McCain Suddenly Loves Iranians, After Promising to Bomb Bomb Bomb, Bomb Bomb Iran: BuzzFlash's GOP Hypocrite of the Week Award

John McCain

Welcome back to the BuzzFlash GOP Hypocrite of the Week.

We know what you're thinking. McCain again? We wanted to give the guy a break, since he won our GOP Hypocrite Award an impressive eight times in 2008 alone. But here at BuzzFlash, we call 'em like we see 'em, and we can't close our eyes to Sen. John McCain's hypocrisy.

McCain has been wasting all his available breath lately arguing that the U.S. needs to be on the "right side of history" on Iran, without taking note of what side he's been on in the long history of U.S.-Iranian relations. After it became clear that the recent presidential elections in Iran were fraudulent, McCain suggested that President Obama be more forceful in his condemnation of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and align the U.S. with the protesters in Tehran.

But anyone with a mere cursory understanding of U.S.-Iranian relations could tell you that is selfish posturing. Ahmadinejad wouldn't waste a minute in using Obama's words against the protesters, labeling the movement as a foreign incursion from the devilish America. As BuzzFlash editor Mark Karlin wrote, Obama is between the Shah and a hard place.

After insisting that "we must be a symbol of hope for the Iranian people" and getting all weepy on the Senate floor about the murdered Iranian protester called Neda, it's understandable that one might forget about McCain's more distant comments about the people of Iran.

Allow us to remind you of a couple of them. He's repeatedly argued that we bomb the nation back to the Stone Age. He's suggested that our exportation of cigarettes to Iran could develop into a useful tool for killing off the population there.

Now McCain wants Iranians to rise up against their oppressors. Maybe he hopes the Iranian government will crack down even harder than they've already done?

Now, we're not the only ones to point out how terrible it would be for the Iranians on the street if Obama did what McCain is calling for him to do.

As Democratic Underground points out, even conservatives in the media have chastised McCain and other Republicans for their disingenuous blustering. Time Magazine's Joe Klein actually told the senior senator from Arizona to "be quiet." Joe Scarborough called McCain's shortsightedness and apparent inability to see the kind of damage U.S. intervention would cause for the Iranian movement "stunning."

We're not sure where McCain got his disdain for the Iranian people. Maybe it was from his buddies in the Iran-Contra affair. Still, we wish he wouldn't pretend to be their best friend and defender just because it makes him look good on Twitter. At least McCain's schizophrenic relationship with Iran is coming from the psych ward we call the Senate floor, and not the Oval Office.

Remember our motto: So many Republican hypocrites, so little time.

Catch up with you soon.

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This is the 12th HOTW Award for John McCain. He also won the award on Nov. 14, 2008, Oct. 3, 2008, Sept. 26, 2008, Sept. 5, 2008, Aug. 15, 2008, Aug. 8, 2008, Feb. 29, 2008, Feb. 22, 2008, Nov. 16, 2007, Nov. 24, 2006, and July 10, 2004.

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