McCain is a PIG!

[MadisonProgressive]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3395977/

[Nickster]

1. Geez, who still thinks McCain is a good guy??

SCHIEFFER: President Bush accused his critics of rewriting history last week.

Sen. McCAIN: Yeah.

SCHIEFFER: And in--he said in doing so, the criticisms they were making of his war policy was endangering our troops in Iraq. Do you believe it is unpatriotic to criticize the Iraq policy?

Sen. McCAIN: No, I think it's a very legitimate aspect of American life to criticize and to disagree and to debate. But I want to say I think it's a lie to say that the president lied to the American people. I sat on the Robb-Silverman Commission. I saw many, many analysts that came before that committee. I asked every one of them--I said, `Did--were you ever pressured politically or any other way to change your analysis of the situation as you saw?' Every one of them said no. Now was there a colossal intelligence failure? Of course, there was. Is there still a lot of things that need to be done to improve that? Are we winning the war on terror? I think it depends on your parameters. But to assert that the president intentionally lied to the American people is just wrong. And could I finally say, every intelligence agency in the world, including the Russian, including the French, including the Israeli, all had--reached the same conclusion, and that was that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. So I think open, honest disagreement, more discussion, more debate, the more facts that come out, the better off we are, but I would not accept the premise the president lied.

[rkc3]

3. I don't understand how a guy who was a POW for five years

isn't in the streets screaming at the top of his lungs against the admin's position on torture.

I remember Rush once saying he thought McCain exaggerated his time as a POW for political points - makes you wonder about his silence (I know he's not silent, but he should be on top of a building with a loudspeaker).

[Tarc]

6. He has been vocal about the torture thing

McCain is quite vocal on the torture thing, in fact. But he's always been a supporter of the war itself, and highly critical of the shoddly mismanagement of the post-war occupation.

The position that him and Chuck Hagel and a few others have stakes of is really the extent of the limb that any GOP member is gonig to take. It is a rare breed that has enough balls to bite the hand that feeds if the cause is just enough. Jim Jeffords was one of those, but we're unlikely to see another.

[rkc3]

19. McCain seems to be very polite when discussing the torture issue.

He needs to put it in perspective of the repubs moral values. Put it in perspective of bush's "high moral ground."

A "Christian" nation should not even be discussing this. if they are, things are not what they seem.

[still_one]

8. here is what the washington post says about it

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...

[necso]

28. This is a matter of definitions --

and taking advantage of one or the other (or multiple, by attaching them to different things) when it suits your ends.

To me, to lie is: to communicate that which is not true; to lead others to believe, or in other ways make them believe, that which is not true; to create the appearance of truth as cover for that which is not; or to otherwise deceive others -- intentionally or not.

On the other hand, the definition implicitly being used (being taken advantage of) by defenders of this regime (when they say w&co are not liars) would require that the liar be deliberate and intentional in his deceptions. But this is nonsense, as it's only the truth that matters, not one's careless habits -- for it's truth, not fiction, that drives mainstream reality -- if not so the minds of fools. Moreover, such a definition has a ready escape built into it; the liar need only say that his lying was unintentional, that "he didn't know that he wasn't telling the truth".

And this essentially frees people from the responsibility of learning the truth*, giving rise to a class (and culture) of bullshitters, who care nothing for truth, and who are free to cherry-pick any claims (or make up claims for that matter) that suit their ends, without engaging in any real scrutiny of these foundational elements (although, perhaps, while creating and maintaining the appearance of such scrutiny).

And this is no basis on which a society can function, much less build upon.

Rather, to function as a society (and most certainly as a reason-based, informed, effective, modern, technological society), people must scrupulously verify that which they would hold to be true. And this is especially true if they would pass on this "information" to others as truth... And this is most especially true of those in leadership positions and those in whom trust is placed.

Moreover, if the matter at hand is one of great importance, then the greatest possible scrutiny must be applied to any relevant "information", no matter how unpleasant the results of this scrutiny may turn out to be. And one must always be suspicious of any "information" that one wishes to believe, because one will be tempted not to vet it properly -- and because it takes no more than a rotten keystone to endanger the whole structure of "knowledge"-- and everything based upon it.

But by either definition, we were lied into this war. It's just that proving deliberate deception is difficult when dealing with practiced and proficient liars.

And Senator McCain is using one definition (deliberate deception) to protect the administration, while at the same time effectively using another (telling an untruth, deliberately or not) to attack its critics.

Shame, Senator, shame.

