The Republican National Committee is demanding that MSNBC and CNN refuse to run a new ad from the Democratic National Committee attacking John McCain, calling the ad “maliciously false” and “misleading”… you know, because it is basically a clip of McCain talking in his own words. What a bunch of weiners.
TPM‘s Josh Marshall dissects the dispute in his typically thorough TPM style:
I think we should pull troops out of Iraq, Afghanistan, and all the other countries we have been in since WWI. We should also concentrate on our own starving people and the violence here amongst Americans rather than other countries! Hell we can’t even take care of ourselves, why are we taking care of everyone else?
Good points, Hannah. I’m not concerned about the starving folks, but I agree with the rest of it. Let’s close down the show in places like South Korea and Germany. As a matter of fact, let’s bring all the troops home and use some off them to stop illegals from coming across the borders.
PS,
I like the part where Ron Paul slammed McCain about the “100 years” crap!
The fact — and yes it is a FACT — remains that the ad IS misleading because it takes a tiny slice of the “100 years” comment, without the clarification of “no lives lost” and “like Germany,” and presents it next to images of raging war and war statistics.
Mark@4, Ah, the sound of right-wing whining. Rovians weeping tears over DNC messaging. Tugs at my heart-strings.
Yes Mark, its just plain unfair.
Mark – the Wash. State Supreme Court said it’s ok to lie to voters and distort the truth, as the average voter should be smart enough to decipher the facts and lies.
This is like the RNC airing the Obama pastor ad, that McCain has critized as being full of smears and lies. He actually spoke out against the RNC from running it!
It’s politics, take what you can and use it the way that best smears your opponent (who cares about the facts) leave out the parts that contradict your smear campaign. Hillary has done a great job at that game, just she has been caught doing it.
Recent Rasmussen Poll on Capital Gains Tax increase:
“The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that 65% of Likely Voters oppose an increase in the Capital Gains tax. Just 16% favor an increase, while a fifth of voters are not sure (see Scott Rasmussen’s video report).”
I told you KLOWNS this would end up being a huuuuuuuge issue. O-blah-blah has already taken a strong position on an increase.
Yet another flip-flop coming!!
How precious, the RNC complaining about a misleading ad. I think that’s called chutzpah, you know, like the guy who killed his parents and then begged the judge for mercy because he was an orphan.
Of course “the real dumbass” won’t bother to watch the presentation because, well…
…who would want to see the truth when you can fart the bush/mcsame talking points tou your ass without thinking.
Give a call to the Mayor’s Office (206- 684-4000) or to Lit Dudley at State Emergency Management (253-512-7440) or to Rep. McDermott (206-553-7170) … a possible script could be:
” Hi I’m …,
I was just wondering what you could tell me about the Ardent Sentry terrorist exercises taking place in Seattle later this week (May 1-8)? Will it impact traffic? Are they going to close the viaduct?”
Or
” Hi, I was just wondering what you could tell me about the Ardent Sentry exercises in Seattle this week? Has the Mayor been informed? Is he going to address the public about the exercises? ”
Or
” Hi etc etc … could you tell me what the Continuity of Operations is? Rep. Peter de Fazio tried to find out but was stonewalled and refused that information last year. Living in a democracy gives us the right to know that information.”
*** In other words from simple to complex (whatever is your comfort level) … most folks on the other end of the line are helpful and gracious. They could be your neighbor just doing their job.
The point is for we the people (citizens) to do our job as an informed citizenry. It is good for them to know that we know, that we are awake, aware and alert. I would encourage you to have the post below in front of your eyes, and then call someone to find out something, and then, if you want, let me know of anything interesting. Here’s the info:
******************************
The overall exercise scenario unfolds as a Category 4 hurricane threatens the National Capitol Region (i.e. Washington DC) while events in the Pacific Northwest include terrorist attacks involving weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the state of Washington and an accidental release of a chemical agent at chemical stockpile facility in Umatilla, Oregon. The scenario culminates with the hurricane’s imminent landfall combined with a credible terror threat which causes the federal government to invoke continuity plans and capabilities. (i.e. martial law)
>>> National Level Exercise 2-08 (NLE 2-08).
The Department of Homeland Security’s National Exercise Program (NEP), the nation’s overarching homeland security exercise program, will conduct a combined exercise in May 2008 that will test hurricane preparedness planning, assess federal interagency Continuity of Operations (COOP) procedures, exercise a response to terrorist attacks in Washington State and test Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA). These linked exercises are referred to as National Level Exercise 2-08 (NLE 2-08).
