Palin: Nukes are best way to contain Putin

Agencies/WashingtonSarah Palin offered unsolicited advice Saturday to President Barack Obama on containing Russian aggression, saying “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke”.The Republican former vice presidential candidate used a predominantly crass tone throughout her appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). But she hit home by attacking what she called a feckless Obama foreign policy that she said has helped embolden Russian President Vladimir Putin. Failing to show peace through strength has allowed some “very, very, very bad dudes (to) gain ground”, said Palin, who remains a darling of the far-right. Obama “would gut our arsenal while he allows others—enemies—to enrich theirs, she said. “Mr President, the only thing that stops a bad guy with a nuke is a good guy with a nuke.” The comments follow Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine last month, action which sent tensions soaring and US-Russia relations to perhaps their lowest point since the end of the Cold War. The remark may have sounded flippant, but it was red meat to conservatives mindful of similar language used by the head of the National Rifle Association, America’s largest gun lobby. In the aftermath of a December 2012 mass shooting in Connecticut, NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre poured fuel on the gun control debate by saying that “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun”.Palin was the closing act in the three-day CPAC gathering that had just given Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky a solid win – for the second year in a row – in its presidential straw poll.The Affordable Care Act, NSA spying, Ukraine, and a measure of disdain for establishment Republicans in Congress were just some of her topics.“No, you can’t log onto the website,” Palin said, referencing the disastrous rollout of Obamacare. “No you can’t keep your healthcare. No, you can’t make a phone call without Michelle Obama knowing this is the third time this week you dialed Pizza Hut delivery.”She praised tea party favorites in the US Senate – Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, who’ve been burrs under the saddles of GOP leaders – saying, “It’s time we sent them reinforcements.”There’s no doubt that Palin has been a political phenomenon these past five years.She came from political obscurity as governor of a state with a population the size of Fresno, California. Was picked by Senator John McCain – in what seemed to be a Hail Mary pass (or act of desperation) – to be the first woman on a Republican presidential ticket.Quit her job as governor of Alaska to become a Fox News commentator and (briefly) the star of her own reality TV show.Above all, she has been the main face and voice of the tea party insurgency, much in demand as a speaker whose aim is to rouse the movement – largely by hammering President Obama and the “lamestream” media.She has her own political action committee (“SarahPac”) raising money for conservative candidates, and supporters created a “Sarah Palin for President 2016” Facebook page. Chants of “Run, Sarah, Run!” punctuated her CPAC speech. Her Twitter account has more than 1mn followers, and her Facebook page has more than 4mn “likes”.As usual, Palin is coy about her own plans. Asked by Fox News host Greta Van Susteren if it’s “still within a possibility” that she might make a presidential run in 2016, Palin said: “It depends on what it is that Americans really, really want in a candidate. If they want a fighter, if they want someone who can so respect our exceptionalism, everything that makes America great, the promise of America. And if we don’t find that, then I would run.”AARP – one of Washington’s venerable lobbying groups – recently noted that Palin had turned 50, making her eligible for membership.