http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/…
Carpetbagger

John McCain has an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal today, and the very first sentence reads, “For anyone who thought that stark international aggression was a thing of the past, the last week must have come as a startling wake-up call.”

I can appreciate how awkward it must be for guys like McCain to claim the moral high ground after being a cheerleader for the war in Iraq, but embracing a neoconservative worldview and denouncing “stark international aggression” at the same time ends up sounding pretty foolish.

And yet, it’s apparently become a standard talking point.

“In the 21st century,” McCain said, “nations don’t invade other nations.” Seriously. That’s what he said.

Sam Stein responded, “It was the type of foreign policy rhetorical blunder that has regularly plagued the McCain campaign and could have diplomatic ripples as well. Certainly the comment was meant in innocence. But for those predisposed to the notion that the U.S. is an increasingly arrogant international actor, the suggestion by a presidential candidate that, in this day and age, countries don’t invade one another — when the U.S. is occupying two foreign nations — does little to alleviate that negative perception.”

Or, put another way, invasions for me, but not for thee.

I’d add, by the way, that this isn’t just a problem for McCain — the Bush administration has struggled with this as well, as “The Daily Show” helped highlight the other day.

Zalmay Khalilzad, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, publicly stated, “The days of overthrowing leaders by military means in Europe — those days are gone.”

“It’s amazing,” Jon Stewart said, “how adding the phrase ‘in Europe’ makes our actions more palatable. Even fun. It’s the geo-political equivalent of the fortune cookies’ ‘in bed.’”