Posted on 03/31/2014 2:14:25 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Nothing surprising here but the quotes are oh so tasty. Including one that comes, secondhand, from Paul himself.
Is that what the last month of Russia-bashing and Tomahawk-praising was all about? Is Rand … “evolving” on foreign policy?
The [Republican Jewish Coalition] conference brings together some of the biggest names — and wallets — in Republican politics, most notably billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson. At a private dinner for VIP donors in an Adelson-owned aircraft hangar holding one of his pair of Boeing 747s, Bush was asked about the growing isolationist wing of the Republican Party and replied there was no such thing — effectively casting Paul out of the fold, according to attendees…
Rand Paul has told top GOP donors that he is “evolving” on foreign policy, particularly when it comes to his positions on Israel, according to several people who have had conversations with him. In recent months he has toned down his opposition to foreign aid — a red flag for most at the RJC — replacing it with a call to end foreign aid to countries that are unfriendly to the U.S. He has also increased his outreach to prominent pro-Israel and neoconservative thinkers and donors to show he is interested in having a dialogue. The U.S. gives more than $3 billion in foreign aid to Israel every year, almost entirely in the form of grants for Israel’s military and defense services…
On the margins of the conference, where attendees heard from four potential 2016 candidates who advocated for a strong American foreign policy and support for Israel, five donors huddled with a reporter pledged to reach into their deep pockets to ensure Paul doesn’t win the GOP nomination.
“The best thing that could happen is Ted Cruz and Rand Paul run and steal each other’s support,” says one of the donors, “but if not, we’ll be ready to take Paul down.”
Adelson is expected to spend untold millions against Paul in the primaries. Those millions didn’t help Newt stop Romney two years ago, but Romney’s team had more financial firepower than Rand’s will to fight back. Rand will try to fight back in a different way: Since his candidacy will be framed as an insurgency against the establishment, he can point to big donors on the other side as a vindication of his “me against the fatcats” populist message. How do you beam that message out to undecided low-information “somewhat conservative” voters, though, when TV and the Internet are full of “Paul will sell out Israel!” attack ads from the other side? As much as I think a Paul run will be fascinating, I worry that we’re going to end up with one of two outcomes. Either he wins the nomination despite it all and some crucial core of GOP hawks, having been convinced that he’s his father’s son on foreign policy, crosses the aisle for Hillary or he loses the nomination and his libertarian base, disgruntled over the attacks on him, decides to stay home. Makes me wonder if Rand is destined to end up on the ticket as VP even if he doesn’t win, and whether that arrangement would be acceptable to anyone. How can a guy who’ll be attacked as a new Charles Lindbergh end up one heartbeat away with the approval of his critics?
The only way to save this marriage, as I said last week, is for Rand to convince his enemies that he’d be acceptable as nominee even if they end up supporting someone else in the primaries. Sounds like that’s … not working out so far. Gulp. Here he is in a video shot two years ago and showcased this weekend by Jen Rubin warning about the perils of different approaches on Iran. Rubin treats his point near the end as Paul “blaming” the U.S. partially for World War II. I think he’s saying merely that sanctions are a form of escalation which can lead to war. If you want to knock him for something about this vid, knock him for the fact that he seems to believe (albeit without explicitly saying so) that war is the absolute worst-case nightmare scenario when it comes to Iran rather than the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran throwing its weight around the Middle East and beyond. We’ll have that debate next year, I guess.
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
I’m starting to be wary of these types of articles. Looks like another smear article trying to splinter the anti-government forces of the Right.
If by “hawks” they mean opposition to disamring, I am with them.
If they mean war all the time in every part of the globe, (e.g., John McCainiac, Jorge Bush), I am opposed to the “hawks”.
Experience has taught us that preparedness deters aggression and that weakness invites it.
Ronald Reagan, 1988
"GO GOP ESTABLISHMENT GO! KICK THAT LOONEY-TUNES PAUL OUT! WHOO-HOO I SO LOVE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!" < /Anti-Paul FReepers >
Can anyone point out a major American foreign policy triumph over the past ten years? Is it due to a lack of leadership or poor policy? Or might it just be that the power and influence of the United States and the West is on the wane? American elites have entered a post Christian, neo pagan era that in many ways is decadent. The world does not follow and is not inspired by a declining culture. It will take a lot more than Rand Paul or a few billionaires to fix things,
You mean beyond Syria, the Ukraine, unilateral disarmament, withdrawing ABM from Poland, Benghazi, the Koreas, Iraq and Afghanistan?
Yeah, ‘cause that optometrist is the only thing standing between us and takeover by the Red Hordes.
FU Adelson. I’ll never spend ONE DIME in your casinos.
Rush said today he met with someone off the record who will run.... Hmmm... Maybe from FLA? Who would that be and want the deck cleared.
And let say up front, I won't vote for another Bush...
The Paulbots vs. the Jews.
If he already has two 747 class aircraft, I don’t think he’s going to miss your patronage.
Wanna place a bet on the outcome of that one?
They had better be extra careful, they themselves might get replaced.
Don’t buy into the Rand is Ron carpola. Lets just see how he shakes out on his own. Rand Paul is trying to find his way on foreign policy. Hopefully he will grow into a cogent policy.
Another neocon who wants the goyim to go fight for Jews in the middle east.
Pass.
That should tell you all you need to know about these super rich globalist bastards. They don't want anyone actually putting America's interests first.
Did you ever suppose they did? They’d love to see Hillary vs. Jeb. It’d be 2004 all over again, win/win for them.
BTW, I never gave Ron a second thought - I thought he acted looney, even though I later discovered that he was very cogent and lucid about the value of the free market. But on the public stage especially in running for POTUS, he was strange and his foreign policy was cracked. He took on a strange cultist leader persona. I see none of that with Rand.
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