[elhombrelibre]

Well, he's their point man; he's their expert on defense. You know he's an ex-Marine; he's a military genius. He's their answer to Bush. So they've a tough time now saying he's a crack pot, which most of us knew from the beginning.

[Cheburashka]

So they've a tough time now saying he's a crack pot, which most of us knew from the beginning.
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They've got a tough time saying he's a crackpot, but they can try to just ignore the whole thing and hope it goes away.

They question is, can their allies in the media make it go away?

Was this a one time mistake on his part? And can they get him to shut up? If he won't, and keeps repeating it, what do they do then?