(link goes to blogs.mercurynews.com)
[quote]Anyway, toward the end of our chat, I asked Stewart how his upbringing gave him a different perspective on world affairs than his peers in rock ‘n’ roll or Hollywood. He had a lot to say, and his deeply held opinions don’t follow any party lines. Here’s a sampling:
I grew up extremely patriotic. I grew up as an American not in America, and I was aware at all times, the way most Americans are not aware, that I am an American. I was the American kid. When I was in an English boarding school, I was the American kid. When I was on the streets of Beirut, I was an American kid. So all my life, I’ve been the American kid. … I’ve always judged presidents and administrations by their foreign policy.
How do you judge our current president?
Unmitigated disaster. Never has so much damage been done to the nation by a president. And what’s anomalous, in terms of foreign policy, he’s the worst president since Carter. And his father was one of the best presidents in terms of foreign policy – hard to beat. The combination of George I and Bill [Clinton], that’s when American power was at its height. Not only its military power, which was achieved by George I in the first gulf war, but the political power, the soft power. That’s when America was at its most strong, was during the Clinton administration. With the Cold War being won by Reagan, and the benefits being reaped by George I and totally maximized by Clinton, [then] totally squandered by George II. It’s as if we just handed over all of our power. Militarily, we’re f—ed. We got no more soldiers, we got no more weapons, we’re out of gas, and everybody knows it. So we have no military muscle. We can’t threaten anybody. We can’t threaten Iran or Korea. Nobody’s afraid of us, militarily. Our soft power is gone. The Cold War which we won is now being reopened and Russia is now flexing its muscles and dictating to us. Russia and China are now dictating to us again! After Reagan and George I won the Cold War, George II has now somehow figured out a way to lose it again.[/quote]
Let's just hope Stewart doesn't find himself Dixie Chicked...although I guess a 5-Grammy win isn't the worst thing to happen to a band...
