4,000 dead in Iraq. McCain voted for the Iraq war. Keeping us safe, eh?

Talking out of that new orifice, Sen McSame?

I like how their response today is more watered down. Perhaps Obama is even convincing McCain staffers that his approach is better?

Please, God. Let them stay this clueless for just six more months.

And this:

"It would be a wonderful thing if we lived in a world where we don't have enemies

is vaguely reminiscent of the Clinton campaign's rhetoric about "just words".

Please note: I'm not blaming the Clinton campaign for the McCain rhetoric. Merely pointing out that the McCain camp seems to be using a similar tactic to that of Clinton.

Here's hoping it's as effective.

The McBush response:

More War Years!
More War Years!
More War Years!
More War Years!

In this same press release John McCain said...

"Hey um.... where am I? Who are you? Ummmmmm do you remember Lawrence Welk? Who has my mashed bananas? STRAIGHT TALK EXPRESS!!! I hate tax cuts. I love tax cuts. I will talk to hamas. I won't talk to hamas. Do you have my ribbon candy? I will run a clean campaign. NOT SAFE NOT SAFE! Ohhhhhh I poopied myself"

Wow it was so sad.

"Same tired partisan rants from Senator Obama"

Really?!?

As opposed to McCain's untired, bipartisan accusation that Obama is "unfit to serve."

Not to mention, Bush has no problems meeting with North Korea, part of the Bush-named "Axis of Evil", and Reagan met with Iran, and that McCain said in 2006 we need to recognize Hamas.

Liars all.

Nice try changing the subject from his Hamas flipflop to Ahmadinejad.

National security is the issue that lost the last two elections.

Looks like three in a row.

Nice work.

Gulp, gulp, gulp, drink that kool aid.

For some reason this makes me remember that there was a fairly high-up staffer in McCain's campaign who had said he would have to quit if it came down to McCain and Obama, because he wouldn't be part of going negative on Obama. Can't recall his name. Does anyone know his status?

I actually expected more of McCain than terms like "hysterical diatribes" and complaints of "tired, partisan rants" ... immediately before indulging in one. Instead of saying there needs to be a debate, why doesn't he start actually debating some of the point Obama raised?

But ... at least it IS on an important issue.

"What would Senator Obama talk about with such a man?"

Hmmmm... in the right hands, this inconspicuous length of rhetorical rope could be fashioned into a nice little noose.

The more we hear from McCain and Bush, the easier it becomes to unify the Democratic party in November.

Barack Obama's hysterical diatribe

"Old man yells at cloud!

McBush wants four more years of the last eight. He's going against even Colin Powell and Robert Gates. Instead, McBush thinks he can win this thing by hitching his wagon to Mr 28% and stupid talk about 100 years in Iraq.

Good luck with that in Nov.

Huh...Obama engaging in a "hysterical diatribe"? That's about as likely as the Iraq war suddenly ending with no more American military deaths and the Iraqi government getting hold of a boatload of magic democracy pills.

No wait, it's a lot less likely.

Something to think about...

McCain's past stance -- that he would conduct diplomacy with these group that BushCo refuses to communicate with -- was by just about all accounts, the rational one. Everyone knows that.

Now he's trying to run away from this stance.

Let him go. Let him run.

And when he's so far gone that he can no longer return to his previous position, cut him off from it completely.

By George I think he's go it!Obama Gets It

5 Wars - 5 Defeats (Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, Terror, Afghanistan)

The greatest contributor to the resurgence of Iran's power in the middle east has been the policy of John McCain and George Bush Barack Obama

It's John Brown-Nose McCain, sweeties. Now do we all understand why Obama will need Webb for Veep?

And wasn't it Bush and the present Sec. of State who blew off all kinds of evidence and warnings re. al Queda in the summer of '01. And who has his nose up Bush's ass to the max? McBrownNose.

Whoa-- are you watching the Obama presser now? he's being even more bad-ass and effective than he was during the town hall earlier. He knows his shit on foreign policy, and he wants everyone else to know he knows his shit. He--not McCain--will make this issue central to the campaign. And he'll win.

The press conference right now by Obama is brilliant. He is laying out in a mature, commanding and knowledgeable way the difference between his approach and Bush/McCain's. He is describing what happened historically and how the Bush/McCain policy is the aberration from history, not the norm. He has specifically pointed out Bush/McCain's hypocrisy. He has told them to bring it on, anywhere, anytime.

It IS a tour de force.

More important, he is talking to the American people as adults while Bush and McCain are using invective, innuendo, and rhetorical tripe. He is calling them out on it, and thus linking thsi sometimes esoteric and complex debate on foreign policy to his overarching theme, that we need a new politics. A huge part of that politics is to tell the people the truth and stop trying to manipulate them with fear, division, etc...

