Group items tagged

America's other important foreign-policy goal, Mr. Obama wrote, was reducing global poverty: the root cause, in his view, of terrorism and political extremism around the world. By "sharing more of our riches to help those most in need," by building up the social and economic "pillars of a just society" both at home and abroad, America could bring security and stability to the entire world-if, he added, the task was undertaken "not in the spirit of a patron but in the spirit of a partner-a partner mindful of his own imperfections." In short, instead of being the world's swaggering policeman, America would become the world's self-effacing social worker. Obama's democrat opponents espoused the same compromising apologetics, blame America first, peace in our time style give us a new start voices, focusing on international cooperation and multilateralism, exhausting every avenue of diplomacy before resorting to military action, "avoiding false choices driven by ideology," and devoting our resources to problems like global warming and Third World poverty. If pursued sincerely and consistently, such a course, Hillary was confident, would keep us safe, restore America's image, and win the respect of the planet. Or would it? For a little historical perspective, it might be useful to look at the last president who embraced exactly the same analysis of America's foreign-policy problems and enacted exactly the same strategy for resolving them. Hello Jimmy Carter you idiot!