Presidential race 2016

[HairOfTheDog]

Rubio On Foreign Policy


When it comes to his assessment of world leaders, Sen. Marco Rubio isn't pulling any punches: Russia's run by a "gangster" and North Korea a "lunatic."

The 2016 Republican presidential candidate made a foreign policy speech Friday morning in South Carolina, in which he riffed on his unvarnished opinions on various enemies of the United States.

"Russia is governed today by a gangster," Rubio said. "He's basically an organized crime figure who controls a government and a large territory. ... This is a person who kills people because they're his political enemies. If you're a political adversary of Vladimir Putin, you wind up with plutonium in your drink or shot in the street."

He also called Russia one of the top five threats to the United States, saying "we have a gangster running the largest nuclear stockpile in the world."

"In North Korea, a lunatic possesses dozens of nuclear weapons, and a long-range missile that can hit the United States," Rubio said.

Rubio said the common thread among the greatest threats to the U.S. is they are all totalitarian regimes, which is why the U.S. should do more to spread democracy. (HOTD: I really disagree with that last statement the U.S. should not be trying to push Democracy on other countries, in my opinion.)

Full piece: http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/28/politics/m...d-leaders/
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It's not hard to make clear points without being either overly-PC or overly-unprofessional, IMO.

I was disappointed to read Rubio's characterizations (though I don't disagree with his assessments). I don't know if he's trying to tap into Trump's strategy/appeal or what. But, I think it's bad for future negotiations/relations and makes American leadership look un-savvy.

Ah well, the times are changing.