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Herman Cain Still Proudly Ignorant on Foreign Policy
Commentary ^ | Jonathan S. Tobin

Posted on 10/16/2011 11:25:34 AM PDT by Def Conservative

When pressed for answers today on Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq, the best Cain could do was to repeat his mantra that he would consult experts and then figure it out. Which is to say that he knows he hasn’t a clue but hopes no one will care. The program also produced Cain’s admission that he had no familiarity with the neoconservative movement. While being a subscriber to COMMENTARY isn’t a requirement for the presidency, the idea that someone running for that office had not even heard the term suggests that Cain is not only bereft of foreign policy experience, he apparently has never even read much about it.

As COMMENTARY readers know, neoconservatism has a long and honorable history as the movement that helped mobilize the country to oppose détente and the Soviet Union as well as having played a key role in critiquing the failures of the welfare state. During the Bush administration, leftists used the word as an epithet seeking to demonize those who believed not only in the need to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but also in the whole idea of promoting democracy abroad. After all that, it truly says something about a public figure that would admit to never having heard the word or to know what it might mean.

(Excerpt) Read more at commentarymagazine.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Foreign Affairs; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; booktour; cain; campaign; hermancain; iran; iraq; politics
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To: MNJohnnie

What can we expect from a poster dumb enough to pimp for Romney elitists Bill Kristol and the NYT? You are in with the elitists...not me!
Among those who Perry would consider for VP...you won’t find Romney or Cain!

Are you so stupid that you actually think Perry is in cahoots with the Romney people who hate him? You have to be completely nuts!

Whether you can admit it or not...Romney and Cain are joined at the hip!

Quoting Kristol and NYT beats all..unless you’re pimping for Romney, which is obvious!


61 posted on 10/16/2011 12:18:51 PM PDT by lonestar (It takes a village of idiots to elect a village idiot.)
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To: M. Thatcher; MestaMachine; MNJohnnie; BenKenobi
Excellent. Article is just now posted here.
62 posted on 10/16/2011 12:20:05 PM PDT by onyx (You're here on FR so, support it! Compiling New Sarah Palin Ping List! Tell me if you want on it!)
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To: MNJohnnie

How about you drop the smear attack campaign postings and try making a case for your candidate for once?


63 posted on 10/16/2011 12:20:23 PM PDT by lonestar (It takes a village of idiots to elect a village idiot.)
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To: Def Conservative

More Romney/Perry....Obama-planted smears?


64 posted on 10/16/2011 12:20:25 PM PDT by AnalogReigns ((since reality is never digital...))
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To: MNJohnnie
You mean 9-9-9 could be a joke-joke-joke?

Ha!-Ha!-Ha!

65 posted on 10/16/2011 12:24:34 PM PDT by lonestar (It takes a village of idiots to elect a village idiot.)
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To: boycott
A lot of folks don’t like his 9,9,9 plan. Every other candidate has shown nothing but a 0,0,0 plan.

That's because they either work for the government and have a vested interest in status quo or have the attention span of a gnat.

Cain's 999 plan simplifies and eliminates payroll taxes, death taxes and capital gain taxes. Imagine not having to figure out income taxes anymore.

66 posted on 10/16/2011 12:24:47 PM PDT by John123 (US$ - I owe you nothing. Euro - Who owes you nothing.)
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To: tirednvirginia

Cain is right about the lack of a sense of humor. I see it here on FR. too. We are supposedly conservative patriots fighting to preserve our beloved Republic with an exchaange of ature ideas.. But too many of us, instead of sticking with that program, log in to unload a mean spirit. Rather than selling the good points of their candidate, they stoop to personal name calling, which is not only against Free Republic rules, but boringly juvenile as well.


67 posted on 10/16/2011 12:26:24 PM PDT by Paperdoll (I like Herman Cain.)
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To: Def Conservative
Unless a candidate has already been a president,a vice president, a congressman on a committee specializing in foreign policy or international intelligence OR a former member of the foreign or intelligence services he WOULD BE IGNORANT of important data concerning international issues and WOULD BE STUPID AND IRRESPONSIBLE to pretend otherwise—ESPECIALLY if he has a chance to win the presidency.

A candidate running his mouth about such and such a country when he ain't in the loop makes that country nervous AND DANGEROUS at the prospect of his winning the most powerful position on earth.

68 posted on 10/16/2011 12:26:51 PM PDT by Happy Rain ( "Many of the most useful idiots of the Left are on the Right.")
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To: MNJohnnie

Were you always a Cain supporter? Perhaps you were in the mindset of many here who thought we should wait forever for Palin to enter the race?

You have to be alone here for coming down on Perry because he was late entering the race.

