What barry can learn from Firefly

[Silver Bullet]

People don't like to be meddled with.

River Tam, Serenity

[MicroBalrog]

Tam-Reynolds '12?

[Silver Bullet]

Reynolds-Washburne

[red headed stranger]

One that could work for many of our "public servants."

You know, in certain older civilized cultures, when men failed as entirely as you have, they would throw themselves on their swords.

[S. Williamson]

I was thinking

Mal: "Oh! That was bracing. They don't like it when you shoot at them. I worked that out myself."

[Phyphor]

Regarding the above: After President Reynolds met with a president from the middle east whom threatened to destroy all the USA.

[Nitrogen]

How is it different than us keeping a dialog open with the former USSR throughout most of the cold war?

Nikita Khrushchev said, famously at the UN, "WE WILL BURY YOU!"

We would probably have had a nuclear war with Russia in October of 1962 if we didn't have a line of communication with the USSR via U Thant and the UN.

As long as talking to your enemies doesn't preclude beating the tar out of them when appropriate, I don't see the problem.

[Perd Hapley]

So, Nitrogen, they fooled you? 

The idea that McCain, Bush or any other Republican wouldn't use diplomacy, talks, negotiation, etc., is a myth invented by Biden, Obama, and their associates.  You know, Biden?  The guy who claimed, in the debate, that McCain refused to hold talks with "Spain, Spainnnnnn."  Never mind that McCain is the guy who returned to Vietnam, to negotiate the return of POWs, or their remains, or whatever it was. 

The old strategy of "if your opponent takes issue with your far-left views, use that as a convenient opportuniy to paint him as a far-right, radical war-monger." 

[MicroBalrog]

Isn't it taken as article of faith on these forums we OMG CAN'T NEGOTIATE with Iran and their ilk?

[AZRedhawk44]

Isn't it taken as article of faith on these forums we OMG CAN'T NEGOTIATE with Iran and their ilk?

There's a false premise in your statement.

Diplomacy is well and fine.

Negotiation means giving something up for nothing.

I've got no problem with the "speak softly but carry a big stick" school of diplomacy.  But I do have a problem with the Clinton and Bush 43 style of diplomacy that just kept kowtowing to the likes of Kim Jong Il, giving foreign aid whenever they threaten to increase nuclear proliferation or the like.

Enemies should be dealt with as enemies.  Using diplomacy just means being polite while you prepare to eviscerate them.

ETA:  Cobb/Reynolds for 2012!

[MicroBalrog]

Enemies should be dealt with as enemies.  Using diplomacy just means being polite while you prepare to eviscerate them.

Some enemies should never be negotiated with. Others can be made into friends through careful negotiation from a position of strength. It's important to be able to do both.

[agricola]

Negotiating Firefly-style requires a big turbofan engine (or similar space equivalent) and more than one person to negotiate with, as I recall.

 

[Silver Bullet]

Negotiating Firefly-style requires a big turbofan engine (or similar space equivalent) and more than one person to negotiate with, as I recall.

 

"Now. This is all the money Niska --"

"Oh I get it.  I'm good.  Best for everyone, I'm right there with you."

 

[Nitrogen]

So, Nitrogen, they fooled you? 

The idea that McCain, Bush or any other Republican wouldn't use diplomacy, talks, negotiation, etc., is a myth invented by Biden, Obama, and their associates.  You know, Biden?  The guy who claimed, in the debate, that McCain refused to hold talks with "Spain, Spainnnnnn."  Never mind that McCain is the guy who returned to Vietnam, to negotiate the return of POWs, or their remains, or whatever it was. 

The old strategy of "if your opponent takes issue with your far-left views, use that as a convenient opportuniy to paint him as a far-right, radical war-monger." 

So George Bush is ready to talk with Iran then?

[roo_ster]

So George Bush is ready to talk with Iran then?

GW has had talks ongoing with Iran for months if not years.

But, they are low-level, under the radar talks and not "no preconditions" POTUS to Iranian pres tlaks that give the mullahs legitimacy.

Thank you for, once again, swallowing the story fed you by the MSM and the Dems.  Maybe they'll give you a cookie?

[K Frame]

"Negotiation means giving something up for nothing."

Where did you ever get that idea?

The Democrats?

The best definition of negotiation I've ever heard was something along the lines of "A successful negotiation is where neither party leaves the table happy."

[KD5NRH]

Negotiating Firefly-style requires a big turbofan engine (or similar space equivalent) and more than one person to negotiate with, as I recall.

Yeah, some things are just easier Corbin Dallas style.

"Anybody else want to negotiate?"

[Perd Hapley]

GW has had talks ongoing with Iran for months if not years.

But, they are low-level, under the radar talks and not "no preconditions" POTUS to Iranian pres tlaks that give the mullahs legitimacy.

Thank you for, once again, swallowing the story fed you by the MSM and the Dems.  Maybe they'll give you a cookie?

Precisely.  McCain, and apparently Kissinger, jumped Obama for saying that he would meet with Ahmadinejad, WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS.  And as I said, the other side took advantage of the fact that most of us wouldn't understand the diplo-speak nuance that was involved.  (And I'm not so sure Obama understood it.)  So, they painted Bush/McCain as Neanderthals whose only foreign policy was brandishing clubs and bashing skulls. 

They also liked to point out that Ahmadinejad is a figurehead, as if that was relevant to the conversation.  But just by saying it, they implied that McCain and Palin didn't know it.