Posted on 11/02/2011 8:01:42 PM PDT by montag813
Herman Cain said this on PBS NewsHour last night, regarding his assertion of a growing military threat from China (VIDEO):
And secondly, we already have superiority in terms of our military capability, and I plan to get away from making cutting our defense a priority and make investing in our military capability a priority, going back to my statement: peace through strength and clarity. So yes they’re a military threat. They’ve indicated that they’re trying to develop nuclear capability and they want to develop more aircraft carriers like we have. So yes, we have to consider them a military threat.
Immediately, the Left-wing blogosphere surged into action, ridiculing Cain for "not knowing that China has nukes". DailyKos, TPM, DU, HuffPost, the usual suspects.
I watched the interview live and immediately understood that Cain was referring to China developing nuclear aircraft carriers, and misspoke slightly. Perhaps I knew what most do not because I have read Stratfor's research since college. China does not have nuclear carriers now, and is feverishly working to build one, with the first expected off the blocks in 2020. I also knew about Cain's history with the Navy as a mathematician, during which time he calculated ballistic projections of nuclear weapons and the like, according to what he detailed in his book.
So I was stunned to see the so-called Conservative blogs Ace of Spades and HotAir.com (they've since edited the post) joining the left-wing ridicule of Cain, suggesting he didn't know China had nukes.
Ace of Spades: "I'm sure this is charming, or something....Personable guy. Great smile. Let's nominate him....I understand that part of this is just a show. Most presidential candidates don't "know" all the stuff they pretend they know. They cram, they get briefed....But again there's some very basic, very elementary stuff here that Cain seems to have missed....I don't think you should need to get briefed to know that China is in the Nuclear Club. The list of known members is small enough to... I was going to say memorize, but you don't have to memorize them, do you? You should just know it from day-to-day reading."
HotAir.com: "If you don’t like him and/or don’t trust him on policy, you’ll think he’s referring here to China developing a general nuclear capability, i.e. nuclear weapons. Which, as pretty much everyone in the world except maybe him knows, they’ve already had for decades. The way the sentence is phrased, with the two parts separated by “and,” it sounds like he’s distinguishing the nuclear component conceptually from the carriers. Could a guy who didn’t know what the “right of return” was and who whiffed on the biggest softball question ever about Gitmo really not know that China has a nuclear deterrent? I’m thinking … maybe. Although it won’t be spun that way tomorrow, needless to say."
Commenters on both sites were filled with descriptions of Cain as an "idiot", as "senile", as "stupid and ignorant", and "pathetic". Lovely.
Finally, it took a HotAir commenter who, like me, has also read Cain's book to set the record straight, as follows:
Herman Cain spent the Vietnam war evaluating the capabilities of the Chinese to deliver a nuclear weapon onto the heads of our forces in South Vietnam.
He examined the test launches of the Dongfeng 1 (SS-1) and plotted out the trajectories for a 500kg warheads.
When China started testing the Dongfeng 2 (CSS-1) Cain plotted out the trajectories and capabilities of it’s delivery of 15 kiloton nuclear weapons.
Both of these missiles were provided to the PRC by the Soviets, Cain analysed data from the Russian test launches and determined the risk to U.S. troops in SE Asia.
Cain also observed the development of China’s first domestically produced missile, Dongfeng 3 (CSS-2) and plotted out it’s use with China’s 15-20KT fissile devices as well as China’s new thermonuclear devices.
Finally, Cain was involved in the determination that China’s Dongfeng 4 (CSS-3) was capable of delivering both fissile and thermonuclear devices to both Moscow and Guam as well as cover the entire deployment of U.S. forces in SE Asia.
Cain is clearly well aware of China’s nuclear missile capability, the only reasonable conclusion is that Cain was indeed referring to China’s attempts to develop and sail their first nuclear aircraft carrier and their attempts to develop more dangerous nuclear cruisers.
Only a blithering idiot would think, given Cain's extensive experience, that he would not KNOW China possessed nuclear weapons. We expect such idiocy from our enemies at left-wing blogs. We expect a lot more from those who presume to be our friends.
I quit HA ages ago when MM sold the site and realized AllahPundit seemed to be such a squish GOP Establishment drone.