...

One of the most important things in life is to never suspend disbelief -- particularly when others are trying hard to make you do so -- for they will often have their own advantage (and your ruthless exploitation) in mind.

In all things, let the "buyer" beware.

...

*: Indeed, if it runs counter to their ends, exposing the truth can be disadvantageous to bullshitters -- and therefore learning it entails some risk, should exposure follow -- and the pursuit of truth itself becomes potentially disadvantageous and something generally to be avoided.)

[Child_Of_Isis]

2. Busted!

Right wing talking point:

Did--were you ever pressured politically or any other way to change your analysis of the situation as you saw?' Every one of them said no. Now was there a colossal intelligence failure? Of course, there was.

And could I finally say, every intelligence agency in the world, including the Russian, including the French, including the Israeli, all had--reached the same conclusion, and that was that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction.

[jaxx]

4. This did it for me. I don't trust him.

[EVDebs]

7. Intel failure goes hand in hand with support for Bush

"Now was there a colossal intelligence failure? Of course, there was."

Yes, those in power ignored or kept out intell the administration didn't want !

[catmother]

25. what's that look on McCain's face. is he having an orgasm? n/t

[robbedvoter]

5. Nawww! kerry's potential VP? You must be imagining things...

:sarcasm:

[LynneSin]

9. Wow, I think alot of the Kerry/McCain 04 folks should hang their heads....

in shame.

I kept seeing that crap posted and I kept telling folks this guy is a republican through and through. He's just better at wearing his sheep clothing to disguise who he is

[Jon8503]

10. I lost my respect for this guy after he stood by Bush after Bush

slimed McCain and his wife. How could you ever have any self-respect to support someone who said the things they did about him and his family.
Also, I think the dems should go after him now as it looks like he could be a candidate for Pres in 08.

If he is going to stand by Bush and say he did not mislead, then he is fair game for a response from the Democrats now.

[Jon8503]

17. And another thing, how in the hell could someone like McCain

or any veteran have respect for this administration. You have Bush who didn't even attend his guard meetings and went AWOL. You have his VP who got deferment after deferment to keep from going to the military. Somebody help me with that one. McCain must be suffering from something to have anything to do with these people.

[TomClash]

11. A guest at the Hanoi Hilton for 5 1/2 years and . . .

. . . he gets punked by the likes of Bush. Go figure.

[tsuki]

12. I lost respect for him during the Savings & Loan scandals. He

was right in the middle.

[Finder]

13. Well he was one of the original PNACers...

which many do not realize. Bush is not the one who lied purposely.

[Nimrod2005]

14. He is a pig and the dumb pig still thinks it is 1999

His act is way way over ---- He is one big asshole IMHO.

[Disturbed]

16. John McCain, Hypocrite

John McCain, Hypocrite
by Doug Ireland

John McCain, the media's darling, has found a clever way around his own campaign finance reform law to take big corporate bucks in furtherance of his political ambitions while carrying water for the corporate mammoth providing the dough. But the national press is ignoring the story.


The Associated Press first ran the story of John McCain's odorous but lucrative Senatorial service to the communications giant Cablevision on the afternoon of March 7. But, while some local papers in McCain's home state (like the East Valley Tribune) have run the story, nothing has as yet made it into the print editions of the New York Times, the L.A. Times, the Washington Post, or any of the half-dozen other big city dailies I checked (although, if one searches the hundreds of AP stories available on the Post's website on its Politics page by clicking on "Latest Wire Reports," one can find it there--but how many readers would bother to do that?) One notable exception: the Kansas City Star.


Here's what the AP's investigation found:


McCain repeatedly intervened on behalf of a policy Cablevision favored -- one which "congressional and private studies conclude could make cable more expensive" -- while his chief political adviser, Rick Davis (who's masterminding McCain's probable '08 presidential rerun) solicited $200,000 in contributions from Cablevision to an institute that promotes McCain and pays Davis a $110,000 annual salary.


The Reform Institute was set up to promote McCain and his issues--especially campaign finance reform, embodied in the famous McCain-Feingold law. This Institute is "a tax-exempt group that touts McCain's views and has showcased him at events since his unsuccessful 2000 presidential campaign," and it "often uses the senator's name in press releases and fund-raising letters and includes him at press conferences," the AP says. And, of course, it provides a cushy sinecure with no heavy lifting for McCain's main man, Davis, as he prepares the pontificating Senator's next presidential run. Cablevision's contributions account for a whopping 15% of the Institute's budget.


http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0309-35.htm

[newscott]

15. McCain keeps shitting on his own damn self

with this kind of appearance.

