Yesterday in an foreign policy address in Los Angeles, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called for the United States to create and lead a “League of Democracies” in order to “harness the vast influence of the more than one hundred democratic nations around the world to advance our values and defend our shared interests.”
Numerous media outlets interpreted McCain’s speech as a call for “cooperation” and “collaboration” with allies and the rest of the world, “drawing a sharp contrast to the past eight years under President Bush.” But last night on Fox News, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer revealed the true meaning behind McCain’s “League of Democracies”:
KRAUTHAMMER: Well, I like the idea of the league of democracies, and only in part because I and others had proposed it about six years ago. What I like about it, it’s got a hidden agenda. It looks as if it’s all about listening and joining with allies, all the kind of stuff you’d hear a John Kerry say, except that the idea here, which McCain can’t say, but I can, is to essentially kill the U.N.
Watch it:
As Krauthammer noted, he proposed this “League of Democracies” nearly “six years ago,” so he would know its actual “agenda.” Indeed, Krauthammer delivered a speech on “Democratic realism” in 2004 outlining this agenda which calls for the U.S. to “commit blood and treasure” to spread democracy in strategic areas around the world.
Perhaps McCain does want to “kill the U.N.” After all, he backed anti-U.N. crusader John Bolton’s nomination as the organization’s U.S. ambassador and secretly pushed his confirmation. Bolton famously said “there is no such thing as the United Nations” and if the U.N. building in New York “lost ten stories, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference.”
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How did ole Kraut. let that slip out?
_AIO_
March 27th, 2008 at 1:04 pmSensible people all agree that violent, reactionary nationalism is the only truly effective means of diplomacy, right Chuck??
March 27th, 2008 at 1:04 pmthe idea here, which McCain can’t say, but I can, is to essentially kill the U.N.
So Krauthammer is essentially acknowledging that McSame is lying to everyone about his hidden neocon agenda, because if he were honest about it, there’d be no way he could get elected.
Huh. Who would have guessed that?
March 27th, 2008 at 1:07 pmI wonder who has filed the incorporation paperwork for the
March 27th, 2008 at 1:10 pmLeague of Democracies Corporation
Maybe even Krauth. thinks McCain is too radical. If that’s the case, I hope he speaks up more often!
March 27th, 2008 at 1:10 pmWould we even notice the U.N. is gone after Mccain really F@cks up further and totally bankrupts the country?
No.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:12 pmMcWars Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
Maybe even Krauth. thinks McCain is too radical. If that’s the case, I hope he speaks up more often!
Not a chance. He thinks this is a great idea, but he also wants to cop as much of the credit for it as possible.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:14 pmMaybe the bastards should rename it The League of Extraordinary Liars!
March 27th, 2008 at 1:14 pmWow.
And people say Hillary will say/do anything to be elected - !!
March 27th, 2008 at 1:15 pmMy lie-alert alarm went off immediately upon hearing this proposition of McCain’s. I just knew there had to be a catch.
Thanks for letting the Krap out of the bag Krauthammer!
March 27th, 2008 at 1:17 pmNow someone tell me the neocons don’t want Hillary to win.
Go on, I dare you.
Neocons are still trying to derail McSame. Doesn’t anyone wonder why?
March 27th, 2008 at 1:18 pmI suppose John Bolton would head up this new organization.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:18 pmA little more help from supporters like Krauthammer, and McCain will have a problem if any Americans are actually listening.
Keep talking, Charles.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:20 pmFrankly, what is the problem that have the Republicans with the UN? Is the fear to lose independence in favor of the UN, or more like they fear an extern world body cappable of doing an accountability of the misdeeds of the USA?
And, must I remind these guys that the UN took almost 60 years to form, from the ancient League of Nations? They know that was an USA invention?
Maybe they fear the UN because it is one of the more democratic bodies in the world, even with the veto powers of the Security Council (where the USA is one permanent member).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_nations
Frankly, these fascists are discontent because the UN isn’t (always) a yes-man organization, and it’s not a perfect tool to rule the world at their wish, using the members as attack dogs when they see it fit.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:20 pmWhat does he mean by “hidden agenda”. The Republicans have been trying to kill the UN for as long as I can remember. How much in back dues do we owe the UN today? I hope that Obama fixes that when he becomes President.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:24 pmMs_Joanne Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Now someone tell me the neocons don’t want Hillary to win.
