CHENEY FOR PRESIDENT? ARE REPUBLICANS THAT DISMISSIVE OF WORLD PEACE?

A few comments on some of the presidential candidates making news this week.


First of all, I can't believe the undercurrent floating around on the net that the Republicans may ask Dick Cheney to run. This guy would like nothing better than to bomb Iran and other countries that he does not like. Cheney is a danger to world peace and stability. He thinks everything can be resolved through the barrel of a gun. If the Republicans draft Cheney, I will come to believe that Republicans have no sense of international law and multi-national respect.


Second, I was both disheartened and cheered by remarks from Barack Obama this week. First the bad. Obama says that he would take action in Pakistan if he could not secure the permission of the Pakistani authorities. Has Obama lost all sense of the rule of law? Simply put, not even the United States may take military action in another country without either permission of that country or a resolution of the United Nations. Second, if we wanted someone to flout international rules, we might as well re-elect Bush (if that were possible) or go along with that war-mongering Cheney.

On the other hand, Obama came out with a most sensible response when asked if he would ever as president utilize nuclear weapons in Afghanistan or Pakistan. No, he replied, consider the civilians and what would happen to them if the U.S. utilized nuclear weapons. At last, we have a politician who shows some sense of morality and decency.

In response to Obama on nuclear weapons, Hillary Clinton adopts the "safe" political response. We should never take "things" (like nuclear weapons) off the table, Hillary says, obviously appealing to those voters who don't mind dropping nuclear bombs on people who talk another language or who believe in different religions. No wonder some Democrats think Hillary Clinton is too political savvy, bordering on a schemer. Would Hillary Clinton ever use nuclear weapons? She implies that she would. Okay, I am not voting for her.