McCain's Confusion About The Economy

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Registered: 09-08-2008
McCain's Confusion About The Economy
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Tue, 09-23-2008 - 12:33am

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0808/McCains_slips_and_Reagans.html?showall

August 27, 2008

Categories: John McCain

McCain's slips, and Reagan's

With Democrats on the precipice of raising the age issue against John McCain, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont seemed to cross the line completely, then immediately backtrack, my colleague Ken Vogel reports.

Leahy told Vogel yesterday the media has given McCain a free pass on flubs including mixing up Middle East geography, Shiite and Sunni Muslims, and referring to Russia's relationship Czechoslovakia — a country that hasn't existed for 15 years.

"It was the same way with Ronald Reagan in the last few years he was president," Leahy said, referring to the belief that Reagan experienced early signs of Alzheimer's disease late in his presidency.

The press "let Ronald Regan get away with" slips, Leahy said, though he denied he was suggesting that McCain was experiencing mental decline.

"No, I'm just saying he gets a free ride," Leahy said.

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Registered: 09-08-2008
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 12:40am

AND THE WAR.....

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/07/mccains_confusion_on_iraq.html

July 24, 2008

McCain's Confusion On Iraq

By Steve Chapman

If there is any fixed position in John McCain's policy agenda, it's that we must never, ever, set a timetable for leaving Iraq. He regularly flogs Barack Obama for proposing to withdraw by the summer of 2010. So it was a surprise to hear him say Monday, when asked if our troops might depart in the next two years, "Oh, I think they could be largely withdrawn, as I've said."

I guess that makes it unanimous. This week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he's amenable to bidding the U.S. goodbye on Obama's schedule. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown indicated his forces will also be heading home soon.

Even President Bush has now come around to establishing a "time horizon" for "the further reduction of U.S. combat forces from Iraq." In other words: "We're going to leave, but it's none of your business when."

Despite creeping toward withdrawal himself, McCain continues to lambaste Obama for setting a timetable. But if the current policy is the stunning success depicted by McCain, it should be eminently practical to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis by the middle of 2010. If it is impossible to do that, more than seven years after the occupation began, how can McCain say the existing strategy is working?

The Arizona senator sounded frustrated this week, insisting that Obama was "completely wrong" in opposing the Bush administration's escalation of the war in January 2007. "The fact is, if we had done what Sen. Obama wanted to do, we would have lost," he declared. "And we would have faced a wider war. And we would have had greater problems in Afghanistan and the entire region."

What McCain omits is that if he himself had been right all the times before 2007 that he said things were going fine, no surge would have been needed. He's like a weatherman who forecasts clear skies every day and, when the rain finally lets up after a week, expects a standing ovation for his accuracy.

If we had done what Obama wanted to do back in 2002, we would not have lost -- because we would not have invaded Iraq to start with. We would not have suffered 4,100 dead and 30,000 wounded or burned through hundreds of billions of dollars.

We also would not have diverted ourselves from the correct focus of the war on terrorism. "Greater problems in Afghanistan and the entire region"? Apparently McCain hasn't noticed that we got those in spite of the surge, or more likely because of it.

The troop escalation has not been the complete failure Obama suggested it would be, but it has fallen far short of the triumph claimed by Republicans. The level of violence, though down from the very worst months of the war, remains at levels comparable to 2005 -- which were considered awful at the time.

Iraqi civilians died at a higher rate in the first four months of this year than in the same period of 2005. The number of attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces is about the same. Here is McCain's definition of success: returning to a pace of bloodshed that was once regarded as intolerable.

Even the progress made in the last 18 months is only partly attributable to the additional American forces. Equally important was the decision of Sunni militias to turn against al-Qaida in Iraq. McCain insists this shift was only made possible by the surge -- when, in fact, it happened several months before. Does he not know what really happened? Or does he not care?

Also contributing to the decline in sectarian violence was that by 2007, the sectarian violence had already achieved its main goal: driving Sunnis out of Shiite neighborhoods and vice versa. Of the 5 million Iraqis who fled their homes in the last five years, only 30,000 have returned.

