Think Progress

McCain: Bush Escalation Is Too Small

By Faiz Shakir on Jan 21st, 2007 at 12:49 pm

McCain: Bush Escalation Is Too Small

In October 2006, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called for “another 20,000 troops in Iraq.” In January 2007, President Bush accepted the idea and announced he would send 21,500 more soldiers into the middle of Iraq’s civil war. McCain quickly endorsed the strategy.

Since that time, McCain has been slowly back-pedaling from the escalation plan, offering numerous reasons for why the strategy will not succeed. He has argued the Pentagon was “dragging its feet” in implementing the strategy. Now, he is arguing that the escalation is too small.

On NBC’s Meet the Press, McCain said, “I would have liked to have seen more” troops sent to Iraq. He added, “If it had been up to me,” more U.S. troops would be on their way into Baghdad. Watch it:

[flv http://video.thinkprogress.org/2007/01/mccainsmall.320.240.flv]

Digg It!

Full transcript:

RUSSERT: [quoting The Economist] ‘Adding around 20,000 to the 132,000 currently there will increase U.S. capabilities but not enough to stabilize the country.’ Do you agree with that?

MCCAIN: I am concerned about it, whether it is sufficient numbers or not. I would have liked to have seen more.

I looked General Petraeus in the eye and said is that sufficient for you to do the job? He assured me he thought it was and that he had been told if he needed more, he would receive them. I have great confidence in General Petraeus. I think he’s one of the finest generals that our military has ever produced, and he has a proven record on that. He wrote the new army counterinsurgency manual.

But do I believe that if it had been up to me would there have been more? Yes. But one of the keys to this is get them over there quickly, rather than feed them in piecemeal as some in the Pentagon would like to do today.



220 Responses to “McCain: Bush Escalation Is Too Small”

  1. AboveTheClouds says:

    McCain needs more cowbell.


  2. unbelievable says:

    McCain said, “I would have liked to have seen more” troops sent to Iraq. He added, “If it had been up to me,” more U.S. troops would be on their way into Baghdad.

    There is is. Right there. That was just the final nail in McCain’s political career.


  3. Marie says:

    I saw the interview, albeit briefly, but McCain did not look good. He looked ill. He looked uncertain. He did not look like a leader.
    Someone (like maybe his best friend) should tell him to wrap it up and go home. He’s hurting himself. For a man who once held hero status, he has fallen from grace so fast, it is painful to watch him.
    Go home, John. Quit the race.


  4. katy says:

    too small? … mostly way too late…


  5. katy says:

    listen to marie, john…


  6. VerbalKint says:

    McCain is all over the map. The Bush team told him to support the escalation or kiss his presidential hopes goodbye. Then McCain saw how badly his numbers were tanking. So he is scrambling to preempt disaster, setting himself up with an excuse when escalation fails: “I told you it wasn’t a big enough escalation”.

    What a soul-selling whore McCain has become.


  7. Tenebrae says:

    Nevermind that we don’t HAVE more troops to send, that the military is stretched so thin that they are lowering their standards for enlistment, reducing training time, extending deployments, reducing time out of theatre and issuing “stop-loss” orders to keep people from leaving once they’ve served their term.

    The militaty can’t keep up the pace of the deployment as it is, and McCain says they should be throwing MORE troops into the fray??? Pure fantasy and bluster on his part. He just wants cover for when this blows up in Bush’s face.

    McCain is such a wuss. Caving in to the far “religious” right and playing Bush’s lackey. He makes me sick when I think I supported him in 2000….


  8. james k. sayre says:

    McCain, Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld: they are all traitors and all are covering up the Bush Administration’s high treason on 9-11. I am also quite outraged at the corporate Democrats and their pathetic (to date) pussyfooting around this Bush criminal enterprise…


  9. GSD says:

    Hey John McCain, here’s the result of the first surge that occurred this weekend:

    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending
    01/20/07 NAME NOT RELEASED YET Pending

    -GSD


  10. JPV says:

    It’s actually a perfect CYA strategy. He can now have his cake and eat it to.

    When the plan eventually fails, as we all know it will, he will merely have to say: “I knew we needed more troops” in order to absolve himself of blame.

    How will anybody be able to technically prove him wrong?


  11. Vance says:

    It amazes me that with Kerry the term ‘Flip Flopper’ was hurled non-stop,and yet I rarely hear anyone tag this smellderly codger with it.
    Allow me….You are a Flip Flopper Jowls McCain.


  12. Your Conscience says:

    STFU McJowels, your position is as pointless as your candidacy. Why do you hate democracy? Iraq PM Malaki stated , as evident in todys WAPO, do not send any more troops. Why can’t you respect the sogverign wishes of a Nation? Oh thats right your a Fake American Straussian Neocon cocksucker. Whats the flavor is the Imperialist jism today?


  13. Zooey says:

    Look at that man’s face — his eyes. Pure desperation….

    Sad.


  14. Freedom says:

    Tenebrae ,
    You supported Mccandyass in 2000?
    then Dosn’t that makes you part of the problem, not the solution?
    Just askin


  15. DutchHenry says:

    ***Would someone please ask Mccain if he knew that the plan was “bad” in the beginning why did he not demand they change it then, and more specifically what did he do at that time, 3yrs ago to change it ?
    *** Instead of his incessant BS “the plan was bad”. Anyone caring about young American lives would have defied their party’s silence and opposed the Prez at that time.Remember he was part of the gang that were saying it’s unproductive to critize the Prez.’s policy in a time of war.McCain a real disgusting human being.


  16. unbelievable says:

    Comment by Waiter # 6 — January 21, 2007 @ 1:06 pm

    That’s the same exact view that other religious freaks have about Christians. But it’s okay for you…

    Thanks for reminding me why I am an Atheist.

    Freak


  17. Find Muck says:

    Bush/Cheney will be thrown out of power by the end of the year


  18. Find Muck says:

    Have you noticed? Neither President George W. Bush nor Vice President Dick Cheney have cited any US intelligence assessments to support their fateful decision to send 21,500 more troops to referee the civil war in Iraq. This is a far cry from October 2002, when a formal National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) was rushed through in order to trick Congress into giving its nihil obstat for the attack on Iraq.

    Why no intelligence justification this time around? Because there is none.


  19. Abby says:

    JPV — January 21, 2007 @ 1:05 pm

    DING DING DING DING – You win the grand prize.


