Tag: John McCain

John “100-Years-War” McCain, on his way to Iraq, worries that Al Qaeda will do something this fall to hurt his candidacy for president.

Why would Al Qaeda do that?  Because the Democrats are weaklings who offer aid and comfort to the enemy, of course. What would be more natural that for Osama to endorse Obama?  

McCain didn’t go that far, but he went far enough. Reuters reports:

SPRINGFIELD, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Friday he fears that al Qaeda or another extremist group might attempt spectacular attacks in Iraq to try to tilt the U.S. election against him.

McCain, at a town hall meeting in this Philadelphia suburb, was asked if he had concerns that anti-American militants in Iraq might ratchet up their activities in Iraq to try to increase casualties in September or October and tip the November election against him.

Yes, I worry about it,” McCain said. “And I know they pay attention because of the intercepts we have of their communications …

In fact, my worries have been the opposite — that Still President George W. Bush will engineer some kind of wag the dog crisis in hopes that the American people will rally around him and his tougher-than-nails, would-be successor, John McCain.

It would not, of course, be the first time Republicans have used real or imagined threats from abroad to help themselves at election time, as others have pointed out.

But to suggest that Al Qaeda would launch attacks to try to help his opponent — presumably Obama, but either Democrat — is very much like saying that Democrats who want to end the war are aiding the enemy.  Al Qaeda would simply be repaying them for their help, apparently.

The worst new is that this claim didn’t spark any controvery, and McCain wasn’t asked to explain himself.  The media were all too busy running and re-running video clips of Obama’s pastor, and even with 24-hour news channels it is clear they can only cover one story at a time.

McCain also continued to plant the seeds of the need to “Bomb, Bomb Iran,” which could be Bush’s October surprise.   AP reports:

McCain told reporters later that al-Qaida remains smart and adaptable despite an increase of U.S. troops in Iraq.

“We have had great success with the surge, but to think they’re not capable of orchestrating really strong attacks … I think is an underestimation of the enemy,” McCain said.

“We still have the most lethal explosive devices coming across the border from Iran into Iraq,” he said. “We still have suicide bombers landing at the airport in Damascus and coming into Iraq as we speak.

“So I would not be surprised if they make an attempt. I believe that we can counter most of it, as we are countering. But there will still be spikes and difficulties and challenges associated with this conflict. Otherwise, I’d be advocating that they come home,” he said.

If only.  Instead, he’s prepared to leave them there for 100 years.  

Cross posted on Kos

I don’t think Obama’s Olbermann appearance is enough to stem the Wright tide.  The best argument is the much worse connection between McCain and the crazy right preachers. Because the traditional media never will do it, Obama may have to be the one to reveal the outrageous double standard of excoriating him for Wright, while not touching McCain for embracing Hagee and Parsley.  

I’ve put together a draft Obama speech that tries to weave together his message with an attack on the double standard.

In the comments or a diary, let’s try to put together an “open source” speech for Obama (or a surrogate who will have a platform).  Here’s my try:

The past few days my campaign has been engulfed in nearly constant, furious attacks of guilt by association.  The words of Pastor Wright, which I have repeatedly denounced, have been broadcast non-stop on radio, television and the internet.  Despite my rejection of these statements, so-called pundits have seen fit to tie me irrevocably to them, and impugn my patriotism and tolerance.

And yet, my campaign is based on patriotism, as exemplified by tolerance, unity and hope.  We have been trying to appeal to the best in people, not the worst.  For too long, our discourse and our elections have been dominated by the forces of fear, demagogy and, yes, hate.  We have been trying to change that, and to bring hope to this country after years of fear, war and economic insecurity.  But there are many who will do anything to fight against hope, to continue the fear-infused politics of the past eight years.

Unfortunately, John McCain, the probable Republican candidate, has openly welcomed the support of those who would divide our country by religion, race or ethnic group.  Rather than distancing himself as we did, he has sought out and embraced the Rev. James Hagee, whose shameful statements have not been nearly as widely disseminated as those of Pastor Wright.

Senator McCain has said he was “very honored” by the endorsement of someone who has said:

—  Catholicism is “‘The Great Whore,’ an ‘apostate church,’ the ‘anti-Christ,’ and a ‘false cult system.'”

— Hurricane Katrina was inflicted upon New Orleans by God because of the city’s supposed “immorality.”

— Those who live by the Koran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews.

—  Just before us is a nuclear countdown with Iran, followed by the final battle, the battle of Armageddon.

