I'm still trying to figure out who died and made Joe "Anonymous" Klein Time magazine's foreign policy expert-in-residence. The sometime presidential primary fiction writer apparently thinks John McCain's statement on the Bush administration's nuclear deal with North Korea is too "grudging":
...Congratulations to George W. Bush for finally making the correct choice--diplomatic engagement, regional talks that enabled quiet unofficial contacts with the North Koreans, which then led to direct negotiations--in resolving this dispute. Wonder what John Bolton is thinking this morning?
Update: John McCain has just released this statement, which is a bit too grudging for my taste, but does raise the appropriate questions going forward
So let's see: Klein praises Bush but takes a mild swipe at Sen. McCain for having the gall to suggest that North Korea might not live up to its word, which it clearly has a history of doing.
In other words, on one key issue where the Bush administration seems to fall to the left of McCain -- and certainly to the left of critics who argue the administration has gone soft on Kim Jong-il -- the otherwise harsh critic of the Bush administration has kind words for Bush while aiming to make McCain sound, well, a tad crotchety.
It makes one wonder if Klein is more concerned with pretense over substance in foreign policy. Nah, that's crazy talk!
