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Via Reuters:
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain sought on Monday to distance himself from President George W. Bush's handling of the Iraq war, telling veterans on Memorial Day he was "sick at heart" at mistakes made in the conflict now in its sixth year.
"As we all know, the American people have grown sick and tired of the war in Iraq," McCain told hundreds of veterans and their families gathered for a ceremony honoring U.S. service members killed in conflicts.
"I understand that, of course. I, too, have been made sick at heart by the many mistakes made by civilian and military commanders and the terrible price we have paid for them," he added. [Emphasis mine]
McCain is so sick of the war that he wants to bring the troops home by 2013. But earlier this year, he was so tickled by the alleged success of "the surge" that he recommended that we stay in Iraq for another 100 years, n'est-ce pas? Is John McCain sick of the war or is he sick of negative poll numbers?
McCain is so sick of the war that he treats its veterans like redheaded stepchildren, consistently voting against improving their benefits. Last week, he chose to attend fundraisers in California rather than vote on the G.I. Bill of 2008. Is this the behavior of a man devastated by the pain and suffering of our servicewomen and men?
Because even though John McCain receives full disability benefits from the Navy, had (and still has) the best hospital care taxpayer money can buy, and bagged a sugar momma who would pay his way for the rest of his natural life (assuming he lives up to the terms of the prenuptial agreement), he doesn't seem to believe that any other soldier should be quite so lucky as he.
Today's platitude-drizzled address in Arizona, with Lindsey Graham (R-McCain Remora) at his side, applauding at every pause like a wind-up monkey that lost its cymbals, is proof that McCain doesn't seem (or want) to believe that any of his prior stated positions can come back to haunt him, flip-flopping so often that a Google search for "John McCain + flip flop" returns 637,000 results. And it's only May 26th.
I seriously doubt that John McCain is sick at heart over the Iraq War, but I do know there's something definitely wrong in his head.
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jus cogens!
John McCain is not actually “sick at heart” as, like a soul, he does not have one. This is amply illustrated by his comments on the recently passed GI bill.
Moyers on the rerun episode of TDS. Hopefully new ones begin again tomorrow night.
just cogens?
Watertiger!
mcsick.
thank you, watertiger.
lhp posted on it this weekend.
hell no, mcsame has to go
Hey Suz!
Evening wt
I suppose it’s not impossible to surmise that McCain’s own pain was and is so prominent in him that no one else’s matters a whit.
McThuselah trying to “distance himself from the” pretzelnit. Literally:
thanks - i was wondering if he was gonna be reruns or not tonight
the one that the “Deciderwer” is promising to vetoe?
this needs to be highlighted over and over again during the campaign. The military surely will be aware of who is voting to help them. If not, it’s our job to make sure they do.
McCain has nothing new to offer the GWOT except more money and more blood. His heart is as black as Dick Cheney’s - and that is dark black.
That would be the one. They are indeed two soulless peas in a shriveled and dessicated pod.
Usually is on holiday mondays. They seem to have a habit of scheduling their weeks off that way—funny that.
One again, they do not have hearts. Those were replaced with mechanical devices years ago when they joined the Legions of the Damned.
and iirc, mcsame was the one pushing for the ’surge’. trying to remember where i read that it was his suggestion - not the generals…
McCain should be challenged to enumerate those mistakes that he thinks led us to this quagmire, and what he intends to do about them. (IMHO, the quagmired should not strive for victory but for survival.)
McCain figures the military is volunteers, so
wehe shouldn’t have to pay for their benefits. He didn’t have to do five or six tours in a combat zone because they wouldn’t let him out, and do it with not nearly enough rest between tours. Or do it with injuries that ought to get him out on medical. Or go back until you’re either dead or suicidal.It seems to be the GOP method: make sure those at the top get all the benefits, and those at the bottom don’t even get what was promised to them.
There is a post over on kos about the number of suicides of veterans… 1,000/month…. WHILE under medical care through the VA…
McCain’s version of the GI Bill is that the person serving needs to complete 12 years of service….. Now you have a guy…. could do a couple of tours and comes back so injured that he receives a medical discharge BUT because he didn’t serve the whole 12 years….. he is SOL but he gave a leg and maybe some other body parts but what the hey….. luck of the draw….
OT: Per the BBC:
Well, duh! So, exactly who nuclearized the Middle East? And how responsible was that? Or are we down to: “Good is when I get an advantage on you, and evil is when you get an advantage on me”?
In case we need to go back to documenting the McSame twins’ atrocities toward the troops, here are a couple of good posts. Here and here and here.
