Cliff Clavin Cain

So I saw Cain on the Fox Special Report show yesterday.  I’m going to ignore all the stuff about sexual harassment because I don’t know what is true and I figure it will shake out in the next couple of weeks (or even faster.)  I’m more interested in some of Cain’s other answers.  His answer on what he would do if he learned that Iran was planning a terrorist attack was a deeply confused mess.  First he said that, in event of learning of a planned terrorist attack, he would station Aegis cruisers near Iran.  Cain was informed that Aegis cruisers were a defensive anti ballistic missile system (I don’t think that is true by the way - the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System is designed to stop incoming missiles but the cruisers can fire other kinds of missiles), and was asked how that was supposed to deter a terrorist attack.  Cain said it wasn’t designed to deter an terrorist attack, but it would show Iran that we are serious about stopping Iranian missile strikes.  He then admitted that he didn’t think Iran had the capability to launch missile strikes against the US.  So there you have it.  If he learns that Iran is going to launch a terrorist attack, he going to deploy a system that won’t deter Iran from using a a capability they don’t have and that will do nothing to address the problem at hand.  When asked if Iran’s harboring of al-Qaeda leaders was an act of war, Cain said yes.  When asked what he would do about it, he said he would work on an energy independence plan.  No, I’m not making this up.     

Actually Cain would probably be better off spending the next few weeks talking about sexual harassment than explaining how a combination of a 9% sales tax, a 9% VAT and a 9% flat tax with only charitable deductions would hit the middle class.  I know Cain is leading the polls but it won’t last.  That he has made it so far after displaying so much policy incompetence is dispiriting.