Sep 12 2008
Here is the behind the scenes raw footage of McCain’s and Obama’s joint appearance yesterday at the World Trade Center. They did not campaign yesterday or run any political ads out of respect for the victims of the September 11th attacks. There are some other reasons behind the candidate’s actions…were you able to think of them?
Sep 12 2008
You (my new students just starting out in this world history journey) will come to find out that a “doctrine” is a term that the media coins to explain a president’s foreign policy. It’s not like Bush ever said, “Hi, I’m Bush, this is my doctrine…” The same way Truman or Brezhnev didn’t talk about their own “doctrines.” The original Bush Doctrine really goes back to the September 20, 2001 ”you are with us or against us” speech—that called for the end of all uses or terror even if it is not directed at the U.S. (think Northern Ireland, think India-Pakistan). It set the stage for the War with Afghanistan and then when Iraq wouldn’t comply with UN agreements also justified going to war there. It also prompted the “Axis of Evil” speech.
In the most vague terms a president’s doctrine is his foreign policy—-so Palin really missed an opportunity to promote The McCain Doctrine and talk about the differences her campaign will bring. She certainly gives the impression that the U.S. foreign policy under McCain will be “business as usual.” Her answer to this question will disappoint people around the world—for reasons that you will come to learn as this course progresses.
Aside from Palin’s missed opportunity to answer these and other questions in a less defensive way, the real disappointment in my opinion was Charles Gibson. NATO? Georgia? How about some issues that affect Americans on a daily basis like immigration policy, the incredibly shrinking dollar and the housing crash?
