The Briefing Room
General Category => Editorial/Opinion/Blogs => Topic started by: mystery-ak on April 22, 2014, 01:16:45 pm
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http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/204022-junior-senators-lack-experience-for-2016-dole-says (http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/204022-junior-senators-lack-experience-for-2016-dole-says)
April 22, 2014, 07:25 am
Dole: Cruz, Paul & Rubio lack experience for 2016
By Mario Trujillo
Former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.) said a number of junior GOP senators considering a presidential run in 2016 do not yet have the experience — specifically naming Rand Paul (Ky.), Marco Rubio (Fla.) and Ted Cruz (Texas).
The former 1996 GOP presidential candidate sounded particularly skeptical of Cruz in an interview this week with The Wichita Eagle.
"A number of the younger members, first-termers like Rand Paul, Rubio and that extreme-right-wing guy, Ted Cruz — all running for president now. I don't think they've got enough experience yet," Dole said.
The 90-year-old former senator said, however, his main concern about 2016 is living to see it through.
"If not ... I plan to vote absentee," he joked.
Last month, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called on Cruz to apologize to Dole after a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference in which Cruz said Dole and other former GOP presidential candidates had not stood on principle.
"All of us remember President Dole, and President McCain and President Romney," Cruz said at the time. "Now, look, those are good men, they're decent men, but when you don't stand and draw a clear distinction, when you don't stand for principle, Democrats celebrate."
Dole said Cruz is "way out there" on the extremes of the party and defended his own record, calling himself one of President Reagan's top supporters.
Dole is making a three-day tour of Kansas this week, and has commented on subjects from Ukraine to the healthcare law.
Dole was critical of the Republican Party's platform on healthcare, saying, "they need to get together and coordinate, but they don't."
He took a few shots at President Obama, expressing skepticism about the healthcare exchange enrollment totals, which the administration has said surpassed 8 million.
The former Senate Majority Leader said the president "lacks strong leadership skills" and criticized him for not forging stronger relationships with members of Congress.
He also advocated for sending military support to the Ukrainian government after pro-Russian separatists have taken over a number of government buildings in eastern Ukraine.
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And look what all your experience got us, Bob.
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Well Dole's right about the experience issue. Don't think that should eliminate any of those mentioned, but given what we've gone through with Obama and his lack of experience, it's a legitimate topic.
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On-the-job training isn't a good idea for a President from either side of the aisle.
In fact, I want no one from Congress as President.
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I have often said that the only people who should be permitted to run for President are people who have been a two term Governor. The reason I say two term is they have to have done a good enough job managing a state to get re-elected.
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I would also like to see a governor with a couple of terms under his/her belt. And as bad as Clinton was in certain areas during his presidency, he at least could understand the concept of dealing with Congress. But for me it's not a absolute. Leadership skills will be at the top of my list, and of course, one can evaluate those in a governorship more easily.
Dole also talked about providing military support to Ukraine. No!
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I would also like to see a governor with a couple of terms under his/her belt. And as bad as Clinton was in certain areas during his presidency, he at least could understand the concept of dealing with Congress. But for me it's not a absolute. Leadership skills will be at the top of my list, and of course, one can evaluate those in a governorship more easily.
Dole also talked about providing military support to Ukraine. No!
Clinton had his good points. Charming sod who could and would work with people. And - for all his more personal problems - he did love his country, put it first, and do so in foreign policy terms without upsetting other nations.
Military support for the Ukraine - we'd have to define it. Are we talking Humint/Sigint, material, or boots on the ground?
The first - why not. It's like shouting at someone to run when you see a car heading for them.
Material - Lots of stockpiled munitions kicking about in the US, slowly tarnishing. Or tell the Ukrainians to send a few cargo planes to Afghanistan to pick up some of the gear that is going to be left or destroyed. Discreet and easily done.
Boots - No. Full stop.
