Eugene Robinson: Do We Want Mitt Romney Answering the ‘3 A.M.’ Call?

[babylonsister]

Do We Want Mitt Romney Answering the ‘3 A.M.’ Call?

By Eugene Robinson

snip//

We learned Sunday night what happens when Barack Obama is on the receiving end of unsettling news from one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints. There’s a round of consultation with allies, a carefully worded official statement, an assessment of the status of diplomatic efforts to defuse North Korea’s nuclear program—in other words, a cautious and measured response.

Implicit in Obama’s actions is the recognition that nothing a U.S. president says or does at this moment is likely to influence North Korean events in a positive way. Intemperate words or deeds, however, could be destabilizing at a moment of sudden transition. This is no moment to apply sharp pressure to a hermetically sealed, supremely paranoid regime that considers itself perpetually besieged and happens to possess nuclear weapons.

snip//

All this is lost on Romney, who came out guns blazing with what sounded as a call for regime change.

“Kim Jong Il was a ruthless tyrant who lived a life of luxury while the North Korean people starved,” Romney said in a statement. “He recklessly pursued nuclear weapons, sold nuclear and missile technology to other rogue regimes, and committed acts of military aggression against our ally South Korea. He will not be missed.”

snip//

During the 2008 campaign, Hillary Clinton famously asked whether Obama was ready for the 3 a.m. phone call about a foreign crisis. Kim’s death reminds us that it’s always 3 a.m. somewhere in the world.

[DCKit]

1. Thanks for that Sis.

Betcha' Romney also thinks it takes nothing more than a few phone calls to start a bombing campaign halfway around the world. Of course, we'll win. We always win. Even when we don't.

Romney is delusional, as are most of his fellow candidates. I say we drop THEM on North Korea. Last man (or woman) standing gets the (R) nomination.

[madrchsod]

2. 28 minutes from the detection of a nuclear launch..

to making the decision to launch counter attack. in the past we have come very,very close to launching a counter attack on the russians.

i want a person who is calm and collected to make the right decision at the right time. of all the candidates obama is the only one i would trust.

[coalition_unwilling]

4. I want a person who can give the Generals and Admirals the middle finger

during a "Cuban Missile Crisis," rather than accede to their looney-tunes fantasies of a successful first strike.

Not 100% convinced Obama is that person, but I know Romney sure as hell ain't.

[hifiguy]

5. The entire world owes JFK and RFK more than could have

ever been paid back had they each lived to be 100. It was their cool heads that prevented the Cuban Missile Crisis from ending civilization as we know it. Though Khrushchev deserves some credit as well. He had no more desire to plunge the world into a nuclear holocaust than the Kennedys and he had to deal with his own military hard-liners. Nixon probably would have pushed the button had he won in 1960.

[coalition_unwilling]

17. I don't know whether there even would have been a Cuban Missile Crisis, had Nixon

been in office, probly b/c Nixon would have invaded with the U.S. Military during the Bay of Pigs (which Nixon helped cook up while Ike's VP). That invasion itself would likely have triggered nuclear armageddon.

Not sure how much credit Kruschev deserves for averting it during the crisis. According to Chomsky, there was a Soviet submarine commander with orders to launch at his discretion if any Soviet ships were intercepted. Soviet sub commander decided not to. But we were very close then, a lot closer than even people at the time realized. IIRC, this revelation came out in a reunion of Cuban Missile Crisis participants in Cuba. I wish I had bookmarked it when I saw it, but it should be easily findable now, if you are interested.

[hifiguy]

18. The memoir of the Soviet Ambassador at the time

Anatoly Dobrynin, has an interesting perspective. He was Khrushchev's backdoor contact with the Kennedys and it was he who told them what to expect from the Kremlin on different proposals that were being considered in Washington.

[DallasNE]

29. As An Activity Duty Soldier

During the Cuban Missile Crisis period that moment is forever seared in my mind. Who can forget as a General addresses the troops and tells them to pack their bags and be prepared to deploy on 48 hours notice. Oddly, it was not something we talked about amoungst ourselves. We simply went about our business with duffle bag packed and next to our bed. It was a sureal moment. Within about 10 days it was all over and things went back to normal. For those of us that lived it, it will go to our grave.

[deacon]

3. No more dangerous reckless rhetoric like under bush. n/t

[Orsino]

6. A pampered, panicky silver-spooner with no particular work ethic or intellectual gifts?

Didn't work last time, either. Romney may not have been the worst governor in history, but his entire campaign is built on exactly what we don't need.

[starroute]

7. Here's the link, by the way

I don't quite understand how a post can get front-paged and have this many recs without anyone noticing there's no link to the original article. It might almost make me think DUers don't actually bother reading beyond the excerpts in the OP.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/do_we_want_mitt_romney_answering_the_3_am_call_20111219/

[Skelly]

16. Thank you

I was sure someone before me had also realized this and figured I'd find it in the replies. Had to scroll down quite a bit to find it though. I usually want to read the entire article. Thank you again.

[WheelWalker]

22. Much obliged.

Blessings.

[skamaria]

30. First thing i noticed

Just waiting for a responsible adult. Thanks.

