We started tracking yesterday the emerging meme that Obama’s restructuring of the defense budget amounts to being weak on defense. It’s an important early framing of the debate, driven by Republicans, and all too often adopted by media who should know better.
The meme is in full bloom this morning, with a chorus of Republicans equating the elimination of wasteful and obsolete weapons programs with being dovish — even as the money is reallocated to other defense priorities and the total defense budget increases.
But I don’t think anyone has gone quite as far as Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK):
While President Obama’s short changing of America’s Armed Forces is deeply disappointing, it is – unfortunately – not a surprise. Throughout his campaign and during his short tenure as President, he has made it clear that he believes his charm and eloquence are adequate substitutes for a strong military. That will not work. Whether President Obama knows it or not, President Bush’s foreign enemies were also America’s enemies. He cannot charm them out of their opposition to our country. The cuts announced today, however, take that naivete to a dangerous new level. I intend to do everything I can to make sure they do not actually occur.
Cole perfectly captures the strident, reactionary, and ultimately stale and unoriginal talking points coming from the GOP. We’ve been hearing this for so long, it’s almost a caricature of the right wing, still reading Tom Clancy and fighting the Soviets.
