Let's be clear. John McCain's "gaffe" about who runs Iran is no gaffe. He's well aware that the mullahs have the power. He's just, as Blickstein writes, "muddying reality in order to beat the politically expedient drum of fear." Mocking anyone who questions him is just Bush-flavored icing on the cake. (And as we all know, the cake is a lie.)
In the next election, Americans will get to decide if they want a president who will actually pursue polices that lead to greater safety and security for the United States and the world, or if they'd rather stick with somebody who thinks it's more important to "talk tough."
Obama used exactly the right word when he called McCain's foreign policy "naive." That raised hopes that Obama might really champion the policy power blogger Matthew Yglesias identifies as liberal internationalism in his new book, Heads in the Sand: How the Republicans Screw Up Foreign Policy and Foreign Policy Screws Up the Democrats.
I have the book in my to-read pile, and since you probably should to, I'm pleased to announce that Matt has donated a copy as a prize for next week's anti-caption contest. Let's hope nobody blows up the world before then.
