Diamondeye wrote:
He's addressing the same issue two different ways...."Emphasis matters" certainly allows him to present the same plan in the light most favorable for a given audience, but it's hardly manipulative or misleading. "Emphasis" does not a policy shift make.
Riiiight. So if Obama, when he was a candidate in 2008, had regularly said stuff like this in his campaign rallies:
Quote:
I will act swiftly to tear down the vast edifice of military spending the current Administration has imposed on our country. I will also seek to make structural changes to the military bureaucracy that ensure peaceful relations remain front and center when military decisions are made. As President, I will work to repeal laws like the 2008 NDDA [or whatever] that have given bureaucrats unprecedented discretion to craft unpredictable, peace-destroying policies.
I will also initiate the immediate review of all military policies of the current Administration with the goal of eliminating any that unduly burden our peaceful relations. And I will impose a budgetary cap on all defense programs at zero dollars, meaning that a every defense program must go through a process to identify offsetting cost reductions from the existing military budget. Other initiatives in my administration will include a new, diplomacy-conscious approach to military policy; an increased role for Congress in the approval of new military policies; and reforms to the military procurement system.
And then turned around and said this in a debate:
Quote:
The military is essential. You can't maintain peace if you don't have a military. As a peace-loving country, we need the military there. You can't have potential enemies able to take aggressive actions unchecked. I mean, you have to have the military so you can maintain peace. Every peaceful country has a good military.
At the same time, the military can become too big. Military policy can become outdated. And what's happend with some of the legislation that's been passed during the president's term, you've seen the military become too big and it's damaged our peaceful relations. Let me give you an example. The 2008 NDDA was passed, and it includes within it a number of provisions that I think have some unintended consequences that are harmful to our peaceful relations. I would repeal and replace it. We're not going to get rid of the whole military. You have to have a military. And there's some parts of the 2008 NDDA that make all the sense in the world.
You wouldn't think he was being just a wee bit disingenuous about his views and plans vis-a-vis the military?