Heard the P-word on the campaign trail lately?

And you thought the word of the day, month, year was "change," didn't ya? Nah, it's Pakistan, as I write about in my Los Angeles Daily News column today:

"...While Iowa voters were heading to the caucuses Thursday, I sat down with Pakistani Consul General Syed Ibne Abbas at the Los Angeles consulate where, among other things, we discussed the role of Bhutto and Pakistan in Campaign 2008.

'On one hand, I know that the people here, the candidates or the public at large, are very sympathetic to our country, to our people, to the slain leader, because she was respected, she was held in a very high esteem,' Abbas said.

'At the same time, these kind of things, take my word, are very, very unhelpful. Let me underline by saying very, very unhelpful. Because when you make us, as in your words, sort of a football and you are trying to play around with us, that does not help. That does not help in any way. I won't elaborate, but it amounts to adding fuel to the fire.'

It can be difficult to understand the political intricacies that go back to the Soviet defeat and unchecked rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan, and it's unclear how many of the sound-bite-hungry candidates are making a concerted effort to understand..."

Read the whole thing!

Comments

[Reaps]

Holy crap, they know who Tancredo is?

Hilarious.

[Bridget]

Not only do they know who Tancredo is, but they wish him "dath"! That's some serious voodoo.