Go on, I dare you.
Neocons are still trying to derail McSame. Doesn’t anyone wonder why?
___________________________________________
Not so hard to figure out. It’s a “four years versus eight years” situation. They figure that if Hillary wins, they can get a GOP candidate they like to oppose and derail her four years from now. If McCain wins, they are stuck with him for eight years, as no Republican would be able to mount a serious challenge to a sitting incumbent from their own party without damaging the party.
It has been said that Hillary would like to see McCain win in November if Obama gets the nomination, for the same reason.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:24 pmI just KNOW these guys sleep in the daylight in coffins.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:25 pmThe neocons are so whacked-out it’s hard to even figure what their motives are.
I mean, is Krauthammer trying to undermine McSame’s campaign by injecting spin that is likely to be poisonous to most of the electorate?
Or is he trying to rally the far right to support McSame by saying that secretly he wants what they want?
It’s so confusing.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:28 pmSo if McCain’s real plan is to kill the United Nations, why doesn’t he just say so? I mean, conservatives have been trying to do this for some time now.
The answer to this is that the slice of Americans who want to see an end to the U.N. constitutes a minority of the population, concentrated firmly on the right wing. In order to attract the middle (which McCain needs in order to win), he has to make things warm and fuzzy.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:28 pm# misshusseinmolly Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Ms_Joanne Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Now someone tell me the neocons don’t want Hillary to win.
Go on, I dare you.
Neocons are still trying to derail McSame. Doesn’t anyone wonder why?
___________________________________________
Not so hard to figure out. It’s a “four years versus eight years” situation. They figure that if Hillary wins, they can get a GOP candidate they like to oppose and derail her four years from now. If McCain wins, they are stuck with him for eight years, as no Republican would be able to mount a serious challenge to a sitting incumbent from their own party without damaging the party.
It has been said that Hillary would like to see McCain win in November if Obama gets the nomination, for the same reason.
Wrong again. They see Hillary as the stronger candidate, but they see Obama as a wildcard they’re not yet sure how to fight. If Obama does win, he’s likely to lose in 4 years, because his inexperience leaves him unprepared for the depression we’re headed into. And his anemic response today in terms of his economic agenda shows his advisers are as equally unprepared… This is one of the main reasons I hope he doesn’t get nominated. He’s not ready for the job.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:29 pmSpeaking of hidden agendas - this from the link above of McCain’s speech:
“We should start by ensuring that the G-8, the group of eight highly industrialized states, becomes again a club of leading market democracies: it should include Brazil and India but exclude Russia. Rather than tolerate Russia’s nuclear blackmail or cyber attacks, Western nations should make clear that the solidarity of NATO…”
I thought we were in the middle of trying to appease Russia - enough to get them to back off on their opposition to the proposed “missile defence” in Poland anyway. Talk like this from McCain certainly plays into Russia’s concerns that the installation will be aimed at them.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:31 pmThe cat’s outta the bag McBush! Hang it up and go back to chasing skirts!
March 27th, 2008 at 1:31 pmralph the wonder llama Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
the idea here, which McCain can’t say, but I can, is to essentially kill the U.N.
So Krauthammer is essentially acknowledging that McSame is lying to everyone about his hidden neocon agenda, because if he were honest about it, there’d be no way he could get elected.
Huh. Who would have guessed that?
Hmmm….I actually think that running against the UN would be pretty popular among the Rs; if you include a “League of Democracies” add on, you still have the veneer of diplomacy which would attract independents who favor forming alliances but don’t think the UN is very effective. I don’t think he’d destroy the UN, I think he’d ignore it.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:33 pm# gummitch Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Whoops. As punishment for placing even a smidgen of confidence in a neocon, I’m reporting my own post.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:34 pmA league of democracies with a hidden agenda, eh?
Just a question - how do all the happy smiley democracies with their super-duper gubmint transparency expect to keep their agenda hidden?
