Thursday, July 17, 2008
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When a Kitty Cat Flies . . .
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Posted by:
Carol Platt Liebau at
11:48 AM
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There's a lot of discussion about the apparent imbalance in press coverage of Barack Obama and John McCain, what with the networks knocking each other over to accompany Barack to Iraq and Afghanistan.
The complaints are, of course, legitimate when one looks at the facts.
But there's another consideration. It's not news when an eagle flies -- that's what eagles do. So where's the "news" in a candidate like McCain, who's serious about protecting the country and knowledgeable about military affairs, visiting Iraq for the eighth or ninth time?
But just as it's not news when an eagle flies, it is news when a kitty cat does. This is Barack's first trip to Afghanistan -- and only his second to Iraq, where he spent a grand total of two days in January of 2006. His inexperience with foreign affairs is striking, and his much-vaunted "judgment" about the Iraq surge is looking more flawed by the day. It will be interesting to see whether he has the courage to "revise" his opinions when his pre-prepared "plans" for Afghanistan and Iraq collide with facts.
No doubt the nets are going to do everything they can to make him look good in his foreign policy positioning. But it's also worth noting that any gaffe will be commensurately huger, if one happens.
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