If Bernie supports Greece, I can’t support Bernie. Unfortunately, Sanders has demonstrated that he doesn’t get foreign policy. He thinks that every country in the world is a mini-Vermont, and that’s just Patrick Buchanan with a different vector. And we can’t have a Buchanan – style politician deciding our foreign policy.
So we are left with Hillary. The huge upside with her is that Putin is terrified of her more than of any other candidate.
I think Bernie is correct and you are mistaken about Greece. Different poor countries are poor for different reasons.
LikeLike
Greece had an overblown bureaucracy that was consuming absolutely enormous resources. The EU asked Greece maybe to consider somewhat reducing this insanely huge state apparatus. Greece refused.
But none of this is even relevant. If Sanders were prepared to act on the international arena, he’d know that his statement will be seen as a betrayal of the allies in the EU and the ass – kissing of Putin. Why Greece did or didn’t get indebted is entirely beyond the point for a politician who wants to engage in foreign policy. If Sanders really wants to be president of the US, he’s got to wake up to the realization that there are much, much more important things than the momentary populist gratification of Tweeting the childish “I support Greece!” He needs to know how to evaluate the consequences and how to take into account all the different players on the world arena.
LikeLike
A candidate in campaign mode is — and has to be — different than a sitting president. A election campaign is literally the only forum where it is OK to be a populist.
How embarrassing would it be if Obama kept repeating the ‘Hope and Change’ slogan after he became president? Yet, during his campaign it made perfect sense.
LikeLike
Now is the time for every candidate to show they will manage to do the foreign relations with at least some competence. Walker says ISIS is as easy to defeat as kindergarten teachers. So we can conclude he’s useless at foreign policy (what a shock.) Now it’s Sanders’ turn to show he can do it. And this is what he’s showing.
We can’t afford to vote him in and then discover his real stand on foreign affairs.
LikeLike
Upside: Putin is terrified of her.
Downside: More neoliberal and hawkish than Obama. Utterly corrupt. Beholden to her wall st donors. Always follows, never leads on any issue (only makes a stand on anything when it’s safe for her to do so), makes campaign finance an issue for this election while vowing to raise $1 billion for her campaign.
It’s so so hard to get behind her.
LikeLike
When the front runner on the Democratic side is “meh”, I’m really worried that a Republican might be President and the last one I liked is Eisenhower. 
How do you know that Putin is terrified of her instead of pretending to be terrified of her? I really don’t think he’s scared of anybody running for President.
Pretty much everyone who speaks aggressively is blowing hot air. The only other people who I could see getting into a war with Russia with a minimum of gum flapping (based on personality, not actual statements) other than Hillary Clinton are, Carly Fiorina, and Huckabee (dude gives me strong Nixon vibes). Walker will do it if his puppeteers make him. Santorum might if it takes his mind off his pent up sexual frustration. But otherwise, no.
What Putin wants from the US is love. That’s the only thing he wants, love. And back when W. was in power, Putin was getting a lot of love. Do you remember even hearing about Russia between 2000 and 2010? I’m sure you don’t because Putin felt loved and had no need to act out. Bush praised him, coddled him, and that’s all that was needed.
Putin wants to go back to the 1945-1953 model of world relations. He said it many times. That’s what he wants. And he’s not settling for anything else. US and Russia, two giants, just the two of them, managing the planet from their respective areas of influence.
Putin wants a US President who is likely to give him that. And who will that be? It’s either somebody who is completely clueless about world affairs and won’t even clock on to what’s happening (like Walker and, sadly, it seems Sanders) or somebody extremely populist and in favor of immersion in internal affairs at the expense of foreign policy.
LikeLike
The best post I’ve seen on the Greek situation is here.
http://www.interfluidity.com/v2/5965.html
It acknowledges that the country has been and continues to be governed poorly but also points out that the “troika” forecasts have yet to be remotely accurate and the charts at the end are devastating.
IINM Spain and Portugal have done everything they’ve been told to and their economies are still in the crapper with no prospects for growth and they’re still hemorraghing young educated people.
I’m beginning to think of IMF austerity as the new communism – an economic model that doesn’t work and whose consistent failures are blamed on not being enforced strictly enough.