March 27th, 2008 at 1:34 pmVote McBomb and that will seal the deal:
1.Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy
2. Create a gulag
3. Develop a thug caste
4. Set up an internal surveillance system
5. Harass citizens’ groups
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release
7. Target key individuals
8. Control the press
9. Dissent equals treason
10. Suspend the rule of law
March 27th, 2008 at 1:35 pmSo I guess “The League of Democracies” would use white helicopters instead of those evil black U.N. helicopters?
Would their logo be a knight in shining white armor?
March 27th, 2008 at 1:36 pmWho needs problem-solving skills when you have plenty of bombs and bullets?
March 27th, 2008 at 1:36 pmmary Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
Speaking of hidden agendas - this from the link above of McCain’s speech:
“We should start by ensuring that the G-8, the group of eight highly industrialized states, becomes again a club of leading market democracies: it should include Brazil and India but exclude Russia. Rather than tolerate Russia’s nuclear blackmail or cyber attacks, Western nations should make clear that the solidarity of NATO…”
Heh, these guys are really delusional. HOW it’s possible to exclude Russia of the G-8 (The eight countries more industrialized of the world) if they keep being in one the first eight positions. They must call the group anything else, and redefine its composition. It’ll be no more the G-8.
Oh, and joining the most powerful economically countries of the world under the rules of the USA Republicans has a name, and is “Global Fascism, Inc”.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:38 pmmary Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
So I guess “The League of Democracies” would use white helicopters instead of those evil black U.N. helicopters?
Would their logo be a knight in shining white armor?
I can’t help but picture everyone in colorful tights and capes.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:44 pmgummitch Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
mary Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
So I guess “The League of Democracies” would use white helicopters instead of those evil black U.N. helicopters?
Would their logo be a knight in shining white armor?
I can’t help but picture everyone in colorful tights and capes.
You mean it’ll be a Carebear Democracy?
March 27th, 2008 at 1:47 pmThis is all about McCain appealing to movement conservatives and securing their support. Movement conservatives hate the U.N.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:49 pmKeltoi Says:
Hmmm….I actually think that running against the UN would be pretty popular among the Rs
No sh!t. That was part of my point, Keltoi.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:49 pmThe problem with McCain’s idea, however, is that none of the other major developed countries will go along with it. It is a political appeal that is purely for show.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:51 pmWho cares what’s popular among the R’s. Your’s and thier
are prime examples of why the UN doesn’t work….With R’s calling the shots it’s obstruction at every turn at the UN so who is responsible for tying the UN’s hands causing them to not be very effective.
You would fog the air rather than admit their MO. They do the same here at home. If they are in power they mismanage and lie about it.If they lose some of the power they obstruct.
If the republicans can’t keep taking us backwards they will do all they can to keep us from moving forward.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:53 pm“Leaugue of Democracies”? One could argue that club should exclude both the US and Israel.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:58 pmDown with soundbites and criticizm from authors and backers of failed ideas.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:00 pmJust flag and ignore, Fred.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:07 pmI see our pet troll has thrown on another outfit. Still makes him look clownish, though.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:09 pm“League”, I’m pretty sure, means MORE than one. They want unlimited, unilateral power to do anything. But good luck with idea. We snuck one by the UN, don’t think it will happen again without massive consequences.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:10 pm…he’s likely to lose in 4 years, because his….inexperience leaves him unprepared….advisers are as equally unprepared…
…He’s not ready for the job.
Add Karma Recommend (-20)
Mind if Republicans quote you, rhf?
Go on BarackObama.com and read his plan. Or ignore it, and not have to pretend he doesn’t have one. Continue to have the peace of mind of not knowing anything about Barack Obama beyond a few audio snippets and watching Republicans get the vapors.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:13 pmprogressinourminds Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Another day of anti-American sentiments!! Preach on brother!! Down with entreprenuralship!! Turn the UN into a shelter for Illegal aliens!!
Looks like someone took their brain out and played with it one too many times.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:14 pmYet the UN is what Bush is saying gives him the authority to stay in Iraq without congressional approval.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:14 pmgummitch Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Just flag and ignore, Fred.
I used the option to flag and ridicule.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:15 pmOh, BTW, Krauthammer, a hidden agenda is anti-American.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:16 pmMcCrazy’s anti-american hidden agenda is not only to kill the United Nations; it’s also to kill the United States.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:19 pm‘League of Nations’ and later the ‘United Nations’ were created after the WWII,with the purpose of solving world problems issues peacefully,so the world will not face another World war.
