After watching Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham come out and criticize President Obama for his handling of our involvement in Libya, as Ed Schultz discussed in his show this Tuesday, he decided to take us for a little trip down the memory hole with Rolling Stone's Tim Dickerson. It seems the only thing consistent about their partisan rancor over our foreign policy is that they'll use it as a chance to bash President Obama.

Here's Dickinson's reporting from this April they discussed during the segment -- Senators Sucked Up to Gaddafi, Now Call For His Head:

In the Senate, those demanding even harsher prosecution of the Libya war include the three amigos. John McCain, warning that "the blood of Americans is on Qaddafi's hands," has called for arming the insurgents, whom Joe Lieberman has praised as "freedom fighters." Lindsey Graham wants to know why we don't just take out the Libyan leader like Reagan tried to do: "Who would be mad at us," he pressed Pentagon chief Robert Gates yesterday, "if we dropped a bomb on Gaddafi?"

Here's the curious thing about their hawkish swagger: In August of 2009 — not even two years ago — McCain, Lieberman, Graham traveled to Tripoli to shake the bloody hand of the freedom-depriving dictator they now want to assassinate. It was the highest-level meeting of Libyan and American officials since Condi Rice's state visit in 2008. (The amigos were joined by Susan Collins who has questioned the wisdom of the war.)

As this WikiLeaked cable details, the three amigos had a chummy visit with the Qaddafi clan: Lieberman expressed delight at the thaw in U.S.-Libyan relations: "We never would have guessed ten years ago that we would be sitting in Tripoli, being welcomed by a son of Muammar al-Qadhafi," he said to Muatassim, the regime's National Security Advisor. The Connecticut independent praised Libya as an "important ally" in the War on Terror, adding that "common enemies sometimes make better friends."

During the pow-wow, Muatasim pushed the senators for enhanced military assistance. Senator McCain assured Muatassim that "the United States wanted to provide Libya with the equipment it needs for its security," the official notes of the meeting reveal. McCain called the U.S.-Libya military relationship "strong" and said any frustrations on the Libyan side should be weighed against the "officer training" Libyan military brass were receiving "at U.S. Command, Staff, and War colleges." Read on...

And as I noted in the previous day's post from Ed's show on this, Dave Dayden went after them for their hypocrisy as well and I can't think of a better description for McCain and Lieberman than the one he used in his title here -- Neocon Twins McCain and Graham Sad About Troubling Lack of Airstrikes In Libya In February and March.