  20. mrJJ says:

    Since then, US officials have avoided giving any estimate of the Mahdi Army’s strength. But according to a report published last month by London’s Chatham House, which undoubtedly reflected the views of British intelligence in Iraq, the Mahdi Army may now be “several hundred thousand strong.” Even if that estimate vastly overstates his troop strength, it reflects the sense that he has the strongest political-military force in the country — because of the loyalty that so many Shiites have toward him…

    By last spring, the political atmosphere in the Shiite community was seething with hatred of the US and support for war against the occupation forces. In a May 6 story, Borzou Daraghi of the Los Angeles Times quoted a spokesman for the Ayatollah Mohammed Taqi Moderessi in Karbala, known in the past as a moderate, as saying the slogan “Death to America” at Friday prayers. The ayatollah reported that people were preparing for a military showdown with the US, saying “The Americans won’t leave except by the funerals of their sons.”

    But the administration and the military in Iraq still appear to believe that there is some way to contain al-Sadr’s power. They have not yet accepted that al-Sadr has both the intention and the capability to bring down the US occupation.

    http://www.agrnews.org/?section=archives&cat_id=46&article_id=1234


  21. Find Muck says:

    Southern Iraqi Tribes Joining Armed Resistance

    BAGHDAD – Violence is spreading further across Iraq, as Shi’ite Arab tribes in the south begin to engage occupation forces in new armed resistance.

    Armed resistance against the occupation in the south was slow to begin with because religious clerics instructed their followers to give the occupation time to fulfill promises made by the Bush and Blair administrations, al-Assadi said.

    “But now they do not believe any cleric’s promises any more. They have started fighting, and that is that.”


  22. rachel b. blair says:

  23. DieNowForPeace says:

    I’m sure there’s room on our military transports to take every asshat Congressperson who supports the escalation, SEND EM ALL.


  24. Find Muck says:

    Sadr has changed tactics his men now wear jeans and NOT black uniforms as to be recognised, he also enlisted 1 million Shia aged 14 to 45 in Baghdada alone to fight Americans IF STARTED UPON

    Also watching a program on TV the british in the South have NO communications with ANY Iraqis in the South in fact in the interview of People in the South they say” we dont talk to the British we are Protected by Sadr ”

    when america kicks more shit the british are to be targets


  25. VerbalKint says:

    Hey Abby, read #6. Do I get a prize? ;-)


  26. Terry C, Pelosi Fan says:

    He’s hurting himself. For a man who once held hero status, he has fallen from grace so fast, it is painful to watch him.

    He stopped being a hero when he sucked up to the very people who trashed him, his reputation and his family during the 2000 Campaign.

    McCain is a coward and a delusional fool.


  27. CoffinsDrapedWithFlags says:

    too small??? Shouldn’t of happened in the first place. Wars based on lies are always losing wars.


  28. mparker says:

    “Kill em all”, eh.
    What a cute little saying.

    That’s called Genocide and that’s a crime against humaity.

    Fron what I understand, God dosen’t care much for those who support Genocide.

    I would think in the sorting phase, you don’t do so well.


  29. circusfifthfloor says:

    I posted at nine thirty on Huffpo regarding his demeanor and enthusiasm. He clearly looked like a broken man, or terribly distracted. Shuffleboard tourney starts after lunch, John…


  30. Barfly says:

    Barfly? Boyfly?

    Comment by rachel b. blair — January 21, 2007 @ 1:24 pm

    Aw, am I now off the list? Poor Rache . . .


  31. Juan C says:

    “If it had been up to me,” more U.S. troops would be on their way into Baghdad.

    You still can go there, McCain and stop the evil threat of terrorism.


  32. Find Muck says:

    McCain: Bush Escalation Is Too Small

    Think about it McCain is already saying its not Gonna work – hes a weasel


  33. Jules says:

    Think about it McCain is already saying its not Gonna work – hes a weasel

    Comment by Find Muck — January 21, 2007 @ 1:45 pm

    Maybe he needs to talk to Kristol?


  34. SouthWest Bob says:

    #10 You are right…. this is all about CYA. . . . McCain wants an escape from responsibility in supporting the war. This will allow him to say, “Of course it failed, I must have at least once said we needed __________________(fill in the blank – More, A lot More, A shitload More, Less, a lot less, zip more) troops to kick ass in Iraq. See, I was right, and would make a wonderful ‘commander in chief,’ please vote for me.”


  35. unbelievable says:

    I see you are still obsessed with my ass.
    Comment by Spudge_Boy — January 21, 2007 @ 1:41 pm

    Funniest post so far today… LOL


  36. rachel b. blair says:

    How about it BNF? Rache just went off on Spudge for no apparent reason. Tell us again about not treating her with scorn!

    Comment by Barfly — January 21, 2007 @ 1:44 pm

    Maybe BNF want ’s my e-mail address;he’s hot for me,ya know.


  37. Barfly says:

    My Kung Fu is stronger than his Kung Fu.

    You brought Kung Fu; Rache brought Kung Pao.


  38. GSD says:

    WTF? McCain sounds like a dopey bear in a childhood story….’Too big, too small, just right…”

    McLoser, retire from office in disgrace please.

    -GSD


  39. Jules says:

    You brought Kung Fu; Rache brought Kung Pao.

    Comment by Barfly — January 21, 2007 @ 1:55 pm

    I think it has had a little too much Kung Pao. All of that MSG has destroyed Raches’ brain matter.


  40. unbelievable says:

    McCain: Bush Escalation Is Too Small

    How would he know? Personal experience?

    LOL


  41. s says:

    McCain’s initial suggestion of troop escalation was a political gambit and he didn’t think Bush would actually do it. McCain just wanted to be on record saying he wanted escalation so that later, when running for prez and the iraq war was completely lost, he could say: “if Busy had escalated like I suggested…blah blah ….we would have won” He was surprised I believe when Bush went for the extra 20,000.
    So…….. Now he is gambling again that Bush will not call for even more troops so later he can say……”if we’d increased the troops….blah blah….” You get the picture. He’s just upping the anti and playing the same game again. He’s a bad man.


  42. Gerald Gibson Jr says:

  43. VerbalKint says:

    He’s a bad man.

    Comment by s — January 21, 2007 @ 2:03 pm

    I don’t think he is a bad man. He is a pathetic man. I think he is a decent man who has gone far, far astray from his true beliefs. He wants so badly to be President, and he knows this is his last chance in life, so he is making a desperate gambit to get there. He might even believe that he has the answers for the Iraq problem, and that he is the right guy to fix the mess. But his obsession has destroyed his judgment, and rendered him unfit for office.


