Yes: President Bush proclaimed that Democrats are interested in appeasing terrorists in the same manner as Hitler, and did so in front of international community.
A great response from Dan Kervick, a commenter on Matt Yglesias's blog:
Man, whatever happened to all of that storied Republican bravado? It's just stupid and weak to assume that if America's leaders and best diplomats engage in a diplomatic round with Iran's leaders and best diplomats, the Iranian side is bound to emerge as the diplomatic victor. What kind of loser attitude is that? It's much more likely that US diplomacy would succeed in diminishing the prestige of Iranian leaders through diplomacy rather than enhancing it.
The Iranians would come into those talks with a mountain of vulnerabilities, not the least of which is that they are currently saddled with a loose-toungued, holocaust-denying, low-class bumpkin for a president, who is viewed around the world as a bit of a buffoon who doesn't know when to stop running his mouth. And their government is viewed with genuine suspicion by both US friends and neutral parties. With the albatross Bush off of the US neck, and Obama in office, the US would be in the diplomatic driver's seat again. Any moderately skilled and well-prepared diplomatic team will be able to turn the slightest Iranian intransigence into major propaganda gains. We should be able to swing a very sweet deal.
So the way I see it, Republicans are diplomacy pussies. They have so internalized the Bush posture of inarticulate, in-over-his-head ineptitude that they have no guts anymore when it comes to playing to win at the diplomatic gaming table. They've been following a dufus-president who couldn't sell a lollipop to a five year old, and they now assume the whole country is characterized by that kind of weakness. Have some confidence men! And if you can't get it up, just move aside and let some serious people take over.
One of the facts about Barack Obama that is not as well known as it should be is that, according to his friends, he is an excellent poker player.
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