The exercise takes place May 1-8 with a wide range of participants from federal and state departments and agencies.
NLE 2-08 will consolidate into a single exercise the following:
Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Continuity Programs’ (NCP) Eagle Horizon 2008;
U.S. Northern Command’s (USNORTHCOM) Ardent Sentry 08 exercise;
FEMA’s Disaster Operation’s Hurricane Preparedness Exercise (HPE);
The Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program and Army Service Response Force tests for emergency plans, procedures, skills and equipment in response to an accidental chemical agent release.
Planning for NLE 2-08 began in late spring 2007 and is designed to achieve the following objectives:
Exercise and evaluate federal government continuity capabilities and management of emergencies from dispersed locations.
Exercise our response to terrorist WMDs threat and attack capabilities with integration of Defense Support of Civil Authorities; and Exercise hurricane preparedness and response capabilities.
For more information on NLE 2-08 please contact FEMA Office of Public Affairs at 202-646-4600 or USNORTHCOM Public Affairs at 719-554-6889.
@4: Here’s the FACT, Mark. A member of the audience expressed his concern about being in Iraq for 50 more years with the clear implication that present cost & casualties will continue unabated, and Sidney spins this totally off course by first imagining a pink pony and then concludes the continued presence would be painless except for the ocassional unavoidable traffic accident.
The question is this: How long is Sidney willing to stay the present course, assuming neither violence nor costs go down?
The answer, per Sidney, is: 100 years, if that’s what it will take. Has he ever said anything that would lead you to believe otherwise?
Didn’t think so.
Just so we are clear…when Faux News and the rest of the Legacy Media repeats 2.5 seconds of the Rev Wright clip over and over and over, that’s acceptable, but it’s not fair it’s done to McCain?
@ 13 – I don’t think it’s about media playing crap and lies but about the DNC and RNC playing falsifying ads. But the RNC is playing the Obama pastor one too (against McCain’s wishes) so the DNC is playing back.
It’s about time the go along, get along Dems got some balls and started using Rove’s tactics against the GOP. The right wingers have no problem quoting Dems out of context – so IF that is what was happening here – it would be fine. But it isn’t. Context or not – the message is the same. Flip Flop McCain is indeed comfortable with 100 years of war – in fact hopes for it – as do all republicans. That’s all they have to work with. They want the public to fear a common enemy in the hopes they won’t notice the corporate-run government making money off the war while eroding their rights.
Proud to be an ass@12, without RNC talking points to guide him, Mark quite willfully makes shit up as he goes along. How very shallow and fascist of him.
Hannah
Comparing words of a candidate’s pastor with words from the candidate’s own mouth is an apples and oranges mixture. The DNC ad is simply not misleading. I have no doubt in my mind McCain would keep troops in Iraq for 100 years even if casualties continue. McCain is a warmonger, always has been one, always will be one. I am proud of a DNC that is finally manning up. I think I’ll write another check.
So McCain wants us to stay in Iraq for 100 years if that’s how long it takes to get to the point where we aren’t taking any casualties, and then, once we’re not taking any casualties, we should stay there 100 years.
Makes sense to me.
Hannah;
You are giving too many props to McCain for coming out against the North Carolina Republican Party for airing the Wright/Obama ad.
Sure, McCain issued a public statement calling for the North Carolina Republicans to refrain from airing the ad. And after everybody had clapped McCain on the back and praised him for taking the high road in the affair, somebody in the media bothered to ask the North Carolina Republican Party what steps McCain had taken to get them to refrain from airing the add.
Their response? They hadn’t heard from McCain at all in response to the add. In the meantime, they continued with their plans to run the ad.
Finally they received one e-mail from McCain, saying that he would prefer that they not run the ad. No phone calls, no arm-twisting, no organized pressure from the national committee, no pressure on N. Carolina politicians in general. Just one e-mail, which was sent only AFTER the media asked McCain why he hadn’t communicated directly to the N. Carolina Republicans about the ad. And that e-mail arrived the day the ad was scheduled to run, so it would have taken a significant effort to pull the ad at that late date.
Given McCain’s legendary temper and his tendency be very forcefull when somebody gets in his way, that’s hardly a very persuasive effort on his part, don’t you think?
It seems to me that he’s trying to have it both ways. He get’s the bump among the base when the ad runs, and he gets credit among the independents for saying he didn’t want it to run.
