The Lauer Commander-In-Chief Forum: Hillary vs. Trump

I thought Trump won in this contest with Hillary despite what appeared to be his lack of background in foreign affairs and his admiration for Putin.

First, to Trump's lack of background in foreign affairs.  Trump, as we know, came from civilian life.  He is probably no more aware of the fine points of foreign policy than you or I.  But is that disqualifying?  Truman knew almost nothing of the negotiants that FDR had conducted with Stalin. That's the way FDR wanted it.  Truman's first day was like walking into a buzz saw.  And, yet, he turned out to be a great president.

Nixon was great in the area of foreign affairs, but this was largely because he was guided by Kissinger.  And, while he may have been wound a bit tight, Nixon was a champion in the field of civil rights.

The much loved JFK put us squarely into Vietnam.  Need I say more?  (For those who doubt this, I suggest they read The Best and The Brightest by David Halberstam.)

How much did Obama know when he entered office with his one, lack luster year in the Senate and his background as a community organizer?

As to Iraq, nobody got it right.  I do not feel that invading Iraq was a mistake.  The mistake came when they disassembled Saddam Hussein's Baath Party.  It was this organization that held Iraq together.  Firing everyone who belonged to the Baath Party -- the teachers, the police, military officers, garbage collectors, etc. -- was what tore this country apart.  And, this was done, I might add, by American experts; namely, our State Department.

Before going on to Hillary's performance, let me first comment on Trump's favorable comments as regards Putin.  I believe Trump said, in so many words, that there was much to admire in Putin's leadership qualities and that he felt he could arrive at understandings with Putin.  That really brought out Trump's critics.  Doesn't Trump know that Putin is a killer who jails journalists if they write anything about him that is unflattering?  Doesn't he know that in all likelihood Putin has been hacking into America's files?

It's difficult to grasp the hypocrisy of these critics.  Of course, we know that Putin manages affairs in Russia in a manner we would find abhorrent in America.  But not realizing that Putin wants certain things in the area of foreign affairs and that, to date, he's been successful in getting them is to be blind.  What Trump, or Hillary, or Obama say about their feelings as regards Putin's actions is irrelevant.  It's what we do that counts.  What did the the U.S. (or Europe) do when he tore off chunks of Georgia.  What did we do when he occupied Crimea and then put Russian fighters into the Ukraine?

When a leader barrel bombs his own civilians, as did Assad,  a strong case can be made for keeping the skies clear of his planes and helicopters.  We don't have to stand by as he murders civilians.  But that's what, under Obama, we did.  Putin quickly understood that he could take advantage of our lack of response.  That's when he brought in Russian planes to protect Assad's air force.  It's not that Putin was so brilliant, but rather that the U.S. was so negligent in protecting its interests.  And, I don't even want to talk about "red lines" and then doing nothing when these red lines are crossed.  It's too embarrassing.  What would Trump do in these circumstances?  I have no idea, but he couldn't do much worse.

As to hacking:  Face up to it.  It's the new arm of warfare.  Scolding Russia is not the answer.  Protecting ourselves from the hackers and getting better at hacking than the Chinese and the Russians is the correct answer.

Okay, now on to Hillary's performance.  Having been part of the Obama administration, clearly makes her vulnerable to attacks -- quite valid attacks -- on the administration's foreign policies.  To say her failures make her more capable to perform in the future as president sounds, to this observer, unconvincing.  And, then there is her lack of truth and candor as regards her handling of confidential information.  That will plague her professional life as long as she has one.  But then, I don't believe she worries about that all that much.  She always has her foundation to fall back on.

I also find amusing the criticism being heaped on Matt Lauer for trying to rein in Hillary as she tried to obfuscate and explain away her mishandling of confidential information and then lying about it.  Doesn't he know that he's part of the media and that he's been tasked to hide Hillary's flaws and to make her look as good as is possible.