Actually, the Republican foreign policy makes perfect sense POLITICALLY (and not just because it is everything that the Democrats disagree with).
Aggressive about Mexico: Demonizes immigrants, gives Republicans an "other" to hate, helps them cling to whatever shreds of the Law and Order party that the GOP once was.
Indifferent on Taiwan: Still important to us until we can make our own superconductors, once we don't need them, we cut 'em off. Allows us to "talk tough" about China while we give them what they want.
Against Ukraine/NATO: Feeds into storyline of Christian Russia/Hungary vs. Secular Europe. Gives Putin a green light to push further and weaken E.U.
I can only hope that the idea of an invasion or bombing is blowing smoke to contrast the Democratic support for assisting Ukraine, which Republicans claim provides no strategic benefits, with the Republican desire to reduce American deaths by attacking cartels who operate outside the law. I would like to think that this is, at most, posturing to enhance post-election negotiations with the Mexicans.
If not, this would be catastrophic. Have we not learned from the wars of the past 60 years that invading a sovereign nation absent overwhelming popular support in the target nation (among other considerations) will invariably fail, leading to a horrific number of military and civilian deaths and the wasting of valuable tax dollars? Do Republicans understand that there are criminal drug-dealing organizations across the globe that would eagerly pick up the business opportunity from Mexican drug cartels, which themselves are already globalizing?
While we could be off fighting a difficult war, China would see this as an ideal time to grab Taiwan. At least, they will argue, they are only reclaiming territory that was once theirs. Despots across the world would claim that, like the US (and Russia), they are entitled to invade their neighbor due to some supposed domestic problem caused by the neighbor.
With enough of this sort of sabre-rattling, along with other bizarre MAGA sideshows, business interests may conclude that the Republican agenda will cause global instability, and begin quietly funding Democrats. What a strange time.
These GOP knuckleheads, quick to condemn Joe for the Afghan withdrawal after a 20 year GOP debacle, want to get right back into it. It surpasses credibility how free they are with the lives of others.
Reading this newsletter about the GOP just confirms to me that they have no coherent foreign policy. They are just chasing whatever shiny thing thrown in their direction. This will definitely not end well.
“That’s why it’s hard to broadly paint this new generation of populist Republicans as isolationists. They are not isolationists in the slightest when it comes to Mexico, have mixed feelings when it comes to Taiwan, and are rapidly abandoning a democratic government in Ukraine to the belligerent actions of its authoritarian neighbor.
Of course, there is one unifying thread linking these otherwise contradictory positions. Whatever cause Democrats are for as a matter of principle, Republicans are against as a matter of politics”
This is the second time I’ve heard Bulwark people comment on the oddly inconsistent views of Republican foreign policy. And you seem to understand it the best while still expressing the issue in less than explicit terms. So let’s list out the different scenarios and see if we can figure out exactly what Republicans are probably thinking (though maybe not always consciously):
Foreign Policy Interventions As Processed by the MAGA mind:
1. US & Mexico --> closest neighbor & trading partner and no sign or threat of aggression--> skin color? Brown/ religion? Christian but like a weird Mexican Catholic type of Christian not like us--> Action? bomb targets, kill anyone crossing the border, install barbed wire and illegal rotating flotation saws to inflict damage to migrants.
2. China & Taiwan --> China clear aggressor, led by an authoritarian dictator who has made clear his intention of “reclaiming” the territory of liberal, freedom loving Taiwanese against their will --> skin color? Yellow? Religion? Atheist? Buddhist? I don’t know - def not Christian --> Action? confusing...aren’t they basically the same?
3. Russia and Ukraine --> Russia clear aggressor. Previously reclaimed Crimea illegally, close ties with Belarusian strongman, history of killing journalists and poisoning detractors, attacked the independent nation of Ukraine unprovoked. --> Skin color? White. Religion? I used to think they were similar and Russia was wrong but then Jordan Peterson said that Russia was the last bastion of Christian Nationalism (sorry, I meant Western Civilization). Where men are real men who don’t tolerate gays while Ukraine is led by a Jewish dude who doesn’t even dress up when he gives talks begging for money like some welfare queen! And they’re also crawling with Nazis. (That last point seems strange because of the Jewish leader thing but I try not to think about it that much). Tucker said Russia was good and Ukraine was bad --> Action? Stop giving free money and weapons to far away Jews - let Europe deal with it. We need to focus on killing the brown people near us who are bringing in the fentanyl and heroin that we keep demanding because the government made it impossible for people to get pain meds after the opioid epidemic.
