tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069955.post1959982797276788184..comments2023-10-26T08:02:44.948-04:00Comments on Connecticut Commentary: Red Notes from a Blue State: Murphy On The BattlementsDon Pescihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11167988001948356357noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069955.post-79026439515059800212015-02-15T12:52:10.790-05:002015-02-15T12:52:10.790-05:00What concerns Murphy is the addition of “a bunch o...What concerns Murphy is the addition of “a bunch of more radical Republicans in the GOP ranks.”<br />“The momentum that the tea party could get tonight is really what has been keeping me up at night,” Murphy said.<br />-------------<br /> “A substantial transfer of financial resources from the military budget to buttress diplomacy and foreign aid so that our global anti-poverty budget, not our military budget, equals that of the other world powers combined,” <br />----------------<br />I would think with Benjamin Netanyahu coming to speak about what the world will look like if and when Iran gets nuclear weapons, this would be the perfect time to really show how progressive we are. Our military service people are obviously being badly treated by their employer (the Republican corporate militarists). Why not unionize them as we in Connecticut have done with our cops decades ago. If we paid them more and gave them proper medical benefits we'd have less money for gratuitous military interventions; a real win-win.peter brushnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069955.post-51225794659070629632015-02-15T09:01:11.711-05:002015-02-15T09:01:11.711-05:00Check that; I learned arithmetic in public school....Check that; I learned arithmetic in public school. Murph was only 16 when the Berlin Wall went down. <br />In any case, his lack of experience doesn't make him any more unqualified than those in his Party who experienced the Cold War but seem not to have drawn any, or at least the right, conclusions.peter brushnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9069955.post-61498027128793794332015-02-15T08:52:58.875-05:002015-02-15T08:52:58.875-05:00Christopher Scott "Chris" Murphy (born A...Christopher Scott "Chris" Murphy (born August 3, 1973)<br />---------<br />He's no doubt made up for it with lots of reading and intense briefing from experts, but Murphy's first hand experience of our foreign affairs is quite recent, if not brief. In 1973 Israel was attacked by Syria and Egypt, Russian allies both. He was born as we were giving up in the Greater Vietnam Metro Area. He can't have vivid memories of communist Cambodia, and the minor genocide there. American post-wwii hegemony and leadership in the worldwide fight against communism ? Murphy was only 18 when the Berlin Wall Fell. The celebrations at Williams College were probably even more subdued than those put on by President GHW Bush.<br /><br />Modesty is a virtue.The Cold War against international communism has been over for more than twenty years. Let's assess our position. What are our national interests and how are they best served? What alliances are desirable and/or practical? (Are we really going to send the troops in the event Russia assaults Estonia? Or, more likely, will Obama drop a desultory bomb and ratchet down the sanctions?) Senator Murphy should disabuse himself of the idea that American hegemony should be maintained, but with an updated, progressive, internationalist, kinder/gentler purpose. It is our national interests that should be clarified and protected. In the doing there's a very good chance that the world will be better off as well. The young Senator's agenda looks rather like Making the World Safe for a Nutmeg Welfare State dedicated to the proposition that We Should Be Equally Nice. peter brushnoreply@blogger.com