« previous | TPM CAFÉ READER POSTS HOME | next »
AC360 Takes on McCain's lying
On Anderson Cooper tonight, John McCain is caught lying about the Surge timeline. Olberman caught it first, I think, but let's hope it gets more traction tomorrow.
For all his huffing and puffing about the success of the Surge, McCain can't help but make stuff up. And CBS is willing to carry the water for him by selectively editing the interview.
Is it any surprise that the NYT rejects this guys rantings?
Advertisement
Comments (17)
Rec'd. And if I may venture to opine here, may I add that in your second link ("make stuff up"), McCain seems to be blinking some kind of morse code denial of his own words?
Or is he just blinking, winking and nod?
Just sayin'.
July 23, 2008 12:58 AM | Reply | Permalink
Quick! Someone call 911! LisB's hair's on fire!
:)
July 23, 2008 12:27 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is there some relationship between you and Genghis that you would like to share with the group?
July 23, 2008 1:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think his blinking is a tell. He seems to do it every time he is getting angry and then he tells a whopper or just goes on a major bluster.
Just sayin. :)
July 23, 2008 2:44 AM | Reply | Permalink
Who would love to sit at a poker table with McMark. "My Friends, I am All In!" Who wouldn't call.
July 23, 2008 10:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
McCain's welcome in my home game anytime. :-)
July 23, 2008 1:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Speaking of tells, watch Karl Rove sometime (with a barf bag at the ready). His tell is not blinking. He blinks all the way through the interview until it's time for the big lie. Then, his eyes get wide and he juts his head forward a bit, he makes agressive eye contact with the interviewer and he doesn't blink, not once, until he's done telling his whopper.
July 23, 2008 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
See also Joe Klein in Swampland, echoing what he said on AC360.
http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/07/mccain_meltdown.html
All in all, a rotten couple of days for McCain. Too bad most of the swing voters are still watching little league games and Seinfeld re-runs.
July 23, 2008 8:46 AM | Reply | Permalink
Oh, drat. Josh already has this on the front page.
July 23, 2008 9:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Awesome. rec'd
July 23, 2008 10:20 AM | Reply | Permalink
Is McBush on some kind of prescription medication? He's becoming less and less coherent.
July 23, 2008 5:16 PM | Reply | Permalink
Too bad AC, Olberman, and the rest of you loony libs don't know what you're talking about. I've posted it before, but I'll repeat it until you comprehend. The 'surge' is more than adding troops, it was an entirely new strategy, involving a more aggressive pursuit of the enemy into previously enemy held territory. It involved moving troops from large fortified bases into small deployments in the towns and villages that were liberated. The Anbar Awakening happened as the US cleared Al Quaeda from Ramadi under this new approach. That was the start of the surge, additional combat brigades arrived after that to secure and hold more areas. Those troops didn't start arriving for several months, and took several more months before they were all in place, but the surge was in effect long before that. So McCain was right, Obama and the rest of you wrong.
July 23, 2008 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Too bad Rush, Hannity, and the rest of you loony wingnuts don't know what you're talking about. Bush said repeatedly that the purpose of the surge was to achieve the necessary political reconciliation ( http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/01/20070110-7.html ) -- and that hasn't happened yet.
Exhibit 23,425:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/07/iraqi_president_rejects_electi.php
July 23, 2008 6:59 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thecleverbulldog is the king of satire, and I'm not sure he even knows it! Let's hope he does.
But if you don't Bulldog, I'll add that if what you said was true, then the surge would mean "stop doing stupid things with our military resources in Iraq and do things that actually might work. Oh, and once we start doing that, maybe we'll add more troops."
That's about the dumbest thing I ever heard. To accept it, you must believe that the military had no clue what it was doing in Iraq until winter of 2006. Up until then, they were just gladly accepting deaths of American soldiers without having a clue as to how to fight this war.
I'm going to give the military a lot more credit than that. Sure, they've adjusted tactics, probably on a weekly basis. But a surge is an increase in troops. Anything else is adjusting to circumstances with the resources you have.
Sorry Mr. McCain, go back to the drawing board and see if you can come up with a better excuse for you bumblings.
July 23, 2008 10:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
"The 'surge' is more than adding troops, it was an entirely new strategy, involving a more aggressive pursuit of the enemy into previously enemy held territory. It involved moving troops from large fortified bases into small deployments in the towns and villages that were liberated.
The only problem with this is . . . ITS A FRIGGIN LIE!
The key component of the surge was the increase in troop strength. It was announced in November 2006 (after the Dems wiped the floor with the GOP in the elections) and did not get underway until the first increase in troop strength took place around March 2007. The Awakening had already started in August/September 2006!
Let's see how con writer Michael Totten described it in a September 2007 article:
http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001514.html
"Nineteen Arab tribes led by sheikhs live in Anbar Province. In June of 2006, nine of those tribal sheikhs cooperated with the Americans, three were neutral, and seven were hostile.
"In October of last year [i.e., 2006] the tribal leaders in the province, including some who previously were against the Americans, formed a movement to reject the savagery Al Qaeda had brought to their region. Some of them were supremely unhappy with the American presence since fighting exploded in the province’s second largest city of Fallujah, but Al Qaeda proved to be even more sinister from their point of view. Al Qaeda did not come as advertised. They were militarily incapable of expelling the American Army and Marines. And they were worse oppressors than even Saddam Hussein. The leaders of Anbar Province saw little choice but to openly declare them enemies and do whatever it took to expunge them. They called their new movement Sahawa al Anbar, or the Anbar Awakening.