—  Jews brought the Holocaust on themselves by rebelling against God

Senator McCain has said his “spiritual advisor” is Rod Parsley, someone who has said:

— “Americans must be ‘Christocrats’ — citizens of both their country and the Kingdom of God”; “And that is not a democracy; that is a theocracy”; “That means God is in control, and you are not.”

I have specifically repudiated the noxious statements of Reverend Wright.  John McCain has sought and welcomed the support of those who espouse these noxious and unpatriotic ideas, with only the vague and mildest of “disagreements”.

I call on John McCain to specifically address each one of the statements by these preachers.

Let us make this a campaign about hope, about the future, and about policies that will protect and sustain our children.

You know what’s missing on the Intertubes?  (well, if you read my title the cat is already out of the bag)  

Haiku written for the right wing!  

For some inexplicable reason the right has not yet embraced this literary form.  Maybe that’s because right-wingers can’t use the left half of their brains.  Or is it the right half?  OK, they generally don’t use either half.  So being a generous soul, I’m offering some haiku written from a right-wing perspective to get them started.

Hillary Clinton denigrated Obama’s lifetime  when she said:

I think that I have a lifetime of experience that I will bring to the White House. I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002,” Clinton says.

Link

There were troubling aspects to this 90-page document. While slanted toward the conclusion that Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction stored or produced at 550 sites, it contained vigorous dissents on key parts of the information, especially by the departments of State and Energy. Particular skepticism was raised about aluminum tubes that were offered as evidence Iraq was reconstituting its nuclear program. As to Hussein’s will to use whatever weapons he might have, the estimate indicated he would not do so unless he was first attacked.

That’s what Senator Bob Graham, the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2002 wrote his Washington Post OpEd regarding the classified 90-page National Intelligence Estimate on Saddam’s Iraq that was presented by Bush administration’s CIA as evidential basis for a war with Iraq:

What I Knew Before the Invasion

By Bob Graham

Sunday, November 20, 2005

Our friends over on the other side of the aisle are having quite the debate about whether or not to use middle names when referring to Dem candidates, and watching the schism develop between the thinking conservatives and their knuckle-dragging cousins is getting to be some great popschadenfruedecorn fun.  On the rather turgid rec list at RedState, a “blog” entitled To Hussein or not to Hussein… (Danger: RedState) has generated nearly 100 comments – a huge number, by rightroots standards.  The more respectable of the commenters are trying to point out that the meme is rather loud for a dog whistle; they’re up against a contingent that somehow sees repetition as proof that they are not themselves racists.

Best of luck to the side fighting the good fight over there, but the point of this diary isn’t to analyze the Unmasking of the Know-Nothings – it’s to point out what’s being overlooked in the whole debate: That John McCain has a middle name, too!.  And you know what?

It’s Sidney!!!  That’s just ONE LETTER AWAY from spelling SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA!!!

Please join me below the fold for the sounding out of 2008’s latest dog whistle, as well as some disturbing news about our plotting mates from Down Under.

Subtitled: Monkey Wrench or Cattle Prod? By Stephen Fleischman via Counterpunch.com.

“Here we go again,” murmured the old guard Democrats when Ralph Nader officially announced his candidacy for president in 2008, on Tim Russert’s “Meet the Press” show, Sunday, Feb.24th.

Now that extremist pastor John Hagee has endorsed John McCain, Todd Beeton wants to know whether McCain will denounce Hagee. Of course, unlike with Louis Farrakhan’s endorsement of Barack Obama, McCain actually appeared with Hagee, and actually happily accepted his endorsement. The better question, then, is whether Tim Russert will harangue McCain about it the way he harangued Obama about Farrakhan. Given that McCain actually appeared with Hagee, and actually happily accepted his endorsement, you would think Russert would be at least similarly concerned.

Here’s a quick note to corporate media hacks: As a liberal purist, I was no fan of Bill Clinton’s presidency; but when you joined the Republicans in attempting to hound him from office over a personal matter, I warmed to him. Defending him from idiots and assholes helped me focus on and appreciate President Clinton’s many positives. I’ve also been no fan of Hillary Clinton, but defending her from idiots and assholes, both in the corporate media and the shrillosphere, has had the same effect. She’s far from perfect, but she would be a fine president. I’m also no fan of Barack Obama, but the corporate media are already making me warm to the idea of his possible nomination. He’s also not perfect, but he also would be a fine president.

That’s how it works. We liberal skeptics do come to the defense of our more moderate political allies, when they are under unfair attack from idiots and assholes.

This is going to be a long year.