Letters posted here are associated with the following article:

211
Letters
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 12:00 AM

John McCain then and now

"On the transcendent issues, on the most important issues of our day, I've been totally in agreement and support of President Bush."

The letters thread is now closed.

View:
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 02:03 PM

In support of the "Third Term" Thesis

I offer the following as evidence that a McCain Presidency would indeed amount to a third Bush term (or quite possibly, worse):

"That's not too important. What's important is the casualties." --on when U.S. troops will return from Iraq, "Today," NBC, June 11, 2008

"I will veto every single beer, um, bill with earmarks." --speaking at the National Small Business Summit, Washington, D.C., June 10, 2008

"Well, basically, it's a Google." --on how he's conducting his VP search, Richmond, Virginia, June 9, 2008

"We should be able to deliver bottled hot water to dehydrated babies." --Kenner, Louisiana, June 3, 2008 (Watch video clip)

"I'm glad to have his endorsement. I condemn remarks that are, in any way, viewed as anti-anything. And thanks for asking." --after being asked by George Stephanopoulos about receiving the endorsement of Evangelical pastor Rev. John Hagee, who has made a number of controversial remarks, including calling Catholicism "The Great Whore" and blaming Hurricane Katrina on gays

"Make it a hundred...That would be fine with me." -to a questioner who asked if he supported President Bush's vision for keeping U.S. troops in Iraq for 50 years

"I'm going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated."

"Well, it's common knowledge and has been reported in the media that Al Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran. That's well known. And it's unfortunate." -before correcting himself by saying Iran was training "extremists," not Al Qaeda.

"I will conduct a respectful debate. Now, it will be dispirited -- it will be spirited -- because there are stark differences. I am a proud conservative, liberal Republica-- conservative Republican...Hello? Easy there."

"I am a illiterate that has to rely on my wife for all of the assistance I can get." -after being asked whether he uses a Mac or a PC

"The issue of economics is not something I've understood as well as I should. I've got Greenspan's book."

"It's not social issues I care about."

"F**k you! I know more about this than anyone else in the room." --to Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), during a testy exchange about immigration legislation (Shades of Cheney...)

"There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods today." --prior to visiting a Baghdad market while being flanked by 22 soldiers, 10 armored Humvees, and two Apache attack helicopters

"You know that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran? Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran."

"I had something picked out for you, too - a little IED (improvised explosive device) to put on your desk." --to Jon Stewart

"Americans are very frustrated, and they have every right to be. We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives." --on the Iraq war

"I think I'd just commit suicide." --in October 2006, on the prospects of the Democrats taking back the Senate in the November election

"No, I'm calling you a f*cking jerk." --to fellow Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, when Grassley asked "Are you calling me stupid?"

"Only an a**hole would put together a budget like this ... I wouldn't call you an a**hole unless you really were an a**hole." --to Budget Committee Chairman and fellow Repulican Sen. Pete Domenici, during a Senate budget hearing

"I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I'd rather have the clean government."

"I am sure that Senator Clinton would make a good President. I have no doubt that Senator Clinton would make a good President."

"There's no doubt in my mind that we will prevail and there's no doubt in my mind, once these people are gone, that we will be welcomed as liberators." --on the Iraq war, "Hardball" interview, March 24, 2003

"We're going to prevail and we will win and it'll be one of the best things that's happened to America and the world in a long time 'cause it'll reverberate throughout the Middle East." --on the Iraq war, "Meet the Press" interview, March 3, 2003

"Do you know why Chelsea Clinton is so ugly? Because Janet Reno is her father." --at a 1998 Republican fundraiser

~Compiled by Daniel Kurtzman

http://politicalhumor.about.com/od/johnmccain/a/mccainisms.htm

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 02:05 PM

Don't forget the John McCain of March 2008

“no one has supported President Bush on Iraq more than I have.” “Let me emphasize that there are many national security issues that I have strongly supported the president and steadfastly so,” added McCain.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/mccain-no-one-has-supported-president-bush-on-iraq-more-than-i-have/http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/mccain-no-one-has-supported-president-bush-on-iraq-more-than-i-have/

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 02:05 PM

@ GlennGreenwald

Does anyone at all wonder why this political movement lays in ruins?

Oh, don't blame Knows Better. He's just another victim.

Granted, he's probably not in an underfunded VA hospital, so he's not that much of a victim ...

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 02:09 PM

Isn't that being generous, Glenn?

Does anyone at all wonder why this political movement lays in ruins?

Wait. They were a movement? They always struck as just a collection of cults (to the End Times, to war, to profiteering, whathaveyou) that hung together because no-one sane would have them.

Well, all movement can last only so long, go only so far before inertia finally overcomes it. Here's hoping its a permanent state of affairs.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 02:09 PM

O'reilly and Hannity are really in line with the Catholic Church too...

Both John Paul II and Benedict XVI have really been singing the same tune as O'Reilly, Hannity, and the Bush Administration when it comes to the Iraq War, haven't they?

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 02:13 PM

Greenwald then and now

Greenwald paints himself as this fearsome pursuer of truth

Does he?

Rilly?

I must have missed that post...

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 02:13 PM

@ Chris Sinnard

Has anyone been denied communion for supporting the Iraq War?

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 02:15 PM

@ Chris Sinnard

To be fair, the Catholic Church (per Pope John Paul II) opposed the Iraq War.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 02:16 PM

oh, for some video of this

Cursory searches on youtube showed nothing. But that video obviously exists somewhere, and we just need to find it and loop it over and over. A video of both of these back to back would be fanstastic. Maybe something for "The Real John McCain" site to do.

Wednesday, June 11, 2008 02:19 PM

@ Paul Daniel Ash

Some people evidently find any pursuer of the truth a little scary. Maybe that's what happens after prolonged exposure to "truthiness". Facing the real thing can take some getting used to.

Most Active Letters Threads

509

The crazy, irrational beliefs of Muslims

Tom Friedman explains the real problem: stupid Muslims think the U.S. is about war and aggression.
426

A key British official reminds us of the forgotten anthrax attack

A vast array of establishment and expert sources do not believe this episode was really resolved.
311

The face of rotted Washington

Evan Bayh demands more debt-financed war - fought by others - while boasting that he's a stern "deficit hawk."
210

Is Obama's civil liberties record understandable?

Was it unreasonable to expect him to adhere to his commitments regarding the Constitution?
151

Bigotry wins in Switzerland

By voting to ban the construction of minarets, Switzerland apes the most extreme intolerance in the Muslim world

View all »

Letters Help

Currently in Salon