May the Bluster Be With You

On Don Imus this morning, Tim Russert briefly discussed his upcoming interview this Sunday with Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona. Imus asked Russert to quiz McCain about his apparent outrage over John Kerry's flubbed joke regarding war and homework and the President. From the unlimited pile of smooth pundits analyzing Kerry's gaffe, Imus was the only individual, to my mind, that called the GOP outrage what it was: disingenuous. I will be watching Meet the Press to see if Russert actually follows through and forces McCain to defend his comments against Kerry. At the time of the gaffe, McCain held the GOP line, calling Kerry's comments "an insult to every soldier serving in combat."

"Senator Kerry owes an apology to the many thousands of Americans serving in Iraq, who answered their country's call because they are patriots and not because of any deficiencies in their education," McCain wrote in a released statement.

False outrage is a core element of the modern Republican Party's political recipe, and I suppose we cannot expect anything different from an aging statesman so frenzied to lead the nation that he'll say anything. Even if that "anything" is self-evident subterfuge.