My guess is that this is going to go like the gas tax. The politics may seem appealing to Bush/McCain, but the people can tell the difference between name-calling and what they all now has been a massive failure of policy.

McCain says it's bad to talk to Iran, an actual state, but it's cool to negotiate with Hamas, a terrorist organization that neither Hillary nor Obama has agreed to talk to. Obama needs to start hammering him over this, repeatedly. Psych him out by going to his right over negotiating with terrorists. "John McCain wants to negotiate with terrorists. I don't."

This going to be pretty interesting given that there's a Sky News video in which former State Dept. spokesman James Rubin is interviewing McCain who said, in 2006, that "we" ought to talk to Hamas since it now running the government.

Yeah, Dr. O was usual "hysterical" self.

If you notice the video of Obama, he gives examples after examples of what the Bush administration has accomplished, and how McCain supports it.

This should be interesting....

Obama made a mistake saying that he would meet with Ahmadinejad, not that such meetings would be mistaken under any and all circumstances, but because it gave McCain an easy line of attack. Obama will have to play defense and explain that one in specific terms.

I think McCain's "hysterical diatribe" remark may be a sign of age-related mental dysfunction. For a moment he forgot he was speaking of Obama and not Hillary.

McCain is going to be shouting "Out of ammo!" and turning his hearing aid off before they even have a debate.

I hope Bush attacks Obama every day for the next 5 months.

I blogged about this yesterday. I felt that the initial response by the Dems was a bit over the top (they threw a fit), but not hysterical.

You'll notice that the rest of the Dems are shutting up now and letting Obama do the talking. His statement today was not hysterical. It was measured and precise. Once he is the nominee the rest of the party will leave the responses to him, and him only.

Americans Have "Every Reason To Doubt" Whether McCain Can Keep Us Safe

It was remarkable to see John McCain's appaling response to a speech in which the president of the united states attacked a fellow American politician from the safety of foreign soil. These are serious issues that deserve a serious debate, not the same tired partisan rants we heard today from George Bush and John McCain. Senator McCain has pledged to run a civil campaign based on issues, while at the same time smearing Senator Obama through guilt-by-association tactics that the American people are tired of, and quite frankly deserve better. The stakes are too high.

John McCain and George Bush are afraid to talk to our enemies. John McCain, like George Bush, thinks the only solution to the world's problems is military force, to shoot first and ask questions later. This was the same approach that got us into the disasterous Iraq war which has ravaged our economy, cost the lives of over 4000 American sons and daughters, and countless millions of Iraqis, strengthened Iran's standing in the region, and yes-has aided and strengthened Al Qaeda by serving as a distraction from the war on terror.

It would be a wonderful thing if we lived in a world where we don't have enemies. But that is not the world we live in, and until Senator McCain understands that America's power comes not only from military force, but also through the force of our ideals and our values, the American people have every reason to doubt whether he has the strength, judgment and determination to keep us safe."

At his presser, Obama cited Kennedy-Khrushchev and Nixon-Mao meetings as precedent. I wonder if the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group are also being remembered now, particularly this on p. 36 (catch the last 2 words here):

"Dealing with Iran and Syria is controversial. Nevertheless, it is our view that in diplomacy, a
nation can and should engage its adversaries and enemies to try to resolve conflicts and
differences consistent with its own interests. Accordingly, the Support Group should actively
engage Iran and Syria in its diplomatic dialogue, without preconditions."

Is Bush going to call ISG Chairman James Baker soft on terrorism for this report? Is McCain?

This follow-up on the next page is also worth noting:

"However, the United States should also consider incentives to try to engage them constructively, much as it did successfully with Libya."

Is Bush going to call himself soft on terrorism for having talked with Qaddafi?

All I know is that, with enough votes in November, he can DAMN SURE keep us safe from YOU, John McCain!

-

Obama/Olbermann '08!

Mark McKinnon: http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/02/mccain-adviser.html

His mother ran for governor of Texas in the last election, brother Scott was the press secretary who received all that false information, and I believe another brother serves/served in the Bush Administraion (FDA/Health?).

It's really quite simple, McCain is a:

Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite Liar and Hypocrite

"Hysterical diatribe"? Well, it would seem that the party of Lincoln has offered up yet another Presidential candidate who is English language challanged. His remarks clearly show that he knows not, and probably cares less about, the meanings of the two terms. No more than Shrub knows the meaning of the term appeasement, but hey, it's a 'big word' so why not give it a try.

I am laughing hysterically over bvd's one word diatribe.

Tucker Bounds really needs to consult a dictionary before using SAT words like "hysterical" and "diatribe." Think we could take up a collection to buy him one?

