John Bolton

rexdutchman's Avatar
Drain That Swamp ,,,, Yup isn't it Ridiculous that the people the screamed "Warmonger" , are now upset Big-T got rid of another life long politician ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Jaxson66's Avatar
Yeah, I hear Tucker Carson has labeled Bolton as a long time progressive.

Bolton was and continues to be a hard right on Iraq, Iran, and Syria and has been promoting a Iran invasion. I’m glad he’s out.

Why would Tucker Carson lie to his viewers?
  • oeb11
  • 09-11-2019, 04:59 PM
J666 - Carlson.

You know not of what you write.
Yeah, I hear Tucker Carson has labeled Bolton as a long time progressive.

Bolton was and continues to be a hard right on Iraq, Iran, and Syria and has been promoting a Iran invasion. I’m glad he’s out.

Why would Tucker Carson lie to his viewers? Originally Posted by Jaxson66
Just FYI, it's Tucker Carlson not Carson, but Carlson has a point he was making.

“If you are wondering why so many progressives are mourning Bolton’s firing tonight, Bolton himself fundamentally was a man of the left,” Carlson argued. “There was not a human problem John Bolton wasn’t totally convinced could be solved with the brute force of government. That’s an assumption of the left, not the right.”
Redhot1960's Avatar
themystic's Avatar
Good article. I agree with him on Milton Friedman and to an extent not obsessing about human rights in other countries. And very little else. The man was dangerous. He was one of the people who got us into the second war with Iraq, by working to prevent inspections of supposed chemical weapons facilities. He might have gotten us into a war with North Korea or Iran if not for Trump’s better instincts and his generals good advice. Originally Posted by Tiny
Trumps foreign policy has been a disaster. Bolton is just another fall guy
  • Tiny
  • 09-11-2019, 05:27 PM
Just FYI, it's Tucker Carlson not Carson, but Carlson has a point he was making.

“If you are wondering why so many progressives are mourning Bolton’s firing tonight, Bolton himself fundamentally was a man of the left,” Carlson argued. “There was not a human problem John Bolton wasn’t totally convinced could be solved with the brute force of government. That’s an assumption of the left, not the right.”
Originally Posted by eccielover
I agree with most of what Carlson says about Bolton, that he was doing his best to get us into needless wars. And I applaud him for shouting it from the rooftops for years. But Jaxson is correct, it doesn't make sense to label Bolton as a leftist or progressive. The Democrats and the left don't have any monopoly on promoting nation building. The classic example is Iraq, and a lot more blame for that war lays at the feet of George W. Bush and Republicans.

Carlson should have said instead that Bolton is anti-libertarian in terms of his foreign policy views.
  • Tiny
  • 09-11-2019, 05:38 PM
Trumps foreign policy has been a disaster. Bolton is just another fall guy Originally Posted by themystic
For the sake of argument, forget about trade, because his foreign trade policy has been a disaster. With respect to what came under Bolton's purview, Iran and North Korea and the like, Trump's instincts are good, better than Hillary Clinton's and most of the political establishment's. I believe he does want to keep us out of foreign wars and not meddle so much in other nation's affairs.

The problem is he shoots from the hip, doesn't believe in analysis, doesn't know much about other countries, and thinks he knows more than he really does. And he wants to take strategies that worked for him in business and apply them to foreign policy. Playing good cop/bad cop with world leaders is a whole different ball game than milking your suppliers or your bankers.
themystic's Avatar
For the sake of argument, forget about trade, because his foreign trade policy has been a disaster. With respect to what came under Bolton's purview, Iran and North Korea and the like, Trump's instincts are good, better than Hillary Clinton's and most of the political establishment's. I believe he does want to keep us out of foreign wars and not meddle so much in other nation's affairs.

The problem is he shoots from the hip, doesn't believe in analysis, doesn't know much about other countries, and thinks he knows more than he really does. And he wants to take strategies that worked for him in business and apply them to foreign policy. Playing good cop/bad cop with world leaders is a whole different ball game than milking your suppliers or your bankers. Originally Posted by Tiny
What has he accomplished with all his ass kissing of foreign autocrats? The USA has received zero. His personal bank account, who knows
For the sake of argument, forget about trade, because his foreign trade policy has been a disaster. With respect to what came under Bolton's purview, Iran and North Korea and the like, Trump's instincts are good, better than Hillary Clinton's and most of the political establishment's. I believe he does want to keep us out of foreign wars and not meddle so much in other nation's affairs.

The problem is he shoots from the hip, doesn't believe in analysis, doesn't know much about other countries, and thinks he knows more than he really does. And he wants to take strategies that worked for him in business and apply them to foreign policy. Playing good cop/bad cop with world leaders is a whole different ball game than milking your suppliers or your bankers. Originally Posted by Tiny
It's actually exactly the same as with playing good cop/bad cop in business, but the key is to know when to blink.

With Mexico the trade threats/exchanges have all paid off.

With China, not so much yet.

Trump still I think overestimates our ability to Bully china, but his instincts in most others continues to be spot on, so I can't say he's totally wrong.

Bolton on the other hand had one solution, US aggression.
  • Tiny
  • 09-11-2019, 05:48 PM
What has he accomplished with all his ass kissing of foreign autocrats? The USA has received zero. His personal bank account, who knows Originally Posted by themystic
While ass kissing has its place, if you come across as insincere it backfires. This is straight out of Dale Carnegie. And no doubt Putin, Xi and Kim, despite all the ass kissing, think he's giving them a good ass fucking with sanctions and tariffs.
I watch Tucker most nights, he has always been anti-Bolton because Bolton believes in the adage of Bomb first then go in for regime change.

The past twenty years should show us that this is a flawed way to conduct foreign policy.
  • Tiny
  • 09-11-2019, 05:56 PM
It's actually exactly the same as with playing good cop/bad cop in business, but the key is to know when to blink.

With Mexico the trade threats/exchanges have all paid off.

With China, not so much yet.

Trump still I think overestimates our ability to Bully china, but his instincts in most others continues to be spot on, so I can't say he's totally wrong.

Bolton on the other hand had one solution, US aggression. Originally Posted by eccielover
We agree 100% on Bolton

Here's the video btw where Carlson called Bolton a leftist:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=8-1-iz80u6s
themystic's Avatar
It's actually exactly the same as with playing good cop/bad cop in business, but the key is to know when to blink.

With Mexico the trade threats/exchanges have all paid off.

With China, not so much yet.

Trump still I think overestimates our ability to Bully china, but his instincts in most others continues to be spot on, so I can't say he's totally wrong.

Bolton on the other hand had one solution, US aggression. Originally Posted by eccielover
How are we are winning with Mexico?
  • Tiny
  • 09-11-2019, 06:47 PM
How are we are winning with Mexico? Originally Posted by themystic
I don't get the whole win/lose thing, as I believe both the USA and Mexico benefit mightily from their trading relationship. However, Mexico agreed to beef up its southern border with Guatemala with more troops, and might have agreed to keep more Central American immigrants in Mexico while they're awaiting decisions on refugee status in the USA.

You might remember that Trump threatened to shut off the border to movement of all people and goods unless Mexico did something about illegal/refugee immigration. This was the lite version of that strategy - Trump was threatening tariffs instead. Mexico did the wise thing and kissed our ass instead of risking the damage that could have occurred from a North American trade war.