Alan Grayson, a progressive Democrat who lost his Florida Congressional seat in the 2010 Republican surge, has a great take on last night’s foreign policy debate.
His impression is that the debate was “premised on the false assumption that virtually everyone else on this planet wants to kill us.”
Last night’s Obama/Romney showdown featured the Libya embassy attack, Syria, attacking Iran, Afghanistan, terrorism and “divorcing” Pakistan. Grayson wrote in an email pitch: “It appears that the military-industrial complex has not only occupied huge chunks of the federal budget, but also huge chunks of our political discourse, and even our thinking.”
Grayson would have liked to have heard about a broader range of topics. Those include the drug war on our southern border that has killed more people than the conflicts in Afghanistan and Syria combined and sent waves of undocumented Mexicans into this country, America’s half-trillion dollar trade deficit vs. surpluses enjoyed by industrial competitors like Germany and Japan, climate change, and what is the plan to help the unemployed victims of Europe’s economic crisis and to fight disease in developing countries.
Grayson wants to know why every candidate immediately presses the “big, red panic button” when it comes to foreign policy. The U.S. remains the richest country in the world. Why are we so afraid of the world? The former Congressman asks: “Isn't there anyone out there who will try to put a little love in our hearts?”
Grayson is fighting to regain for his old seat. We’ll soon see if his message resonates.
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