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Dole makes some very cogent points. I don't think that lack of experience, per se, should bar any of those three, provided they can show talent for bringing all factions of the GOP (closer) together and leading, but it is a legitimate issue that should be aired. He's also spot on about the GOP's approach to Obamacare; yes, being against Obamacare and the damage it's doing will be the primary feature, but what will seal the deal (or not) is proposing the outlines of a reasonable way forward once Obamacare is rooted out (to the extent possible). If you want a beautiful green lawn it's not enough to pour on the herbicide, kill all the weeds, and pull out the remains with a thatching rake, you also need to put down soil amendments, new topsoil if necessary, then plant the seed, water it, and protect it from birds and other vermin (squirrels are nothing more than rats with bushy tails in my book!). The GOP is doing tolerably well with the first part, but unless it's made at least credible plans for the second part - we need to see at least some bags of fertilizer and grass seed in the tool room - it won't get very far and will still be vulnerable to the Democrats' scorched earth policy of racism, division, and hatred.
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Clinton had his good points. Charming sod who could and would work with people. And - for all his more personal problems - he did love his country, put it first, and do so in foreign policy terms without upsetting other nations.
Military support for the Ukraine - we'd have to define it. Are we talking Humint/Sigint, material, or boots on the ground?
The first - why not. It's like shouting at someone to run when you see a car heading for them.
Material - Lots of stockpiled munitions kicking about in the US, slowly tarnishing. Or tell the Ukrainians to send a few cargo planes to Afghanistan to pick up some of the gear that is going to be left or destroyed. Discreet and easily done.
Boots - No. Full stop.
In my opinion part of the issue with Ukraine is that Americans are looking at them as the good guys vs: the evil Putin. There are enough articles out there painting the current government there as anything but heroic, and we should think carefully about any steps we take over there.
At this point we're winding down an unpopular war, while continuing to engage militarily in trouble spots in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere, and still seem to have no definable foreign policy.
We have a long history of mission creep, and with our current draw-down supposedly taking place, any further military assistance anywhere right now could prove uncomfortably problematic for both sponsor and recipient.
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Nobody asked and/or quoted Bob Dole about Barack Obama....or what the Democrat Party is doing to America and the Constitution....since 2008.
Haven't heard from him.....except for a Viagra commercial here or there....since 1996.
Go away.....
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In my opinion part of the issue with Ukraine is that Americans are looking at them as the good guys vs: the evil Putin. There are enough articles out there painting the current government there as anything but heroic, and we should think carefully about any steps we take over there.
At this point we're winding down an unpopular war, while continuing to engage militarily in trouble spots in the Middle East, Africa and elsewhere, and still seem to have no definable foreign policy.
We have a long history of mission creep, and with our current draw-down supposedly taking place, any further military assistance anywhere right now could prove uncomfortably problematic for both sponsor and recipient.
It has been both my pleasure and my honor to work with (and sometimes against, thems the breaks) Americans for many years. I got one question:
Why you?
How'd you guys land up as the worlds cops? No one can ever answer me. How is it right or fair? I extracted way too many good, honorable and honest men with various holes in them where you don't want holes. It's not like you get thanks for it.
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It has been both my pleasure and my honor to work with (and sometimes against, thems the breaks) Americans for many years. I got one question:
Why you?
How'd you guys land up as the worlds cops? No one can ever answer me. How is it right or fair? I extracted way too many good, honorable and honest men with various holes in them where you don't want holes. It's not like you get thanks for it.
WWII
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WWII
Being fashionably late is all the qualification you need? :tongue2:
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Being fashionably late is all the qualification you need? :tongue2:
Being the last one standing with the internal fortitude to take on the bad guys. Europe pretty much blew itself to smithereens and then blanched in the face of what Germany had wrought.
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It has been both my pleasure and my honor to work with (and sometimes against, thems the breaks) Americans for many years. I got one question:
Why you?