  44. Find Muck says:

    Draft Law Keeps Central Control Over Oil in Iraq
    by James Glanz, The New York Times
    January 19th, 2007


  45. Briseadh na Faire says:


    Why no intelligence justification this time around? Because there is none.

    Comment by Find Muck — January 21, 2007 @ 1:17 pm

    Excellent point! There is another NIE, which purportedly showed things to be very, very bad in Iraq, and was supposed to be released after the November election. Bush&Co. just didn’t say how long after….


  46. Schmikel says:

    The law would also revive the Iraqi National Oil Company, a
    countrywide umbrella organization that was essentially closed by
    Saddam Hussein.


  47. VerbalKint says:

    I’m out of here. Don’t let the trolls get you down, guys. Clearly more action needs to be taken against them, and perhaps another boycott is in order. I tend to favor registration to help the TP staff police the problem.


  48. Bob Moon says:

    I’m getting sick and tired of seeing St. John’s face on MTP every week spouting his same old B.S. I guess NBC is on his political commitee to push for the 08 election. This clown has had so many positions on this damn war and his support for this FAILED Administration that he doesn’t know where he is anymore.
    PLEASE America WAKE UP!! and see this nitwit for what he is a FLIP FLOPPER of the first order.


  49. Briseadh na Faire says:


    Barfly? Boyfly?

    Comment by rachel b. blair — January 21, 2007 @ 1:24 pm

    rachael, a couple of days ago I got onto posters who wanted to bait you until you went off onto a rant.

    The same goes for you. There’s no call for what you’re posting. Please stick to contributing your cut-and-paste comments and links.


  50. sachem515 says:

    Hold it. Back that TiVo up again. I heard him say Gen Petraeus was promised moretroops if he need them.

    Let’s see what Sen Webb has to say after SOTU.


  51. Briseadh na Faire says:


    Where’s BNF, and his lecture about civility? It would be appropriate about now . . .

    How about it BNF? Rache just went off on Spudge for no apparent reason. Tell us again about not treating her with scorn!

    Comment by Barfly — January 21, 2007 @ 1:44 pm

    Sorry, Barfly, I just got in from working around the house and am working my way down the thread.

    My comments the other day were directed towards those who want to goad her into acting like this. There’s not much you nor I can do when she starts off this way. It’s as if we’re dealing with someone who is, or should be, under psychological care.


  52. Find Muck says:

    BNF – >

    Why no intelligence justification this time around? Because there is none.

    Having successfully cooked intelligence four years ago to get authorization for war, the Bush administration has zero incentive to try a repeat performance. Nor is there any sign that the new Democratic chairmen of the Senate and House intelligence committees will even think to ask the intelligence community to state its views on the likely effect of the planned “surge” in troop strength. This, even though an NIE on Iraq has been “almost ready” for months.

    For the Bush administration, it has been difficult enough whipping its fickle but ultimately malleable generals into line. The civilian intelligence chiefs have proven more resistant. So the White House is playing it safe, avoiding like the plague any estimate that would raise doubts about the wisdom of the decision to surge. And that is precisely what an honest estimate would do. With “sham-dunk” former CIA director George Tenet and his accomplices no longer in place as intelligence enablers, the White House clearly prefers no NIE to one that would inevitably highlight the fecklessness of throwing 21,500 more troops into harm’s way for the dubious purpose of holding off defeat for two more years.


  53. Find Muck says:

    It seems quite clear that the additional troop decision was made without any formal input from the intelligence community. There would be no NIE on “Probable Reactions to Various Courses of Action With Respect to Iraq” – no formal paper that could make the president’s decision appear highly questionable. Let the on-again-off-again NIE on prospects for Iraq languish.

    And let former CIA director, now Secretary of Defense Robert Gates pretend, as he did on Jan. 12 before the Senate Armed Services Committee, that he is “unaware” of the existence of an NIE draft on prospects for Iraq. Sen. John Warner, R-Va., raised the subject with Gates, saying that Negroponte had assured him the NIE would be issued at the end of the month.

    Don’t hold your breath.


  54. jurassicpork says:

    If ya’ll are looking for a quick diversion before the NFL league championship games start, I have a new Assclowns of the Week up, the Tin Soldiers and Dubya’s Coming Edition.

    Who’s on the spit in #57?

    Duhbya.
    The Pentagon.
    Ted Nugent.
    Glenn Beck.
    The IRS, and much, much more!


  55. Curious says:

    McCain also slammed the Pentagon for suggesting we don’t another 100,000 troops to send to Iraq. He just kind of vaguely whined that with one million men in uniform we must be able to find them somewhere and that the Generals don’t know what they’re talking about.


  56. Briseadh na Faire says:

    Regarding McCain, here’s what Bush&Co. said about him just a few years ago:

    “… Bush surrogates (several later involved in the Kerry swiftboating effort) skillfully turned McCain’s service record against him (thereby deflecting questions about Bush’s own service record.) They planted stories that the torture McCain suffered as a POW had brought about mental instability, including rumors that he had been programmed as a “Manchurian candidate” who “collaborated with the enemy.” No longer could McCain use the fact that he had endured torture as evidence of dedication to serving his country.”

    and,

    In the 2000 South Carolina Presidential primary Bush surrogates circulated stories that McCain’s five years as a POW had made him “mentally unstable,” gave him a “loose screw,” that he “committed treason while a POW” and “came home and forgot us.” The stories also called McCain “the fag candidate,” called his wife a drug addict, said McCain “chose to sire children without marriage” and had “a black child” (the actual wording of that last smear from the flyers and e-mails that circulated is not printable here).

    And when McCain responded by asking whether this kind of smear campaign showed that voters should think twice about trusting Bush, saying Bush was “twisting the truth like Clinton,” Rove was able to turn that against McCain¸by accusing McCain of “going negative.” Unlike Rove and Bush, McCain hadn’t understood the value of attacking with surrogates.


  57. flatmyer says:

    He looked awful. Over medicated – slow speech – disoriented at times. Scary.


  58. Uncle_Ho says:

    McCain has obviously let his aspirations to higher office cloud his better judgement. once upon a time, I used to have some respect for his independent maverick persona. no more. He has whored himself out to the reichwing Jesus wingnuts(Bob Jones U.), the cowardly chickenhawk neocons, and anyone else for their votes. He will NEVER get my vote now.


  59. Briseadh na Faire says:

    Another look back at the Reich-wing attacks against McCain:

    McCain’s noble-sounding call for Americans to “live for something larger than their self-interest” is not, as his more naïve supporters imagine, an attempt to restore the traditional American honor that Clintonism has destroyed.

