Reply #73: Listen, I'm being pragmatic here. I'm [View All]

saying that if the American people think that Chavez is "bad" (which I was under the impression he was, just from watching the news, ignoramus that I am) then our candidates are going to get slaughtered if all they say is, "Can't we all just get along here?" The repugs will paint them as soft, or Appeasers, as is currently the in-vogue phrase for those who wish, like I do, for a diplomatic solution to keep Iran from developing nukes. And no, I don't think that toppling regimes is a good idea--that's certainly not the kind of engagement I was talking about. But, we do have to stand up for our image and our interests via diplomacy--that is a matter of survival, and that's what I mean by engagement.