http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-jon-huntsman-foreign-policy-20111010,0,5169344.story

Here is the apparently amiable and rather low key Republican John Huntsman auditioning for the role of Commander in Chief. In a speech at Southern New Hampshire University he calls for a reduction of forces in Afghanistan, as reported in this story in the L.A. Times. But he does not advocate a complete withdrawal of troops but simply a reduction, a quote from the story is relevant:

“Our nation has done its duty. After 6,000 lives lost and more than $1 trillion spent, it is time to bring our brave troops home,” he said, adding later, “We could go from 100,000 boots on the ground to a much smaller footprint in a year, while leaving behind an adequate number of counter-terrorists and intelligence functions and a facile special forces presence. And I believe we should.”

Mr. Huntsman is not a dove, but appears less stridently militaristic than does Romney and arguably President  Obama, yet this telling quote speaks volumes about the political necessity for any candidate  to appear strong in the eyes of the electorate; and to appear to be an exemplar of the hyper-masculine hetero ideal, inherent in the idea of Commander in Chief. To show weakness in this realm is to invite ridicule from one’s peers in the contest and ultimately to risk defeat by that demonstration of weakness.

With this bit of bellicose rhetoric about Iran, a mirror of the Soviet Union as implacable menace in the Cold War, Mr. Huntsman makes concrete in the electorates mind his resolve, his toughness in the face of the intransigent, irrational enemy:

“I cannot live with a nuclear-armed Iran. If you want an example of when I would use American force, it would be that”

Queer Atheist