The rhetoric of the Republican game today is so false, that I trust it will ultimately be irrelevant.

But what struck me was that this kind of game being run at Obama is something the Republicans are taking right out of the Hillary Clinton playbook... which she and hers got from Karl Rove.

Here's the game:
1. Have a surrogate make a statement with obvious defamatory intent with clear links to your target without ever mentioning their name.
2. Watch the target's supporters get enraged.
3. Claim they are a bunch of hotheads, intentionally misreading the statement.
4. Claim they are only upset because they know it's true... even though you never actually said it.
5. Watch the media wet its pants discussing the event that has been denounced as a non-event by both sides.

Why would Bush & Co go there today? I can only come up with two reasons.
1. Because turning the already tender Jewish vote against Obama is the only seismic shift left, combined with crazy over coverage of White People Who Won't Vote For Obama, to try to help Clinton get the nomination.
2. Because Israel is the land of the Jews and where else better to call Obama a Muslim-loving liar?

The reality is, I think the discussion of whether you talk directly to nations you are in a cold conflict with or not is a subject worthy of debate. I happen to land on the Obama side of it and feel that Bush's "let them concede before we converse" policy has been terrible for the nation. But people of good conscience can disagree vigorously on this.

But backdooring someone is not a discussion. It is scummy politics. Same as it ever was… whichever side is doing it.