"Sheikh Sattar is its leader. Al Qaeda murdered his father and three of his brothers and he was not going to put up with them any longer. None of the sheikhs were willing to put up with them any longer. By April of 2007, every single tribal leader in all of Anbar was cooperating with the Americans.
“AQI announced the Islamic State of Iraq in a parade downtown on October 15, 2006,” said Captain McGee. “This was their response to Sahawa al Anbar. They were threatened by the tribal movement so they accelerated their attacks against tribal leaders. They ramped up the murder and intimidation. It was basically a hostile fascist takeover of the city."
* * * * *
Like a said, nice try. But the facts get in the way some times!
July 23, 2008 7:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
...kind of sad that I see this diary title and all I can think for a moment is "...Assassin's Creed for the XBox 360?!"
July 23, 2008 7:44 PM | Reply | Permalink
Picked this up from another site:
MCCAINS WORSE MOMENTS:
99. Bush's willingness to talk directly with Iran.
98. Bush's new time "horizon" for troop withdrawals.
97. al-Maliki's endorsement of Obama's Iraq strategy.
96. Obama's headline-dominating foreign tour.
95. His disagreement with the majority of Americans on Iraq.
94. His lack of economic expertise and policy.
93. Obama's $52M June.
92. His $21M June.
91. 29% of the Latino vote.
90. 2% of the black vote.
89. Charles Keating (he'll be back).
88. Vicki Iseman (she'll be back).
87. Randy Scheunemann (he'll be leaving).
86. His band-aid approach to energy (more drilling, more nuclear, a $300M "prize").
85. His band-aid approach to healthcare (tax credits, more competition).
84. His band-aid.
83. Saying things like "I know how to win wars," despite his never having won a war.
82. His wife.
81. His ex-wife.
80. The Hagee/Parsley un-endorsement debacle.
79. An uninspired base.
78. Ape rape.
77. His bff, Joe Lieberman.
76. His claim that Czechoslovakia still exists (it doesn't).
75. His claim that Iran is training Al-Qaeda (they aren't).
74. His claim that Iraq and Pakistan share a border (they don't).
73. His claim that Somalia is the same place as Sudan (it isn't).
72. His claim that Vladimir Putin is the president of Germany (he isn't).
71. 71.
70. The images of 70,000+ screaming Democrats at Invesco Field.
69. Phil Gramm's "nation of whiners" implosion.
68. His unwillingness to call the situation in Afghanistan "urgent."
67. Steve Schmidt's failure to right the ship.
66. A new generation of Evangelicals who don't care what James Dobson thinks.
65. "C-nt."
64. "I hate the gooks."
63. His plan to resurrect Bush's plan to privatize Social Security.
62. The writer's rooms of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.
61. His tarmac birthday party with Bush -- as Katrina made landfall.
60. "General Petraeus goes out there almost every day in an unarmed Humvee."
59. His belief that Americans are better off than they were eight years ago.
58. His "Frankenstein on barbiturates" oratory skill.
57. His beyond-pathetic "Pump" ad, which blames Obama for $4.50 gas.
56. His "Obama Love" ad, which blames the MSM for his terribly-run campaign.
55. His computer illiteracy (c'mon...this is 2008).
54. A tax plan that doesn't even TRY to hide the fact that it's geared toward the wealthy.
53. Bob Barr.
52. Ron Paul.
51. Rupert Murdoch.
50. His gay adoption/marriage high wire acts.
49. His immigration high wire act.
48. His torture high wire act.
47. His drilling high wire act.
46. His tax cuts high wire act.
45. Not churchgoing enough for some evangelicals.
44. Too evangelical for some independents.
43. His temper.
42. "I know what [Iraqis] want."
41. The starlet gap: McCain = Heidi Montag; Obama = Scarlett Johansson.
40. The Facebook gap: McCain = 173K supporters; Obama = 1.17M supporters.
39. His 1983-94 opposition to the Rev. Martin Luther King holiday.
38. His 2008 opposition to the Ledbetter Fair Pay [for women] Act.
37. His 2008 opposition to the G.I. Bill.
36. "100 years."
35. Viagra-gate.
34. His 0% rating from Planned Parenthood.
33. His 0% attendance record for the last six Senate Afghanistan hearings.
32. "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."
31. David Plouffe.
30. David Axelrod.
29. Republicans losing elections in traditional GOP strongholds.
28. His October 2002 insistence that victory in Iraq would be "easy."
27. His January 2007 insistence that he never said it would be "easy."
26. A resurgent Taliban.
25. Europe's Obamamania.
24. Kneeling at the feet of Jerry Falwell.
23. His penchant for gaffes.
22. 80% of Americans convinced we're on the wrong track.
21. The National Review calling his campaign strategy "likely to fail."
20. Another terrorist attack on U.S. soil "would be a big advantage to him."
19. Record turnout in the Democratic primaries.
18. A free Osama bin Laden.
17. "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran."
16. A campaign hierarchy dominated by lobbyists.
15. Suggesting Obama is a "Socialist."
14. The Dow Jones down 2,000 points for the year.
13. Foreclosures soaring, banks failing, and inflation at a 17-year high.
12. Still pushing his ridiculous, Big Oil-friendly gas tax holiday.
11. Being out-raised by Obama 2:1...in West Virginia.
10. His "no" vote on SCHIP (healthcare for poor children) reauthorization.
9. His support for overturning Roe v. Wade.
8. His consistent opposition to minimum wage increases.
7. Obama's 50-state strategy.
6. Al.
5. Bill.
4. Hillary.
3. Mitt.
2. John McCain.
1. George W. Bush.
July 24, 2008 12:07 AM | Reply | Permalink
Post a Comment