And if you don’t care about your blood pressure a German government official wants to lift Russian sanctions (so they can afford to escort Greece outside of the EU?)
The EU is definitely mismanaging the crisis. But Tsipras gas absolutely nothing whatsoever to offer other than populist slogans. Greece, Spain and Portugal might not be doing super great right now but what they have is enormously better than what they managed to create on their own before the EU. The EU turned them from backwards, miserable, piss – poor postdictatorial states into first world countries. And now somebody has got to pay the cost of those transformations. Ultimately, the more Greece falters, the better it is for Ukraine because the price of oil has been going down since the referendum. So for me, the more Greeks drive themselves into a corner the better.
I’m just appalled at the narrative where Greeks are victims of “evil banksters” that we are being sold on every corner. It’s kind of scary to consider that one lives surrounded by people who are so intellectually limited that they can believe such a primitive story.
So yes, austerity sucks massively. But cheap populism of idiot Tsipras is not a viable alternative.
LikeLike
“I’m just appalled at the narrative where Greeks are victims of “evil banksters” that we are being sold on every corner”
Is it that much worse than “stupid lazy deadbeat Greeks” that’s also being peddled? There’s blame to go around for Greece but at this point the troika is in the driver’s seat so I’m criticisming them more.
The irony remains that the crisis actually hit as the result of a Greek government finally telling the truth instead of the lies Europe was hoping would never be found out. Dont expect that to ever happen again.
LikeLike
Your lack of economics experience and knowledge of the Greek/EU situation is blindingly obvious. While Bernie’s remark is not in depth analysis, it isn’t supposed to be. Dr. Krugman seems to support Greece’s rejection of continuous pain as a solution to their economic problems, just as Senator Sanders does, just maybe he knows more about this than you do.
France and Germany didn’t follow the recipe they recommend to Greece after WW II when they owed many times their GNP to the whole world. They took charity from the US and rebuilt their nations. But now when Greece and Portugal need charity, austerity and suffering is all that Germany has to offer.
Economics is not black magic, we know what works and what doesn’t. Cutting spending and payrolls during a recession that would have been called a depression in any other circumstances is a recipe for financial disaster. Nation-states are not households, and do not operate correctly on a family-style budget. Keynesian economics works, and mercantilism does not. This has been true for thousands of years, and will remain true as long as we have international economies.
LikeLike
Never has such a string of platitudes been delivered with greater pomp. Yes, nation-states are not households and the family budget metaphor is idiotic. And today is Tuesday. Have you got any more painfully obvious factoids to share with us today?
LikeLike
If you were truly “pro Greece”, you would support the people of Greece and be against corrupt austerity policies which have been a disaster in Greece for the working class like we’ve seen with so many other countries.
If you’re pro-austerity then you should certainly go ahead and support people like Hilary Clinton who have been paid off by Wall Street bankster donors and plans to raise plenty more bribes for her campaign. Or, better yet, go latch onto a Republican who is in the pocket of billionaire sugar daddy scumbags. That’s more your speed, perhaps.
If you want Putin to influence the direction of the USA instead of the other way around, go ahead and support Clinton and the other Republicans.
And, with that — I say to you… “good riddance”. Sanders isn’t for you.
LikeLike
Who is this boring hysteric who erupts in a bout of incoherent and unsolicited advice?
Have I asked you what I should do, you little piece of fluff? No? Then keep your idiotic advice to yourself.
LikeLike
Comparing the treatment of Germany after WWII to that of Greece today isn’t particularly useful. Yes, Germany was ultimately forgiven perhaps 50% of its total debt after starting and losing a world war, but the country was occupied and ruled by foreign conquerors for ten years. How much “democracy” do you think the Germans were allowed during that decade?
Also, Germany had thousands of square miles of territory ripped permanently away from it and given to Poland (to make up for the eastern half of Poland that was annexed by the victorious Soviet Union). In East Germany, Stalin had much of the industrial infrastructure dismantled and moved into the Soviet Union, and this was still going on when Stalin died in 1953.
Nobody is talking about doing anything remotely like this to the poor Greeks.
LikeLike
“Comparing the treatment of Germany after WWII to that of Greece today isn’t particularly useful.”
LikeLike
A conservative literary critic and college professor
Clarissa's Blog 
Leave a comment