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2016 Postmortem
In reply to the discussion: Bernie Sanders said he was physically nauseated by JFK's speech on Cuba. [View all]beam me up scottie
(57,349 posts)40. What? She not only praised him she admitted she consulted him for advice when she was SOS.
Hillary Clinton Praises a Guy With Lots of Blood on His Hands
Hillary Clinton often plays the hawk card: She voted for the Iraq war, dissed President Barack Obama for not being tough enough on Syria, and compared Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler. This is to be expected from a politician who has angled for a certain title: the first female president of the United States. Whether her muscular views are sincerely held or not, a conventional political calculation would lead her to assume it may be difficult for many voters to elect as commander-in-chief a woman who did not project an aggressive and assertive stance on foreign policy. So her tough talk might be charitably evaluated in such a (somewhat) forgiving context. Yet what remains more puzzling and alarming is the big wet kiss she planted (rhetorically) on former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger this week, with a fawning review of his latest book, World Order.
Sure, perhaps there is secretary's privilegean old boy and girls club, in which the ex-foreign-policy chiefs do not speak ill of each other and try to help out the person presently in the post. Nothing wrong with that. But former-Madam Secretary Clinton had no obligation to praise Kissinger and publicly participate in his decades-long mission to rehabilitate his image. In the review, she calls Kissinger a "friend" and reports, "I relied on his counsel when I served as secretary of state. He checked in with me regularly, sharing astute observations about foreign leaders and sending me written reports on his travels." She does add that she and Henry "have often seen the world and some of our challenges quite differently, and advocated different responses now and in the past." But here's the kicker: At the end of the review, she notes that Kissinger is "surprisingly idealistic":
***
Kissinger, who served as secretary of state for President Richard Nixon and then President Gerald Ford, is a symbol of the worst of US foreign policy. Though he guided the United States through détente with the Soviet Union and initiated the historic opening to China, he engaged in underhanded and covert diplomacy that led to massacres around the globe, as he pursued his version of foreign policy realism. This is no secret.
Bangladesh: Kissinger and Nixon turned a blind eye toarguably, they tacitly approvedPakistan's genocidal slaughter of 300,000 Bengalis, most of them Hindus.
And there's more. Kissinger's mendacity has been chronicled for years. See Gary Bass' recent and damning book on the Bangladesh tragedy, The Blood Telegram. There's Seymour Hersh's classic, The Price of Power. In The Trial of Henry Kissinger, Christopher Hitchens presented the case against Kissinger in his full polemical style. As secretary of state, Kissinger made common cause withand encouragedtyrants who repressed and massacred many. He did not serve the American values of democracy, free expression, and human rights. He shredded them.
http://www.salon.com/2015/04/17/the_ivy_leagues_favorite_war_criminal_why_the_atrocities_of_henry_kissinger_should_be_mandatory_reading/
Hillary Clinton often plays the hawk card: She voted for the Iraq war, dissed President Barack Obama for not being tough enough on Syria, and compared Vladimir Putin to Adolf Hitler. This is to be expected from a politician who has angled for a certain title: the first female president of the United States. Whether her muscular views are sincerely held or not, a conventional political calculation would lead her to assume it may be difficult for many voters to elect as commander-in-chief a woman who did not project an aggressive and assertive stance on foreign policy. So her tough talk might be charitably evaluated in such a (somewhat) forgiving context. Yet what remains more puzzling and alarming is the big wet kiss she planted (rhetorically) on former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger this week, with a fawning review of his latest book, World Order.
Sure, perhaps there is secretary's privilegean old boy and girls club, in which the ex-foreign-policy chiefs do not speak ill of each other and try to help out the person presently in the post. Nothing wrong with that. But former-Madam Secretary Clinton had no obligation to praise Kissinger and publicly participate in his decades-long mission to rehabilitate his image. In the review, she calls Kissinger a "friend" and reports, "I relied on his counsel when I served as secretary of state. He checked in with me regularly, sharing astute observations about foreign leaders and sending me written reports on his travels." She does add that she and Henry "have often seen the world and some of our challenges quite differently, and advocated different responses now and in the past." But here's the kicker: At the end of the review, she notes that Kissinger is "surprisingly idealistic":
***
Kissinger, who served as secretary of state for President Richard Nixon and then President Gerald Ford, is a symbol of the worst of US foreign policy. Though he guided the United States through détente with the Soviet Union and initiated the historic opening to China, he engaged in underhanded and covert diplomacy that led to massacres around the globe, as he pursued his version of foreign policy realism. This is no secret.
Chile: Nixon and Kissinger plotted to thwart the democratic election of a socialist president. The eventual outcome: a military coup and a military dictatorship that killed thousands of Chileans.
Argentina: Kissinger gave a "green light" to the military junta's dirty war against political opponents that led to the deaths of an estimated 30,000.
East Timor: Another "green light" from Kissinger, this one for the Indonesian military dictatorship's bloody invasion of East Timor that yielded up to 200,000 deaths.
Cambodia: The secret bombing there during the Nixon phase of the Vietnam War killed between 150,000 and 500,000 civilians.
Bangladesh: Kissinger and Nixon turned a blind eye toarguably, they tacitly approvedPakistan's genocidal slaughter of 300,000 Bengalis, most of them Hindus.
