"America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy."

[Bonobo]

"America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own."

-John Quincy Adams

[DisgustipatedinCA]

1. I just read that Ben Franklin didn't know what he was talking about because he didnt have Internet.

Surely we can throw JQ Adams under the bus now too.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

2. "Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster."

Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. Friedrich Nietzsche

[kelliekat44]

19. +++1,000,000 nt

[G_j]

20. yes

to those with ears..

[liberal_at_heart]

24. That is a chilling quote.

[Stuart G]

28. Outstanding Point...thanks for posting....nt

[PDJane]

3. No. But that is what continues to happen, mostly at the behest of those who make money

from war and dislocation, and those who steal resources.

[City Lights]

4. That was then, this is now. nt

[Progressive dog]

5. Humorous quote selection in the evening.

Trying to understand why a one term President who became a member of the Anti-Masonic party deserves a quote here.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. Perhaps you should read a little more about John Quincy Adams

He was much more than just a "one-term President"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Quincy_Adams

[Progressive dog]

10. He was the son of a one term President

and he made a corrupt bargain to get selected by Congress (according to Andrew Jackson). He accomplished little as President.

[Art_from_Ark]

13. Of course, Jackson was no babe in the woods himself

In fact, he started the corrupt spoils system and trashed J.Q.Adams' policy of trying to deal fairly with American Indians (Trail of Tears, anyone?). He also funneled Treasury money into crony-run "pet banks", many of which collapsed, helping to fuel the Panic of 1837, America's first Great Depression.

I'll take J.Q.Adams' accomplishments as President over those of his successor.

[Spider Jerusalem]

7. Sorry, but...

the USA of John Quincy Adams' time was a very different country; it was not a global power, or a member of NATO, or a permanent member of the UN Security Council, with the obligations those bring. A minor country with a negligible military capability can afford to be isolationist. The world's most powerful country can't. Especially not in the face of what's an evident and ongoing humanitarian crisis; this isn't some sort of unilateral US action, nor is it unprovoked. The civil unrest in Syria has been brutally repressed for some time now. Assad has continued to act with impunity, shielded by Russia. This is the sort of thing the UN was meant to do; not just to foster diplomacy between nations but to act in concert to police rogue states and prevent the sort of thing that happened in Armenia in 1920, or in Europe in the 1930's and '40's...using force, if necessary.

[Seeking Serenity]

8. "...nor is it unprovoked."

What, exactly, has the government of Syria done to the United States? How has the United States been attacked?

[Spider Jerusalem]

9. Use of chemical weapons against civilians is sufficient provocation.

Again, this is the sort of thing the UN's peacekeeping and humanitarian missions are meant for. It doesn't have to be a direct provocation to merit action by the international community. And it's not just the US; it's the UK, and France, and Turkey (so far).

[SammyWinstonJack]

11. America goes abroad in search of monsters to create to destroy in search of profits and power.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

12. The U.S. Was a third rate power with only marginal regional influence when John Q. Adams said that

I believe we were also a country holding slaves, and women did not have the right to vote. Yeah, times change.

[Bonobo]

14. YOu can be strong and not feel it is your job to throw your weight around.

I daresay that if Sweden wanted to bust up some little countries, they could.

They choose not to.

Same kinda thing philosophically.

[BainsBane]

18. Strong enough to admit when you're wrong?

Or is that just something others are supposed to live up to?

[Wolf Frankula]

15. One Of These Days The United States Will Attack a Country

and be handed its ass. You will see the news announcements of ship launched cruise missiles. Then you will see serious looking announcers saying that the nation of X (I do not know who it will be) has fired back and several US Navy ships are feared sunk. You will hear of heavy losses among US aircraft attacking the nation of X. You will hear that American ground forces in the nation of X are surrounded and are surrendering or in full rout. Some other power, perhaps Russia or China will rise in the UN and call for sanctions on the United States.

There is NO such thing as an invincible nation.

Wolf

[SammyWinstonJack]

16. ...

[Wilms]

17. We're already being handed our ass.

Respect for this nation is probably at an all time low. We have thousands of physically and psychologically wounded soldiers and their families. Our economy is as huge a wreck as our infrastructure.

Our planet-wrecking days are numbered.

[bhikkhu]

22. 20 days ago: "US soars in world popularity"

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/08/19934453-us-soars-in-world-popularity-charts-post-iraq-but-will-it-last?lite

...not that winning popularity contests around the world is big on the agenda, or that respect and popularity are the same thing, but its always good to have some basis for broad statements about what people are thinking; its too easy to cobble together error from a few limited or carefully crafted opinion pieces.

[Wilms]

27. Your article barely supports the assertion.

It states:

But that post-Iraq uptick in international American respect already is believed to be eroding and will ultimately decline, yanked lower by a complex Middle Eastern brew: how the U.S. government has reacted to Arab uprisings and the continuing disarray in Syria and Egypt plus the U.S. military’s wildly unpopular use of drone strikes against suspected Muslim militants, foreign policy experts contend.

snip

In short: America appeared enroute to at least re-approaching favorite-child status in the planetary family, but that moment may be slipping away.

snip

"But since he came into office, President Obama’s numbers have slipped a little bit and many countries' ratings for the U.S. are down (again), though they're still more positive than during the final years of the Bush Adminisration in 2007 and 2008," Wike added.

snip

"He also temporarily increased it quite a bit in the broader Islamic world but most of that boost has since dissipated — and that falloff in popularity in the broader Middle East/Islamic world is alas quite striking."

[raouldukelives]

23. We'd have to attack a country that actually had the capability of fighting back.

Hasn't occurred in my lifetime. Bill Hicks summed it up best with his Jack Palance Shane routine.
Hanging out in the saloon all day, insulting poor farmers, kicking guns at their feet and daring them to pick it up.

[liberal_at_heart]

25. very good point.

[bhikkhu]

21. That chapter was closed in 1898

when the US began a decades-long policy of expansion via war. It was popular, the guys who were elected on that platform were popular, and from then to now has been pretty consistent overall. Maybe we try harder to be "the good guys" now, and the financial incentives are both much less, or absent altogether (unless you're an arms manufacturer), but we can't travel back in time and change things or say it didn't happen.

Adams said something in another time, which may have been wise enough, but our country went a different way a long time ago.

[otohara]

26. America Stays Home & Hoards Guns

we shoot each other - someone needs to intervene us and take away our WMD's

Freedumb is US