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Stupid

I don’t understand how so many supposedly liberal folks turn a blind eye to John McCain’s hard right history – the guy advocates increasing the amount of soldiers in Iraq and has given more than lip service to attacking Syria and Iran. And the media? The supposedly liberal media loves itself some John McCain.

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10 Responses to “Stupid”

  1. nudnik says:

    hard right history – the guy advocates increasing the amount of soldiers in Iraq

    As have John Kerry and John Edwards, among many others. They are also part of the “hard right”?

  2. Quaker in a Basement says:

    As have John Kerry and John Edwards,

    Nope.

    Here’s Kerry:

    Let me be clear: This is not a proposal to increase U.S. forces in Iraq. But our experience there is instructive. Our ground forces are stretched. The Army recently began calling back retirees ranging in age from their mid-40s to late 60s. The Guard and Reserve are stressed, too. The chief of the Army Reserve warns that his troops are “rapidly degenerating into a broken force” and at this rate couldn’t meet future missions.

    Here’s Edwards:

    We’ve reached the point where the large number of our troops in Iraq hurts, not helps, our goals. Therefore, early next year, after the Iraqi elections, when a new government has been created, we should begin redeployment of a significant number of troops out of Iraq.

    That is all.

  3. Dugger says:

    Kerry Calls for More Troops in Iraq, Bolstering U.S. Military
    May 28 (Bloomberg) — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry called for 40,000 more U.S. troops in Iraq, saying he would “modernize our military to match its new missions” in the war on terror and homeland security.

    First Google.

    Dugger

  4. Quaker in a Basement says:

    If you follow my first link, you’ll see that Sen. Kerry was making good on a promise he made during the Presidential campaign–the subject of the speech you cite. The quote I showed you was what Kerry said about his bill (the Strengthening America’s Armed Forces and Military Family Bill of Rights Act) to increase the size of the Army and Marine Corps and to increase benefits to military families.

    The Senate GOP referred the bill to the Finance committee where it remains to this day.

  5. Quaker in a Basement says:

    First Google.

    Good advice. Maybe you should take it.

    Did you read the “update” to that story?

    May 28 (Bloomberg) — Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry called for increasing the U.S. military by 40,000 troops, probably for a decade, in order “to match its new missions” in the war on terror and homeland security.

    See what they did? They took “More Troops in Iraq” out of the headline and changed it to “More Troops to Bolster the U.S. Military”.

    I wonder why they did that.

  6. Dugger says:

    I think you are probably right. This later on:

    MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe that we should withdraw American troops from Iraq?

    SEN. KERRY: No.

    MR. RUSSERT: Do you believe we should put more American troops in Iraq?

    SEN. KERRY: No.

    Dugger

  7. Quaker in a Basement says:

    Whatever Kerry’s failings were WRT Iraq, recommending more troops wasn’t one of them. Nudnik’s memory was foolin’ him.

  8. Ryland says:

    I think liberals like McCain because A) he was on the receiving end of the Republican attack machine during the presidential campaign, B) he’s a veteran, and liberals have really attached themselves to the “honoring the troops” meme to counteract conservative rhetoric that liberals aren’t patriotic, and C) he’s one of the very few Republicans who have spoken out against the administration (even before Bush’s tailspin started and lots of Republicans started distancing themselves from him). But you’re right, it’s a mistake for liberals to think McCain is at all on their side. He’s carried way too much water for the administration, even after they smeared him with being crazy because of post-traumatic stress from being a POW. McCain is relatively moderate compared to his frothing Republican colleagues, but only relatively.

  9. d-p-u says:

    I don t understand how so many supposedly liberal folks turn a blind eye to John McCain s hard right history…

    Because he’s funny without having that dumb smirk that Bush exhibits. He’s also intelligent, and does well on The Daily Show.

    Just because the guy is right-wing is no reason to pass over his positive qualities. I wouldn’t mind having dinner with him myself. That doesn’t mean I’d agree with his politics, and it certainly doesn’t mean that Beatty is either.

  10. Ryland says:

    Oh, and I think they like him because he’s against torture, but I think that’s clearly because of his own experiences in Vietnam. Maybe if more Republicans had ever been on the receiving end of some torture, more of them would be against it in our foreign policy.