How Bad Is The GOP? Crazy John McCain’s Now The Voice Of Reason WRT Foreign Policy.

So President Obama goes to Afghanistan on a long-planned trip to put the finishing touches on the US’ withdrawal plans, and what do most Republicans do?

As Tengrain at Dependable Renegade shows, they pout:

“The special operators who have every right to “spike the football” are too professional to do so. The White House might follow their lead.”

—Donald Rumsfeld

And:

“I think what offends people is that instead of recognizing it as a national triumph and having everybody share in it, that the Obama administration has tried to make it look like the president did everything, including fast-roping out of the helicopter and pulling the trigger.”

—John Bolton

Meanwhile, John McCain, astonishingly enough, does what a sensible grown-up would do — he praised Obama for his Afghanistan trip and deal:

“I am pleased that the President has traveled to Afghanistan. This is a significant opportunity for him to hear directly from our military commanders and troops on the ground about the significant progress we are making in this fight.

“It is also important because President Obama and President Karzai will announce the U.S.-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership Agreement, which will define the long-term political, economic, and military commitment between our countries. While I will carefully examine the details of this agreement, I am hopeful that it will send a signal to friends and enemies in the region that the United States is committed to a secure and free Afghanistan.

“I hope the President’s speech tonight will emphasize the degree of our commitment in Afghanistan, rather than the plans for withdrawal. I would urge the President to return from this visit and spend more time speaking directly with the American people about the vital national security interests at stake in Afghanistan and the need for the United States to remain strongly engaged there in the years ahead.”

Now, is it all what I think McCain should have said? No, especially not the last paragraph. Is it designed to push a particular agenda (namely, continuing to stump for an increasingly hated war) that might tie President Obama’s hands were he to follow it? Yup. But McCain, unlike the rest of the GOP, knows that mounting a frontal attack on the foreign policy of the man who did what Bush wouldn’t — get bin Laden — is not exactly a wise move politically. (It’s incredibly crass, for starters.) So instead, he (or whoever wrote this for him) baits the trap with honey and hopes Obama bites on it.

Beyond the Palin

The St. Pete Times, known for being moderate and independent, had this to say (via t/o):

This nation is facing real challenges on the economy, health care, jobs and the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are significant differences between how Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain would address them. …

McCain’s straight talk has become a toxic mix of lies and double-speak. It is leaving a permanent stain on his reputation for integrity, and it is a short-term strategy that eventually will backfire with the very types of independent-thinking voters that were so attracted to him.