[JDPriestly]

8. Romney's irresponsible remarks are aimed at nutty conservatives.

Pander, pander, pander.

Republican foreign policy has failed over and over.

Look at Nicaragua. After Reagan waste so much blood, so many tears over getting Ortega out, Ortega is very much back in.

And now look at Iraq. We should never have gone there in the first place. After so many years of occupation, peace is still not achieved.

We cannot force other countries to agree with our values and ideas about democracy. Not without a full-force world war.

A Republican in the White House would be a catastrophe for the world. It would mean slaughter from one end of the planet to the other, and the US would probably not escape the carnage.

I wonder how the number of Democrats who speak one or more foreign languages other than their mother tongue and English compares to the number of Republicans who are bi- or multilingual. That would be an interesting thing to find out.

[BanTheGOP]

9. For now, we should push Romney hard, then destroy him in the General

Frankly, it's too early to be bringing out anti-Romney material. We should focus our efforts on getting rid of the REAL crackpots and despots, like Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry. Once Romney is nominated with our help, then we can ensure he gets all that he has coming to him in the general election process.

I'll be blunt. The GOP needs to be utterly destroyed, but until we have individuals with BALLS on our side of the aisle who will take the necessary step to constitutionally BAN The republican Party, we have to play the games as they exist. Just use it to our advantage.

By the way, I'm working on promoting Ron Paul in Iowa. The ideal situation would be to have Romney win the GOP nomination, then for Ron Paul to go rogue with a 3rd party candicacy. If that happens, we split the GOP vote, Obama wins with ~39% of the general vote, and we go to town with executive orders for four years, ignoring Congress and the courts if necessary to get our progressive agenda established.

[kenny blankenship]

10. What makes you think he'd take a 3AM call?

He's a gentleman born and never rises before 10.

[begin_within]

13. You would just get his voice mail and he would return the call 4 days later.

[Hugabear]

11. Even scarier - imagine Newt Gingrich getting that call

Or even scarier still - Michelle Bachmann.

[WheelWalker]

23. Your imagination

manifests some truly hideous thoughts. Hopefully, the consciousness of voters will be enlightened by situations like this, and thoughts like yours.

Blessings.

[RevStPatrick]

12. I would rather have Romney answering that 3am call...

...than Gingrich, Paul, Cain, Bachmann, Perry, McCain, Palin or any of a number of other Republican clowns. Romney doesn't scare the living shit out of me, and neither does his cousin Jon Huntsman. They might be bland corporatists, and Romney may be playing it up for the teabaggers, but I don't think he is completely nutzoid.

Of course, I would greatly prefer to have Obama keep answering that phone until he is replaced by another sane person in January of 2017. And that's most likely how it's gonna shake out...

[tblue]

14. No. I want to disconnect his phone.

I don't trust Newt or Bachmann, et al.

[quakerboy]

15. Easy answer:

no we do not.

[Jack Rabbit]

19. Mitt's a chip off the old block

As the primaries approached in 1968, George Romney's downfall was misstatements on foreign policy, especially the one in which he charged that he was "brainwashed" by the military brass about Vietnam. That caused him to do a flip flop on the war issue. Up until then, he was viewed as a moderate alternative to the more conservative and not-very-likable Richard Nixon.

[krucial]

20. Doom on the Horizon

Anyone of these Republican frothing at the mouth clamoring and chomping at the bit for a war on Iran,that would put the whole world at great risk in an heartbeat,never considering or thinking about the consequences for such action,the must believe that the US is GOD and dont see that Iran is NOT,Iraq,or Afghanistan and also that is easy to start a war but not so easy to end it or get out.
I dont think Romney or any of the Republican candidates has a clear head and really believe that America is invincible,the only one with a clear head on the relaity of war is Ron Paul,None of the others have eve been in one they think it is like the see on TV or a game,where we just go in and mow down all the bad guys.
As a disabled Infantry Veteran myself,and a draftee,Romney need to get a grip
They are ithching and frothing at the mouth,and will do anything to show Israel,and try and impress the rest of the world how tough they are,all Macho bull crap,to prove how much they support them,and will do ANYTHING to prove that,including risking destroying us all.

And the truth is I dont believe most Jews themself have that view,I think it is mainly the Nethanyu crowd and his die hard supporters who thinks threats and arrogance is the way to get your way

[McCamy Taylor]

21. I think his nickname "Mittens" says it all.

Would be like having Hello Kitty take the 3 am calls.

[bhikkhu]

24. I'm guessing he's a little peevish in the early hours...

just guessing, from his behavior when his "groove" gets disturbed.

[rhett o rick]

25. Not to worry. It's going to be Jeb Bush. nm

[treestar]

26. Mitt probably should not be disturbed

until at least 7:30 a.m.

[Bobbie Jo]

27. Surely he'll have "people" for that sort of thing.

Can't see Mittens being disturbed at 3am, much less picking up a phone.

[Johonny]

28. Mitt will hire a company from China or India to answer that phone

he can't bother to be woken up by shit at 3 am. That's for poor fucking people. And if it's war well his kids got other priorities, your kids will just have to die so Mitt can sleep well at night.

[Beacool]

31. Romney is not president.

And as we all know, campaigning is not governing. Newt frightens me far more than Romney.