How'd you guys land up as the worlds cops? No one can ever answer me. How is it right or fair? I extracted way too many good, honorable and honest men with various holes in them where you don't want holes. It's not like you get thanks for it.
As Ocean said WWII. After the war, you guys figured it was either us or the Soviets. You didn't want the job anymore. You and France were quite willing to let us take the lead and we obliged you both militarily and economically. Oh you guys offered to play sidekick, but the empire had pretty much taken a nosedive. You helped out when we got into more than we bargained for, but you really wanted nothing to do with being lead cop.
The lopsided partnership worked for a while. Then you and the rest of Europe decided to join up and try to form an economic power...maybe even dictate a few things to us. That's not working out well though.
Today we're not really much of a world cop anymore, in spite of the rhetoric to the contrary. We're probably going to lose military supremacy sooner rather than later, just as you did. Russia knows this and knows that China may well fill the void left by the West as it tries to hold itself together. Russia is still weak but figures it better rebuild at least part of its old empire before China gets really cocky about the future. And sometimes democracy is just too damned slow.
Just as with you EC, our best days are behind us.
Have a pint on me! :beer:
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Count me as a neoisolationist. I figure the future is now and the Internet is as great a force for the spread of worldwide free-market capitalism and consumerism as were tanks, missiles and troops. Let the popular uprising take care of business in despotic countries abroad. I'm done with foreign adventures.
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It has been both my pleasure and my honor to work with (and sometimes against, thems the breaks) Americans for many years. I got one question:
Why you?
How'd you guys land up as the worlds cops? No one can ever answer me. How is it right or fair? I extracted way too many good, honorable and honest men with various holes in them where you don't want holes. It's not like you get thanks for it.
Well yes, the boiled down answer is WWII. But there were many, many factors. US industrial and economic might kicked in following the War picking up where the War machine left off and accelerating. The world largely adopted the dollar as a universal currency and our insatiable consumer habits kept lesser economies beholden to our "needs". That we were the pre-eminent nuclear power immediately following the War didn't hurt either. It really was an extraordinary time and as the world's strongest economy with the most powerful military, the US became the cop of the world in largely a noble sense. It was foisted upon the US, in some ways, by sheer circumstance. And as citizens, we had true liberty unlike almost anywhere else and a sense of obligation - a sense of duty. It may sound trite, but it was real.
But as history teaches us, nothing lasts forever. Witness France following WWI with its own version of the world's strongest military. It took Germany six weeks to end-run the Maginot line leaving businessmen crying in Paris.
The US has its own version of the Maginot Line with the transfer of wealth to Arabs, the exporting of industry, an unproductive populace and our unsustainable financial obligations. And, we have lost much of those innate qualities that made us who we were.
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Well yes, the boiled down answer is WWII. But there were many, many factors. US industrial and economic might kicked in following the War picking up where the War machine left off and accelerating. The world largely adopted the dollar as a universal currency and our insatiable consumer habits kept lesser economies beholden to our "needs". That we were the pre-eminent nuclear power immediately following the War didn't hurt either. It really was an extraordinary time and as the world's strongest economy with the most powerful military, the US became the cop of the world in largely a noble sense. It was foisted upon the US, in some ways, by sheer circumstance. And as citizens, we had true liberty unlike almost anywhere else and a sense of obligation - a sense of duty. It may sound trite, but it was real.
But as history teaches us, nothing lasts forever. Witness France following WWI with its own version of the world's strongest military. It took Germany six weeks to end-run the Maginot line leaving businessmen crying in Paris.
The US has its own version of the Maginot Line with the transfer of wealth to Arabs, the exporting of industry, an unproductive populace and our unsustainable financial obligations. And, we have lost much of those innate qualities that made us who we were.
Very well stated Lando!
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It has been both my pleasure and my honor to work with (and sometimes against, thems the breaks) Americans for many years. I got one question:
Why you?
