If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The president probably won last night, but so what? This country may be facing the most confused foreign policy picture in its history. Why can't you find a statesman when you really need one?
Anyone foolish enough to watch Monday night's debate for a nuanced discussion of foreign policy was sorely disappointed.
If we want to do as President Obama says and build a "Strong America" again, we need to take foreign spent dollars and invest them at home.
Last night's debate was supposed to be on foreign policy. However, both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama decided fairly early on that the differences between the two policy-wise were pretty small, so they both decided to hijack the foreign policy debate and instead the debates on the economy.
Through it all, and no matter what Romney tossed at Obama the president respectfully but forcefully threw it back, indicating that what had been said wasn't true and that Romney was all over the map in his pronouncements.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney shocked many on both sides of the political aisle when during Monday's debate on foreign policy he called for the arrest of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Tonight's third Presidential debate featured a battle between Obama the Professor-in-Chief vs. Romney the student-who-didn't-do-the-reading. As someone who has ADD, even I had trouble keeping up with many of Governor Romney's non-linear arguments.
We knew the foreign policy positions of the the two candidates were similar, but who knew Mitt copped a peek at Obama's notes before the debate and wrote them on his hand?
Although Monday night's topic was foreign policy, I hope Americans understood it was also about every other major challenge we face. Mitt Romney is not only a cold warrior; he's also a class warrior. And the two are closely related.
In case you didn't get a chance to watch (or just want to relive it), here are the top 10 lines from the final presidential debate -- and three bonus terrible lines.
Romney's knowledge is so flimsy and his declarations so cliché-ridden as to betray a distinct lack of comprehension or interest. As for Obama, residency in the White House has provided experience but has left him without strategic design or a modulated sense of national interests.
To win in Battleship you have to take out all your opponent's ships. In chess, you can leave pieces on the Board but still checkmate the King. Romney to his chagrin did not take out all of Obama's ships. Obama, on the other hand, played his chess game.
Most elections get billed as the most important in a generation, but with America teetering on a fiscal cliff in an era of profound climate change, this one really is. And, in Obama's own words: "Only you have the power to move us forward."
The candidates may not have clear answers to the challenges we face, but at least we need to understand how they think about the questions.
Global health has been absent from the debates so far. It needs to make an appearance in the third at final debate, because we're about to sacrifice the opportunity to make a difference for women in the name of politics.
On Monday, the candidates will square off on foreign policy. One of the five topics is China and how the next president will manage our complex, highly interdependent relationship with the world's second largest economy.
