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Henry Kissinger Digs Cain’s ‘Brilliant’ 'Smoking' Video
National Review ^ | 11/04/2011 | Robert Costa

Posted on 11/04/2011 9:53:13 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

Herman Cain huddled with Henry Kissinger in New York on Thursday, discussing foreign policy with the elder statesman. According to Mark Block, Cain’s chief of staff, the former secretary of state also commented on Cain’s notorious campaign video, which shows Block smoking.

“Halfway through Mr. Cain’s conversation, Doctor Kissinger turns and points to me and says, ‘That smoking thing you did was brilliant.’ I sat there thinking, Dr. Henry Kissinger just said something I did was brilliant,” Block says. “We all got a good chuckle.”

Block adds that Kissinger was impressed by Cain’s questions. “He told him that he meets with any candidate who wants to get his views. But he told Mr. Cain that most come in and ask about what they should say on the Sunday shows. Mr. Cain, he pointed out, asked what he should do when he is president — a different kind of approach for this kind of meeting.”

The meeting, which lasted over an hour, covered a variety of topics, Block says. China, the Middle East, Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan, among other hot spots, featured in the conversation.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2012; cain; frontrunner; henrykissinger; hermanator; hermancain; kissinger; politicalad; politicostillsucks; pornlitico; primaries; smoking
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To: PieterCasparzen

I agree...


41 posted on 11/04/2011 4:39:28 PM PDT by DenCos
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To: SeekAndFind
You know Kissinger was not a fan of Reagan's foreign policy, nor did the real conservatives of his day like him all that much.
42 posted on 11/04/2011 5:09:37 PM PDT by Tribune7 (If you demand perfection you will wind up with leftist Democrats)
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To: muawiyah
That was a handrolled cigarette. Mr. Block is a rugged dude.

Considering how he handled the NRA allegations, he may not be handrolling his smokes to save money.

43 posted on 11/04/2011 5:12:42 PM PDT by Tribune7 (If you demand perfection you will wind up with leftist Democrats)
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To: cuban leaf

“...the bet between Cain and Brock...”
-
What bet?


44 posted on 11/04/2011 5:13:53 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th
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To: Genoa

Cain is a communicator and a leader at a level we haven’t seen in a long time.


45 posted on 11/04/2011 5:41:21 PM PDT by GotMojo
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To: emax

And Herman Cain gave a speech a couple of weeks ago in Detroit. You would think that caught Maxine’s eye, after she scolded 0bama for not going to the inner cities. But nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. At least,not yet.


46 posted on 11/04/2011 5:43:55 PM PDT by SueRae (I can see November 2012 from my HOUSE!!!!!!!!)
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To: DainBramage

Cain is one of them. How do you think he came out of nowhere.


47 posted on 11/04/2011 6:10:25 PM PDT by Carry me back
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To: 3catsanadog

I tell all my candidates that I run campaigns for that no one can know everything about every issue. I make them seek out experts on every issue imaginable and just sit and talk before they take any policy position. Even if they ultimately don’t agree, you can glean a great deal about a particular process just by listening to someone who’s been there. It’s the smartest move a candidate can make.


48 posted on 11/04/2011 7:48:21 PM PDT by Free Vulcan (Vote Republican! You can vote Democrat when you're dead.)
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To: SeekAndFind

That smoking video is going to go down as one of the best campaign commercials of all time. What seemed “weird” at first, is sheer marketing genius. That drag on the cigarette screams “adults are ready to take over”; followed by Cain’s profile grin...

Awesome.


49 posted on 11/04/2011 7:54:58 PM PDT by Rutles4Ever (Ubi Petrus, ibi ecclesia, et ubi ecclesia vita eterna!)
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To: Rutles4Ever

$50 to Herman Cain.


50 posted on 11/04/2011 7:56:50 PM PDT by o2bfree
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To: 3catsanadog
Cain seems to be following in Henry Ford's steps.

Apparently Ford had been a witness or something at some trial - probably a civil suit or something. Anyways the opposing attorney was insinuating that Ford didn't know everything, to which Ford replied that no, he didn't know everything. What he did know is that to find an answer, he would find men who did know the answer to a problem or question.

That was 1919, when Ford sued the Chicago Tribune for libel, asking $1m in damages.

In 1919, two industrial giants, Henry Ford and Colonel McCormick of the Chicago Tribune, met in a dramatic libel case when the paper had called Ford an “ignorant idealist.” The automaker was okay with being called an idealist, but he had a problem with the assertion he was ignorant due to his lack of schooling.