I loathe Hot Air. I smelled RINO dung every time I used to go there. Now I have unfavored it from my Bookmarks. It’s just an airless vacuum to me now of prissy establishment writers and commenters.
That’s not a fair criticism of Ace of Spades, he vindicated Cain with two different citations in this post:
http://ace.mu.nu/archives/323293.php
So Cain should be granted a pass for every ignorant thing he utters? Now that’s an intelligent way to select a candidate for POTUS.
They all must be rommibots.
Not surprised about Hot Air. They have gone downhill since Malkin sold it.
Ace, however, is disappointing. They usually are top notch at seeing through these things. I know Viv isn’t crazy about Cain but that isn’t reason to get into the BS.
An atheist like Allah Pundit, and a homosexual pro-abortion progressive feminist like Tammy Bruce, should never be considered “conservatives”.
I hope you realize this is Cain’s fault. He has allowed himself to be defined as “former CEO of Godfather’s pizza” and little else.
How dare they have different opinions and criticize candidates for verbal gaffes!
Cain is a novice and gives pretty bad answers quite frequently - only to come back and correct himself later. He has done this with Right of Return, Abortion, Prisoner Swaps, the Chinese nuke issue, etc. He should be criticized for poor responses. What is the problem with that? Conservatives should be vetting these candidates and that means we don’t treat anyone with kid gloves.
Nonsense! He went off half-cocked, ridiculing Cain - an EXPERT in nukes and nuclear trajectories, which he wrote in his book, and has discussed in more than a dozen TV interviews. I don't care that he LATER walked it back. They gave fuel to the Left-wing fraud. Fake "conservative" WaPo columnist Jennifer Rubin was on Anderson Cooper tonight asserting that Cain did NOT know that China had nukes. NEVER help the enemy. Do your damn homework. FReepers do proper research, I expect the ad-supported flashy blogs to do the same.
Why? Because the Rich and Powerful of both parties do not wish to lose their status ... and they’re doing everything they can to insure that Obama wins a second term.
They all know that the only person who can confront Obama on a visceral level is another black man ... in this case, a successful American businessman who happens to be black.
Cain vs UnAble-Obama ... an American black versus a half-white, half-Kenyan.
We The People must insist that the GOP hierarchy support the only true black American candidate ... Herman Cain.
Respect for your fellow man I see has pretty much been destroyed in favor of inuendo.
Why don’t these people just come out and tell the truth. I am still hot about Mark Levin (who I like) and people who question Obama’s eligibility.
Damn it, quit blaming the decent voter and tell us the damn truth instead of threatening us or making up or putting s spin on stories. I am sick of it. They are just making things worse and making themselves look very small.
Because they are too imprecise to point out that in being precise, Cain should have used the word Delivery.
His statement wasn’t a gaffe China is working on a 93k ton Nuclear powered aircraft carrier and a new generations of nuclear subs that will give them nuclear capabilities they haven’t had before.
Capabilities and weapons are not the same thing.
Just when you think politics can’t get any dirtier.
Where was the media on Clinton with Flowers, Paula, Willy, Broderick?
Where was the media with JFK
Where was the media with John Edwards.
Where was the MSM with Weiner?
Where was the media on Obama and every single piece of history to his past?
Now they found an OVER decade old story on Cain making a GESTURE that made a woman UNCONFORTABLE!!!!
He admitted he didn't know what the right of return was. He then said he leaned about it. Would a businessman know such diplomatic details? Does it matter? Did Rick Perry knew either (we'll never know)?
Of course Cain knows of China’s nukes... but still... the way he said it. It seems part of a pattern. It’s not that he talks without thinking. It’s more like his mouth outruns his thoughts. Not unsolvable.... but definitely needs work. It’s early. He’s smart. I just hope his advisors are better than his FR hardcores and are telling him more than “it’s all the media out to get you”.
I don’t get the big deal people are trying to make over this.
Among the members of the nuclear club, is anyone but China currently developing new nuclear weapons? We sure as hell aren’t.
The idea that a former Navy missile ballistics employee wouldn’t know about China’s nukes is absurd.
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