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During the YouTube debate a few weeks ago, Barack Obama said that, yes, he would be willing to meet with the leaders of so-called “rogue nations.”

Well, that got Hillary Clinton jumping up and down, and soon she was joined by other Democratic candidates, then by some pundits, then by some Republican presidential candidates — all jumping up and down, all claiming that Obama was inexperienced, foolish, and naive.

You see, for more than fifty years, through Republican administrations and Democratic administrations, it has been the policy of the United States to turn a diplomatic cold shoulder to North Korea. For nearly fifty years, we have applied the same bi-partisan policy to Fidel Castro’s Cuba. For almost thirty years, we’ve given the same cold shoulder to Iran. (Well, except for selling them weapons during the Reagan Administration and using the profits to undermine the democratically-elected government of Nicaragua.)

How has this policy worked out? Well, Kim Jong Il remains firmly entrenched in North Korea, having recently test fired his first nuclear weapons. Fidel Castro is still in charge in Cuba, threatened more by old age than American disapproval. And Iran is still racing to develop their own nuclear weapons and permanently shift the balance of power in the Middle East.

Who’s foolish? Who’s naive?

In a speech last week, Obama said:

If we have actionable intelligence about high-value terrorist targets, and President Musharraf will not act, we will.

Then, in a radio interview, Obama let it slip that he wouldn’t use nuclear weapons against terrorists hiding among civilians.

Once again, Obama’s critics jumped up and down and said he was inexperienced and foolish and naive. How dare he rule out nuclear weapons? The nukes, and the possibility that we’ll use them on a whim, are why we’re feared around the world. If they’re also part of why we’re hated around the world, well, that’s the price you pay for fifty years and more of highly sophisticated strategic thinking, that’s all.

Republican candidate Mitt Romney said:

I had to laugh at what I saw Barack Obama do. I mean, in one week he went from saying he’s gonna sit down for tea with our enemies, but then he’s gonna bomb our allies. I mean, he’s gone from Jane Fonda to Dr. Strangelove.

That’s tellin’ him, Mitt! That’s the way to play to the base! And we’ll keep reminding the American people that you, an experienced, wise and sophisticated person, will never act against al Qaeda without getting Musharraf’s permission first.

Sorry, Hillary. Sorry, Mitt. Sorry, all you sophisticated candidates and pundits. I’m going with the naive guy. He makes more sense than all the rest of you put together.