I don't know about George Soros' older brother, but in my view George is Mother Teresa with billions to spend. Who else has spent that kind of money opposing totalitarianism of both the Left and the Right?
I'm somewhat pleased that the hurricane is taking up a lot of the time on the news stations. It gets all of this GQP crap pushed to the back pages or limited to two minutes. They only get more ridiculous to get attention. It's the Ramaswamy effect. I worry about the folk in Florida who were saying after last year that an Ian type storm won't happen for another 100 years. I hope they can see how much their governor has done to protect his state from being completely under water in ten years. Nothing. Global warming is a "woke" conspiracy.
Yeah, but Biden will probably go down there again to give him emergency federal aid and DeSantis will shake his hand and then continue to mock Joe’s “dementia” and Hunter’s laptop and take credit for all the things he did to save his state.
I hate feeling like this but I’m honestly not sure if I would mind that much if like a third of Florida was under water in 2 years.
But how would our troops and artillery get past the impenetrable wall along the border? I forgot, it's falling on its own into the Rio Grande as we speak. Problem solved.
'Swammy," as i call him, would be worse than, dare i say, DJT, as he would turn the government into operating like a boardroom, and have Musk as his veep. How dystopian would that be?
In February 2021, Russia invaded Ukraine because Ukraine (a) wasn't a real nation separate from Russia and (b) the people in the Donetsk, Luhansk, & Zaporizhia oblasts and in Crimea needed protection from Nazis (led by Zelenskyy, who couldn't be admitted to any Nazi organization anywhere). The U.S. (a.k.a. "Our Nation"), NATO, U.N., and the EU condemn that invasion.
Republicans? Drop support for Ukraine; invade Mexico.
Invade Mexico? There's much more at stake than trade or a trading partner. It's immoral, unjust, and unconscionable.
'Nuff said - But there'll probably be more said, anyway.
The claim by Rep Comer that the ex-president "had ordered a bombing of a couple of fentanyl labs, crystal meth labs, in Mexico, just across the border, and for whatever reason the military didn’t do it" is ridiculous and should have been called out as such. That's not the way our military system and chain of command works.
"Wouldn't be prudent."
Actually, the Republican foreign policy makes perfect sense POLITICALLY (and not just because it is everything that the Democrats disagree with).
Aggressive about Mexico: Demonizes immigrants, gives Republicans an "other" to hate, helps them cling to whatever shreds of the Law and Order party that the GOP once was.
Indifferent on Taiwan: Still important to us until we can make our own superconductors, once we don't need them, we cut 'em off. Allows us to "talk tough" about China while we give them what they want.
Against Ukraine/NATO: Feeds into storyline of Christian Russia/Hungary vs. Secular Europe. Gives Putin a green light to push further and weaken E.U.
I can only hope that the idea of an invasion or bombing is blowing smoke to contrast the Democratic support for assisting Ukraine, which Republicans claim provides no strategic benefits, with the Republican desire to reduce American deaths by attacking cartels who operate outside the law. I would like to think that this is, at most, posturing to enhance post-election negotiations with the Mexicans.
If not, this would be catastrophic. Have we not learned from the wars of the past 60 years that invading a sovereign nation absent overwhelming popular support in the target nation (among other considerations) will invariably fail, leading to a horrific number of military and civilian deaths and the wasting of valuable tax dollars? Do Republicans understand that there are criminal drug-dealing organizations across the globe that would eagerly pick up the business opportunity from Mexican drug cartels, which themselves are already globalizing?
While we could be off fighting a difficult war, China would see this as an ideal time to grab Taiwan. At least, they will argue, they are only reclaiming territory that was once theirs. Despots across the world would claim that, like the US (and Russia), they are entitled to invade their neighbor due to some supposed domestic problem caused by the neighbor.
With enough of this sort of sabre-rattling, along with other bizarre MAGA sideshows, business interests may conclude that the Republican agenda will cause global instability, and begin quietly funding Democrats. What a strange time.
Invading mexico - and canada - is the dumbest thing i have ever heard. he gets no pionts for foreign policy
These GOP knuckleheads, quick to condemn Joe for the Afghan withdrawal after a 20 year GOP debacle, want to get right back into it. It surpasses credibility how free they are with the lives of others.
Reading this newsletter about the GOP just confirms to me that they have no coherent foreign policy. They are just chasing whatever shiny thing thrown in their direction. This will definitely not end well.
According to Joe:
“That’s why it’s hard to broadly paint this new generation of populist Republicans as isolationists. They are not isolationists in the slightest when it comes to Mexico, have mixed feelings when it comes to Taiwan, and are rapidly abandoning a democratic government in Ukraine to the belligerent actions of its authoritarian neighbor.
