Friday, July 22, 2016

Foreign Policy-Wise, Is Trump Merely Barack Obama With Bad Hair?

Jonathan S. Tobin writes:
[Trump's] populist followers and the tame conservatives who have latched onto him because of partisan loyalties claim to despise President Obama. But the sad truth is that Trump’s vision of America is far more in tune with that of the man he wishes to replace in the White House than of Reagan or Jeanne Kirkpatrick. Trump’s supporters are gulled by his braggadocio into thinking he’s a breath of fresh air but, in fact, he is anything but. If Trump is not apologizing for what he sees as a flawed America, much like Obama, he lacks confidence in the strength and the transcendent importance of our values. Like Obama, he is also determined to withdraw from the world. He speaks of defeating ISIS but like Obama, he also makes it clear he has no intention of committing the resources to that fight.
Also highly disconcerting is Trump's admiration for such WWE champions as Vladimir Putin and Artie Erdogan, an affinity which can't help but reveal the candidate's authoritarian tendencies. (As well, high-fiving Islamist Artie for his recent triumph shows that, while Trump may not be stupid, he is shockingly, even dangerously, ignorant.)

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