Comments on: Brooks: Even If Troop Surge Completely Fails, It Will Help McCain Politically

By: The Smirking Cynic 2.0 » Blog Archive » War as Politics

The Smirking Cynic 2.0 » Blog Archive » War as Politics — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 17:37:31 +0000

[...] Sending more troops to Iraq is complete lunacy. Itâ€™s a pure political move that even conserve-columnist David Brooks picked up quite clearly. So it boils down to something very, very simple â€“ with Bushâ€™s failure, it propels McCain to be the GOP standard-bearer to lead the sheep to the voting booths in 2008. When Prince John wins, he can use his time in the White House to propel the image of King George II as somehow befitting the $1 bill. (And by the end of his reign, surely theyâ€™ll make him the fifth face on Mount Rushmore.) [...]

By: Lora

Lora — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 07:01:21 +0000

â€¦.until we get to the numbers Shinseki (sp?) called for in the first place.
Query by Briseadh na Faire

Shinseki is a Japanese family name, and you got the spelling of it right. I believe General Shinseki rose to the highest position in the US military ever held by a Japanese-American.

By: June

June — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 20:16:47 +0000

“One more surge, and then we have to look at a new reality. ”

“new reality” = Reality

By: Clare

Clare — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 20:05:12 +0000

One more thing. McCain doesn’t deserve respect from anyone for this reason alone: Bush’s team played dirty during primaries in 2000. They catered to racist southerners by accusing him of having a black baby with a mistress out of wedlock! Bush’s behavior was a disgrace. But McCain is best friends with Bush now. McCain tried to claim he was against torture, and wrote up that bill, but then he allowed Bush to insert the clause basically giving the government the authority to determine what torture is, in addition to a signing statement. Did McCain condemn this? The fact that he didn’t call Bush out after his behavior in 2000 makes him a total douche and unworthy of respect. (The torture bill episode, in my opinion, was even worse.)

By: Clare

Clare — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 19:56:45 +0000

I am so tired of McCain eating up press headlines in the past few weeks. Why is everything he says so newsworthy? He’s full of shit and we know it; he’s shown over and over again to change his political views when it suits him (gay marriage, Iraq, etc.). We have major events happening right now throughout the world: possible elections in Palestine, civil union news in NJ and ruling in MO (or KA?), and of course the escalating, awful, needless killing of innocent Iraqis every day. ThinkProgress should stop putting stories of interviews w/him in gigantic bold like other important stories. I don’t see interviews with other senators getting giant print when they interview, with the exception of Hillary and Obama maybe. So everyone: just shut up about this guy! Ignore him. McCain is a scab. Picking at him only makes it worse. Leaving him alone will make him eventually disappear into obscurity as the asshole with bad ideas.

By: aron67

aron67 — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 19:44:31 +0000

A couple of decades ago to trash the poor the neo-cons screamed ‘unintended consequences’. Dollars for the disadvantaged really worked against the poor somehow. I think there are ‘unintended consequences’ though. The unintended consequnce of the neo-cons position has to been to undermine the state of Israel. Calling for war and more war in the Middle East has isolated Israel and made Israel’s position very difficult. Why do the US neo-cons call for more war always rather than say call for billions and billions of dollars to create a viable Palestinian state? For neo-cons warlike punditry is just a lot more rewarding sort of punditry. Begging for money, dealing with a thousand liittle issuses is at odds with the bird of prey persona of most neo-cons. Israel is basically secondary to neo-cons. The self perception of the neo-cons as warlike eagles surveying battle fields from on high is all important to the neo-cons. There are going to be more calls for war from the neo-cons despite the disasters of the neo-cons. The point for the neo-cons is to soar like eagles or I might say vultures. Brooks is soaring.

By: gmnotyet

gmnotyet — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 19:21:24 +0000

Glad to see Mr. Brooks admit what this war was for all along: helping the GOP.

By: ggibson

ggibson — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 18:36:46 +0000

Cut off the money. I swear if after voting democrat for the past 6 years they shame themselves once again by tucking their tails between their legs and refusing to show some conviction for what is right then I would rather throw my vote in the trash next time. And McCain … he lost me about 4 years ago… Heres hoping for someone with brains and balls to run in ‘08.

