If you liked what Paul Ryan helped the Bush administration do in Iraq, you’ll love what he's cheering for in Iran. That was the message from Ryan’s campaign stop on the Hannity show last night where Sean Hannity credulously welcomed Ryan’s boast that voting for the (misbegotten) Iraq war – and going to the funerals that ensued – gave him enough foreign policy gravitas to talk tough and support an Israeli strike against Iran. 

Oh, and by the way, all those “tough choices” and “adult conversations” we need to have on spending cuts and "reforming" Medicare in order to “save” it? They’re nowhere to be seen when Ryan talks war, “peace through strength” and defense cuts.  He told Hannity he’s trying to replace “irresponsible” military spending cuts “with other spending cuts that ought to occur in government.”

The discussion began with Hannity saying, at about 3:35, “Tell us about your foreign policy experience.”

Ryan said most of the traveling he’s done as a Congressman has been to the Middle East.  Then he flashed his “I voted for the Iraq war” resume for us again.

I’ve had to vote to send men and women to war on more than one occasion. I’ve been to those funerals. I’ve talked to the widows and the wives and the parents. I’ve gone to Afghanistan and Iraq to meet with our troops, to learn from them. Obviously, I have a lot more experience than Barack Obama did when he became president.

Except that Obama chose Joe Biden, someone with real foreign policy experience for his running mate whereas Romney, already a national embarrassment on the world stage, chose Ryan. But, of course, Hannity swallowed without question the analogy.

Ryan continued:

President Obama is quote, unquote leading from behind. He’s rejected the peace-through-strength doctrine. He’s outsourcing our foreign-policy decision-making to the U.N. so that countries like Russia can exercise their veto power over us… These what I call reckless, irresponsible defense cuts as the result of the president’s failed leadership are weakening our resolve and weakening our national security and our national defense at a time when it’s very important that we get back to the peace-through-strength doctrine… That’s why I helped write and passed the bill to prevent those irresponsible defense cuts from passing.  To replace those spending cuts with other spending cuts that ought to occur in government.

Wait a minute! Mr. fiscally responsible wants to add to the federal budget with military spending? While he wants to cut Medicare? Hannity didn’t think that worth noting. He was more interested in talking war. “Would you support Israel if they deem it necessary to for their national security to take out (Iran’s nuclear reactor)?” he asked.

Short answer, yes.

Israel has every right to protect their national security interests and Iran’s nuclear weapon capability is an existential threat to not only Israel but it’s a threat to our own national security. The last thing we want is an arms race in the Middle East. And I really do think that the president’s lack of leadership on this issue, his lack of courageous moral support for Israel during this time has brought us to where we are. Going to the U.N. and saying that the beginning of negotiations must start with the ’67 borders undercuts our ally. His references to Bibi Netanyahu with the French president undercuts our allies. And so I think hat has done more to distance the peace process and done more to embolden countries like Iran than anything else.

Paul Ryan: More war and less medical care. But don't count on Fox News to do much looking under the slick talking points of "fiscal seriousness" and "freedom."