McCain taking the lower road thus far

Anyone remember when McCain pledged to run a clean campaign? To refresh, he vowed in a very public way, on national TV, to run "an honorable and dignified campaign" against Barack Obama. I distinctly remember McCain (and his wife) saying that if any mudslinging were to happen during this campaign, it would come "from the other side." The problem with a promise like that is, what's "honorable and dignified" and "mudslinging" to one person, is perfectly acceptable to another in a political campaign. For example, Karl Rove's definition of what's underhanded in a political campaign would differ from just about any reasonable human being's definition of what that is. (Rove is an unacknowledged consultant to the McCain campaign.)

Anyway, so much for McCain's "clean campaign." Really, McCain broke that promise a long time ago, but lately, he's taken the witticisms to a whole new level, and by that I mean lower level. McCain's latest undignified remarks are regarding his consistent questioning of Barack Obama's commitment to the troops and to victory in Iraq.

First off, as I wrote yesterday, no one has adequately explained just what victory in Iraq is. (Tell me this isn't Vietnam all over again - first LBJ, and then Nixon, both refused to pull out because they didn't want to go down in history as "the first president to lose a war." [Nixon was quoted as much on his tapes.])

I love how McCain in the footage above explicitly states that he's "not questioning his [Obama's] patriotism," yet he then basically questions his patriotism, and as George Stephanopoulos says, Obama's "honor," too.

That's a page right out of Karl Rove's playbook - Bush and Cheney have been doing it for years. Think back to the run-up to the War in Iraq, when they both would say that Iraq "had nothing to do with 9-11," then in the next sentence talk about al-Qaeda in Iraq. Actually, early on, Cheney even went further than that, saying that members of the Iraqi government met with hijacker Mohamed Atta in Prague, when the intelligence clearly determined that the meeting had not taken place (this from George Tenet's book).

Hearing an arrogant McCain dismissively sniff that Barack Obama "doesn't understained" [spelling intentional] about Iraq makes me laugh. McCain's comments in recent weeks clearly demonstrate that he lacks plenty of understanding himself when it comes to foreign affairs, including what's going on in Iran and Iraq. The incident last week where CBS spliced his comments together to blatantly omit a whopper of an error is just one of those examples. And I don't buy into the media's explanation that they are "gaffes," either. A gaffe happens when someone makes a mistake, forgets a name, or pronounces something wrong, or forgets a date, but the implication is that people who commit gaffes actually know the facts.

McCain doesn't. When he gets on TV and says arrogantly and dismissively that "it's a matter of history" that the Troop Surge in Iraq (which began in January 2007) was responsible for the Anbar Awakening, which began three months earlier, it's a clear demonstration that this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. There's no other plausible explanation, other than that his mind is going, circa Ronald Reagan in his second term.

Chuck Hagel was absolutely right when he took umbrage with McCain on yesterday's Face the Nation, too, when he says that McCain is on "very thin ground," by asserting that Obama would rather "lose a war to win a campaign."

McCain's comments about Obama in the footage above are probably among the most disgraceful I've heard a presidential candidate say about his opponent in my adult life. If there's a worse example of a presidential candidate saying something about his opponent in the last 25 years, I certainly can't think of it.

Also interesting to hear Faux News taking the predictable line courtesy of its GOP sponsors, specifically Chris Wallace echoing the GOP talking point that Obama could have gone to see the troops "without campaign staff" as the Pentagon directed. Hmm, who runs the Pentagon again? It's not a stretch to say that this was an attempt to blatantly embarrass Obama. Should he have gone anyway? Sure, but I'm guessing there's a lot more to this story than McCain's campaign ad is telling us.

And more to the point, I guess it was okay for John McCain to stroll down the street in a Baghdad Market last summer, flanked by dozens and dozens of U.S. troops and helicopters, in what amounted to a campaign appearance, but when Obama wants to do something similar, it's the world's biggest sin, right? Hmm, let's re-examine - McCain, as a declared presidential candidate, pulls scads of troops away from their real jobs so he can stroll down the street in Baghdad, and President Bush lands on an aircraft carrier to laughingly declare Mission Accomplished (when it wasn't), and Obama is politicizing our troops? Uh, sure.

This whole "visiting the troops" pseudo-scandal is being cooked up by Fox News, McCain and the likes of Matt Drudge to try and smear Obama after a very successful trip overseas, and in the end, it shouldn't amount to much. If it does, than this country is in even deeper trouble than I thought.

Sen. Claire McCaskill was spot on when she said that Republicans could criticize just about anything Obama said, i.e. - he took heat for not going to Iraq, then he took heat for going to Iraq, etc. Gimme a break. It's another attempt by the right to blunt Obama's surging popularity.

McCain: I didn't need no stinkin' security!

John McCain's verbal diarrhea continues to shatter what little credibility he has left.

Earlier today at a press conference, in the safe environs of Phoenix, Arizona, the delusional presidential candidate said that he didn't need any security when he want on his Mission McComplished Baghdad trip stroll last week.

From AP:

Sen. John McCain said Monday he would have taken his tour of an Iraqi market last week even if he hadn't been accompanied by heavily armed U.S. soldiers.

The Republican presidential hopeful said he would have walked through the Bab al-Sharqi market in Baghdad without the military protection, but the top U.S. commander in Iraq, Gen. David Petraeus, had recommended the armed escort.

"I'm not notorious for being nervous about going anywhere," said McCain, R-Ariz. "I'll gladly go almost anywhere in the world, under any circumstances, but I did respond and do what General Petraeus asked me to do."

McCain and other members of a congressional delegation toured the market last week, traveling in armored military vehicles and wearing body armor during their hour-long excursion.

The congressional delegation said the trips were proof that security was improving in the capital. Some Iraqis in Baghdad said McCain's account of the visit to the market didn't represent the current reality in the capital.

