In last night's Republican candidates forum (I truly hesitate to call it a debate; how can ten people have a debate?), CNN's Wolf Blitzer offered these feaux-manly men the opportunity to show just how tough they are by asking whether they would preemptively strike Iran to end its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons (I say alleged, because it seems only the United States insists that is what the Iranians are up to; according to the IAEA, all Iran is doing is working on improving its civilian nuclear power industry). Mitt Romney and (of course) Rudy Giuliani (and a couple others) tried to outdo one another by insisting that "all options are on the table", blah, blah, blah. While Blitzer's question was nonsensical in the extreme, based upon false assumptions and perceptions, the answers were quite telling. Both Romney and Giuliani admitted that using nuclear weapons were a possibility in taking out a non-existent threat.
Even supposing that the Iranians were developing nuclear weapons, which all sources who are actually on the ground in Iran say they are not, can anyone tell me or the American people why it is necessary to threaten the use of nuclear weapons in an unprovoked act of aggression against a nation that does not now nor will in the foreseeable future threaten the United States in any way, shape, or form? Would it be possible for a truly serious journalist or pundit to address these answers in a sober way? Would it be possible for said pundit to insist that, by declaring their willingness to use our nuclear arsenal against a non-nuclear state in a preemptive strike against a non-existent threat, these candidates have now utterly disqualified themselves from serious consideration for the Presidency?
That the Republican base laps this stuff up like hogs at the trough is irrelevant. I wouldn't support anyone who so cavalierly asserts their willingness to use these immoral weapons under any circumstances, let alone against a state unable to even seriously threaten retaliation in kind. Thuggery of this kind is horrid to even contemplate. These responses should be highlighted again and again during the ensuing campaign in order to show just how grossly awful the Republican Party has become.
Virtual Tin Cup