    It is a continuation, in patriotic guise, of the collectivist and anti-traditionalist mind-set of the left, which seeks unlimited power in America and the world by expelling from mainstream politics everyone who doesn’t dance to its tune.

    Lawrence Auster is a free-lance writer who lives in New York City.


  60. JTitor says:

    When the plan eventually fails, as we all know it will, he will merely have to say: “I knew we needed more troops” in order to absolve himself of blame.

    How will anybody be able to technically prove him wrong?

    Comment by JPV

    Right on the money!


  61. Beth says:

    Thank God it’s not up to him!!!!


  62. JTitor says:

    “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”

    Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945


  63. Find Muck says:

    Hunter S. Thompson on George W. Bush

    He knew who I was, at that time, because I had a reputation as a writer. I knew he was part of the Bush dynasty. But he was nothing, he offered nothing, and he promised nothing.

    He had no humor. He was insignificant in every way and consequently I didn’t pay much attention to him.

    But when he passed out in my bathtub, then I noticed him. I’d been in another room, talking to the bright people. I had to have him taken away.


  64. Barfly says:

    John McKick-the-can-down-the-road-until-the-next-election-and-hope-no-one-notices, our best hope for success!


  65. devilbush says:

    The way things are going for McCain, I wonder if he is – yet again – falling victim to his own party. He says 20,000, we send 21,500, yet he complains that he wanted more? Expect that little nugget to be pulled out at all the right moments next spring.

    Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.


  66. John Gilpins says:

    I totally agree with Marie’s comment.

    I, too, caught just a bit of the interview. I was shocked not only at his appearance, but his overall persona. He’s always been a confident, take-charge type of guy, and those elements of his personality were not present. He looked more like Barney Fife than Arrrnouuuld.

    The number of troops is one thing, but the quality of the troops is quite another. It goes without saying that men and women on their third, and fourth tours of duty in Iraq must be stressed– almost to the breaking point.

    John


  67. Barfly says:

    Barfly… Hiccup! I`ll drink to that.

    At least you got that part right, Rache . . .

    So, how’s it feel to get thumped by a “drunk” on such a regular basis? Oh, I forgot, about Gino. ‘Nuff said.


  68. CoffinsDrapedWithFlags says:

    check out the new video – How this must end…
    http://www.peacetakescourage.com/index2.php?subaction=showcomments&id=1169358427&archive=&start_from=&ucat=&page=blog

    So what’s the number??? 3,046 coffins draped with flags.


  69. Jay Randal says:

    Sen. McCain, and his Marine son Jimmy, need to get over to Iraq immediately on the front lines of battle, since John believes in escalating the Iraq fiasco debacle quagmire!


  70. Barfly says:

    Dont know who this was but it wasnt me.

    Comment by Rachel K

    And “the list?” Was that you?


  71. Marie says:

    The Editor-in-Chief of the Arab Times reports that a “reliable source” in Washington has provided detailed information about the forthcoming US hard-power attack on Iran’s nuclear and oil industries.

    According to the un-named sources cited in the Arab Times, the US timetable is being driven by the retirement of George Bush’s major ally, Prime Minister Tony Blair.


  72. Jay Randal says:

    Why are cyber hacker trolls hijacking our screen names on TP threads? Last night some yanker used my name on a thread, so I had to file a complaint with Judd about it. If you see anyone hijacking names, then report them immediately to TP staff to be banned from this blog site!


  73. Barfly says:

    I have not posted anything here so far today.
    I have been reading and saw someone posted in my old handle.

    Why dont YOU go Die Now For Peace you chicken shit keyboard commando.

    Comment by waiter #6

    And this, Rache? Of course it’s you. That one doesn’t work anymore.


  74. Barfly says:

    What list.
    I have not posted anything here so far today.
    I have been reading and saw someone posted in my old handle.
    Just wanted to say it wasnt me is all.
    Comment by rachel k

    This list:
    Here are the opening winners.
    I give you the ” Dirty Dozen ”
    1) Sy Bil
    2) ForTruth
    3) Trueblue
    4) Barfly
    5) Unbelievable
    6)
    7) VerbalKnit
    8) John Gilpins
    9) Krazny
    10) Robert
    11) Chimpeach
    12) DieNowForPeace
    I am open to any meaningful and thoughtful debate on any topic on this blog with anyone else with the exception of the above aforementioned.

    Comment by rachel kinnardi

    Tripping over your various identities, Rache? You’ve never been very good at it. Why bother?


  75. Jules says:

    Tripping over your various identities, Rache? You’ve never been very good at it. Why bother?

    Comment by Barfly — January 21, 2007 @ 3:50 pm

    People just do not realize the importance of lists. Rache took all of this time to make a list of people she does not want to converse with but forgot to make a list of her various identities which she uses to converse. Just like a troll, no follow through!


  76. Barfly says:

    Just like a troll, no follow through!

    Comment by Jules —

    Looks like someone else just made the list. Welcome, bro.


  77. TripMaster Monkey says:

    …I’m still depressed that I didn’t make The List (TM)

    Just how how stupid do I have to make ‘rachel’ look to merit inclusion?


  78. JPV says:

    In addition the the CYA strategy that I mentioned earlier, he also gets to sound tough by wanting to send more troops. This is sure to appeal to the twisted macho sentiment, from what little pro-war constituent base that is left.

    I find that all the losers that are the most pro-war, have no real accomplishments in their lives to be proud of, and war makes them feel oh so powerful and strong. Because of this desperate need for self esteem, they are rabidly emotional about such matters.

    That’s the groups who he’s obviously shooting for.

    Pathetic really.


  79. Barfly says:

    I couldnt agree more Jay Randal.
    Someone here dont like me very very much do they.

    Comment by rachel k

    And we come full circle. Her first ploy was to play the victim; and curse me for not letting my Carny nature to overrule my humanitarian proclivities, and just letting her flop around. But no, I engaged her, and stuck up for her when others attacked – and “made the list” for my efforts. Now she’s trying to fish in some new, inexperienced progs; ‘cept the older fish keep eating the bait, and leaving her sitting there with an empty hook.


  80. TripMaster Monkey says:

    Oh, stop it, rachel. Seriously.


  81. Barfly says:

    do not know who posted or authored this “new” list but I it was not.

    Comment by rachek k

    To quote the Six Million Dollar Man:

    She’s breaking up! She’s breaking up!


  82. Hedley Lamarr says:

    Many of us saw this coming, concerning him crying that not enough troops will be dispatched; and all the while knowing full well that no more would be available.

    Only a real turd plays with the lives of service men and women.


