A Conservative Takedown Of "Comprehensively Wrong" Marco Rubio

This is from Daniel Larison in "The American Conservative":

It takes special determination to be as comprehensively wrong about something as Rubio has been about diplomacy with Iran over the last few years. Two years ago, Rubio was feigning interest in negotiations while insisting on maximalist conditions that would have made an agreement impossible. Had the U.S. followed his recommendations, there would have been no deal and Iran’s nuclear program would not be under the significant restrictions now imposed upon it. If the U.S. had demanded “zero enrichment” as Rubio wished, Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium would not have been shipped out of the country as it has been, but would have remained in Iran’s control and would have continued to expand. A year ago, Rubio was certain that Iran would never abide by any agreement that it made. This month, the IAEA has certified that Iran is in compliance with the agreement, just as it complied with the interim agreement that he also bitterly opposed. Despite his best efforts to tack on irrelevant amendments to the Senate’s oversight legislation to try to sabotage the deal, the deal went forward and has already yielded significant nonproliferation benefits in just its first few months.

Like other Iran hawks, Rubio is reduced to bemoaning non-existent “appeasement” while ignoring the substantial benefits for the U.S. that diplomacy with Iran has already produced.

Yes, young Sen. Marco"Glug Glug" Rubio (R-MIAmi), the corporate media's darling, a man of astute international strategery, called to account in... The American Conservative.  But remember, to the Very Serious People, he's one of the"well- qualified" Republicans running for President!

(h/t Lawyers, Guns, & Money)

(Photo:  "Gee, maybe someday I can grow up to be President!")

Morning Read -- Marco Rubio's "Cultivated Ignorance Of History"

Please take a moment or two to read Michael Brendan Dougherty on "foreign policy expert" Sen. Marco "Glug Glug" Rubio (Weak Tea-FL).  Here's a sample:

Rubio concluded, "The reason Obama hasn't put in place a military strategy to defeat ISIS is because he doesn't want to upset Iran."

I don't know how to say this respectfully. But this is dumber than a brick in a tumble-dryer: a clanging, dangerous error. Iran is one of the principal enemies of ISIS. It didn't even need to be persuaded to join the fight. It sees ISIS as another manifestation of the kind of Sunni extremism that threatens Iran's regional allies: Bashar al-Assad in Syria and the Shia-friendly government in Baghdad. If we really wanted to stick it to Iran, we'd be arming Islamic State fighters and providing "devastating air support" to them.

And given the record of Republican hawks over the last two decades, I wouldn't be surprised if a future Rubio administration ends up doing just that, through a mixture of hubris, democratizing enthusiasm, and sheer stupidity — just as the Bush administration cheered on democratic elections that empowered Hezbollah, and a war that led to a destabilized Iraq where Sunni extremism now flourishes. Bush was not alone: Other GOP hawks cheered on revolutions and civil wars that led not to liberal democracies, but terrorism, extremism, and anarchy.

Rubio has a reputation for foreign policy expertise because he chooses to talk about foreign policy often, promises large budgets to the Pentagon, and mostly pronounces the words correctly. Rubio's foreign policy consists of babyish moralizing, a cultivated ignorance of history, and a deliberate blindness to consequences. This is the same "foreign policy expertise" that led to a misbegotten war in Iraq and empowered Sunni insurgencies across the Middle East.  (our emphasis)

Ouch!

This empty suit is considered to be in the "top tier" of the Republican clown car presidential candidates by what passes for our political media horse race analysts.  As Dougherty notes, Glug Glug's reputation is based on not much more than the ability to stand in front of a microphone gulping water and yapping to a bunch of credulous stenographers in the media who know less than Glug Glug about history and world politics.  For someone positioning himself as a leader for the future (pause for laughter), Glug Glug's foreign policy, such as it is, is indistinguishable from that of the Cold Warriors and neo-cons of the past, from John Foster Dulles, through St. Ronnie of Hollywood, to George "Dumbya" Bush and Dick "The Dick" Cheney.  It would take more electrons than we have time for to demonstrate how damaging that reactionary world-view has been to America, but Iraq should suffice as the most vivid, recent template for Republican bumble-f**kery.

But, he's a Serious Contender.  A Seriously Dangerous Contender.

BONUS:  Steve M. at No More Mister Nice Blog has more.