McCain and Lieberman call Obama un-American. Will Obama respond?

Red-blooded American males respond, forcefully, when someone accuses them of being un-American. (And hidden within this attack is some subtle racism as well since, you know, Obama's people are dark and from "exotic" dark-skinned places like Hawaii, and some of his ancestors were Muslim, and you know what that means.) It all adds up to someone who won't put their country first. And that kind of person is an un-American traitor.

At some point people need to see that Obama can get angry, that he has an inner "asshole." That he can defend himself. That he can be a man. And considering that this is the third time that McCain has basically called Obama un-American, Obama ought to publicly slam McCain and this theme down, hard, now.

Possible response? "John McCain sure must think a lot of himself to be running around the country judging other people's patriotism." This response feeds a larger issue that's out there about McCain's hero status. It's one thing to be a hero, and another to proclaim it yourself. At some point, a hero's own publicity can go to his head. And at that point you risk, in the voters' minds, ceasing to be considered a hero at all.

So, are we going to play defense for the entire election? No Republican would put up with these kind of attacks (just look what McCain did to Wesley Clark). But Democrats all too often do put up with these attacks. And that's why far too many voters don't think we have what it takes to defend the country. Because we won't even defend ourselves.