Ross Douthat's "Rand and Rubio": Make Way for China

Ross Douthat, the token conservative who writes a once-weekly New York Times column, today examines division within the Republican Party concerning U.S. foreign policy in an op-ed entitled "Rand and Rubio" (http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/20/opinion/20douthat.html?_r=1&ref=opinion). According to Douthat:

"But while this division shows up in the current presidential field, it’s distilled to its essence in two high-profile Republicans who aren’t running (not in 2012, at least): Senator Marco Rubio of Florida and Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky.

. . . .

Rubio is the great neoconservative hope, the champion of a foreign policy that boldly goes abroad in search of monsters to destroy. In the Senate, he’s constantly pressed for a more hawkish line against the Mideast’s bad actors. His maiden Senate speech was a paean to national greatness, whose peroration invoked John F. Kennedy and insisted that America remain the 'watchman on the wall of world freedom.'

Paul, on the other hand, has smoothed the crankish edges off his famous father’s antiwar conservatism, reframing it in the language of constitutionalism, the national interest and the budget deficit."

Douthat tells us that the U.S. is tired of war, and unable to still share in Marco Rubio's vision, he concludes that Rand Paul is right.

First, as a minor aside, I believe that Marco Rubio will be running in 2012 -- as the Republican vice presidential candidate. He could well prove the key to garnering Hispanic votes, and, if a viable Republican presidential candidate is selected, Rubio could make the difference between victory and defeat.

But on a more substantive note, although Americans are indeed tired of the protracted involvements in Afghanistan (I have consistently opposed the U.S. ground presence in Afghanistan) and Iraq, why should this mean that the U.S. need to shift to the other extreme: isolationism. Submerged in a recession and with no signs of "change" promised by Obama, has the time come to throw in the towel and step aside for Communist China?

Indeed, the Chinese are preparing to assume this leadership role and have just revealed that they are launching their first aircraft carrier (see: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/chinese-aircraft-carrier-revealed/story?id=13800990), as they continue to terrorize Tibet and lead the world in executions (see: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/30/china-leads-the-world-in_n_518719.html).

Maybe it's because I'm getting old and rigid, but I remain a firm believer in American exceptionalism. This is not going to change. Not now, not ever.

However, concerning U.S. involvement in future conflagrations, you have to choose your fights carefully, and when you do step into the ring, you need to move swiftly and decisively. Protracted involvements without realizable defined goals, e.g., Afghanistan, are a recipe for ruin.