McCain Doubles Down - He's not just pro-war, he's anti-Democrat ("did the full Cheney")

[Pirate Smile]

McCain Doubles Down
He's not just pro-war, he's anti-Democrat.

By John Dickerson
Posted Wednesday, April 11, 2007, at 6:42 PM ET

Today, John McCain did the full Cheney. In his speech at the Virginia Military Institute in which he laid out his extensive support for the war in Iraq, the Arizona senator matched the vice president's scorn for his political opponents. McCain said Democrats who oppose the president's plans for Iraq are not just wrong on the facts but are seeking "advantage in the next election" and "the temporary favor of the latest public opinion poll."

-snip-
What's new here is obviously not McCain's unhedged support for the war. He's talked about that at length. What makes this speech different is the full-force, no-caveats attack on his opponents. It went beyond attacking policy inconsistencies—such as the fact that Democrats voted to confirm Gen. David Petraeus as Iraqi commander but against his plan for action—or raising questions about how opponents of the war would deal with the chaos following an American withdrawal. It repeatedly questioned not just their views but their motives, ending with a moving story about a heroic Navy SEAL officer whose bravery McCain juxtaposes with those seeking "temporary political advantage."

-snip-
When it comes to talking about his political opponents, though, there are no caveats. Even President Bush, not a man known for seeing the world in shades of gray, regularly throws a line into his Iraq speeches to the effect that while he disagrees with Democrats and their policies, he doesn't question their motivations. McCain not only questions, he draws a conclusion. Democrats are motivated not by their beliefs and judgment but by sheer, cynical politics. (This goes further than Cheney, who explained to Rush Limbaugh about Democrats: "I don't want to question everybody's motives.")

This choice has costs. McCain has said he'd rather win the war than the election, and his supporters argue that he's trying to wake people up about the situation the country is in. But politicizing the issue so blatantly is likely to polarize the debate further and make McCain's task of selling a bigger commitment in Iraq even harder. By giving Democrats the finger, he helps them consolidate not just their anti-war base but everyone who doesn't see the issue of America's disastrous occupation of Iraq as a battle between the righteous and the grasping.

http://www.slate.com/id/2163956/

I've been waiting for him to use all his hired hatchet men against the rest of the Republicans running for President but perhaps he decided that attacking Republicans is why they don't trust him and if he focuses on attacking Democrats in even more extreme ways than Bush and Cheney then he will rally the base to him.

[frogcycle]

1. yeah, rally that knuckle-dragging base mc-cain

you'll get your 27% of the popular vote. Good thinking.
Dumb Fuck

[marmar]

2. Some Gnarls Barkley lyrics come to mind:

I remember when, I remember, I remember when I lost my mind
There was something so pleasant about that phase.
Even your emotions had an echo
In so much space

And when you're out there
Without care,
Yeah, I was out of touch
But it wasn't because I didn't know enough
I just knew too much

Does that make me crazy
Does that make me crazy
Does that make me crazy
Probably

:crazy:

[Pirate Smile]

3. Perfect

:)

I love that song.

[elocs]

4. I hear one of his advisors on the war this morning give the "war is hell" quote.

It was said like all we have to do is to suck it up in order to succeed. General Sherman is my only famous ancestor and here is the full quote which gives it a different tone than simply "war is hell":

"I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation. War is hell."

So Cheney goes right along with the Chickenhawk in Chief and the Vice Chickenhawk.
Let's hope this stance drive a stake through his political ambitions.