I was reading yet another issue of my roommate's Time magazine (her mom got her a subscription, but I'm the only one who reads it, unless my gentleman caller picks it up when he's over here), and I like this article. It's about McCain's stance on Iran and what McCain says Obama's stance on Iran is, but it's also about the overall theme of talking to other countries, specifically countries we don't like.
The post-Straight-Talk-era McCain is apparently of the opinion that having talks with "the bad guys" is a bad idea. I would say that this stance is one of my pet peeves, but pet peeves make a person annoyed; this just makes me really, really depressed about the state of the world and the United States' role in it. I just don't buy the whole "It would give our enemies prestige!" thing. For one thing, like Joe Klein points out in the article, if their whole deal is painting the United States as evil, then it helps them out when the US refuses to speak to them. Besides, the remote possibility that sitting down with American diplomats or, much further down the line, the American president would somehow boost their domestic power ought to be outweighed by the possibility that negotiations could bring about an improvement in relations. Talking to the other guy is the cheapest and easiest way of solving problems. And if, after this election, if we continue to live in a country where it's more valued to act like a tough guy than to try to solve problems like reasonable people . . . .
Like I said, now I'm really depressed.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
In Which I Continue to Dislike John McCain
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2 comments:
The issue here is really not talking vs. not talking. It is Obama meeting with Iran et al. during his first year in office with no preconditions. As the President said in Israel, it's as if Obama thinks he can come up with some ingenious argument that will convince rogue nations that they've been wrong all along. Not going to happen. Plus, talk has to be backed up with the threat of negative repercussions ("sticks," if you will). The problem is, many Democrats don't seem to believe in sticks, without which these talks they want to have would be worthless.
God forbid we talk to a nation without using threats in case they don't do exactly what we want. Who does Iran think they are creating nuclear weapons and energy without our permission? Don't they know that the US is the boss of everybody? Oh, wait, we aren't the boss of everybody we are just one sovereign nation among many, just like Iran except bigger. So far the "stick" policy hasn't worked out so well, so how can talking be a bad idea? There, I feel better now.
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