How'd you guys land up as the worlds cops? No one can ever answer me. How is it right or fair? I extracted way too many good, honorable and honest men with various holes in them where you don't want holes. It's not like you get thanks for it.
Because no other country came up with Superman.
You may think that's a flippant response, but stop and think about it for a few minutes.
What is the self-image of a nation where a citizen can imagine up the Man of Steel, dress him up in the nation's colors, and have him defend "truth, justice, and the American way"?
Superman was given birth by a nation that saw itself as Superman in the mirror of history.
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Because no other country came up with Superman.
You may think that's a flippant response, but stop and think about it for a few minutes.
What is the self-image of a nation where a citizen can imagine up the Man of Steel, dress him up in the nation's colors, and have him defend "truth, justice, and the American way".
Superman was given birth by a nation that saw itself as Superman in the mirror of history.
goopo
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This is scary Luis. I came "this" close to referencing Superman.
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Good posts! Placed in the context of some of the comments, it strikes me how much we have diminished ourselves.
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Good posts! Placed in the context of some of the comments, it strikes me how much we have diminished ourselves.
I understand how "Lend Lease" worked out well for us.
And I understand how it could be interpreted as being "Fashionably late".
That said, suggest we all open our eyes and take this 'gift' called Barack Obama. The country is ripe for another Ronald Reagan-type Conservative leader.
The camera will have to love them....if the message is going to be embraced.
Frankly, I don't see anybody considered a candidate that fits that bill other than Rick Perry. With Texas as 'exhibit A', he should crush Hillary Clinton.
And watch the BLM walk-back their talk about Texas....unless Obama is truly 'Nero' and is suicidal.
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Very well stated Lando!
Things sure have changed, haven't they MAC? Some of the changes certainly were by necessity, but so many... have been self-inflicted while we suffer a thousand cuts. Meanwhile, we as a society sit idly allowing it to happen. Oblivious, actually.
Boiling frogs Luis. Boiling frogs.
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Oh, my. So many good posts on this thread!
There always has to be a leader - each country needs one, and the world needs one as well. We all know the qualities a good leader has - the ability to communicate, to inspire, to think ahead and plan, etc. And also he or she needs the power to carry out the plans necessary.
The US has the best opportunity to be the world leader. We have the money, the military, and above all a free population that understands what freedom and opportunity mean.
What the US doesn't have right now is the knowledge and understanding of how hard it is to get and keep freedom. We've had it so long that it isn't something we think about. We just assume it's there for everyone. So we don't worry about electing people to high office who won't preserve our freedom or try to spread it. We elect governors and presidents with the same concern we show for votes on American Idol or the Oscars. Superficial qualities matter most.
But now we're seeing what happens to the US and the world when we don't have a leader. It's looking pretty grim. Bob Dole (bless his heart) has a good point. We need a proven leader right now. One of these young and untested people might be a really good leader some day, but we really can't take a chance on an unproven candidate right now. A two term governor who has shown a steady hand and an effective governing style would really put us on a path to peace and prosperity again - just if people respected him or her.
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This is scary Luis. I came "this" close to referencing Superman.
Great minds drink alike.
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Things sure have changed, haven't they MAC? Some of the changes certainly were by necessity, but so many... have been self-inflicted while we suffer a thousand cuts. Meanwhile, we as a society sit idly allowing it to happen. Oblivious, actually.
Boiling frogs Luis. Boiling frogs.
You're right Lando. We do just sit by idly while these things happen. I sense that deep down we all just trust that our government won't go too far. And as the thousand cuts continue, we just get used to it, accept our new situation, and our trust level extends out farther. And for the most part we're going to accept the "new world order" something we would never have imagined or embraced only a generation ago.
I think of Scotland where I visited a few years back. A beautiful country with fantastic history. The people of the north fought off the Irish, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans. Today they just sit back and meekly accept the most ungodly regulatory scheme I've personally seen. Now when they have a vote very soon, I wouldn't be surprised if they rejected independence. To a person they are completely dependent on governments, which oblige by regulating every moment of their lives.