And there's more. Kissinger's mendacity has been chronicled for years. See Gary Bass' recent and damning book on the Bangladesh tragedy, The Blood Telegram. There's Seymour Hersh's classic, The Price of Power. In The Trial of Henry Kissinger, Christopher Hitchens presented the case against Kissinger in his full polemical style. As secretary of state, Kissinger made common cause withand encouragedtyrants who repressed and massacred many. He did not serve the American values of democracy, free expression, and human rights. He shredded them.
http://www.salon.com/2015/04/17/the_ivy_leagues_favorite_war_criminal_why_the_atrocities_of_henry_kissinger_should_be_mandatory_reading/
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Bernie Sanders said he was physically nauseated by JFK's speech on Cuba. [View all]
pnwmom
Feb 2016
OP
Yes, Bernie's love for the American people over any political party has been evident for decades. nt
valerief
Feb 2016
#1
"People before party" is a Bad Thing now, per this afternoon's last-minute memo.
arcane1
Feb 2016
#4
This is relevant, but Hillary supporting Goldwater in High School isn't?
Warren DeMontague
Feb 2016
#5
Really? Do you have evidence that millennials think that way or are you just being ageist?
Bjorn Against
Feb 2016
#16
Me too! If I owned a restaurant pets would be allowed but not kids.
beam me up scottie
Feb 2016
#111
What was Hillary's feelings about Henry Kissinger when she was a at least middle aged adult?
Uncle Joe
Feb 2016
#13
What? She not only praised him she admitted she consulted him for advice when she was SOS.
beam me up scottie
Feb 2016
#40
They think Hillary is supposed stab everyone they hate in the ass or she's a sell out or some shit.
uponit7771
Feb 2016
#61
you words 'in High School" should tell you something but you are desperate to smear
riversedge
Feb 2016
#22
my advice? A little less "rapid response", a little more "reading comprehension".
Warren DeMontague
Feb 2016
#24
It's recycling day again, the op is stirring the manure pile hoping to churn up something new.
beam me up scottie
Feb 2016
#37
How old was Hillary?!?! Why is this even an issue?! Come on people, keep it classy
uponit7771
Feb 2016
#59
It's not an issue, and neither is Bernie Sanders' reaction to a JFK speech.
Warren DeMontague
Feb 2016
#84
Yeah, Sanders seems to have a history of bashing dems... Proffering Obama be primaried and
uponit7771
Feb 2016
#86
I like the word... Sanders has "proffered" tons of shit including bashing Obama and JKF...
uponit7771
Feb 2016
#91
How old was Bernie during the period ... You acknowledged that HRC was in high school. eom.
1StrongBlackMan
Feb 2016
#128
it would only be flexible standards if i had ever said any of that other stuff.
Warren DeMontague
Feb 2016
#136
Though I responded to you ... My point was about DU:Bernie. Sorry for the confusion. eom.
1StrongBlackMan
Feb 2016
#138
It just eats you up inside that Bernie has to come in and clean up your party, doesn't it?
frylock
Feb 2016
#20
So you admit that this party the way you see it doesn't believe in the SYSTEM of democracy?
cascadiance
Feb 2016
#46
So cute. Was that you the other day that wanted to change the Party's name to reflect...
Hekate
Feb 2016
#57
Well, I was responding to a post that said winning a democratic vote doesn't count
cascadiance
Feb 2016
#112
"Your party"? Is that you saying you're not a Democrat any more than St. Bernie is?
Hekate
Feb 2016
#54
No, but they certainly sacrificed just about everything for this country. Bernie has a sinecure ...
Hekate
Feb 2016
#95
Per your last line: Go to the link in the OP and SCROLL DOWN THE PAGE. It's all there.
Hekate
Feb 2016
#80
Who's principles? An idealouges?! Cause that's what he's staring to look like
uponit7771
Feb 2016
#63
Yeah, except for reparations and a couple of other things he's not going to stand up to during
uponit7771
Feb 2016
#76
Nope, and that's fine with me seeing she's not calling for a revolution inside the DNC...
uponit7771
Feb 2016
#85
Revolution = Single Payer?!?!! See how that works?! Revolution !!!!! (except for those people)....
uponit7771
Feb 2016
#93
Nah, we'll see about SC... then people who don't want to be Bern Victims (tm) will be able
uponit7771
Feb 2016
#98
Clinton polls better with the poor, blacks, Hispanics, women, gays and small puppies...
uponit7771
Feb 2016
#100
...Or Dems who are not Dems. Or Dems who have amnesia. Or Dems who don't understand government.
Hekate
Feb 2016
#67
Perhaps you had to be there during his too-brief term. So much was in potentia; so much left undone.
Hekate
Feb 2016
#64
The next thing you know the Hillary people will say Bernie supports interment of Japanese Americans.
cascadiance
Feb 2016
#48
If I'd been a Bernie supporter, this little bit of news would really make me think again ...
NurseJackie
Feb 2016
#34
Did the article state that Clinton herself floated the idea? Somehow I doubt that.
Hekate
Feb 2016
#75
OMG, Bernie is a complicated man who actually thinks things through instead of blindly
Live and Learn
Feb 2016
#39
It's interesting that while the rest of us were sending away for Peace Corps packets & imagining....
Hekate
Feb 2016
#50
One time I said I thought Bradley Cooper was "hot" (for a man). When I'm 74, the OP is going to
cherokeeprogressive
Feb 2016
#56
Or what he did 36 months ago?! He's the one that suggested Obama be primaried...
uponit7771
Feb 2016
#82
You do know, of course that Sanders led Jackson's presidential campaign in VT...don't you?
Armstead
Feb 2016
#70
No he really wasn't. That's a completely false revisionist view favored by GOP propagandists
ucrdem
Feb 2016
#125
Here's what JFK was all about. It's a UN speech pitching the first nuclear test ban treaty
ucrdem
Feb 2016
#141
A lot less crazy, ignorant and destructive than campaigning for Goldwater.
Smarmie Doofus
Feb 2016
#114