John Cornyn Wins BuzzFlash's GOP Hypocrite of the Week Award For Pretending His Party Supports Obama on Afghanistan

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)

BuzzFlash is pleased to announce that we figured out the Republicans' game plan for 2010.

When the public finally wakes up and realizes that Republicans have been saying "no" to every single idea floated by a Democrat since Barack Obama became president, there's no doubt that Americans are going to start asking their conservative representatives, "So, what have you done for me lately?" Well, the Party of No has a tidy answer to that question. They haven't said no to everything. They supported the president where it counts: the morass of Afghanistan.

We don't want to comment on the intelligence of such a plan, as that may inspire them to drop it (because you know all the conservative strategists read BuzzFlash, right?). And we don't know the name of the genius who thought it up. But we can tell you who leaked it: Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

Cornyn told National Public Radio's Don Gonyea this week that even though Republicans were being obstructionists when it came to pretty much each and every domestic issue, none of that matters because the GOP is behind the president when it comes to the controversial decision he made in Afghanistan:

"I dare say there's probably more support for the president's policy in Afghanistan on the Republican side than there is on the Democratic side. But I think it does demonstrate where we agree, that with a policy, that we'll work together with the president," Cornyn said.

Beyond the amusing idea that Cornyn actually thinks this line of reasoning will work, there's another very simple problem with this statement: It simply isn't true. The Republican response to Obama's Afghan plan was filled with more backhanded praise than a sorority rush. Check out Cornyn's statement alone:

It is encouraging that President Obama has finally concluded his re-analysis of his previous Afghanistan strategy and granted the request of his own generals for reinforcements.

Success remains within reach, but the President must deploy these forces expeditiously. He must make winning the War on Terror his top priority, instead of meeting arbitrary political deadlines for withdrawal.

Setting a draw down date before this surge has even begun is a mistake, and it sends a mixed message to both our friends and our enemies regarding our long-term commitment to success.

Geez. If that's a willingness to "work together," no wonder no one can get anything done in Washington.

The fact is, Republicans of every stripe have been slamming Obama on Afghanistan from the very beginning. From Cheney's oft-quoted "dithering" criticism to the notion that Obama's speech wasn't pretty enough, nothing has been good enough for the GOP. They seemingly want Obama to reinstate the draft, calling for more troops to be immediately sent out than we even have available to send.

Perhaps Cornyn was just talking about his home state. Seems Texans sometimes forget there are other states in the Union. However, if we look at this list of reactions to Obama's speech from his fellow Texans, it turns out Cornyn would be wrong again.

In fact, of all the members of the Texas delegation quoted here, the only one who is unabashedly supportive is Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Laredo who said, "We have to put our faith in the commander-in-chief." 

So, though the Republican Party is already trying to rewrite history ahead of the 2010 elections, it's not like we're surprised. After all, if the GOP weren't so ridiculously two-faced, we wouldn't be able to come up with a GOP hypocrite every week!

And we sure appreciate the heads up from Cornyn on how they're planning on looking like the good guys. As a thank you gift, we hope he accepts our GOP Hypocrite of the Week Award. Goodness knows he deserves it!

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

Catch up with you soon.

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This is John Cornyn's third GOP Hypocrite of the Week Award. He also won on Feb. 13, 2009 and April 7, 2005. You can see a list of all previous nominees here.