And yes, I fear we are heading down that same path.
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You're right Lando. We do just sit by idly while these things happen. I sense that deep down we all just trust that our government won't go too far. And as the thousand cuts continue, we just get used to it, accept our new situation, and our trust level extends out farther. And for the most part we're going to accept the "new world order" something we would never have imagined or embraced only a generation ago.
I think of Scotland where I visited a few years back. A beautiful country with fantastic history. The people of the north fought off the Irish, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans. Today they just sit back and meekly accept the most ungodly regulatory scheme I've personally seen. Now when they have a vote very soon, I wouldn't be surprised if they rejected independence. To a person they are completely dependent on governments, which oblige by regulating every moment of their lives.
And yes, I fear we are heading down that same path.
I don't think it's trust - on either the right or the left. We are just so damned busy working and trying to raise our families that a lot of the stuff seems to slide "under the radar." Throw in the media picking what you hear: "Hey, ignore the fact that the Ukraine is a powder keg and there are now 2 million displaced in Syria and nearly a million killed, some rancher grazed his cattle on Federal land!!!" and it gets scary.
Not everyone has the time to hunt for news, even with the rise of the New Media. It's way easier to get home from work, kick off your shoes and click on the TV.
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I don't think it's trust - on either the right or the left. We are just so damned busy working and trying to raise our families that a lot of the stuff seems to slide "under the radar." Throw in the media picking what you hear: "Hey, ignore the fact that the Ukraine is a powder keg and there are now 2 million displaced in Syria and nearly a million killed, some rancher grazed his cattle on Federal land!!!" and it gets scary.
Not everyone has the time to hunt for news, even with the rise of the New Media. It's way easier to get home from work, kick off your shoes and click on the TV.
Abraham Maslow and the Coming of Socialism in America (http://boilingfrogs.wordpress.com/2009/02/26/abraham-maslow-and-the-coming-of-socialism-in-america/)
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I don't think it's trust - on either the right or the left. We are just so damned busy working and trying to raise our families that a lot of the stuff seems to slide "under the radar." Throw in the media picking what you hear: "Hey, ignore the fact that the Ukraine is a powder keg and there are now 2 million displaced in Syria and nearly a million killed, some rancher grazed his cattle on Federal land!!!" and it gets scary.
Not everyone has the time to hunt for news, even with the rise of the New Media. It's way easier to get home from work, kick off your shoes and click on the TV.
It's not just working that hurts, it's the ones who pretend to be looking out for you while opiating the masses.
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You're right Lando. We do just sit by idly while these things happen. I sense that deep down we all just trust that our government won't go too far. And as the thousand cuts continue, we just get used to it, accept our new situation, and our trust level extends out farther. And for the most part we're going to accept the "new world order" something we would never have imagined or embraced only a generation ago.
I think of Scotland where I visited a few years back. A beautiful country with fantastic history. The people of the north fought off the Irish, Romans, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings and Normans. Today they just sit back and meekly accept the most ungodly regulatory scheme I've personally seen. Now when they have a vote very soon, I wouldn't be surprised if they rejected independence. To a person they are completely dependent on governments, which oblige by regulating every moment of their lives.
And yes, I fear we are heading down that same path.
very well put, unfortunately (i'm not begrudging you your eloquence, just bemoaning the state of affairs you so accurately portrayed).
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speekinout writes above:
[[ The US has the best opportunity to be the world leader. We have the money, the military, and above all a free population that understands what freedom and opportunity mean... ]]
We -had- those things, once.
All of them are rapidly slipping away, particularly the last one.
More speekinout:
[[ We need a proven leader right now. One of these young and untested people might be a really good leader some day, but we really can't take a chance on an unproven candidate right now... ]]
Francis Fukuyama, 1992:
"The End of History"
Fishrrman, 2014:
"The End of Leadership" ...