tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269573587631126943.post5984931737720222505..comments2023-06-07T08:05:44.732-07:00Comments on The Right Word: Barack and IDr. Michael Baumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05013245754748702406noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269573587631126943.post-68995821441935317182012-10-05T07:10:23.273-07:002012-10-05T07:10:23.273-07:00Jonathan,Because my reply is too long, I'll po...Jonathan,<br>Because my reply is too long, I'll post it as a blog entry. Let me just say here that I appreciate your comment and the good will behind it. Please feel free to contribute here whenever you wish.<br>Best.<br>MBDr. Michael Baumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05013245754748702406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269573587631126943.post-50159656415026595422012-10-05T06:54:11.167-07:002012-10-05T06:54:11.167-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.This comment has been removed by the author.Dr. Michael Baumanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05013245754748702406noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269573587631126943.post-51491836249948326942012-10-04T19:34:22.809-07:002012-10-04T19:34:22.809-07:00I won't comment on the economics, because that...I won't comment on the economics, because that's not my area of interest so I don't know enough to comment intelligently, but foreign policy and geopolitics is, and I'm not sure I agree with some of what you know. I'll post my thoughts using the same numeral as the thought of yours which I am responding to.<br><br>4) Border agents have died on the job under every president in recent history. It's hardly fair to attribute our presently porous borders to President Obama.<br><br>5) Empires are attacked precisely because they occupy the position of power and prominence and the challengers wish to supplant them. Persia, Rome, and Britain were all attacked frequently by powers weaker than them who wished to assert a regional dominance. The peace that comes through strength is a peace won through frequent combat.<br><br>6) The enemies we face that are common to Israel are not deadly to us (nor are they likely to be deadly to Israel), and they actually can be appeased. Our geopolitical objectives are not the same as Israel's and we should not tie ourselves to another nation's agenda.<br><br>7) Russia's play for power has nothing to do with China, communism, or anything else like that and everything to do with moving it's borders away from it's vulnerable, easy-to-invade heartland and across to the other side of the Urals. Success or failure there for the US is built not no lumping them in with the "other communists" but in providing nations on the fringe of their sphere of influence with a credible alternative to Russian subservience. North Korea is about as threatening to America as a plastic bag (they don't have a functional delivery vehicle, and even if they did, there's a large stretch of technology between building a nuclear bomb and building a nuclear bomb deliverable via missile). North Korea is certainly threatening to South Korea, but not in an existential way by any stretch. If North Korea seriously thought they could threaten Seoul's existence, I would have a picture of Kim Il Sung up in my classroom here in Seoul, if I were even allowed to teach here at all. And China faces systemic internal issues which necessitate management by the US, but not direct intervention or rhetoric.Jonathan Bennetthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07832447444431263499noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2269573587631126943.post-72472942144981989042012-10-04T08:19:40.086-07:002012-10-04T08:19:40.086-07:00Thank you for sharing. I really appreciate your i...Thank you for sharing. I really appreciate your insight.Stacyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11731838240058675605noreply@blogger.com