I have noticed that general principle operating in many elements of society, government (certainly) and other areas of our experience here. I have referred to that as the “ripple down” effect of having criminals in charge of our highest office. It really IS a take over phenomenon occurring everywhere and at all levels of this country now. I don’t know how any one administration is going to be able to “fix it”. This will take the concentrated and financed energy of many generations to “repair”.
dugg
Watertiger, thank you for your post and graphic. This is what we should be remembering on Memorial Day, that people die for a cause. It had better be worth it.
Yay, Jimmy Carter.
(((Jimmy)))
fair.
Who’s Next? A classic.
Actually the GOP method is to give all the benefits to those at the top and piss on those at the bottom.
“The Two Faces of McCain.” Dumb and Dumber?
The GI bill after World War 2 is credited with lifting a whole generation of people into a higher standard of living, making them more productive and richer workers.
Just what does McCain have against prosperity?
everything.
lol, u say’n alabama doesn’t have suit case nukes?
It upsets the feudal balance the GOP is trying to establish. Can’t have those uppity peasants thinking that they have rights or should actually share in any of life’s goodies.
What that did was help create a middle class. That’s an anathema to the current oligarchs. So now they have to fight anything that helps level the playing field, anything at all, even though this will help only a small number of GIs compared to what happened after WWII.
B*stards.
he’s for it - as long as he is the one who is prosperous
just accept jesus into your…
Does McCain think of himself as a Patrician because his dad and Granddad were Admirals? Does McCain think by opposing Webb’s G.I bill he can stop the hordes of Plebes from moving up to his Elitist neighborhoods?
…glove compartment.
Least I can do.
My dad was a WWII veteran who took full advantage of the G.I. Bill when he returned from the ETO. I recommend that people check out the IAVA’s website, www.iava.org, if they haven’t already.
McCain and Bush should have thought of that before they let their Elite class inbreed.
McCain may be a McAsshole.
(or we should bow down and give him a GI Bill.)
Some did a study on the WWII GI Bill and determined that there was a ROI (return on investment) of $7.00 for every $1.00 spent….. increased revenue, increase in sciences, medicine, engineering and education…..
99% of my profs took advantage of the GI Bill. Which is illustrative of why it is not in the GOP’s interest to fund education.
As one of my more famous homeboys once observed, “There’ll be pie in the sky bye and bye. It’s a lie, It’s a lie.”
I got mine screw the next guy with a picture of McCain voting against the Webb G.I bill and then a list of all the benefits he scored.
Yes.
lmao, somewhere bitch’n camero fits in there :)
since the Bushies are trying to do away with science and education, then it all follows, doesn’t it?
’68’s or ’69’s only.
I honor all the veteran FirePups here on this Memorial Day. My father was a tailgunner on a B17, Eighth Air Force, and my father-in-law a brave China-Burma (Hump) pilot (who for, God’s sake, still flies at 86). Hip, hip hooray for military service.
yeah, i jest dove 4 the pie ;)
well, i have to say. I’m partial to both years ;)
GI Bill lifted both of my parent’s and their siblings from poverty to the professional class. My mother’s family were real live Ozark hillbillies and my grandfather dropped out of the 6th grade. My mother’s youngest brother got a Ph.D in electrical engineering from CalTech and retired from Hughes Aircraft as a senior vice-president in charge of satellite telecommunications. Along the way he led the team that designed the instrumentation for the Surveyor soft lander.
Got a link that study could give us all ammo for the fight on this bill I’m sure Bush is promising each of the Blue Dogs 30 pieces of silver if they change their votes.
My sister is digging through her papers to find a paper about how African Americans got less G.I benefits and thus were left behind after WW 2 compared to other groups.
I don’t doubt that. All my GI Bill profs were white. They did instill jus cogens tho.
The GI Bill really was one of the most daring and successful experiments in social engineering ever attempted. The results are absolutely mind boggling. Almost our entire modern economy is a by product.
Yep Kings appointed by God all got deposed once the plebes got education about science.
My Blue Dog rep had better not change his vote.
Sigh.
I swear, I spend more in phone calls to the new Dem congressman than i ever did with Crooked Ney.
I’ve never seen a more profound love for learning and humanitarianism yet.
jus cogens ?
It was an investment that has paid off I don’t know how many times over, in so many ways.
My father (marine & survived Tarawa) became a Wildlife Biologist, worked for the US Forest Service specialized in the Big Horn Sheep, wrote books about them, taught in Community College….. Mom… (Vet too) received her masters in Education and taught elementary school. They then passed it on to their two kids….. who passed it on the FIVE grandchildren… ROI
My grandfather participated in the Flint MI sitdown strike and the whole family went from share croppers to union auto workers to professionals in two generation’s….
jus cogens!
Just imagine where our economy could be in 10 years if we are as more more generous with the New Webb G.I bill today.
Innate and inalienable rights per LHP. A new motto at the Lake.