Too bad, you're going down with the rest of the Johnny!

[neoteric lefty]

18. McCain is lying

Many foreign intelligence agencies agreed that he had WMD in the past but were skeptical that he still had them at all or an infrastructure to produce them. They wanted inspectors to go in and do their job. Only a few countries felt he was an immediate threat. To say that everyone felt he had WMD's is a gross simplification and generalization.

I'm sorry, but saying that no one said Saddam wasn't a threat is like a four-year-old with his fingers in his ears running around like a menace, while others are telling him what he is doing is wrong. Just because you didn't hear them, doesn't mean no one was telling him that he was wrong.

[Nimrod2005]

20. Someone please tell McCain that the wall has been torn down already

He still thinks it is 1984!!! with his views.

[IChing]

21. Glenn Reynolds the blooger on this piece is known as the "warblooger"

for his push to go to war.

Glenn Reynolds, a rightwing commentator who said that "an armed society is a polite society" I'm sure that reasoning is working really well in western pakistan where everyone is armed and "so polite".

He is a neocon asswipe for the administration

[jenndar]

26. And he's blogging to whom?

The 4.5% or whatever of Americans who still support the war?

What a huge misstep for McCain. I hope the independents and the dems who are still in the dark about him are paying attention.

[TexasLawyer]

27. I'm going to e-mail him enlistment papers

If he can't go, then I'm sure he can send one of his children.

http://usmilitary.about.com/library/pdf/enlistment.pdf

DU activists should all have a supply of these on hand, and a link at the ready. It adds lots of flavor to any argument over the war.

[No Exit]

33. Excellent idea. And if the chickenhawks won't enlist,

let's start a special "chickenhawk draft" for them only!

Can't wait to see Commandant Bill Kristol in his sexy desert fatigues.

[shantipriya]

22. McCain

He is an unprincipled,opportunistic SOB!!!

[apnu]

23. He's not a pig...

... Rove has him by the balls -- he's gotta get out there and spin the bullshit line 'don't call the president a liar' and wag his finger if he ever wants to be invited to the GOP 'big boys' table again.



I think people hold a candle up for McCain because he's the last hope of a sane GOP. Really, he's bought and paid for by Rove, and I pity him. I've got as much respect for McCain as I have for that Uncle Tom Powell.

[DemGirl7]

24. that's not a new...

McCain is a true republican pig...He sticks by * no matter how many times * stabs him in the back, kisses up to the Fundies, by going on a hot date with Fatass Falwell a couple of weeks ago, and spits out RW talking points blaming the Democrats...a true republican pig if I ever saw one.

[dusty64]

29. Don't insult pigs

like that. Contrary to popular opinion they are clean and very intelligent and I am pretty sure they would NEVER whore themselves out for political gain.

[AX10]

30. His Presidential ambitions are done with.

[No Exit]

31. John McCain: Proud member of the Keating Five.

He was crooked then, he is crooked now. He is an attention whore. He plays both sides of the fence. In a word, he is despicable.

McCain vs. Cheney: Despicable vs. Despicable.

[OneTwentyoNine]

32. Oh...did we SUDDENLY find those WMD McCain?!?!?

And you have the FUCKING balls to get on TV and trash Dems because they NOW question Bush and his motives??

I've said it over and over Bush and Rove must have pictures of McCain naked with em...something.

[Little Star]

34. Fat & Skinny went to town

Whenever I hear the name John McCain all I can think of is his Democratic twin Lieberman. They both stand for NOTHING!

[wishlist]

35. Smearing Dems as liars while denying Cheney ,Libby and Rove lied

Typical Repub strategy is to accuse Dems of the same wrongdoing the Repubs have been caught doing in order to neutralize their wrongdoing as part of damage control.

[lonestarnot]

36. Oh Man... Did you ever get that right! Warmonger #3

[OzarkDem]

37. He must think R's can carry the next election on their own

His imitation of Newt Gingrich isn't going to sell with moderate voters.

I think this confirms the theory that the RNC is trying to be sold to the public as Bush's successor, hence his silly attacks to divert attention from RNC / Bush scandals. They're really out of touch with reality.

[Dr Fate]

38. Say it aint so John- what about the "Straight Talk?"

What a faker.

[AzDar]

39. John McCain is nothing but a fi' dolla' 'ho.... eom