IS THIS PETTY, OR JUST GOOD POLICY?

On the evening before Barack Obama traveled to the Middle East Sec. of State Condoleeza Rice issued a memo instructing U.S. overseas missions to provide only "minimal support" to foreign visits made by presidential candidates. "It is imperative that, in implementing these various requirements, we treat both major presidential candidates evenhandedly," said Rice, in her cable.

What a joke.

Senator McCain has traveled to Europe, the Middle East, and Colombia over the past months, yet the State Department did not issue any special instructions. The rationale? McCain was leading an official congressional delegation. Huh?

Apparently when you're traveling with Senators Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and Jack Reed (D-RI) you're only doing tourism stuff. Here's a quote from their joint statement of their trip.

We're talking to our military and diplomatic leadership, and to the leaders of Afghanistan, about whether we have the right strategy and the right resources to defeat the Taliban and al Qaeda, and to support lasting stability. Our message to the Afghan government is this: we want a strong partnership based on "more for more" - more resources from the United States and NATO, and more action from the Afghan government to improve the lives of the Afghan people.

This sounds pretty official to me. In fact, Chuck Hagel's website makes it clear that it was an official visit.

Rice's timing and her failure to issue anything like this when McCain was overseas demonstrates, once again, how petty and political this adminstration can be.

- Mark