Out of the mouths of babes...

...(and Republican National Committee chairmen), oft times come gems. Or, as Michael Kinsley once famously put it, "A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth." And that's what has both Democrats and Republicans uncomfortable. Because Michael Steele slipped up and told the truth.

What exactly did Steele (above) say that has everyone's undies in a bunch?

[The war in Afghanistan] was a war of Obama's choosing. This is not something the United States has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.

It was the president who was trying to be too cute by half by flipping a script demonizing Iraq, while saying the battle really should be Afghanistan. Well, if he’s such a student of history, has he not understood that that’s the one thing you don’t do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan, because everyone who's tried over a thousand years of history has failed?

Let's take those one at at time.

[The war in Afghanistan] was a war of Obama's choosing.

Strictly speaking, the war in Afghanistan was launched by President Bush after 9/11. The goal was to capture Osama bin Laden, "dead or alive." A secondary goal was to oust the Taliban. When Bush left office in January, 2009, bin Laden was still at large (in Pakistan, presumably) and U. S. forces were still fighting a resurgent Taliban.

After about nine months or so of cleaning up after Bush's other messes, President Obama turned his attention to the war in Afghanistan. And after a very public review, the president decided to continue the strategy of his predecessor. At that point, the war became a war of Obama's choosing. The president could have said something like, "After careful review, I've decided that the best course of action in Afghanistan is to wind down the conflict and begin withdrawing the troops." But, like Guantanamo, rendition and other objectionable practices of the previous administration, Obama decided to continue the war. That was his choice.

This is not something the United States has actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.

Is there any doubt that the war in Afghanistan has been conducted in a half-hearted manner? It's never been properly resourced, in troops or otherwise. And while the war was initially popular back in 2001, by last December only 32 percent of Americans favored increasing U.S. troops in Afghanistan. So again, Steele is right.

It was the president who was trying to be too cute by half by flipping a script demonizing Iraq, while saying the battle really should be Afghanistan.

Again, Steele is telling the truth. One of Obama's rationales for running (and winning) the Democratic nomination in 2008 was his opposition to the war in Iraq. But to prove he wasn't just another hopeless Democratic peacenik, like George McGovern or Howard Dean, candidate Obama spoke approvingly of the conflict in Afghanistan. The war in Iraq? Bad. The war in Afghanistan? Good. Convenient? Or too cute by half?

Well, if he's such a student of history, has he not understood that the one thing you don't do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan, because everyone who's tried over a thousand years of history has failed?

I'll let you look that one up yourself.

No, the problem with Michael Steele's "gaffe" is that he told the truth, and it has everyone in both parties squirming as a result. Well, almost everyone:

Representative Ron Paul of Texas, a former Republican presidential candidate and a leading figure among Tea Party activists, congratulated Mr. Steele on his remarks. In a statement on Sunday, he called Afghanistan “Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama’s war.”

“The American people are sick and tired of spending hundreds of billions of dollars a year, draining our economy and straining our military,” Mr. Paul said. “Michael Steele has it right, and Republicans should stick by him.”

Michael Steele did get it right, and we should all stick by him. The emperor has no clothes.