At a news conference Monday in Phoenix, McCain said he talked to many Iraqis in the market who told him that, while they still worried about a sniper operating there, they felt as though things were getting better.

"That place is being rebuilt today and is a functioning market," McCain said. "Of course it isn't entirely safe, but it certainly is a functioning market and progress is being made there."

Good job, McCain - blame all of the security on U.S. General David Petraeus.

It just keeps getting funnier and funnier.

The flush was made last week - his campaign is now circling the large bowl of denial, and it's only a matter of time...

Say hi to Karl Rove for me while you're down there, senator.

McCain concedes presidency

Okay, it's not quite that bad, but if ever there was a presidential candidate who was cooked this early, it's gotta be this guy. Of course, there are still some polls that show him hanging in there, but I really don't expect that will continue. Judas John has joined the ranks of Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney in the Axis of Feeble - men who won't become president. We'll see, but that's my prediction. At this point, it would be a political miracle for McCain to even get the nomination.

Here's Part I of last night's John McCain piece on 60 Minutes...



And Part II...



John McCain wounded himself so badly in Iraq, maybe he should be given a Purple Heart by a grinning President Bush in a spit-shined Walter Reed Hospital ward. However, his hubris and arrogance have not abated in the wake of his Mission McComplished trip to Baghdad.

The only breathtaking part about this interview is that he steadfastly refuses to admit he was wrong and a lack of contrition for his pandering for cheap political points.

"Of course I'm gonna misspeak," McCain said. "I've done it on numerous occasions. And I probably will in the future. I regret that when I divert attention to something that I've said from my message. But that's just life. And I'm happy, frankly, with the way I operate. Otherwise it'd be a lot less fun."

You know what else is going to be a lot less fun, Senator? Getting the living !@#$%$$@#&!#!! kicked out of you in next year's primaries.

I just can't believe the willful ignorance and arrogance. Yea, he's a maverick all right.

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Sidebar! Here's my updated list on the stupidest people in America:

1. President Bush & Dick Cheney (Tie) - I don't have enough time
3. John McCain - see above
4. People who still believe that McCain is a "straight talking maverick"
5. RushLimbaughAnnCoulterGlennBeckSeanHannityMichaelSavage - if you need to ask...
6. Joe Lieberman - for drinking the GOP Kool Aid. Just go, Joe - run don't walk to the GOP. We hardly knew ye.
7. Newt Gingrich - no bueno
8. Bill O'Lielly - needs to be on any list
9. Don Imus - you got off easy
10. Rudy Giuliani - the 411 on 9/11 - there was more to your two terms as mayor, wasn't there? Will have to answer some questions sooner or later. Has had a fistful of gaffes already.
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I also got a bit of a kick out of McCain's "offense" at being asked questions about his age. You're going to be 71 years old by November 2008, Senator, so you're going to be asked lots more questions about your age. Get used to it.

Here's an addendum of sorts to McCain's stupidity:

Yesterday, McCain said this about Moqtada al-Sadr in a WaPo column:

Extremist Shiite militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr is in hiding, his followers are not contesting American forces, sectarian violence has dropped in Baghdad and we are working with the Shiite mayor of Sadr City.

In a statement released today, this is what al-Sadr said:

"You, the Iraqi army and police forces, don't walk alongside the occupiers, because they are your archenemy." He urged his followers to avoid attacking fellow Iraqis and to focus all their resources on American forces. "God has ordered you to be patient in front of your enemy, and unify your efforts against them - not against the sons of Iraq," the statement said.

Think Progress has more.

Here are some pictures over the weekend of things getting better in Iraq...

No word from Dick Cheney yet if he still thinks we're being greeted as liberators.

I hate to rain on McCain's victory parade through Baghdad, but Baghdad isn't the only place where the killing of Americans and innocent civilians is happening. Just because the sun is shining in Baghdad behind your sea of troops doesn't mean things are just as wonderful throughout the country.

This from an AP report, last Friday:

A suicide bomber driving a truck loaded with TNT and toxic chlorine gas crashed into a police checkpoint in western Ramadi on Friday, killing at least 27 people and wounding dozens, police in the Anbar provincial capital said.

In the deep south of the country, the Basra police commander said the type of roadside bomb used in an attack that killed four British soldiers on Thursday had not been seen in the region previously. Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Moussawi's description of the deadly weapon indicated it was a feared Iranian-designed explosively formed penetrator.

Today in Iraq, 25 people were found dead, including five Americans.

This is a photo of the aftermath of a car bomb that exploded just outside of Baghdad on April 5.

Things are looking up all right, McCain - for your political opponents.

Bottom Photo from AP

Cafferty jumps on top of McCain dog pile

A phony photo op like McCain's in a Baghdad market really could be a campaign killer. McCain's pic could have the same effect that the one below it did - Michael Dukakis' imfamous "Tank Photo," circa 1988. (Talk about a recipe for erasing a 20-point lead in the polls - this marked the turning point for Dukakis - he never recovered and got steam rolled in 1988 by George H.W. Bush.) Only time will tell if McCain's disastrous sojourn into Baghdad will have any lasting political impact. It could and should, but only time will tell if it will. We'll know about nine months from now, or maybe even sooner.

CNN's Jack Cafferty is one of the few reasons to still want to watch CNN. The network has fallen a long way since the 1991 Gulf War, when it was THE cable news network.

Cafferty offers up as good of a body slam of McCain as I've heard about his disgraceful, despicable, tragically hilarious trip to Baghdad. The only thing that would have made it better is if he would have flown in, bedecked in a flight suit, landed at Baghdad International Airport, jumped out and hollered, "Mission Accomplished!"

Take it away, Jack...



Photos from AP