Vice President Biden gave a speech on foreign policy yesterday, and spent some time describing the "negative consequences" of "loose talk" about war with Iran, including driving up oil prices.
"President Obama has said, 'Now is the time to let our increased pressure sink in, and to sustain the broad international coalition we have built. Now is the time to heed the timeless advice from Teddy Roosevelt: 'speak softly and carry a big stick.'" Biden added, "I promise you the president has a big stick."
The audience laughed. Former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, a Mitt Romney advisor, thinks he knows why.
For those who can't watch clips online, Bolton said he thinks the audience's reaction was "some measure of their belief about how assertive Obama is on behalf of our interests internationally."
He didn't seem to be kidding. Bolton heard an audience sympathetic to the White House chuckle when the vice president referenced the president's "big stick," and the Romney surrogate thinks it was a commentary on the public's skepticism about Obama's foreign policy.
As a rule, I tend to think Bolton is an embarrassment to himself and probably shouldn't be representing a presidential campaign on national television. But if he is going to make these appearances, the least he can is try to have a sense of humor.
Granted, chuckling at "I promise you the president has a big stick" is only funny in a puerile sort of way, but even Fox News viewers had to realize Bolton's analysis didn't make any sense.
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I wonder if Bolton has read any of this material?
National Institutes of Mental Health
National Institutes of Mental Health
National Institutes of Mental Health
Or this material?
GOP Destroyed Iran Democracy in 1953
If this draft dodger weren't such a clown, he would be dangerous.
I've been thread posting in Benenland since the merry days of Carpetbagger Report. Those of you who've been here all along know I've been a Republican for the past 30+ years, and though active some time ago in Republican circles, I now find myself put out by a fringe element that has captured the agenda of the Republican party since Pappy Bush's days in the WH.
Whenever I disparage members of the fringe who've been in my big tent for years, it is not simply a throw down insult. My disrespectful comments come from knowing the people with whom I've been affliated for some time now.
Now my thoughts on one John Bolton - what a donkey's deriere! John Bolton commands as much respect in his foreign policy views as his voice is deep! Yeah, I know, his voice is equal to a male alto singing in the back row of a choral concert!
We would all do much better if we simply muted Bolton's voice whenever it comes over the TV machine! -Kevo
I too was a republican in a previous lifetime. As a fiscal conservative and social liberal, there is no place for me in the republican party of today or of the past several decades (since St Ronnie of Rayguns). It is most unfortunate that fiscal conservatives were without a voice when the republicans passed Bush's fiscally irresponsible tax cuts and spending binges. Even worse that there were many DLC/DINO democrats who nodded public agreement in the name of political expediency.
I do not believe there is a real place for anyone like me who advocates for the restoration of civil liberties that were eroded tremendously under the past several administrations.
PS - Fiscal conservativism means the realization that federal debt is a long term problem that must be addressed over time and not as an excuse for gutting the social framework of our country.
aka in Benenland as SadOldVet / AngryOldVet / AmusedOldVet / RepublicanPointOfView (snark)
...even Fox News viewers had to realize Bolton's analysis didn't make any sense.
Surely thou jest! Fox Noise viewers believe what they are told whether it makes any sense or not or even if it is a most obvious lie to the non-brainwashed.
I had the misfortune of sitting in a doctor's waiting room Wednesday with Fox Noise on the tv. They had a segment about Obama's ethics problems with Karl Rove as their expert explaining the ethical problems. Several idiots sat there nodding in agreement. At times like that, I wish I had the sense of humor that I am lacking.
"Granted, chuckling at "I promise you the president has a big stick" is only funny in a puerile sort of way,..."
This is today's GOP, what other sort of way do you think that they operate on? Just pick someone, anyone - from Sean Hannity's remarks about "the poor able to eat well on rice & beans", to remarks made telling women seeking abortions "to look the other way when having forced ultrasounds" - their puerile remarks regarding serious issues is staggering.
Seditio
Note to self: Never invite John Bolton to a stand-up gig.
Poor John Bolton. He doesn't understand that sometimes a penis joke is merely a penis joke.
I watched Greta and John discuss the "big stick" with straight faces, and I wondered how they managed that. What planet are they living on? They must be really pushed to pull a gaff like that.
I'm disappointed that Greta did not explain the joke to John since he obviously drew the wrong conclusion from the laughter... but maybe that was his version of a Republican joke to be completely oblivious to the obvious as long as it supports his own line of thinking.