Hillary defends Obama in response to Bush

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Ah, so predictable. With Bush in Israel, the Republican Smear Machine was in full swing. As both Capt. Fogg and Carl noted yesterday, the president took a swipe at Obama and the Democrats, and it went like this:

-- Some people want to negotiate with the terrorists.
-- Back in the '30s, appeasers wanted to negotiate with Hitler.
-- Therefore, the people who want to negotiate with the terrorists are like the appeasers who wanted to negotiate with Hitler.
-- Those people are Obama and the Democrats.

No, Bush didn't mention Obama by name, but the message was clear: Obama is an appeaser.

Now, I won't bother to take the time here to rip apart Bush's speech. Capt. Fogg, Carl, and others (like Kevin Drum, Chris Orr, and Barbara O'Brien) have done that already, and done it well. Diplomacy, including talking to one's enemies, is anything but appeasement, which is entirely different, but, in Bush's cowboy-with-high-tech-weapons world, one bombs first and thinks it over later, if one thinks at all. The world may be complex, and may require nuanced engagement, but, for Bush, it is all simple: there good and evil and nothing either between or beyond.

Anyway, it was "a false political attack," as Obama put it in response, if far too mildly, but, on this, I think Hillary's response was even more effective:

President Bush’s comparison of any Democrat to Nazi appeasers is both offensive and outrageous on the face of it, especially in light of his failures in foreign policy. This is the kind of statement that has no place in any presidential address and certainly to use an important moment like the 60th anniversary celebration of Israel to make a political point seems terribly misplaced. Unfortunately, this is what we’ve come to expect from President Bush.

Yes, that's Hillary defending Obama, and doing it well. I hope there's more of that when she's out campaigning for him for the general election, whether she's his running mate or not.