The UN came as a result of defeating Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy,and Japan’s empire army in 2nd.World War.
It seems now that war mongers and Neocon cabal want to reverse things and demolish the UN world body and create what they call ‘The League Of Democracies’ which will never work, but will put the world into many long years of wars.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:19 pmThe problem will be who will decide a country is a democracy and a country isn’t..?
Is it McCain and the Necocons?
If you listen to Neocons they will tell you that Russia and China are not democracies, so what will McCain do about Russia and China?!! What he will do about Arab,Moslem and African countries and many others that he does not understand their culture?
Will McCain ignore these countries or fight them like we did in Iraq under the banner of democracy with Neocons misguided ideas?
Fred: so what’s your answer? Become a full-fledged nazi/fascist regime instead?
March 27th, 2008 at 2:20 pmThe single reason the neofascists want to dismantle the UN is because the UN is onto their tricks and shenanigans. It was the UN who forbade us to invade Iraq or consider it a war crime. The UN is all that’s left in terms of any check and balance in this country.
The DOJ is corrupt so there’s no teeth to anything lawful or legal any longer. Congress can issue contempt citations till the cows come home but if the DOJ is in the neocon’s pocket (and Mukasey surely is!)then nothing happens.
Until we take back control of OUR country from the fascist neocons currently running it and run all of the dirtbags out of town, we cannot do anything moral to enforce our laws. After all, that’s why we have a DOJ - to enforce the laws.
This DOJ is complicit and “on the take” sucking up Bush’s crotch.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:22 pmI’d say let’s run everyone currently in Congress out of their seats and take back the reins of this country. Unseat ALL incumbents in 08 so we can sweep the filth clean and begin anew.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:23 pmAnd, they’re all “filth” at this point with few exceptions.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:23 pmWhy do you continually lend credence to the ravings of people that are clearly mad, or agenda driven personalities? these are tv shows where people get paid to rant, and it is a network that only creates entertainment shows.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:25 pmthis is becoming embarrassing.
Krauthammer looks like a Who.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:28 pmIt is true! The neocons want to turn the UN irrelevant. They even created a name for it: The league of Democracies. One more ’slogan’ from the neocons… War on Terror, Coallition of the willing, and now ‘The league of Democracies’… These criminals have to be stoped! Please vote them out! The world can’t wait! Bush/Chenney HAGUE 2009! And if MacCaine wants to go there to, MacCaine Hague 2009!
March 27th, 2008 at 2:36 pm‘United Nations’ is not about nations’ ideologies,it is instead, about nations being able to live with each others and be sovereign, not being threatened regardless of their size and idealogies.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:41 pmoldtree Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Why do you continually lend credence to the ravings of people that are clearly mad, or agenda driven personalities?
They are reporting the crap the tv shows are letting air, without the “journalists” correcting them, someone has to correct them.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:45 pmAre you suggesting TP and other blogs let this crap slide?
cerberus Says:
Fred: so what’s your answer? Become a full-fledged nazi/fascist regime instead?
I think we are on the same side of the issue but I’m not very good at expressing myself. If you refer to post #35 what I was saying is that we need to cooperate with UN and participate as an equal instead of trying to run things for everyone. Republicans when in power try to destroy the UN instead of taking advantage of what we could achieve together….
March 27th, 2008 at 2:54 pmFred Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Republicans when in power try to destroy the UN instead of taking advantage of what we could achieve together….
Exactly. Their idea of diplomacy means strong-arming other countries until they do what we want. Just like we did with Chile in the run up to the Iraq invasion:
http://www.democracynow.org/ 2008/ 3/ 27/ in_new_book_chilean_ambassador_to
March 27th, 2008 at 2:59 pmNeoCons have a single agenda, and that is to establish a complete Fascist State, with Corporations working with them for mutual profiting on the backs of American workers, who will have their standard of living driven into the ground by the Free Trade Agreements, making us compete with sweet shops and child labor. The are hoping for a Depression, so that our will to survive will overshadow our need for decent wages, there by making it a dog eat dog country.
And people vote for these guys? Vote against yourself, vote Republican.