The refugee crisis is just one of the results of a war that McCain has supported all along. The surge didn't provide a remedy to that or the many other afflictions that plague Iraq. For good or ill, though, we have probably achieved about all we can achieve with the means available.

That's obvious to most Americans and most Iraqis. Once in a while, the realization even dawns on John McCain. But he lies down until it passes

schapman@tribune.com

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Registered: 09-21-2008
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 12:56am
McCain '08
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Registered: 08-25-2008
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 7:23am

This is the same Patrick Leahy, also known as "Leaky Leahy" who was thrown off the Senate Intelligence Committee because he used to leak secret materials to the media for his own benefit, right?


What a non-partisan source...

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-23-2008
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 8:19am

I've said all along that McCain strikes me as not very smart. I don't mean that ugly, as we say in the South, but c'mon. He graduated very close to the BOTTOM of his class - 5th from the bottom I think. Really?!? Coupled with his VP pick Palin who bounced around to several different colleges before she could get her degree from somewhere, you get a suspicious ticket, to say the least. Personally, I want someone SMARTER than me running the country! It astounds me that some people want "just a regular" guy/gal in the white house. NOOOOO!!! That's ridiculous. If you run a major corporation, you're not going to hire some average Joe/Jane off the street. You want an intelligent person who will be able to really think about problems and lead your company in the right direction. Who cares if they are called an elitist because they WORKED THEIR WAY UP FROM POVERTY TO HARVARD LAW (top 1% btw). I mean if that is not the American dream - I don't know what is!!!

I do respect the fact that McCain was in the military and fought for our country. I admire him for that as I admire all our fine men and women in uniform who have fought and died for my freedom. However, while his sacrifice to our country may make him more likeable or appear more patriotic - it does not make him any smarter.

Anyway, my point. McCain is an average Joe of lower than optimal intelligence who has cruised through life on little more than his family name. Sound familiar (cough - George Bush - cough). We see what one such fine gentleman has done to this exceptional country. How many of us are better off than we were 8 years ago??? Has our standing in the international community improved? Why are we quagmired in an unnecessary war?

Open your eyes America. The thought of another of these fools in the white house terrifies me. If you have some sense it should terrify you too!!!

Let me just add that I am not against all republicans. If the party had selected a intelligent contender and that contender had selected a non joke of a VP running mate (made even more of a bigger deal b/c McCain practically has a foot in the grave) then I wouldn't feel so terrified of the possible consequences. I love my country and I have watched in horror at the story that has unfolded over the past 8 years. Even one more year of this ridiculousness is too much! Wake up.





~Ashley~




pregnancy week by week







~Ashley~

Lilypie 1st Birthday Ticker

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-15-2008
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 11:22am
<<This is the same Patrick Leahy, also known as "Leaky Leahy" who was thrown off the Senate Intelligence Committee because he used to leak secret materials to the media for his own benefit, right?

What a non-partisan source...>>


so by youre description he was a republic source?


ahhh i'm just kidding. i couldnt resist!


iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 8:40pm
You are equating class rank with intelligence.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-16-2008
Tue, 09-23-2008 - 8:53pm

"Coupled with his VP pick Palin who bounced around to several different colleges before she could get her degree from somewhere,"


It took me 2 colleges and 4 years to graduate with my two year RN degree.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-08-2008
Wed, 09-24-2008 - 12:13am

((Even one more year of this ridiculousness is too much! ((

This is so true. A few more months is enough already.

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-07-2007
Wed, 09-24-2008 - 12:35am

Personally, I want someone SMARTER than me running the country! It astounds me that some people want "just a regular" guy/gal in the white house. NOOOOO!!! That's ridiculous. If you run a major corporation, you're not going to hire some average Joe/Jane off the street. You want an intelligent person who will be able to really think about problems and lead your company in the right direction. Who cares if they are called an elitist because they WORKED THEIR WAY UP FROM POVERTY TO HARVARD LAW (top 1% btw). I mean if that is not the American dream - I don't know what is!!!


Amen, sister!

 

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-08-2008
Wed, 09-24-2008 - 2:24am

((he used to leak secret materials to the media for his own benefit,))

Leaking secret materials and making-up material are totally different activities. The information about McCain wasn't a secret and it wasn't made-up, so it's worth paying attention to it.