The foreign policy ideas Bernie Sanders misses with his 1-note trumpet

First, whether Bernie Sanders likes it or not, presidents have to make foreign policy decisions. They're often unanticipated issues, which underlines even more needing to have some articulated policy stances.

Second, at the same time, because of the evolution of the American presidency and other things, foreign policy has less Congressional oversight, for better and for worse both.

Third, a number of foreign policy issues offer opportunities to play, in part, your same 1-note trumpet for foreign as well as domestic issues.

Take the Trans Pacific Partnership, the latest attempt to foist "free" trade on the US, and perhaps increase income inequality not just domestically but internationally.

"Income inequality," Bernie. There's your 1-note trumpet. But, not just domestic income inequality.

Related? Rights to unionization, again, not just domestically but internationally.

Related to this is the modern neoliberal version of Coca-Colonialism.

Hypercapitalism, Clinton Foundation style, and neoliberalism, Obama Administration style, have teamed up in foreign policy to apparently continue to foist corrupt government on Haiti. That's even as, to the degree the government isn't corrupt, many services in Haiti are actually delivered by NGOs (many of them neoliberal or corporatist ones), not the government itself.

There's the Honduras coup, backed by both President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

There's the attempt to privatize things like water supplies in much of Latin America. There's the exploitation of workers by oil companies, and the fouling of the environment, in both Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa.

See, there's plenty of foreign policy issues that have an economic angle and that also allow you to avoid the "War on Terror." That's not to mention all of her problems that ARE part of the "War on Terror."

Which is good for you, because that's kind of a problem. itself.

You're a warhawk, lusting after the F-35 and other military-industrial complex items, a drones-light guy on using drones like Obama, only with "more review," and probably a harder-core Zionist than many know.

Really, though, you don't need to avoid this as much as you need to reformulate your thoughts on the Middle East.

There's our drones in Yemen making us a proxy for the Saudis. There's, erm, Palestine, if you'd be less of a Middle East warhawk, less of a Zionist, and actually dare to touch the third rail of foreign policy. There's plenty of foreign policy issues where you could break outside the current Democratic mold, if only you'd actually say something. Like, where do you stand on Boycott, Divest, Sanctions? It seems, from his past history on Israel issues, Sanders would oppose — but his own brother is a supporter.

So, do it.

Make it so.

Yeah, right. Per that "Sanders would oppose" link, we're reminded that Bernie lived on a kibbutz and probably has a romanticized view of the foundation of the state of Israel.