Update:
Should Bobby Jindal be fancying another fatuous foray into far-flung foreign fiefdoms to flaunt his fledgling foreign flair, he will first have to feud with some fastidious fellows in his legislature:
Louisiana legislators clipped Gov. Bobby Jindal’s wings Thursday by inserting wording into the state budget that would require the governor’s office to pay the out-of-state travel expenses of his security detail.
.
Jindal spent almost 45 percent of 2014 outside Louisiana attending political events. He has kept up the pace so far in 2015 and since forming a presidential exploratory committee early this week, is likely to continue his aggressive travel schedule.
.
The amendment would move $2.5 million from Jindal’s office to the State Police, thereby requiring the governor to cut his office budget to offset the loss of that money.
Apparently, “When the governor gets on a plane or stays in a hotel, the state police officers that protect him have to do so as well. In January, state police spent $73,000 on travel just for Jindal’s 10-day trade mission to Europe.”
Original Post:
It looks like Jeb Bush will take part in what has become a traditional GOP pilgrimage abroad around elections time and will visit Europe soon to “bolster his foreign policy credentials ahead of his official announcement.”
CDANews.com calls this trip “a chance for Jeb Bush to distinguish himself on foreign policy”
Of course this three or four-day foreign policy total immersion trip will more than trump the knowledge and experience his potential rival for the presidency amassed in her four years as Secretary of State.
As mentioned, Jeb is not the first GOP candidate to attempt to become an expert in foreign policy, international relations and diplomacy in a single whirlwind visit abroad.
I remember New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s trip to the United Kingdom last year when his attendance of a soccer match, a trip to the theater and especially his “detour into the science and politics of vaccines” certainly burnt burnished his foreign policy credentials.
We all remember Mitt Romney’s trip to the United Kingdom and Israel during his 2012 presidential campaign where he showed his vast diplomatic tact and prowess. While in the U.K. he questioned that country’s preparations for and readiness to host the upcoming Olympic Games and while in Israel Romney suggested, “Cultural differences between Israelis and Palestinians were important factors as to why Israel is so much more economically successful than the Palestinians.”
And how can we forget Bobby Jindal’s January 2015 foray into foreign affairs when he laid out his foreign policy vision by telling the British people and Europeans — to their surprise — that they had “no-go” zones in their cities where “non-assimilationist Muslims establish enclaves and carry out as much of Sharia law as they can without regard for the laws of the democratic countries which provided them a new home,” according to prepared remarks.
I also remember a slew of Republican legislators taking one-day trips to Iraq and Afghanistan and returning as experts not only in Middle East foreign policy, but also in warfare and telling the commander-in-chief and his generals how to run a war — how to have more boots on the ground, how to put more of our men and women into harm’s way, how to bomb-bomb-bomb the hell out of country X and how to stay for one hundred years in country Y.
But hey, if nothing else, such trips have given and will give Republican politicians the patriotic opportunity to bash the president of the United States from foreign soil.
I should not be overly critical, however.
Several years ago, I had a great time in Pattaya Beach, Thailand, and at the same time beefed-up my Asia-Pacific foreign policy credentials.
We visit Cancun, Mexico, often. That should boost my Pan-American foreign policy credentials at least a little bit.
Hanging around a few bars in Copenhagen during my formative years should also count for something. No?
Lead image: www.shutterstock.com
