Comments on: Drill, Baby, Drill

By: James Rogers

James Rogers — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 14:55:09 +0000

No, I don’t think that anyone has guaranteed anything, though Cheney shot his mouth off the other day. My point is that our forces would presumably either have to enter the field either through Poland or through the Black Sea,by which time I would guess Russia would have already been able to accomplish whatever it wanted to. McCain has supported NATO membership for Georgia and I am guessing that the rationales in favor of that (assuming arguendo that there are any rational grounds there) would apply with even more force to the Ukraine. So I think it behooves The Candidate to explain to us pot-smoking Peaceniks exactly how he means to back up the tough talk.

By: nhgriffin003

nhgriffin003 — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 05:51:09 +0000

Did NATO guarantee help if Ukraine is invaded? I know NATO is considering inducting Ukraine as a member, but I’m not sure if we’ve promised them anything at the moment.

By: James Rogers

James Rogers — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 02:19:24 +0000

Given the unbelievably low quality of the “grilling” the candidates receive at the hands of most of the media, the press unavailability of Palin is not much of a loss.

The questions that I would like McCaesar to answer would be those that they ain’t never gonna ask. Such as “Acknowledging that China’s Central Bank is increasingly cash-strapped, how do you intend to fund our foreign adventures?” (business story at http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/05/business/worldbusiness/05yuan.html?fta=y ) .

Or we might ask, “Precisely how many of our troops are in the immediate vicinity of Georgia and Ukraine and, given the rapidity of Georgia’s most recent defeat, how quickly could they be deployed to back up a Nato guarantee?”

For the record I don’t believe that Obama could give a satisfactory answer to the first question either, though he at least might be courteous enough to give a thoughtful one But, as I said, none of the grandstanding press would ask them anyway.

By: nhgriffin003

nhgriffin003 — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 20:36:00 +0000

There are no signs that Palin is going to answer questions from the press and they would be the only audience to press her on her views and knowledge on policy. As such, it appears that McCain/Palin might take a lead in polls into the debates with the media focusing on the base’s reaction to Palin and her personal story.

It remains to be seen whether Palin/McCain’s ignorance of substantive ideas in policy will be illuminated during these debates, which will be Obama’s best chance to put the election away. The inchoate policies of Palin/McCain might work to their advantage, as it seems America is still steeped in an anti-intellectualism landscape where any simplicity (DRILL, BABY, DRILL) trumps thoughtful, and therefore more complex, solutions. Another example of this is in foreign policy where tough and belligerent talk against Iran or Russia is more attractive and less flaccid than pragmatic options that won’t exacerbate the situation.

As such, I definitely think there is a fairly decent chance that McCain could win this election in what was thought to be a Democratic year.