Obama's ineptness revives Republican hawks

If nothing else, President Obama’s inept and incoherent foreign policy is helping to reestablish the GOP as the party of hawks. We saw it yesterday in the vote led by Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) against the ill-advised attempt by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to restrict intelligence-gathering in wartime. …

In short, it is impossible to be taken seriously on national security as a Republican these days without renouncing chapter and verse the folly of the administration and reiterating the dangers of phony red lines, an insufficient strategy against the Islamic State and the inanity of the defense sequester cuts. Watching Panetta, Gates, Hadley and McCain, one could see a seasoned group of advisers whom any conservative seeking the presidency should consult and perhaps re-employ in national security posts. But if you have run around echoing Obama on “no boots on the ground,” the war-weariness of America, erasure of Syria’s red line and paranoid rationales for curtailing vital intelligence-gathering and defense spending, you should beware. The most informed, numerous and influential members of the party will eviscerate your presidential aspirations. And they should. Enough is enough. The country cannot endure another president this bad — or worse — when it comes to keeping us safe and secure.