  83. TripMaster Monkey says:

    McCain sez:

    “If it had been up to me,” more U.S. troops would be on their way into Baghdad.

    Well, if it had been up to me…we would have sent in Solid Snake and Sam Fisher, and we would have won by now…

    Unfortunately for both my plan and McCain’s, we live in the reality based community.

    McCain knows damned well that there aren’t that many troops…hell, they’re aren’t enough troops for Chimpy’s plan…much less McCain’s. By setting conditions for victory that are impossible to obtain, he absolves himself of blame when (not if…when) the ’surge’ fails miserably like everyone in the ‘reality based community knows it is doomed to.

    McCain has truly sold his soul…not even for the Presidency, but for a shot at it. Even selling it that cheap, it still looks like the Devil got the bad end of the bargain.


  84. TripMaster Monkey says:

    rachel k sez:

    You will NEVER make the list.
    You are indelibly marked as someone I will talk to.

    OK…your funeral, rachel.

    Dolt.


  85. Wiley Coyoteeeeeee! says:

    Can you please add me to your list, miss troll?


  86. Richard says:

    I suppose it would be off color to ask the McCain supporters why we would want a leader like him. A leader, not candidate, like John McCain. Bush proved to lead as he campaigned, becoming a lying leader after being a lying candidate. Why expect anything else from McCain? The question: as he is right now, do we want McCain to be our president?
    Richard


  87. Raven says:

    Mayhaps Agent Orange has ‘contacted’ the senator from Arizona…….


  88. TripMaster Monkey says:

    rachel k sez:

    Someone had been having fun at my expense here again I see.

    Sorry, rachel, but that happens every time you post your crazy nonsense. No input from us is necessary to make you look like a fool.


  89. Gerald Gibson Jr says:

    Could you people not talk about yourselves so much… I am doing more scrolling past your crap than reading actual points…. thanks.


  90. Raven says:

    How about just making it your last post ever, rachel, OK?
    Thanks.
    Jeez………..


  91. Barfly says:

    I have great confidence in General Petraeus. I think he’s one of the finest generals that our military has ever produced, and he has a proven record on that. He wrote the new army counterinsurgency manual.

    Is someone expecting to see “Strategic Hamlets” fly?

    The strategy didn’t work in Vietnam, and so like all the other failures of that era it must be tried again. Maybe they’ll finally get it perfected in Iran . . .


  92. trueblue says:

    What an assh*le rachel k is.

    Probably time for another walk-off day.
    It’s a shame I couldn’t get a hold of more regular posters. I would have liked to, but it got very difficult trying to contact people with the trolls messing with me.
    To any interested party:

    Next time, you are all invited.
    Will probably post with a word, not a letter.
    So when you see just a word on a ThinkFast, it’ll mean “walk away from TP day.”


  93. Jay Randal says:

    “Black Hawk Down” In Baghdad
    21st of January 2007
    by Jay Randal

    In 1993, during a raid on a vile Somalian warlord in conflict-torn Mogadishu, two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down by insurgents, and 18 US Rangers & Delta Force soldiers lost their lives in melee of battle.

    In the aftermath of the fire-fight the American press, and Republican members of Congress, demanded the removal of all American troops from Somalia ASAP, so President Clinton was forced to end the US mission.

    Yesterday in Iraq a Black Hawk helicopter was shot down over Baghdad, by insurgent fighters, killing 13 soldiers onboard and an additional 11 soldiers were killed in other battles throughout conflict-torn Iraq.

    The American press for the most part is silent about it, and Republican hypocrite members of Congress are not demanding an immediate end to Iraq occupation, nor calling for removal of all the troops like in Somalia.

    The American public wants the heinous debacle fiasco quagmire ended in Iraq, and all the troops removed as soon as possible, so the Congress must do it PERIOD.

    ( Jay Randal, political activist and writer in Georgia, USA.)

    PS: Sen. John McCain was one of the GOPers who demanded that President Clinton pull the troops out of Somalia for ‘Black Hawk Down.’


  94. Barfly says:

    I am paying for this site with my hard earned tax dollars.

    Where have I read that before? Oh, yeah, now I remember:

    Dear Tp Staff,

    Is their anything more that can be done by you and your posters to make me more comfortable in my stay here at TP?

    They seem to be full of vitriol and hatred for one another and this fervor is at a fever pitch and well, to be honest, some of them are just down right rude and nasty here at TP. I think they know whom they are.

    I dont feel like I am getting my moneys worth as a taxpaying United States citizen.
    I hope you will look into this slight at your earliest convenience.
    I paid for this and I am not getting my moneys worth.
    I demand compensation for your lack of goodwill toward your fellow man.
    I will accept payment in the form of cooperation and a general feeling of goodwill from your regular posters.
    I expect these demands to be met and to resume immediately.
    If this is not recieved, other forms of compensation will be sought and recieved.

    Somehow until then I will manage to muddle through, but this blogging hobby is starting to become a burden and well you know, I just think you could try harder to make me more comfortable here since after all,it is my hard earned tax dollars funding this site. I just dont feel you are doing enough to make my stay here amiable and pleasurable like your ad stated on the box. Truth in advertising is the law.

    I will forgive this mishap this time, but in the future please look into and perhaps sponsor starter academic programs for a select few posters here, perhaps offer simple courses like:

    Note – 1 semester equals 6 months

    1) People Skills 101 – 1 semester
    2) How to Debate and Win! – I II III IV – 4 semesters
    3) Know When to Say When – I II III IV – 4 semesters
    4) The Basics of Ebb and Flow – I II III IV – 4 semesters
    5) Priciples of Sharing – I II III IV – 4 semesters
    6) Gift of Knowledge – I II III IV – 4 semesters
    7) Communications for the Masses -I II III IV – 4 semesters

    I will look forward to your reply in a memo here.

    Comment by Charlie “Buck” Owens

    Cross-dressing, were we, Buck?


  95. trueblue says:

    Nice Pick-up, Barfly.
    virtual high five!


  96. Barfly says:

    Thanks, trueblue.


  97. Barfly says:

    From Rachel/ Buck:

    If this is not recieved, other forms of compensation will be sought and recieved.

    Is this a veiled threat against TP comments boards?

    Now it’s serious!


  98. Raven says:

    McCain may have been tapped to be the Designated Flounder in the runup to the actual election. Someone to make a lot of noise and commotion, and make Rudy Gulliani look good….
    (choke, snort, guffaw, gasp, ha ha, ho ho, hee hee…………….)


