Electile Dysfunction

Is McCain really this thick? Actually, no. But he is congenitally comfortable with macho truculence and he knows that a lot of Americans, and a lot of talkers on talk radio, and not a few reporters and pundits on 24/7 news shows are, too. The language of attack and defend and victory makes for facile sound bites. And sound bites, it seems, are what pass for "substance." How else to explain the oft-repeated charge that Obama has yet to put "meat on the bones" of his proposals for change?

On issues of foreign policy, certainly, the substance is plain to see on the Obama Web site. That includes a major section on "Renewing American Diplomacy" that includes proposals to make resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "a key diplomatic priority" and to expand the foreign service and foreign-aid operations abroad, especially those that play a vital role working alongside the military. Under the diplomacy category, the Obama platform focuses on pushing other members of NATO to share a greater part of the alliance's reconstruction and stabilization operations while giving military commanders more flexibility in the field, which will be vital to the struggle in Afghanistan and possibly to the face-off with Moscow.

On the McCain site there's no reference to NATO at all. But there is a big button on the home page that says "Senator Joe Biden: Get the Facts," which links to a slapped-together page sliming Obama's vice presidential pick, including his "History Plagued by Off Message Moments." The whole thing has a "so's your mother" feel to it.

In fact, the policies inflicted on Americans and on the world these last seven years appear now, sadly, for what they were: testosterone-fueled fantasies. But being in touch with your cojones is not the same as being in touch with reality.

So, is Obama from Venus? No. If, as Bill Clinton suggested, "President Obama will choose diplomacy first and military force as a last resort … [and] when he cannot convert adversaries into partners, he will stand up to them," that's just down to earth. And that's what's needed in the real world where policies are made that affect the real lives of millions of men and women alike.

© 2008