From drill baby drill to burn baby burn | Michael Tomasky

Interesting, Republicans have been awfully silent on the question. Yesterday at Slate, Fred Kaplan wrote about this. Kaplan writes that there have already been anti-US protests. Since his piece was posted, two GOPers have said bad idea: John Boehner, and Mississippi governor Haley Barbour.

But Kaplan asks:

So where is John McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who brandishes his war-hero credentials at every opportunity and, in the past, has rushed to condemn anyone who dares criticize Gen. Petraeus? Where is the second-ranking Republican, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, who also sits on the Foreign Relations Committee? Where is Saxby Chambliss, who loudly supports big-ticket weapons systems in the name of national security (and the jobs they sustain in his home state of Georgia) but has thus far said nothing to support our troops on this front?

Charlie Crist, the GOP governor of Florida who is running for Senate as an independent, also made remarks yesterday but wasn't exactly a profile in courage:

"I certainly wouldn't advise that," Crist said..."I don't think that's a productive use of time."

"As we know, the First Amendment gives people the right to express themselves, but I think I agree with Gen. Petraeus," the governor said. "He indicated he did not think it would be the right thing to do."

He makes it sound as if he's talking about deciding to repaint the dining room instead of the living room, but at least it's not silence.

And before we applaud Barbour, let's note that after he said holy book burning was unwise, he was asked why so many Americans think Obama is a Muslim and replied:

I don't know why people think what they think. This is a president that we know less about than any other president in history.

That's about as dog-whistley as you can get. I feel like I know plenty about Barack Obama. Unlike, say, Jesus of Nazareth, there is no 18-year hole in his life. Everything's completely accounted for. Barbour knows this.

I expect more Republicans may come out on the burning question between now and Saturday, but Fred is right to highlight McCain. He's certainly one to watch. And here's Judith Miller (yes, that Judith Miller) from the Daily Beast on the history of book burning.