March 27th, 2008 at 3:01 pmThis exposes the childish assumptions of the conservative foreign policy establishment. Apparently, history just won’t move quickly enough for them, so they declare all the institutions and methods that have been used to date useless, and recommend a program of foot-stomping hysterics that is supposed to make things like “the spread of democracy” happen right now.
March 27th, 2008 at 3:01 pmFor a PNACcio like Krauthammer UN stand in the way of the American empire. History has of course not taught him anything.
March 27th, 2008 at 3:16 pmThe Kraut Hammer is spewing the same garbage that he and his the PNAC cronies have bee saying for some time - as if their agenda which has been tragically employed by the Shrub and Dick has been so successful. Unless he they think they are successful.
What a non-reflective bore.
March 27th, 2008 at 4:15 pmGuido the Loving OBGYN Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Krauthammer looks like a Who.
——
March 27th, 2008 at 5:24 pmExcellent call.
I wonder where the Krautheimer got his upper lip stretcher at?
March 27th, 2008 at 5:44 pmGuido the Loving OBGYN Says:
March 27th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
Krauthammer looks like a Who.
…and acts like the Grinch.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:47 pmHere’s a guy who wins the vote for America’s stupidest Zionist and America’s Ugliest Zionist.
March 28th, 2008 at 5:23 amI’d never hit “a criple”, but this guy is an ass and there’s no two ways about it. I’m sorry, but Mr. and I word that word reluctantly Krauthammer is a total idiot and a jerk who can’t think at all. He’s so caught up in a stupid “Conservative” mind set that if we told him the sky was blue, he’s say it’s red, just to disagree. I mean come on for a person who is educated Charley has some real issues. He’s clearly trying to make up for his “Short comings”, by being such a jerk. Maybe if I couldn’t walk, I’d be a jerk too, but I don’t think so. For him to suggest that McCain or any other pin head could single handedly destroy the United Nations is beyond me. I guess we could cut off funding and ask them to leave our country, but what good would that do? Then countries would use force to settle their difference rather than have endless discussions at the UN.
What simpleton’s like Krauthammer don’t understand is talking is better than war any day. I know he’s a proponent of the “shoot first and ask questions” later policy of the current administration, but that’s who you get into wars you can’t get out of. But this fact is clearly lost on an idiot like Krauthammer. All one has to do is look at our recent history when we have gotten into ill advised wars (Viet Nam, Iraq) come to mind. In both places, we were supposedly fighting an idealogy (Communism, and in Iraq Terrorism). The only thing the two have in common is the “ism” part.
The way to fight “isms” is with your own calm rational values, ideals and beliefs. History is replet with empires who tried to impose their beliefs on others with the instrument of war. That’s why neither Eyjpt, England, or Rome rule the world right now. Mr. Krauthammer take my advice, “Absolute power corrupts”, “so do idiots like you who think we can play monopoly with other people’s lives”. That my quote for you and your kind.
I’m sorry I didn’t give credit for the phrase: “Who knows, the Shadow knows”. Not my quote, I’m just borrowing it.
March 28th, 2008 at 10:16 amDemocratic? Is that really the word for a body whose structure and processes treat the dictator of Equatorial Guinea and the King of Saudi Arabia as having the same legitimacy, voice, and authority as the democratically elected governments of India and Brazil?
Anyway, a League of Democracies might far better restrain the United States than the UN ever did, precisely because it would have democratic legitimacy. Kosovo set the post-Soviet precedent that the UN did not have enugh legitimacy that a lack of UN approval would not be accepted as a constraint on Western military action. That precedent then provided the cover for the U.S. to form a “Coalition of the Willing” on Iraq. A League of Democracies, however, would have a legitimacy that could restrain future equivalents of Blair’s Britain and Anzar’s Spain — and consequently restrain the U.S. from going on adventures. Or at least leave the United States without diplomatic cover.
March 28th, 2008 at 1:05 pmAdvance who`s values, the neocon dogma that says you must have Demcoracy or DIE.League of Democracies my a$$, more like league of Facsism. These neocons just don`t know when to quit do they, they have ruined Iraq in the name of democracy and are about to do more if oldman Johnny gets in the White House.
March 29th, 2008 at 12:09 pm100 years is all he is asking for,sounds like Fascism Forever to me.