During the vaunted CNN/YouTube debate, Senator Barak Obama was asked if he would "meet separately, without precondition, during the first year of your administration . . . with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea, in order to bridge the gap that divides our countries."
Without hesitation, he said "You betcha". Actually, he said "I would". Which of course, set off a firestorm.
But, proving that the spin is worse than the b.s., his staffer proved once of Barak Obama's worse tendencies: poor hiring decisions.
According to the staffer, what Obama really meant was "He said that he would be willing to talk. And what he meant was, as a government, he'd be willing and eager to initiate those kinds of talks, just as during the Cold War there were low-level discussions and mid-level discussions between us and the Soviet Union and so on. So he was not promising summits with all of those leaders."
So, he compares North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, and Cuba to the Soviet Union?
Pardon me. The phone is ringing...
I'm back. That was Mikhail Gorbachev. He's doing fine by the way, but he had to ask "What the fuck?" I told him, I know, I understand.
You see, there is a vast difference between the Fearsome Foursome and the Soviet Union. First, the Soviet Union was a substantial superpower with a substantial arsenal of weapons that would have turned the United States into obsidian. Second, the Soviet Union was at least a one-time ally, who never directly committed an act of war against us.
North Korea: June 1950. Never returned all their prisoners. Never signed peace treaty. USS Pueblo. Counterfeits US currency at a rate that makes Bill Gates jealous.
Iran: Invaded, seized, and took hold of sovereign US soil (the embassy in Tehran). Killed 280 Marines in Beiruit. Sponsored the hostages that took US embassy personnel in Lebanon hostage with abandon. Killed the CIA station chief. Khobar Towers. Bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Currently funding Hamas and Hezbollah out the ying-yang. Arms and funds Al Quds force, which is currently providing arms and tactical leadership to Al Qaeda in Iraq, who is killing our sons and daughters because they dare bring freedom to a forgotten relic of the British Empire. Vows to nuke Israel. Propping up Bashar Al Assad in Syria, who is threatening to retake the Golan Heights by force.
Cuba: Sponsored the 1980 (or was it 81) Mariel Boatlift, which essentially was an invasion of Cubans -- not a few of which were hardened criminals. Allowed Soviet Union to place ballistic nuclear missiles 90 miles from Florida, and 10 minutes from Washington, DC. Shot down US U-2 spyplane in October of 1962-- which was not actually OVER Cuba at the time.
Venezuela: Okay, nothing yet. But Hugo Chavez did nationalize a boatload of industries, including Citgo.
Comparing these little thugocracies-- who, if we ever elected a President with a pair, would be crushed -- with the Soviet Union is the biggest and dumbest comment I have heard from a presidential candidate since the Michael Dukakis explanation on Willie Horton (an issue which was raised first by Al Gore, not George the Elder as is often accused). Scratch that. It's the biggest and dumbest comment since Michael Dukakis' stammering when asked if he would favor the death penalty if his wife was raped and murdered.
It shows how far this little southside nincompoop has to go before he can be taken as serious Presidential material.
It makes W's not knowing who the Vice President of Pakistan was minor by comparison.