Rand Paul is the only leading Republican that I can think of, that opposed the Iraq War. His father certainly did and was lambasted by the neo cons. Here is an op-ed he recently wrote.
Though many claim the mantle of Ronald Reagan on foreign policy, too few look at how he really conducted it. The Iraq war is one of the best examples of where we went wrong because we ignored that.
In 1984, Reagan's Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger developed the following criteria for war, primarily to avoid another Vietnam. His speech, "The Uses of Military Power," boils down to this: The United States should not commit forces to combat unless the vital national interests of the U.S. or its allies are involved and only "with the clear intention of winning." U.S. combat troops should be committed only with "clearly defined political and military objectives" and with the capacity to accomplish those objectives and with a "reasonable assurance" of the support of U.S. public opinion and Congress and only "as a last resort."
Much of the rationale for going to war in 2003 did not measure up to the Weinberger Doctrine, and I opposed the Iraq war. I thought we needed to be more prudent about the weightiest decision a country can make. Like Reagan, I thought we should never be eager to go to war. And now, 11 years later, we are still dealing with the consequences.
1994 Dick Cheney seem to be very cognizant of the Weinberger Doctrine. Now, he wants to double down...
This is why Rand Paul is the only candidate that the Rs should choose for 2016. He can get the R base, any anti-war independents, and a lot of anti-war democrats.
This is why Rand Paul is the only candidate that the Rs should choose for 2016. He can get the R base, any anti-war independents, and a lot of anti-war democrats.
That is, if the Rs actually want to win.
+1 Rs are not getting my vote until they purge the party of the chickenhawk/neocons.
R primary should be interesting. R establishment will have a candidate (Romney 3.0 or Jeb Bush?) and the reactionary wing will have a candidate (Cruz/Rubio). If Paul loses the primary, I hope he goes third party.
IMHO - Obama beat Hilary in 2008 because of her Iraq vote. Paul would have fun with her Iraq logic pretzel in the debates...
This is why Rand Paul is the only candidate that the Rs should choose for 2016. He can get the R base, any anti-war independents, and a lot of anti-war democrats.
That is, if the Rs actually want to win.
+1 Rs are not getting my vote until they purge the party of the chickenhawk/neocons.
R primary should be interesting. R establishment will have a candidate (Romney 3.0 or Jeb Bush?) and the reactionary wing will have a candidate (Cruz/Rubio). If Paul loses the primary, I hope he goes third party.
IMHO - Obama beat Hilary in 2008 because of her Iraq vote. Paul would have fun with her Iraq logic pretzel in the debates...
I thought for a minute or so that list was the IRS targeting list. The I thought it was the George Soros hate list. Then I realized what it was, the "be responsible and take personal accountability" talking heads list.
... Mountaineer
Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help. Psalm 146:3
While I like Paul, he is no better on amnesty for illegals than most of the rest (including Rubio and Ryan). CraigR (and perhaps others?) have pointed out the consequences of wrong stand on that issue.
It was good being the party of Robin Hood. Until they morphed into the Sheriff of Nottingham
Desert wrote:
Do you think, if a bunch of us sat down and really worked at it, that we could design a scarier figure than Richard Cheney? I mean, the guy is darn near perfectly evil. Human hands could this creature not create.
I don't think we could do it.
But do you know who could?
Dick Cheney.
Perfect.
I lived and DC and worked on the Hill for a while when I was younger. I was waiting for an elevator in the Capitol one day in 1991, and when it opened there was Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney and his medium-sized entourage. He just looked like a typical self-absorbed high level bureaucrat. There was no hint of the cartoon character he would one day become.
I always thought it was cool that I had that experience.
***
My favorite Cheney story was when he shot that guy in the face on the hunting trip a few years back. I was listening to Howard Stern the next day and they said it turned out that the guy Cheney shot was a member of Al Qaeda.
Q: “Do you have funny shaped balloons?”
A: “Not unless round is funny.”