  99. Randy Nason says:

    McCain-Bush, Bush-McCain: The two are interchangable and play off each other like, well… flip and flop. How can anyone respect or admire anyone else that allows politics to take precedence over family? Wasn’t it McCain who allowed Carl Rove and George Bush to smear him and say that he had fathered a black baby out of wedlock? The truth is that the child was adopted. But McCain just let what Rove and Bush say go, to further his career. He even sided up to Bush afterward and kissed him on the cheek. That’s what I call a real whore. He has the audacity to call himself a veteran, too. Any self-respecting veteran who knows the horror of war would not want to send in more young troops to be killed and maimed. He is more interested in his career than in what is good for the United States.


  100. dick musser says:

    The administration and the individuals who cooked the books are to be tried for treason. Lies, in public, to the public, on the airwaves which are owned by the citizens; enabled by corporate and individual owners are treason.
    The war is murder, fraud and the corporate war profiteering is treasonous; individuals responsible will be tried and punished. The punishment will fit the crimes.
    That’s it end of story.
    Write, call, and email your represenitives, both state and federal and demand representation, or they are guilty by inaction for not performing their sworn duty.
    Do the same for your state national guard and inform the commanders of your intentions.
    Make them aware. Give them something to think about.
    Get proactive. NOW!!!!!


  101. Barfly says:

    Go ask Buck.

    Comment by rachel j k

    Next time you put on your Buck costume, better thing about the threat you made to the comments board. It might just be the thing that finally gets you banned.

    We should all notify Judd of the threat she made in her alter ego, Buck. If you don’t know what I reference, she threatened TP:

    I expect these demands to be met and to resume immediately.
    If this is not recieved, other forms of compensation will be sought and recieved.

    Perhaps now he’ll pay attention to her crackpot musings.


  102. Raven says:

    Hang in there, rachel, football season will be over soon. You’ll be able to hang out again at that sports bar, and hope to have someone listen to your inane prattle…
    Or maybe they kicked you out of the place ’cause you’re still in your (6th) year of high school…………


  103. Barfly says:

    You two are gumming up these threads with your wishful fantasies.
    Thank You.

    Comment by rachel j k

    I would challenge Rachel or anyone else to find comments that reference TP’s tax-exempt status, other than those of Rachel and “Buck,” her other, fake identity. There are none. The tone of each is identical : a supposedly aggrieved taxpayer being victimized by the roughians here at TP. Yet she threatens to exact some unnamed “compensation” from the site, which would seem to be a violation of the site’s terms of use agreement.


  104. kasinca says:

    McCain is one crazy son of a bitch Bushbot puppet…what else could be wrong with a rubberneked asshole like this?


  105. Juan C says:

    mmmm…still feeding the troll. Ok. Back later.


  106. Find Muck says:

    McCain Oven Chips Is right

    For Urban warfare you need a ratio of 70:1 to win

    Baghdad with the extra 17,500 would be 325:1
    ( POP: 7 Million – 30,000 Sq KM , even with 35,000 troops thats only 1 troop per Sq KM ????? would be a 210:1 ration NO CHANCE)

    Therefore Its a lost battle : Just think Battle for Falluga1 Americans lost 50 troops in 5 days – Baghdad you will lost a hundred a day

    And as for Bushes plans Americans to take the south on their own and to use Sunni Kurds to take Sadr City ( to be Honest might as well go home) and on top of this you will have Sunni snipers shooting at your back ?


  107. paul says:

    McCain could be wrong about the need for more troops. (I don’t think he is). But, it is obvious that taking this stance is not politically savvy. The man spent six years of his life as a POW, for what he believed was defending our freedoms (ie, freedom of speech to post here). Can we give him the benefit of the doubt that he actually believes what he says and thinks it would be in the best long term interest of the country?


  108. veritas says:

    The Quintessential “Flipflopper” McCain is at it again. This man clearly has no idea what he is thinking, saying, or planning. One day it’s this; the next day it’s that. His entire career has been like this….First he was a democrat; then he became a republican…flip….flop…..flip…flop….

    First he asks for 20,000 troops but because the baby couldn’t get his way immediately, now he is crying over spilled beans and suggesting that NOW that number is not enough.

    Someone needs to tell Flipflop McCain that he can’t have things both ways….like Dubya does – after all, Dubya’s the Supreme Emperor of the U S of A and what’s FlipFlopper McCain but a lowly Senator….pecking order, Johnny boy, pecking order and you lose!

    Seriously, this is the final nail in the coffin of this old man’s rapidly evaporating bid for the presidency. He’s a known war monger and wants to get even for all the harm that was done to him as a POW. Anger is not the answer as we all know. His personal agenda is getting in the way of sensible thought processes and his addled elderly brain synaptic activity is slowing down to a crawl.

    Time to don those flannel pajamas and tuck yourself in, Johnnie Poo! Your political career is over.


  109. veritas says:

    Why does TP have so many idiotic trolls who can’t seem to understand the topic/thread and believe that they have the power to hijack intelligent people? Isn’t working, troll nation, is it?


  110. veritas says:

    Bush bitch slapped McCain when they were both contenders for the nomination of their party in 2000 – since then Flipper McCain has become a spineless bushbot sycophant. He’s never telling the truth; hasn’t told it before and isn’t telling it now. Don’t believe a word he says. Pathological lying seems to be a requirement to be a Rethug these days.


  111. Find Muck says:

    Fallujah Battle 2 – 95 Americans were killed, and over 700 were wounded in the fighting.

    NO CHANCE OF TAKING BAGHDAD


  112. veritas says:

    Man, is McCain ever backpeddling fast to not be in lockstep with Bush! This is comical….He is so desperate to separate himself from his idol, Dubya that he’s now contradicting his mentor?? How fascinating! Could it be that his handlers have already seen the handwriting on the wall and the people so link these two war mongers that they’d vote for a giraffe if it were running against flipper McCain in 08??? I think so.

    What would his motive be in trying to separate himself from his bud Bush in this obvious way?? And why take the time? Pray tell…might it have something to do with realizing that his election hopes are already doomed by association with thugs??


  113. katy says:

    The Editor-in-Chief of the Arab Times reports that a “reliable source” in Washington has provided detailed information about the forthcoming US hard-power attack on Iran’s nuclear and oil industries.

    According to the un-named sources cited in the Arab Times, the US timetable is being driven by the retirement of George Bush’s major ally, Prime Minister Tony Blair.

    Comment by Marie — January 21, 2007 @ 3:34 pm

    take your pick (and thanks, marie):

    http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=&q=Arab+Times%2C+IRAN%2C+ATTACK&btnG=Search+News
    .


