Possible McCain Sec. of Defense: Recognizing Israel A Mistake

Via Politico:

A Democratic source, just in time for the Aipac conference sends over two clips from Charlie Rose: The first is McCain saying he thinks Fred Smith, the chief of FedEx, would make a good Secretary of Defense. The second is Smith, in a more recent Charlie Rose interview, sympathizing with George Marshall's opposition -- overruled by Harry Truman -- to recognizing Israel.

"In retrospect, there would be a large body of thought that would have said that Marshall was correct in what would precipitate from that recognition, which is now sixty-some-odd years of war," he says, going on to say that McCain reminds him of Marshall.

McCain has pressed to keep Obama on the defensive on Israel, and the RNC likes to point to Jimmy Carter's hostility to Israeli policy to taint Democrats.

But in fact, pro- and anti-Israel stances are historically bi-partisan, particularly among an older generation of Republicans, and McCain supporter James Baker, for instance, draws some of the same ire as Carter from parts of the Jewish and pro-Israel communities.

Imagine the outcry if Obama's preferred choice for Secretary of Defense said it was a bad idea to recognize the independence of Israel. On the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence, no doubt!

I expect a clarification/retraction from Fred Smith very soon, as well as a distancing from the McCain campaign. But the same Republican smear mongers who can't stop talking about Zbigniew Brzezinski will probably stay deathly silent. As the saying goes, "it's okay if you are a Republican".