Ted Cruz to Make His Big Announcement Within Minutes

In the meantime we can talk about Trump's foreign policy speech. Jonah Goldberg calls it "okay," but also wonders if Trump has any idea what some of the claims put into his mouth by writers might mean.

The major theme was "America First," which few can disagree with in broad strokes. Trouble is, most people say they're America first, even if they're not. Even Barack Obama, had you asked him in 2008, would have claimed to have been most interested in advancing American interests.

The trouble is, people define "American interests" differently. Obama, obviously, thinks America will somehow benefit by being weak and passive. (He also thinks the world will benefit from this -- which is his real motivation. But he thinks America will benefit too. Just less than everyone else.)

I suppose the general reminder that America should act in her own self-interests -- even if ruthlessly on occasion -- is a worthwhile thing to re-state.

Trump opened his speech Wednesday vowing to "shake the rust off America's foreign policy" and said he would outline a vision for a U.S. foreign policy "that replaces randomness with purpose, ideology with strategy and chaos with peace."

He added, "My foreign policy will always put the interests of the American people and American security first."

Very platitudey, though I have to say, every platitude is somewhat different and appeals to a different mentality. Obama's "Smart Diplomacy" and "community of nations" is a platitude.

But these two platitudes are obviously different, and signal, platitudinously, different things.

I prefer Trump's platitudes, at least.

...

He panned the Iran nuclear deal, a centerpiece of Obama's foreign policy, and claimed the President has "weakened our military by weakening our economy."
And he sought to wrap former secretary of state Clinton in his criticism of the Obama administration, referring to the "legacy of the Obama-Clinton interventions" as one of "weakness, confusion and disarray."

...

"We will no longer surrender this country or its people to the false song of globalism," Trump said, explaining that he is skeptical of international agreements "that tie us up and bring America down."

Okay, read the whole article at CNN if you want more. He also said that Muslim-American cooperation "must be a two-way street," suggesting that it's not at the current moment.

Meanwhile, I'm waiting to see the new tandem of Cruz and Fiorina.

posted by Ace at 04:09 PM

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