If President Obama runs a fact based and issue based campaign while many Americans will fall for the Republican shenanigans, misinformation, and fallacies, most will ultimately look out for what is best for themselves, their communities and their country. Americans did this in 2008 but stayed out of the game in 2010. We must learn our lesson. Allowing the Right Wing and Tea Party to usurp our politics has severely delayed our recovery. This must not happen in 2012.
Russ Feingold: ‘It’s A Threat To Our Country’ To Elect One Of The GOP Presidential Candidates
Amanda Terkel Senior Political Reporter, The Huffington Post
WASHINGTON — America has largely turned its focus away from foreign policy and civil liberties since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, according to a new book by former Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold. This shift inward, he argues, can be seen everywhere: in the Tea Party, among progressive activists and in elected officials. But the problem — and its potentially dire consequences — can perhaps be seen most clearly in the 2012 presidential campaign.
In an interview about the book, "While America Sleeps," Feingold lamented the GOP presidential candidates’ lack of discussion and knowledge of foreign policy.
"To me, the gap between President Obama and these people [the GOP candidates] is so enormous that it’s a threat to our country to elect people who take such a silly view of the rest of the world," he told The Huffington Post.
Feingold pointed to former presidential candidate Herman Cain’s pronouncement that he didn’t know the president of Uzbekistan — which he called "Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan" — and that he considered the country "small and insignificant."
"He made fun of a nation that is actually a critical nation," said Feingold. "It is the nation to the north of Afghanistan and Pakistan. When we’re having trouble with Pakistan, we want to go through Uzbekistan to get our things to our troops in Afghanistan. But the trouble is, Uzbekistan is basically run by a guy who is a Stalinist dictator."
"I actually analyzed the two Republican debates on foreign policy and just counted up how many times they mentioned various countries," he added. "Well, they never mentioned Somalia once. This is a place where al Shabaab is operating. It was an Al Qaeda chapter. It was a place where Al Qaeda has had a place for some time, and it’s a critical location. They mentioned Yemen once."
"They are dumbing down foreign policy to slogans," Feingold said. "Of course, the slogans they use are, ‘The president is always apologizing for America,’ or, ‘Do you or do you not believe in American exceptionalism?’ That’s what they’re offering the country in place of real policy."
Feingold goes hard after the concept of American exceptionalism in the book. The term is popular among the GOP presidential candidates, with everything from God to the U.S. space program being touted as an example of this exceptionalism.
"The notion of American exceptionalism is effective in part because there is little on the face of it that is offensive," writes Feingold, adding, "The conservative version of American exceptionalism has become a password of sorts for candidates who want to prove their credentials to a right-wing America."
Russ Feingold: ‘It’s A Threat To Our Country’ To Elect One Of The GOP Presidential Candidates