With Friends Like These

Mitt Romney has made a bigger gaffe than talking about the women in binders (although that has more comedic potential, including here and here)*: making it appear that Tommy Franks will be a key adviser.  There has already been too much association between Romney and the foreign policy advisers of the Bush Administration that brought us the Iraq War.  And now, the architect? Oops, calling Franks an architect is like calling the guy who bungles his do-it-yourself home renovation project an architect.  You see, an architect has ... plans.  Not just to erect something but for that building to actually endure.  Franks and his no Phase IV plan?  Well, he didn't co-earn with Doug Feith the label of being the dumbest MF in DC for nothing.

So, Romney, who was just starting to pivot to the middle, grabs a hold of a general (and others, including Condi Rice) who signifies nothing but a move back to the neo-con that has brought us so much misery.  There are so many generals willing to endorse Romney (hey, more defense dollars is good, right, even if it undermines the foundation of American national security--the economy?), but Mitt chose to stand next to the one for which the policy analysts have the most contempt. 

Sure, it will not get the same kind of attention as the women in binders or the single moms who are the cause of gun violence (not matter that the summer's spree shooters came from two parent families).  But for those who pay attention to the national security side of things, well, yuck.

*  The bright side of the 21st century: instant snark.  This tumblr and other stuff appeared even before the debate ended.