As far as Hillary and/or Kerry sending me emails and calls to my phone asking for money … well they can just forget it. No more money from me until I see results.. and Harry Reid is not showing results thus far.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 18:34:51 +0000

David Brooks has and still in the back pocket of the GOP. He says what needs to be said to push McCain’s chances for President. McCain is following orders to get the support of big business so he can continue the war profiteering. Look at the way the public voted to answer any questions. When the GOP disgraced McCain in the 2000 election McCain caved in and started sucking up to Bush. McCain has joined the other GOP as murderers by allowing more troops to be killed for war profiteers. The big oil companies will back McCain for President as long as he keeps the so called war going. Next McCain will want to invade Iran. McCain was a POW yet he’s willing to support a torture bill as our troops will have the same done to them. McCain IS A FOLLOWER NOT A LEADER.

By: Larry from C

Larry from C — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 18:30:42 +0000

Harry Reid is now advocating a troops increase if f it were part of a broader strategy to bring combat forces home by early 2008.

”If the commanders on the ground said this is just for a short period of time, we’ll go along with that,” said Reid, D-Nev., citing a time frame such as two months to three months. But a period longer than that, such as 18 months to 24 months, would be unacceptable, he said.

This is the leader of the opposition party. How f*ckn pathetic! Vote Kucinich, vote to end the war NOW!

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003522707

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:59:33 +0000

According to the mainstream media, if we increase troops in Iraq, it helps McCain. If we decrease troops, it helps McCain. If the violence escalates, it helps McCain. If the violence drops, it helps McCain. Never mind that McCain has been wildly wrong about Iraq at every point along the way.

By: Marie

Marie — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:58:19 +0000

Yes! A political advantage for McCain.
That’s the reason to sacrifice more American troops and Iraqi citizens — when McCain is elected, he will be ever so grateful!
Anyone who thinks McCain (the Faustian candidate who sold his soul to the devil for his own gain) would be an honorable and wise choice for president is is need of a sanity intervention.

By: [B!]

[B!] — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:51:42 +0000

#54. And what a piece of sh!t Brooks is.

By: pete

pete — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:40:45 +0000

i guess that’s what it is all about, american soldiers mean zilch, mccains popularity is foremost.
what a piece of shit mccain is.

By: Bruce Gorton

Bruce Gorton — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:35:14 +0000

Republicans, the party with conviction(s)

By: Parrotlover77

Parrotlover77 — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:32:28 +0000

We want a conviction, all right.

Comment by Republicans Are The Fear And Smear Party â€” December 18, 2006 @ 10:29 am

Amen to that. The only “conviction” I care about is the one where all this right-wing nutjobs are convicted of TREASON.

It’s amazing that the media still is reporting this myth that the electorate only cares HOW you say it, not WHAT you say. The only reason Bush won the first time was because his cronies illegally appointed him. The only reason he won the second time was FEAR. It’s not like anybody liked “staying the course” they were just afraid of the alternative.

After ‘04, I met a frustratingly large amount of people that were just afraid of voting for Kerry because they “didn’t know what he stood for.” Jeez. Listen to two speeches and you know what he stands for on everything. The problem was the conservative media focusing on him wearing a clean-suit instead of what his plans for change were.

And I think the ‘06 elections PROVED that. The dems did an EXCELLENT job getting their message out, despite the conservative media, and that’s why they won.

By: Jeffrey Stewart

Jeffrey Stewart — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:28:03 +0000

I offer an answer to why the mainstream media personalities love Sen. McCain. He actually pays attention to them, but not that he listens to them. Consequently, he makes them feel smart and important. They LOvE that.

By: ardee

ardee — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:23:06 +0000

Maybe we need to have 500,000 troops there! Yea, that’s the ticket! And a draft to get them! And let’s just give all the poor and middle class’s money to the oil corporations that run this administration, yea, that’s it! And no health care for the poor, unless they join the army and 100% tax breaks for everyone earning over $250,000 a year, and then put a king in place of the president, and eliminate the constitution and the government and then lets lock up all the non-white males and force them to work in the mines…

…what a beautiful world it must be in the minds of these nuts…

By: pgl

pgl — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:19:10 +0000

Lord – this war has always been about pusing the political advantage of radical rightwing Republicans.

By: [B!]

[B!] — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 17:15:32 +0000

So let me see; If,for instance,we have 2 McCains for every 2 Friedmans,then that would give us 60,ÂºÂºÂº more troops per year.

Hhmmm;I think I’m getting the hang of it.