As a general rule of thumb in public policy when you give money to the poor and working classes there is a huge multiplier effect. When you give it to the rich, you might as well just burn it.
ding ding ding!
Not quite. The numbers of vets coming out of WWII were hugely more than those coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Never the less, it would be a good thing over the long haul.
Funny how the uber rich see that in reverse.
(also called jus cogens or ius cogens, Latin for “compelling law”) is a fundamental principle of international law which is accepted by the international community of states as a norm from which no derogation is ever permitted.
There is no clear agreement regarding precisely which norms are jus cogens — or indeed how a norm reaches the status of jus cogens — but it is generally accepted that jus cogens includes the prohibition of genocide, piracy, slaving in general (to include slavery as well as the slave trade), torture, and wars of aggression and territorial aggrandizement.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jus_cogens
My Bold
We so have Bush on how many of these? How many instances of breaking these laws are already proven to have happened?
Well things do look rather differently when your head is that far up your ass. As Upton Sinclair observed, “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.”
The Ambassador to Iraq says that “Al Qaida” in Iraq is nearly defeated…and is now a spent force. If true, the only rational for the US remaining in Iraq is done. There is absolutely no provision in the Iraq Authorization Resolution for the US to be involved in a Civil War between different militias. If Iraq cannot defeat the last remaining vestiges of Al Qaida with its 200,000 strong Iraqi National Guard then it’s absurd to present it as any sort of “success” by Petraeus/Bush at all!!!
Indeed, McCain is right…we’ll be there in perpetuity! Because no amount of resources in that Theater could defeat them at the miniscule levels they are at.
But we know the real rationale is to transition this into either participating in a Civil War…or launching attacks on Iran…neither of which is covered in the IAUF Resolution. It would be an utterly unauthorized war…utterly UnConstitutional. The invasion was premised on lies to obtain consent…now they are going to ignore “consent” to initiate a new war.
watertiger, you are devastating! The democratic candidate should hire you to run their ad campaign. Damn you’re good.
Oh Dr. Dick, you are so well read it makes me proud. Sigh, I’ll never be so.
The Ambassador to Iraq says that “Al Qaida” in Iraq is nearly defeated…and is now a spent force. If true, the only rational for the US remaining in Iraq is done.
Do you think Bush is going to declare victory and leave Iraq as November surprise to help McCain?
It seems that the Uber Rich believe money is a zero sum game…..
If the the poor and middle class have more wealth then surely they will have less. The economy and society should raise all boats…..
Hi Chris and everyone.;)
The entire rationale for Chimpy’s DOJ Office of Legal Counsel.
Very nice.
Not that I think even that would help McCain now.
jus cogens!
How do they identify Al Qaida people? I assume they don’t have special uniforms. So….
You just have to start early. I was reading at least 5-6 adult level books a week from about 13 on. By the time I was 15 I had read the Bible, the Koran, the Book of Mormon, the Bhagavid Gita, the Upanishads, and a bunch of other scriptural works cover to cover.
i think its one of those ‘if they are brown, they are AQ’ determinations
Dear Margot, Heh! We had a beautiful, quiet day here. With an empty nest now, not much in the party way.
And the EPA, and the FEC and the FCC and HUD, and on and on. . . . .
Right, how could we forget faith.
Crikey! More intimidated than ever.
My guess is They capture people who shoot at them torture them and anyone with a low pain threshold confesses to being al Quieda, unless of course for political reasons Bush wants to find Iranians in Iraq that day.
But given how few confess to being al Quieda or Iranian I’m guessing the Iraqis are very tough mothers.
Pumpkin time. Back to work tomorrow.
G’ Night all.
Jane is upstairs!
Late Late Nite: Goodbye, Sidney Pollack
A quasi-eidetic memory helps as well. I no longer read nearly as much (damned bifocals) and my memory is not what it once was (though I still scare the students). When I was younger I could never read a book more than once since after I read the first page I would remember the whole thing.
I “believe” you beg the question of how many israelis can you find in Irak.
Night RevDeb.
I think in years to come we are going to find that the Iraqis are very tough since we have created an entire generation - if not several - who will hate us.
I’ll never forget the photo op he did in that market in Baghdad. Three soldiers died clearing that market so he could have a photo op. And eighteen Iraqis were murdered the following day, for working in that market when McCain was there. I wonder how sick in heart he is over that.
“Gee, sorry your dad’s dead, but Senator McCain wanted his picture taken in an Iraqi market.”
For McCain there seems to be no recognition that those who serve one tour are potentially facing a war when they are serving. Once they do they are clearly eligible for all the tricks that have been played in this war…Stop-Loss, recall from Reserve Status, lengthened tours, etc.
