Sure, Obama might really enjoy invading Pakistan. I for one doubt he cares. It does make him more electable to posture in this way, however, and that's what counts right now. Once in office you "make an effort" and then don't actually do it. Political expediency trumps all.
Pakistan is a nuclear power. The US will not be invading anything of substance there and nothing at all without the wink and nod approval at least of the Pakistani government. This is just tough talk during a dog-and-pony show. Call me when the troops cross into Pakistan en masse and then I'll believe this claptrap.
Now, were this McCain, I wouldn't doubt him for a second.
Sure, Obama might really enjoy invading Pakistan. ... It does make him more electable to posture in this way, however
Sounds like a dangerous bunch of people... When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes
Posturing doesn't bother me. That's just how the game is played. Always has been, always will be, in any country with competitive elections.
What I'd be concerned about, if I were Obama, is the fact that McCain is now changing his positions to match Obama's on a lot of foreign policy issues (Afghanistan, Iran, etc). Given the behavior of the press, that makes Obama vulnerable to charges that he's copying McCain's positions (and the GOP operatives are already spinning it that way), even though it's clearly the other way around.
And if McCain keeps doing that in his effort to appear as Not Bush, Obama can't stick to his positions on these issues. He needs to move left to differentiate himself, so that the press doesn't start pushing the "They agree on everything!" stuff, which McCain would obviously love.
That, of course, could be a good opportunity to shift "the center" in the overall debate, but, as the press seems to have an unquenchable thirst for charging Obama with flip-flopping even where it's completely imaginary, it's not the easiest thing in the world to do smoothly. Conservatives want live babies so they can raise them to be dead soldiers. - George Carlin