Well I guess I was hoping for some actual truth and honesty in the campaign amongst the nominees. Well I will quit holding my breath, they are all now showing their true colors and as time goes on, I may or may not flip flop like a typical politician!
Here’s the deal. McCain said he wouldn’t mind staying in Iraq for “100 years” and he said it many times in a variety of settings. He only added his little caveat about “taking no casualties” (which shows how divorced from reality he is on Iraq) when he finally was pressed to explain his stupid, and repeated, remarks. Let’s ignore for a moment the fact that Germany, Japan, and Korea all accepted American troops exlicitly to protect them from Soviet and Chinese aggression during the Cold War, AND the fact that there was never an active insurgency against the US troops in those countries.
McCain’s position is just ridiculous on its face. Our troops are being actively attacked on a daily basis in Iraq, and the reason that’s true is quite simply because they are there. No one is threatening Iraq militarily, and the current US-blessed government is quite friendly with Iran, so we are not protecting them from anyone. They have nothing to fear from anyone but our NATO ally Turkey. If we want to help Iraq, we should withdraw the hated Occupation troops and tell Turkey to stay the fuck out.
And until then we’ll keep shoving his “100 years” down his throat at least as long as Republicans keep on tarring Barack Obama for what someone else said. Seriously. Right down his fucking throat.
Yes pull the troops out! 100%! If Hillary gets elected she has promised 100% troop withdrawal within 60 days. Since Russia is no longer a threat, pull troops out of Germany, Japan and Korea. Bring them home, ALL OF THEM! We need to butt out of other countries business and concentrate on the American soil we no longer protect ourselves.
I do feel a little sorry for that old, wrinkly grumpy, clueless asshole.
Ok now I am confused, I watched the video and read a million stories, both left and right leaning sites and all agree this is the actual FULL quote:
Here’s McCain’s full quote, in context, from back in January:
Questioner: President Bush has talked about our staying in Iraq for fifty years…
McCain: Maybe a hundred. Make it one hundred. We’ve been in South Korea, we’ve been in Japan for sixty years. We’ve been in South Korea for fifty years or so. That’d be fine with me as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed. Then it’s fine with me. I would hope it would be fine with you if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where Al Qaeda is training, recruiting, equipping and motivating people every single day.
So was that added after the fact or was it really in that ORIGINAL question? I mean even left leaning sites are saying he explained it and that Obama needs to back down from using just the “100 year war” part as people will realize he is misleading…will this hurt Obama? He has enough on his plate with Wright messing things up and having to denounce Wright.
Keeping troops in Iraq without suffering casualties is impossible. Iraq is not Germany or Japan. It is an Islamic nation. We are, for all intents and purposes, infidels. It is disingenuous, if not dishonest, for McCain to make the comparison betwee Iraq and the other nations where we have made longterm commitments. If McCain doesn’t recognize the difference, God help us if he becomes Commander-in-Chief.
“Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.”
When you precisely understand the meaning of this old quote you begin to understand that George Bush, John McCain, and the Republicans have no idea about the threat we face.
Unlike the conditions in Germany, Japan or South Korea today, American troops in Iraq will always be under fire in a free fire zone. Our current Republican leadership does not understand what the culture is like in the Middle East. They have no idea why today’s Muslims feel they have to retake Europe. They are “honor bound” to take that land back. They will always try to kill American forces whom they’ll see as “occupiers” or “invading armies.”
Staying in Iraq only hurts long-term national security of the United States.
The long and the short of it is that Bush and the Republicans are willing to continue a failed war policy so they can keep Republicans in power. They will and do use, fear mongering and lying about war and the progress of the war, or lack of it to retain power. Hell, they don’t even have the honesty to admit we are in a recession, let alone that they cannot win the War on Terror or the Iraq War as they are presently conducting operations.
Well, no sense in getting all mad about it any more. Barak Obama will become the president. The Democrats will retain rule in congress and quite possibly have a filibuster proof majority in the Senate. Which would remove the final obstructionism ploy the Republicans have.
“Don’t stop thinking about tomorrow,
Republicans areyesterday’s gone.”@8 Yep, I agree, they should keep on taxing the shit out of wages until no one is working or producing anything anymore. As a member of the Owner Class, I certainly enjoy my tax privileges. The system rewards me for speculating on stocks instead of working. So I don’t work! I’ll never work or produce anything again. Now that I’m completely useless and produce absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever, I’m finally making real money and get a discount on my taxes to boot! Everyone should be an Owner. No one should work or produce anything. You will be punished for working!