clothes from a third world country that produces top knotch clothes for a fraction of the costs that a US plant could. You make what you are best in and trade your products/services to other countries and that is how trade works on a global scale.

It has nothing to do with the comparison that you made.

Tigger said:
Everything, no. However a country should be able to provide for its own basic needs if it wants to be able to consider itself something beyond the third world.
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I disagree, a country needs to have the GDP purchasing power to buy what it needs, third world countries might have manufacturing and natural resources and still lack any and all GDP purchasing power and that is what it makes a third world country.
 
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TacticalEvilDan said:
I wish I understood why political figures and pundits do this kind of thing. I don't think they're stupid, because I imagine that you can't be a complete imbecile and end up on the national stage, but that leaves me with no explanation whatsoever. Does it help them politically to say something outlandish regardless of truthfulness?

Are we really that stupid, as a people?
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Dumb voters are going to believe them, and most smart voters aren't really going to care about the candidate's words over their probable actions. This reminds me of a taping of the John Stossel Show I went to. John Bolton was on, and people were asking him questions about blowback and the actual threat of other countries. There are perfectly legitimate arguments for Bush's foreign policy. I don't agree with a lot of the arguments, but as a top US foreign policy expert, Bolton had to know of them. It was more complicated than "with us or against us," or "support the troops." The problem is that IR is filled with so many vague concepts, Bolton felt that he could not adequately explain it in the few minutes he had. If you want an in depth understanding of the world, cable news is a terrible source.
 
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barbarian_style said:
Not sure if this is how you would like to start out with your foreign relations but this doesn't sound positive. Santorum has talked about things without having his fact straight and seems that the dutch are displeased about his some of his comments. He has made comments on how he would take care of Iran also which I viewed as not fully discerned. I believe that Santorum could cause stress to allied relations and further deteriorate stressed relations with other countries.



Rick Santorum comments on euthanasia in the Netherlands cause stir in Dutch media - Political Intelligence - A national political and campaign blog from The Boston Globe - Boston.com


Rick really good for America's foreign relations with other nations?
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Maybe I'm the only one, but it makes no difference to me what the Dutch think.
 
Peter King said:
No, that is saying that the US has the technology to produce the 54" inch flat screen TV with multimedia internet and computer functions. The US sells that to people in other countries and with that money they can buy what they need like clothes from a third world country that produces top knotch clothes for a fraction of the costs that a US plant could. You make what you are best in and trade your products/services to other countries and that is how trade works on a global scale.
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But you have to remember that I have no interest in being involved in ANYTHING on a "global scale" since I'm an Isolationist and a Nationalist.

LOL. Any country that cannot provide for its own needs becomes the slave of the nation(s) that they get those basic essentials from. We're seeing that here in the United States right now on a daily basis.
 
AdamT said:
I'll take that as a no.
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I wish politicians were 100% on with their facts all the time, but there isn't one that fits the bill. You roll with what you've got. Santorum is a good and honest person, so I don't see this particular story as being a big deal.

I'm more interested in the fact that anyone would care what the Dutch think of one of our presidential candidates, as if that matters.
 
Tigger said:
But you have to remember that I have no interest in being involved in ANYTHING on a "global scale" since I'm an Isolationist and a Nationalist.

LOL. Any country that cannot provide for its own needs becomes the slave of the nation(s) that they get those basic essentials from. We're seeing that here in the United States right now on a daily basis.
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How is isolationism working out for North Korea?
 
Peter Grimm said:
I wish politicians were 100% on with their facts all the time, but there isn't one that fits the bill. You roll with what you've got. Santorum is a good and honest person, so I don't see this particular story as being a big deal.

I'm more interested in the fact that anyone would care what the Dutch think of one of our presidential candidates, as if that matters.
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Santorum lies all the time. But if you're good with that ... bring him on. :)
 
johnny_rebson said:
The Obama foreign relations strategy of making apologies has been a joke. He has accomplished nothing on the foreign stage.