  114. Find Muck says:

    Domain Name:THINKPROGRESS.ORG
    Registrant Name:American Majority Fund
    Registrant Organization:American Majority Fund
    Admin Organization:American Progress Action Fund
    Admin Street1:1333 H St NW
    Admin Street2:10th floor
    Admin Street3:
    Admin City:Washington
    Admin State/Province:DC
    Admin Postal Code:20005
    Admin Country:US
    Admin Phone:+1.2024818156
    Name Server:NS7.WORLDNIC.COM
    Name Server:NS8.WORLDNIC.COM


  115. Find Muck says:

    About the Center for American Progress Action Fund

    The Center for American Progress Action Fund is the sister advocacy organization of the Center for American Progress. The Action Fund transforms progressive ideas into policy through rapid response communications, legislative action, grassroots organizing and advocacy, and partnerships with other progressive leaders throughout the country and the world. The Action Fund is also the home of the Progress Report.


  116. Find Muck says:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Center_for_American_Progress

    The Center for American Progress is a progressive American political policy research and advocacy organization. Its website describes it as “…a nonpartisan research and educational institute dedicated to promoting a strong, just and free America that ensures opportunity for all.” [1]

    Its President and Chief Executive Officer is John Podesta, former chief of staff to former United States President Bill Clinton. Located in Washington, D.C., the Center for American Progress has a campus outreach group, Campus Progress, and a sister liberal advocacy organization, the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

    The Center is undergoing a period of rapid growth. Its personnel and budget now rival the prominent Cato Institute.


  117. Jimbo says:

    just a typical madman, should have a nice cozy
    relationship with bush :)

    i might believe some of this with iraq is true,
    HOWEVER with all the corruption occuring
    in one of the countries most elite, host class,
    supposely public servant, yet in reality with
    the highest white crime rate – washington dc

    NO WAY……. CORRUPT…. enough to make you
    PUKE :(

    McCain + Bush…. you forgot to leave with the
    rest of your culture of corruption related to the
    109th.

    what is it going to take to clean up this totally
    corrupted criminal culture who provide all the
    desperately needed services we supposely all
    need. …. enough to …. **** + horrendously
    insane :)


  118. Zep Tepi says:

    Somehow until then I will manage to muddle through, but this blogging hobby is starting to become a burden and well you know, I just think you could try harder to make me more comfortable here since after all,it is my hard earned tax dollars funding this site.

    Hello S

    I understand who you are. And that what you do is appreciated. Hopefully the complacent shall yet see.


  119. Zep Tepi says:

    The Center is undergoing a period of rapid growth. Its personnel and budget now rival the prominent Cato Institute.

    Comment by Find Muck

    Now research AEI


  120. katy says:

    *inhale* aahhhhhh… …20+ troll posts, gone…

    thank you, TP…


  121. Zooey says:

    Wow, that was cool. Thanks, TP.


  122. Marie says:

    Just tuned back in and two dozen posts have disappeared; if the trolls have been identified and removed— yay!!!


  123. Zep Tepi says:

    Just tuned back in and two dozen posts have disappeared; if the trolls have been identified and removed— yay!!!
    Comment by Marie

    They have. Whom here has an idea, not put downs, to solve the problem of Iraq?

    [[BTW Bush,or Clinton, sucks is not an idea]]


  124. katy says:

    not all of them… the nemesis troll posts are still around eslewhere… possibly others… but that “poor rachel” is gone…
    until another day, no doubt…


  125. veritas says:

    #150…Hi Marie! I couldn’t agree with you more about the troll(s). I suspect that it’s one cross-dressing, schizophrenic with multiple personality disorder typing all the posts. TP can check his IP address and probably has. Frankly, I’ve never seen such sick posts from this (these) individuals with not only gender identification problems (transexual hermaphrodites?) and psychiatric disorders in one place at the same time. This makes the case for it being one solitary, angry individual with more time on his/her hands than intelligence to use it.


  126. katy says:

    omg… spoke too soon… as always happens…


  127. Zep Tepi says:

    Frankly, I’ve never seen such sick posts from this (these) individuals with not only gender identification problems (transexual hermaphrodites?)

    It’s many posing as one.


  128. katy says:

    zep – i’m afraid that iraq shall forever, now, be a problem…
    i only know that there is no USA military solution and those troops need to be pulled away from the troubles… now…


  129. veritas says:

    #152 – The way to even begin thinking about solving the problem is to fire the commander in chief who has repeatedly demonstrated such a break with reality that he’s totally incapable of coming up with any form of resolution to the mess he’s gotten us into in Iraq….he has no concept of what he is doing, has done, nor will do. He’s never had a plan at all – how can he when we’re fighting an ideology?? What does an ideology look like in the flesh? Sunni? Shiite?? Or neither?? So, without identification of an enemy per se (at least one you can easily identify), there can be no effective plan for any war. This is precisely why getting rid of Bush and getting out now and “cutting our losses” is the only answer. The GOP got us into this horrendous quagmire of a death spiral – let those wonderful brilliant minds figure out how the hell to get us out. We should have never gone in there in the first place so two wrongs (now remaining there) will never make a right and any plan for “surging troops” will backfire in our faces – resulting in more American deaths.


  130. JTitor says:

    Comments by Find Muck – Whats your point?


  131. veritas says:

    #157 – Are you engaging in Bush-Orwellian speak now? I presume so.


  132. Zep Tepi says:

    The way to even begin thinking about solving the problem is to fire the commander in chief who has repeatedly demonstrated such a break with reality that he’s totally incapable of coming up with any form of resolution to the mess he’s gotten us into in Iraq

    I understand what you say but things are not so simple as that.


  133. Zooey says:

    They have. Whom here has an idea, not put downs, to solve the problem of Iraq?
    Comment by Zep Tepi

    1. Pull out our troops immediately.
    2. Apologize to the people of Iraq.
    3. Impeach and imprison George Bush, Dick Cheney, Condi Rice, Donald Rumsfeld, et al
    4. Set aside a certain amount of money to help Iraq rebuild itself — with oversight.
    5. Re-instate our constitutional rights, and stop being so chickenshit.

    That would be a good start.


  134. JTitor says:

    No. Spudge_boy is right. None of their comments have been removed, just yours rachel.


  135. katy says:

    yep, zooey… and don’t forget – leave ALL the equipment behind for the iraqi’s to use to rebuild their country…
    what else?


  136. Zooey says:

    #1 – McCain needs more cowbell.
    Comment by AboveTheClouds

    Frickin’ hilarious!

    After 4 straight hours of Sociology work, your comment finally clunked into place. Nice one.


