Sarah Palin and Wikileaks
Sarah Palin is reported to have said that Julian Assange, the boss and founder of Wikileaks, should be hunted down like Bin Laden. She is not reported to have commented on the fact that Osama Bin Laden remains free after nine years of ‘hunting down’.
Nevertheless this tells us something of this fundamentalist politician as well of something of America. We have known both things all along. To the extent that Sarah Palin represents small federal government, low taxes and the right of the citizen to be free, she will do well. Whatever your politics, if she succeeds, this aspect of her platform will not harm America; it may even do it good. Against this is set the knee jerk, misguided, naive and often ignorant, aggressive and vengeful view of the world promoted with such spectacular disaster by the neo cons.
The thirst for revenge after 9/11 cost the United States its unchallenged position as the power on earth. A combination of slapdash economics, the War on Terror, Iraq and Afghanistan has brought about a shift away from American leadership at all levels and in all spheres, right across the world. President Obama has done as much as he can to set things right, but there is a limit to what he can do, especially as the political mood back home is both polarised and divided.
Sarah Palin needs to think about this. America has many fewer friends abroad than was once the case. It cannot afford to lose any more. Wise counsel is what is needed in foreign affairs, not populist proclamations.