Many of the people which McCain argues should be eligible for the GI Bill (Vets with several re-ups) never had to fight a war like Iraq, either. Multiple years of service is irrelevant in that regard. And once in a war that single sign up has been perpetual revolving door for those unfortunate enough to be recruited in the last ten years. And where were the Repugs years ago when they had a chance to pass THEIR bill (with substantial majorities and the BUSH behind it) that they assert will retain people. It suddenly emerges this year? Where was McCain’s version of such a bill in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007? Or earlier? Republicans only presented their version in RESPONSE to the one the Democrats have presented. They are using theirs to BLOCK the Democratic Bill. It’s a filibuster…and they have no intention of passing either!
Maybe McCain should consider the real reasons that people aren’t re-upping when they get the chance to leave. It isn’t because they have good GI Bill benefits…it’s because they are disgusted with the War, and the policies of the Pentagon and Administration that McCain hopes to perpetuate.
McCain may not hate Vets…but he certainly doesn’t have any ideas regarding their welfare that deals with what life is like “out there”. He’s been living in his cocoon of wealth for too long to realize the exponential increases of going to college, and affording basic housing. Of course, McCain has stated he DOESN’T want Vets to go to school…he wants them to re-up, re-up, and re-up. That requires them to NOT Obtain the education and skills they seek in the better Universities in this country.
If they get educated who will fight HIS WARS?
I was thinking this…as Petraeus has said that he will make another “evaluation” in September.
But they also would have to justify “staying” at the same time as “declaring Victory”. It’ll mean that they will have to draw down to a level…but then stop…keeping McCain’s “permanent (okay, only 100 years) force” in place to protect al Maliki’s puppet regime from Civil War. They won’t bother to get a new Authorizing Resolution…they’ve got a “treaty” with al Maliki that they haven’t bothered to get signed by the Senate. They’ll just keep saying that they want money and that “Democrats hate the troops”…even though they won’t be fighting al Qaida. It’ll be “terrorists trained in Iran”.
On Memorial Day I remember my dad who was in the pacific in WWII and nearly drowned in the typhoon, Mom’s cousin Trevor whose plane got shot down, Uncle Don whose ship’s sonar pinged what they believed to be the lost Titanic, and my grandfathers who were in WWI, one in France getting shot at and one serving here.
They knew what they were fighting for. But I cry to think of the wasted deaths and the broken human lives that are the result of the lies that got us into this war in Iraq.
Most assuredly! The divide between Officer and Enlisted in the Navy is (or used to be) quite pronounced. But Admiral’s have a special area on ships known as Admiral’s Country”, which was even better than mere “Officer’s Country” from which the motley Enlisted riffraff were forbidden, lest they abscond with the wardroom silver (The Naval Officer’s Manual used to contain that admonition in the 70’s, the wag’s line was, “The Navy, 200 years of tradition unhampered by progress”.
Ashore Admiral’s Housing always consisted of older large stately homes in Norfolk, great houses in beautiful locations in Oahu, they have good bennies. Admirals cruise around in cars with their headlights on in the day and you could get in trouble for failing to salute the car! (if the guy was a prick, I’ve actually seen it happen).
He’s sick at heart that the war my sink his ambition to be president.
And that’s about it.
Anyone causing problems outside of the Shiite areas is “al Qaida in Iraq”…that’s particular true in those areas where we’ve made deals with the Sunni sheikhs to undertake their own security (i.e. Sunni militias). These used to be al Qaida…but they are on our side now…except for the ones that aren’t.
In the Shiite areas they are “minions of Iran”. Of course, it’s hard to sort them out sometimes…as McCain found on his last visit to Iraq.
Hey, maybe McCain needs to go back to Iraq so that he can figure out the difference between al Qaida and “those groups supplied by Iran”. How many
photo-opsvisits has he made before this? He still doesn’t know the distinction between Sunnis and Shiites?? Maybe he needs another refresher for his memory issues?Sounds like great debate fodder. Tackled on live teevee.
Mutterings over the graves of soldiers by Garrison Keillor
My father served in the Pacific before and through the war. Mother followed him up and down the West Coast, working as a telephone operator, waiting for those infrequent leaves. We have a wonderful street photo of them strolling together on a Seattle avenue. Daddy went to college on the GI bill as soon as he retired from the Navy, and he became a teacher.
My husband served in ‘Nam and he went to college on the GI bill. They both got the same amount, $347.00 a month during the school year. In Daddy’s case, the money paid for his tuition & housing & a large family. In my husband’s time, we had to rely on our parents to pay tuition and books, while the GI money paid for our subsidized housing and food. Both Daddy and my husband worked hard during the summers to make money to make ends sorta meet.
That same opportunity should be available to our service men and women, no question about it.