We get more respect from foreign nations when we have policies coming from the likes of Bush and Cheney.
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Uninformed, inaccurate, unpleasant, and somewhat pathetic...this is becoming typical of the right.
 
Didn't the Dutch harbor Joran Van Der Sloot for a long time? They refused to turn him over, or something. Screw the Dutch.

If they complain about this, we should boycott windmills and wooden shoes.
 
A bit of lite reading might help:

"In fact, here's what the Pew Research Center reported in September 2011:

For America's global image, 2008 was a pivotal year for two reasons. First, the election of Barack Obama led to dramatically higher ratings for the U.S. in many nations. This was especially true in Western Europe, where the new president received astronomical ratings - in 2009 for example, 93% of Germans expressed confidence in Obama's leadership, as did 91% in France.

But the improvement was not limited to Western Europe. Obama was seen much more positively than his predecessor in the Americas, Africa, and Asia as well, and ratings for the U.S. rose significantly in nations such as Mexico, Argentina, Canada, Nigeria, and Japan.

The 2010 and 2011 Pew surveys showed that the Obama bounce had staying power, as views toward the U.S. and Obama remained mostly positive across much of the world.

In its 2011 survey, Pew concluded: "Overall, the U.S. president continues to inspire more confidence than any of the other world leaders tested in the survey."

A 2011 BBC World Service poll arrived at the same conclusion:

Views of the US continued their overall improvement in 2011, according to the annual BBC World Service Country Rating Poll of 27 countries around the world.

Of the countries surveyed, 18 hold predominantly positive views of the US, seven hold negative views and two are divided. On average , 49 per cent of people have positive views of US influence in the world--up four points from 2010--and 31 per cent hold negative views. The poll, conducted by GlobeScan/PIPA, asked a total of 28,619 people to rate the influence in the world of 16 major nations, plus the European Union.

In 2007 a slight majority (54%) had a negative view of the United States and only close to three in ten (28%) had a positive view; America was among the countries with the lowest ratings. Views began to rise in 2008, with positive views rising to 32% on average, and now the USA is in a middle tier position, ranking substantially higher than China."

Facts Puncture The Myth That Obama "Apologies" Have Ruined U.S. Standing | Media Matters for America


You might want to rethink spewing Hannity at this crowd.
 
Hatuey said:
How is isolationism working out for North Korea?
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It seems to be working out well enough that the people haven't overthrown their government.
 
Tigger said:
It seems to be working out well enough that the people haven't overthrown their government.
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well few million ppl have been shoved in labour camps and most of the population die from starvation, but yeh its working really well
 
Higgins86 said:
well few million ppl have been shoved in labour camps and most of the population die from starvation, but yeh its working really well
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If a group of people are not willing to bleed and kill to change their government, they have accepted that government. The same reason why I have no sympathy for the disidents of Cuba. We gave them the weapons and the training, put them back on their shoreline and they sat their like a bunch of bums and expected us to give them their country back. If you want to make a change you better be willing to do something to get that change. You've gotta break a couple eggs to make an omelette.
 
Tigger said:
If a group of people are not willing to bleed and kill to change their government, they have accepted that government. The same reason why I have no sympathy for the disidents of Cuba. We gave them the weapons and the training, put them back on their shoreline and they sat their like a bunch of bums and expected us to give them their country back. If you want to make a change you better be willing to do something to get that change. You've gotta break a couple eggs to make an omelette.
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It's possible to non-violently overthrow a government.
 
Tigger said:
If a group of people are not willing to bleed and kill to change their government, they have accepted that government. The same reason why I have no sympathy for the disidents of Cuba. We gave them the weapons and the training, put them back on their shoreline and they sat their like a bunch of bums and expected us to give them their country back. If you want to make a change you better be willing to do something to get that change. You've gotta break a couple eggs to make an omelette.
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easy for you to say that, talk is cheap
 
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