Up until a couple of weeks ago, most here were still waiting for Sarah so you can’t possibly attack Perry on that very lame line of thought and get any traction.

Also Perry has ties to many Tea party groups and was even endorsed in his last election by Sarah Palin.

Did you see the advertisement that the Tea Party express is running in Perry’s behalf?


69 posted on 10/16/2011 12:29:30 PM PDT by tirednvirginia
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To: Def Conservative

I would like to see that Herman Cain is doing homework nonstop to get up to speed on the issues he never had to bother with when running Godfather’s Pizza. I don’t care that he doesn’t know where Mali is, but he should be making himself an authority on the Middle East. He should know everything possible about oil/gas/energy/drilling. Drop the book tour immediately and stop smiling so much. This is a crisis.

Cain’s got a great and infectious personality. A lot of people (53%) thought the last guy did, too. I don’t want us to jump from the fire to the frying pan. I want to jump from the fire to the fire extinguisher.


70 posted on 10/16/2011 12:35:37 PM PDT by Rytas
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To: Def Conservative
Cain said:

I’m not sure what you mean by neoconservative. I’m a conservative, yes. Neoconservative, labels sometimes put you in a box. I’m very conservative.

Even now, I'm not so sure what people mean by "neoconservative." What it means now isn't what it meant 10 or 20 or 30 or 40 or 50 years ago.

And nobody running for president is going to want to put themselves in a box on this: "I am a neoconservative" or "I am not a neoconservative" is the sort of thing that generates a lot of heat without shedding much light. To change the metaphor, it's painting a target on one's back with no real reason to do so.

Cain went on to say, in response to the host's pressing the question:

I’m not familiar with the neoconservative movement. I’m familiar with the conservative movement and let me define what I mean by the conservative movement. Less government. Less taxes. More individual responsibility.

I don't take that as meaning "I have never heard of the neoconservative movement" but as meaning "That's not what I came here to talk about." Most people would do the same.

This is really disappointing from Commentary. They come to a conclusion only an idiot would arrive at.

They start by calling him ignorant and end by hinting at conceit or hubris, when the ignorance and arrogance is all their own. It's especially bad since they are creating the kind of myth that people are going to repeat and spread and embellish.

71 posted on 10/16/2011 12:37:40 PM PDT by x
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To: behzinlea

You know perfedtly well that funny business has absolutely nothing to do with humor.


72 posted on 10/16/2011 12:44:00 PM PDT by Paperdoll (I like Herman Cain.)
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To: MNJohnnie
What does anyone really know about Perry other then the nice words and platitudes he puts in his speeches?


Well probably more than we currently know about the part time preacher from Antioch Baptist Church North - Atlanta. When they apply the proctoscope to him then we may know a little of his history, associates, dealings, beliefs, etc. Until then we are pretty much clueless.

73 posted on 10/16/2011 12:44:44 PM PDT by deport
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To: TheConservator

How does repeating the Democrats mistake of electing someone with minimal experience make for a good decision on the part of the Republicans?


74 posted on 10/16/2011 12:45:47 PM PDT by Sir Lurks Alot
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To: deport
Only because you choose to be clueless about him.

Lots has been written and spoken by Cain if you care to learn it.

75 posted on 10/16/2011 12:48:09 PM PDT by MNJohnnie (Giving more money to DC to fix the Debt is like giving free drugs to addicts think it will cure them)
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To: MNJohnnie

So you choose to be the same about Perry? Clueless.


76 posted on 10/16/2011 12:49:15 PM PDT by deport
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To: Def Conservative

Commentary must be anti-semitic since, as many here have said, use of the term neo-conservative indicates same.


77 posted on 10/16/2011 12:52:21 PM PDT by Captain Kirk
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To: behzinlea
Right. So the new Caine Rule for Foreign Policy is: "We've tried smart. Let's try stupid for a change."

Almost every governor who has run for president is light on the foreign policy issue. While senators and house members are a little stronger in that department, they lack the executive know how needed desparately in that office (see Obama). A lot can be learned on foreign policy in the year 'till the election but access to a lot of intelligence info will be lacking.

78 posted on 10/16/2011 12:52:30 PM PDT by terycarl (lurking, but well informed)
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To: Def Conservative

My free advice to Cain:
Create foreign policy advisory team for you, including people widely respected, get up to date so you can at least make intelligent comments in debates, and start forming Cain Foreign Policy principles.

Get john bolton on board.


79 posted on 10/16/2011 12:53:34 PM PDT by heiss (heartless)
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To: marty60

I like Cain’s focus on the US rather than inviting Muslims into the country and helping them build Mosques and teaching our students “all the great things Muslims have done”.


80 posted on 10/16/2011 12:57:20 PM PDT by CynicalBear
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