The attorneys for the paper pleaded justification, and placed Ford on the witness stand, for the purpose of proving to the jury that he was ignorant. Ford was plied with such questions as the following: “Who was Benedict Arnold?” and “How many soldiers did the British sent over to America to put down the Rebellion of 1776?” In answer to the last question, Ford replied, “I do not know the exact number of soldiers the British sent over, but I have heard that it was a considerably larger number than ever went back.”

In reply to another particularly offensive question, he leaned over, pointed his finger at the lawyer who had asked the question and said, “If I should really want to answer the foolish question you have just asked, or any of the other questions you have been asking me, let me remind you that I have a row of electric push-buttons on my desk, and by pushing the right button, I can summon to my aid men who can answer any question I desire to ask. Why should I clutter up my mind with general knowledge for the purpose of being able to answer questions, when I have men around me who can supply any knowledge I require?”
[Source]

The jury, which consisted of eleven farmers and one road inspector, found in favor of Ford and awarded him six cents.

51 posted on 11/04/2011 8:33:30 PM PDT by cynwoody
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To: muawiyah

Good for you, glad you got your vision back!


52 posted on 11/04/2011 8:52:36 PM PDT by EDINVA (We Can't Wait, either)
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To: SeekAndFind

This was the funniest political news I’ve seen in a while. Kissinger must have developed a weird sense of humor when I wasn’t looking, because Cain—along with the rest of the Republican presidential field other than Romney—are worlds apart from his and Richard Nixon’s intensely cerebral and cautious, though at the same time hard-edged, moderate Republicanism.

It’s not that Nixon and Kissinger would’ve liked Mitt Romney; indeed, Nixon had the deepest disdain for Mitt’s similarly lightweight father, George Romney, governor of Michigan and a Republican presidential rival back in the day. But Nixon and Kissinger in his heart of hearts, cautious by nature, would settle on Mitt in this field, viewing all the others as loonies.

And that’s what convinces me that Kissinger is just having some fun here, even though he and Nixon never had much of a fun side.


53 posted on 11/04/2011 10:23:10 PM PDT by eater-of-toast ("It is much more important to kill bad bills than to pass good ones." --Calvin Coolidge)
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To: Drango
"Driving a wedge between the libertarian wing of the GOP versus the cultural conservatives seems to be a poor choice."

As a cigar smoker, I would like to believe most cultural conservatives are not anti-smoking nazis. I'm pretty sure that sort of nanny ninny tends to inhabit the left end of the political spectrum.

I sure hope so.

Hank

54 posted on 11/04/2011 10:49:17 PM PDT by County Agent Hank Kimball (Screw it. Newt's the smartest candidate and the guy I want to see debating Obummer. Flame away.)
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To: SamAdams76
Sounds like this man is not just running for president, he’s planning to be president.

That, in and of itself, separates him from the rest, as HK noted. I'm no fan of Kissinger, by any stretch of the imagination, but he pegged it right. Mr. Cain was asking the *right* questions, and I hope he got some worthwhile answers...

the infowarrior

55 posted on 11/04/2011 11:10:45 PM PDT by infowarrior
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To: County Agent Hank Kimball

Thought Block ‘blowing smoke’ (in their faces); was appropos. A kind of make them run; or make them crazy move. And his Lefty critics did just that, of course. Only wish Cain had been ready to defend himself. (If he did; I missed it. Rather; it appeared to me; he kind of just ‘folded’ on it.)


56 posted on 11/04/2011 11:13:56 PM PDT by cricket (Stop the madness. . .restore America. Vote the KING out!)
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To: Tribune7
You know Kissinger was not a fan of Reagan's foreign policy, nor did the real conservatives of his day like him all that much.

Some of us *still* don't like him all that much, and by all accounts, never will...

the infowarrior

57 posted on 11/04/2011 11:15:53 PM PDT by infowarrior
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To: muawiyah

Let him talk with all of these lightweights first.


58 posted on 11/05/2011 5:15:56 AM PDT by ConservativeMind ("Humane" = "Don't pen up pets or eat meat, but allow infanticide, abortion, and euthanasia.")
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To: muawiyah

Honestly, from your well written posts, one could not realize you had any difficulty reading or posting at all.

You always offer great insights. I hope your functionality continues to improve.


59 posted on 11/05/2011 5:41:18 AM PDT by ConservativeMind ("Humane" = "Don't pen up pets or eat meat, but allow infanticide, abortion, and euthanasia.")
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To: ConservativeMind

Thankyou. It’s years of experience writing federal regulations and handbooks, and then writing rulings. It’s called “the crutch of experience”.


60 posted on 11/05/2011 5:53:56 AM PDT by muawiyah
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