In a lapdog interview with Fox’s “Campaign” Carl Cameron that was little more than one opening after another for Paul Ryan to spout talking points, Ryan offered up what he thought was his foreign policy experience: voting for war in Congress. (H/T Crooks and Liars and Mediaite)
At about 6:45, Cameron brought up foreign policy with this slobbering question:
Even Democrats begrudgingly give you props for being a budget wonk and we’ve talked over the years – I remember you talking about how when you were a kid you used to read budgets because you were a numbers nerd. So, the deficit in the Ryan portfolio, obviously, is the foreign policy stuff. So, quickly, Syria: civilians getting wiped out, Aleppo in serious trouble. What’s wrong with the president’s policy?
Ryan replied:
Well, I think he was late to it. I think he was late to speak forcefully to pronounce our values… The way I would say about foreign policy is, you know, I’ve been in Congress for a number of years. That’s more experience than Barack Obama had when he came into office. Now, I’ve, I voted to send people to war.”
As Heather, at Crooks and Liars wrote, "So voting to send other people's kids off to die in an invasion of a country that was never a threat to us is now foreign policy experience. Who knew?" Apparently, Cameron did because he had no comment on this jaw-dropper.
Later, Cameron asked if it’s “feasible to twist China’s arm” when they hold so much of our debt – which just happened to feed into Ryan’s next talking point – that deficits undermine national security.
And who better to put us back on track than Paul Ryan? Well, except for the fact that while Fox has been presenting Ryan as the second coming of Ronald Reagan, the real Ronald Reagan’s budget whiz, David Stockman has blasted Ryan’s economics. In a recent New York Times editorial, he wrote:
In short, Mr. Ryan’s plan is devoid of credible math or hard policy choices. And it couldn’t pass even if Republicans were to take the presidency and both houses of Congress. Mr. Romney and Mr. Ryan have no plan to take on Wall Street, the Fed, the military-industrial complex, social insurance or the nation’s fiscal calamity and no plan to revive capitalist prosperity — just empty sermons.
But, predictably, Cameron never brought that up. Instead he asked the "hard-hitting" question, “What’s the biggest thing that’s surprised you in the last seven days of being a running mate?” Later, Cameron asked, “Do you get ticked off by being called a radical extremist? I mean you’re always kind of upbeat and positive!”
The interview closed by each saying how good it was to see the other.
“War is the continuation of politics by other means” — Carl von Clausewitz
That was brave of you Mr Ryan. I’m sure you wrote to the 4,452 families of fallen Americans to thank them.