Hello? I must have missed something. What diatribe? I thought Obama sounded strong on diplomacy and strong on protecting the world from terrorists.

The way to peace is through words, not weapons. A president who cannot command the language cannot command the road to peace.

This is just an asinine quote. The idea of diplomacy is that you talk to your enemies. If we only talked to our friends, than we would never make peace. Whether or not talking to Iran will work is an open question. However, instead of proposing a solution -- its unclear not talking them or continuing on this path will cause them to disarm or stop threatening Israel -- McCain just makes any empty rhetorical comment that adds no value to the discussion.

Furthermore, all these comments about the United States protecting Israel by force belittles Israel's own power to protect itself. While the United States should continue to stand by and support Israel, instead of making empty rhetorical comments threatening Iran, something Israel avoids doing, we should work on actual solutions to remove the threat of Iran.

Some people are just too old, too tired and too attached to disastrous failed policies to keep America safe, and in fact are pretty much guaranteed to keep her in decline as best they can.

Only a hysterical person would see this attack on any particular candidate. No names are mentioned.

I agree with much of the political commentary offered on this thread, but I think another dynamic of this can of worms needs to be explored here. Many of us have observed something basically sinister about our foreign policy of the last seven years, especially its prideful violence, blatant disregard for human rights, absolute secrecy, abuse of executive power, and obvious profit motive. I use the word "sinister" because many of these Bush, Inc. people frame their actions as being more important than our constitutional system of checks and balances.

Watching the events of the past few days from this perspective, I don't get the sense that Bush/McCain/etc. are merely using Rovian political plays to attempt to weaken Obama. I sense something much more profound: I think Obama is now confronting the un-democratic neo-con machine that has essentially run this country like a junta for the past seven years.

I agree that McCain 08 is as weak a candidate as Dole 96, but does anyone else get the feeling that this election isn't so much Obama vs. McCain as it is a fight for the renewal of US-style representative democracy versus the now entrenched neo-con brand of creeping fascism? I don't mean to be alarmist, but that's a very different game from the political banter we progressives are enjoying in this anti-Republican year of elections. Just a thought.

That and calling it a "rant" and a "diatribe" is just so ridiculous.

I didn't hear any such thing in that speech. McCain has abandoned whatever "civility" he promised in this campaign, I am just hoping his Base (the MSM) wakes the &*(% up and stops fawning all over him.

This may have been mentioned, but McCain's repeated use of the phrase "stinking corpse" doesn't strike me as something that will rally people behind his words. He's clearly trying to use the ol' simple-attack-ad-infinitum ploy, but it's too awkward and abstract a metaphor. And it's not something easily repeatable in casual conversation, as in "Obama wants to appease people who think Israel is a stinking corpse." I hope he continues to use it.

Edwards is a superb VP candidate, but the fact that he has already been on a losing ticket is a major weakness. I think it rules him out on the level of raw politics, sadly.

But what about AG? Restoring the rule of law in America could well be the most important job of all for the next administration. The use of agencies created to protect Americans to instead abuse Americans (Justice, EPA, FEMA, OMB... the list of exceptions would be shorter.) I'm talking myself into really liking this idea.

Let's face it, gang: Bush's dereliction of duty in the months leading up to 9/11 was tantamount to appeasement. Nancy Pelosi should re-examine the impeachment question.

"It is so ridiculous....Imagine a similar scenario from 1945: Stalin has killed millions, he seeks to spread communism across the world, and he has nukes pointed at the West...What would FDR have to talk about with such a man"??

Great point! Truman had several politicians, to include General Patton making this very point...that American needed to attack Russia while the iron was hot. Later during the Korean war General McArthur argued that America should escalate the war and attack China.

Thank god Truman had the "GOOD JUDGEMENT" to see these men for what they were...WAR MONGERERS" and they were immediately dimissed and quickly sent out to pasture.

Protecting the country also means protecting the constitution and the treasury. The Republicans have destroyed the Bill of Rights and have raided the treasury. This country has been under attack by McCain's very own party, and he has done nothing to protect the institutions (I am aware the Treasury is not one of the founded institutions) that are the foundation of the country. McCain should be the last person to speak about being weak on protecting this nation. He has been complicit to the destruction of it so far.

In a message that sounds like it could have been crafted by Karl Rove, McCain lashes out but finds no target. Instead he invites a comparison on the issue of judgement. Now how dumb is that, given McCain's background. McCain literally invites people to consider his judgement regarding his shameful treatment of his first wife. Or his role in the Keating 5 scandal. Then his vote to go to war in Iraq shows his lack of judgement on matters of war and peace. But that is o.k., McCain can keep throwing those stones from his glass house.