Of course, there is one unifying thread linking these otherwise contradictory positions. Whatever cause Democrats are for as a matter of principle, Republicans are against as a matter of politics”
This is the second time I’ve heard Bulwark people comment on the oddly inconsistent views of Republican foreign policy. And you seem to understand it the best while still expressing the issue in less than explicit terms. So let’s list out the different scenarios and see if we can figure out exactly what Republicans are probably thinking (though maybe not always consciously):
Foreign Policy Interventions As Processed by the MAGA mind:
1. US & Mexico --> closest neighbor & trading partner and no sign or threat of aggression--> skin color? Brown/ religion? Christian but like a weird Mexican Catholic type of Christian not like us--> Action? bomb targets, kill anyone crossing the border, install barbed wire and illegal rotating flotation saws to inflict damage to migrants.
2. China & Taiwan --> China clear aggressor, led by an authoritarian dictator who has made clear his intention of “reclaiming” the territory of liberal, freedom loving Taiwanese against their will --> skin color? Yellow? Religion? Atheist? Buddhist? I don’t know - def not Christian --> Action? confusing...aren’t they basically the same?
3. Russia and Ukraine --> Russia clear aggressor. Previously reclaimed Crimea illegally, close ties with Belarusian strongman, history of killing journalists and poisoning detractors, attacked the independent nation of Ukraine unprovoked. --> Skin color? White. Religion? I used to think they were similar and Russia was wrong but then Jordan Peterson said that Russia was the last bastion of Christian Nationalism (sorry, I meant Western Civilization). Where men are real men who don’t tolerate gays while Ukraine is led by a Jewish dude who doesn’t even dress up when he gives talks begging for money like some welfare queen! And they’re also crawling with Nazis. (That last point seems strange because of the Jewish leader thing but I try not to think about it that much). Tucker said Russia was good and Ukraine was bad --> Action? Stop giving free money and weapons to far away Jews - let Europe deal with it. We need to focus on killing the brown people near us who are bringing in the fentanyl and heroin that we keep demanding because the government made it impossible for people to get pain meds after the opioid epidemic.
I don't know about George Soros' older brother, but in my view George is Mother Teresa with billions to spend. Who else has spent that kind of money opposing totalitarianism of both the Left and the Right?
“¡Pobre México! ¡Tan lejos de Dios y tan cerca de los Estados Unidos!”
I'm somewhat pleased that the hurricane is taking up a lot of the time on the news stations. It gets all of this GQP crap pushed to the back pages or limited to two minutes. They only get more ridiculous to get attention. It's the Ramaswamy effect. I worry about the folk in Florida who were saying after last year that an Ian type storm won't happen for another 100 years. I hope they can see how much their governor has done to protect his state from being completely under water in ten years. Nothing. Global warming is a "woke" conspiracy.
Yeah, but Biden will probably go down there again to give him emergency federal aid and DeSantis will shake his hand and then continue to mock Joe’s “dementia” and Hunter’s laptop and take credit for all the things he did to save his state.
I hate feeling like this but I’m honestly not sure if I would mind that much if like a third of Florida was under water in 2 years.
re: "Sending Troops into Mexico..."
But how would our troops and artillery get past the impenetrable wall along the border? I forgot, it's falling on its own into the Rio Grande as we speak. Problem solved.
'Swammy," as i call him, would be worse than, dare i say, DJT, as he would turn the government into operating like a boardroom, and have Musk as his veep. How dystopian would that be?
So are going to get Mexico to pay for us invading them?
When it comes to illegal drugs, R's don't seem to grasp the concept of supply & demand.
Exactly. Maybe they should look into the demand problem, which is quite an issue in red states.
In February 2021, Russia invaded Ukraine because Ukraine (a) wasn't a real nation separate from Russia and (b) the people in the Donetsk, Luhansk, & Zaporizhia oblasts and in Crimea needed protection from Nazis (led by Zelenskyy, who couldn't be admitted to any Nazi organization anywhere). The U.S. (a.k.a. "Our Nation"), NATO, U.N., and the EU condemn that invasion.
Republicans? Drop support for Ukraine; invade Mexico.
Invade Mexico? There's much more at stake than trade or a trading partner. It's immoral, unjust, and unconscionable.
'Nuff said - But there'll probably be more said, anyway.
The claim by Rep Comer that the ex-president "had ordered a bombing of a couple of fentanyl labs, crystal meth labs, in Mexico, just across the border, and for whatever reason the military didn’t do it" is ridiculous and should have been called out as such. That's not the way our military system and chain of command works.