The Right's New Meme

Most of the GOP leadership is playing it mum or playing it vicious on the Libya madness. Surprise! Obama cannot win because his un-Bush style of intervention is so ... liberal. Palin is the most vacuous, of course. Her criticism is entirely of style, not substance: there would be more "decisiveness" under a Queen Esther. What does that mean? If it were anyone serious, it might be worth inquiring. Gingrich returns to the 1990s:

“Iran and North Korea are vastly bigger threats. [Zimbabwe dictator Robert] Mugabe has killed more people, the Sudanese dictatorship has killed more people, there are a lot of bad dictators doing bad things.”

But now, Obama will also feel the force of the neocons, having tasted a smidgen of blood. They will now push for regime change and claim it as vindication for their vision of a world dominated by virtuous American arms. And sure enough, across the the horizon, the sound of little feet running towards us. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, here comes Max Boot:

The only way this crisis will endthe only way we and our allies can achieve our objectives in Libyais to remove Qaddafi from power. Containment won’t suffice. We must make “rollback” the international strategy.

Such a goal is not compelled, but is permitted, under U.N. Security Council resolution 1973. That resolution “stresses the need to intensify efforts to find a solution to the crisis which responds to the legitimate demands of the Libyan people” and which leads to “a peaceful and sustainable solution.” The Obama administration should argue that the only “peaceful and sustainable solution” would be for Qaddafi to abdicate power ... Now we need to muster the will and the resources to oust the dictator.

Hugh Hewitt wants the full Rummy:

Hope that Secretaries Clinton and Gates persuaded the force-averse president that winning with special forces on the ground is preferable to a stalemate enforced from the skies.

I swear I remain in disbelief that we are where we are. President Obama - calm, judicious, even-tempered president Obama - jumped into this lose-lose mess in one Tuesday meeting. And the most significant gain - avoiding a massacre in Benghazi - has already been achieved.

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