John McCain, Hamas and Hypocrisy

It's sad to say that this can't even be called "stunning hypocrisy," because hypocrisy has become par for the course for John McCain.

From last month, McCain's reaction to former President Carter's plan to meet with Hamas:

It is a grave and dangerous mistake for an American leader to meet with a terrorist organization like Hamas...The very idea that a former President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief would meet with a terrorist organization demands a clear stance from all presidential candidates. Refusing to take a stand, as Senator Obama has done, is not the strong leadership we need today. If Senator Obama is not decisive enough to condemn former President Carter, how can he be strong enough to deal with the threat they pose to America and to our allies?

...and during a conference call with conservative bloggers:

I think that the people should understand that I will be Hamas’s worst nightmare.

I think it is very clear who Hamas wants to be the next president of the United States. If Senator Obama is favored by Hamas, I think people can make judgments accordingly.

But two years ago, during an interview with James Rubin, was this exchange:

Q:  Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?"

MCCAIN:  They're the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it's a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.

It seems that McCain has shelved that "new reality" on dealing with Hamas in the interest of furthering a chosen line of attack against Barack Obama.   Unprincipled and hypocritical, and of course, completely in line with his goal of carrying out George Bush's third term.  And in fact, following Bush's attack yesterday on Obama as an "appeaser," McCain took the opportunity to expand on Bush's remarks:

And the belief that somehow communications and positions and willingness to sit down and have serious negotiations need to be done in a face to face fashion as Senator Obama wants to do, which then enhances the prestige of a nation that's a sponsor of terrorists and is directly responsible for the deaths of brave young Americans, I think is an unacceptable position, and shows that Senator Obama does not have the knowledge, the experience, the background to make the kind of judgments that are necessary to preserve this nation's security.

When John McCain said that he was "fine" with staying in Iraq for 100 years, he proved that he doesn't have the judgement to be the Commander in Chief, and with his hypocritical attacks on Barack Obama over Hamas, he proves that he doesn't have the character either.