Posted by Jed Lewison on Fri May 16, 2008 at 2:03 AM Pacific

John McCain Flip-Flopped on Hamas to Smear Barack Obama

Shortly after Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections two years ago, John McCain told a British news program that the U.S. should recognize Hamas as a legitimate governing authority:

McCain in Davos, 2006

They're the government and sooner or later we're going to have to deal with them. ... It's a new reality in the Middle East and I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, then they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.

Today, barely two years after embracing an open attitude towards Hamas, John McCain says that he will be their "worst nightmare." McCain's reversal would have been stunning on its own, but the reason for his hypocrisy is truly appalling: McCain flip-flopped on Hamas to smear Barack Obama.

McCain made his comments in Davos, Switzerland during an interview conducted by James Rubin for Sky News TV. Rubin, who wrote an op-ed about the interview in today's Washington Post, is a Clinton supporter, and deserves all the credit in the world for stepping up when he didn't have to. His article offered a full and unambiguous defense of Barack Obama, and more importantly, I suspect he had something to do with the Huffington Post getting its hands on the video from Sky News TV.

John McCain Flip-Flopped on Hamas to Smear Barack Obama

Shortly after Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections two years ago, John McCain told a British news program that the U.S. should recognize Hamas as a legitimate governing authority:

McCain in Davos, 2006

They're the government and sooner or later we're going to have to deal with them. ... It's a new reality in the Middle East and I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, then they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.

Today, barely two years after embracing an open attitude towards Hamas, John McCain says that he will be their "worst nightmare." McCain's reversal would have been stunning on its own, but the reason for his hypocrisy is truly appalling: McCain flip-flopped on Hamas to smear Barack Obama.

McCain made his comments in Davos, Switzerland during an interview conducted by James Rubin for Sky News TV. Rubin, who wrote an op-ed about the interview in today's Washington Post, is a Clinton supporter, and deserves all the credit in the world for stepping up when he didn't have to. His article offered a full and unambiguous defense of Barack Obama, and more importantly, I suspect he had something to do with the Huffington Post getting its hands on the video from Sky News TV.

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