  137. Zep Tepi says:

    Wrong, it is one looney posting as many. You can tell, because they post the same stuff and have forgotten that they already have. they don’t get it jk
    Comment by Zep Tepi — January 21, 2007 @ 7:11 pm
    I get it 100%. Comment by Spudge_Boy


  138. TripMaster Monkey says:

    Zooey:

    After we we impeach and remove the neocon criminals from power, we may have to get in line for criminal prosecution….the international community may want to see them at the Hague…


  139. Zooey says:

    After we we impeach and remove the neocon criminals from power, we may have to get in line for criminal prosecution….the international community may want to see them at the Hague…
    Comment by TripMaster Monkey

    Works for me.


  140. Zooey says:

    And I am still the prettiest tranny at the ball.
    Comment by rachel j k

    I’m sure you are.


  141. Zep Tepi says:

    Make it happen and I will go away.
    Deal?
    Comment by rachel j k

    MA. Lmao


  142. TripMaster Monkey says:

    OK, folks…

    By now, it’s fairly obvious to most of us when ‘rachel’ posts, regardless of the pseudonym do jour.

    It’s also fairly obvious that ‘rachel’s’ only purpose here is to attempt to derail the discussion with her infantile blather, in order to become the center of attention (regardless of whether that attention is positive or negative…it’s all the same to ‘rachel’).

    With this in mind, I propose we just start treating rachel like what she is…a spoiled child who is acting out for attention. In short, we ignore her.


  143. Zep Tepi says:

    Zooey,
    And I am still the prettiest tranny at the ball.
    heh.
    Comment by rachel j k

    Jack. You. Ass.


  144. RUCerious says:

    Within a month of our pullout, a strongman will take over, probably with an alliance of militia.
    The Shiites will allow the Sunni to leave, relocate in Syria, Jordan, etc.
    They will form a strong alliance with Iran, bolstering Iranian influence in the area.
    So what, big deal, let it rip.


  145. katy says:

    You’re still nutty as a fruitcake, but that’s side-busting funny.
    Comment by Zooey — January 21, 2007 @ 7:25 pm

    ah hahaha … so was that… heh…


  146. Zep Tepi says:

    Zooey,And I am still the prettiest tranny at the ball.
    heh.Comment by rachel j k

    The junkyard is full of used trannies.


  147. Anonymous By Choice says:

    Didn’t Republicans have a scare tactic saying gas prices would rise if Democrats took power?

    Gas prices fall nearly 14 cents in 2 weeks


  148. Zooey says:

    The junkyard is full of used trannies.
    Comment by Zep Tepi

    *snort*


  149. Zep Tepi says:

    The junkyard is full of used trannies.
    Comment by Zep Tepi
    *snort* Comment by Zooey

    =)


  150. Zooey says:

    Jack. You. Ass.
    Comment by Zep Tepi

    That one flew over my head… Whaaa?


  151. Zep Tepi says:

    #Jack. You. Ass.
    Comment by Zep Tepi
    That one flew over my head… Whaaa?
    Comment by Zooey

    Jack, the troll AKA dith.


  152. Zep Tepi says:

    Well, you got me Zep Tepi. I don’t get post 175. You jumble my post and yours together, to make an incomprehensible blurb.
    Comment by Spudge_Boy

    =)


  153. Kane says:

    McCain looked tired and deflated, and he had zero energy during the interview. Ted Kennedy, who is four years older, was far more effective in discussing the issues.


  154. Liberal in New Mexico says:

    Ancient Romans found it easy to torture and inflict pain upon thier slaves because they believed slaves have no animus, or soul. I look into John McCain’s eyes and I can see his soul- or lack of it, rather. YUK! What a frigging mess! He has that same frightened animal look that George has in his. Hmmm…


  155. Jimbo says:

    POLITICS IS NOT SOMETHING I DARE TALK ABOUT IN
    PUBLIC…. it is such a heated topic

    - oh pledge alligance to the american flag with all the servants
    - all corrupt…. enough to make you **** !!!

    now…. is mccain serving the american people
    or is this ALL gravy with icing on the cake for
    all the cronies…..

    will we EVER know the truth :) :( !!!!


  156. TripMaster Monkey says:

    Kane sez:

    McCain looked tired and deflated, and he had zero energy during the interview.

    He’s probably running himself ragged trying to come up with a stand on the issue that kisses Chimpy’s ass and maintains some sort of nominal connection to reality.


  157. Zep Tepi says:

    Something similiar to what I was groaning the morning after an all night frat party and mouthed those semicoherent words face down on a strangers carpet.
    Thrippmasher Munchkey…Thrippmasher Munchkey

    lmao

    Comment by rachel j k —

    Yet you leave out what happened to you in your prone position, and thee words you uttered. You got screwed, enjoyed it physically and verbally, cried passionate ‘do me harder’ words,, and never knew it. And it happens to you nightly.


  158. michael says:

    “into the middle of Iraq’s civil war”

    What civil war? There’s no civil war!


  159. Zep Tepi says:

    You, Rachel, shall never sleep the same again.


  160. trueblue says:

    Sorry if it offended you somehow.

    Comment by rachel j k —

    Your presence here is offensive.


  161. Zep Tepi says:

    I had a 7 am class that morning and was still blitzed and barely able to stumble let alone drive.
    It just brought back some good old memories everytime I say the word TripmasterMonkey is all.
    I didnt mean anything derogatory in any sense of the word.
    Sorry if it offended you somehow.

    You drove drunk as Ted “breast stroke” Kennedy did?

    I am not offended. Your hypocrisy is.


  162. Zep Tepi says:

    No Zepi Tepi,
    You dont understand.
    I had a 7 am class that morning and was still blitzed and barely able to stumble let alone drive.

    Yet you did.


  163. rachel's dried up clitoris says:

    Hey guys, my clit is like an old gorilla’s knuckle!

    Hard, boney, and all dried up.


  164. DieNowForPeace says:

    rachel, you’re dumber than a bag of hair!

    “buku” is actually spelled beaucoup, you f*cking bitch.


  165. Zep Tepi says:

    I NEVER said I went to class.
    YOU DID.
    Please reread.
    Comment by rachel j k

    But what you posted says ‘class’

    I had a 7 am class that morning and was still blitzed and barely able to stumble let alone drive

    And that you drove drunk, urr blitzed as you say, to class?

    Rachel, please, you fool no one but yourself.


  166. Zep Tepi says:

    You just ASSUMED I did dear.

    Class dismissed.

    Comment by rachel j k

    I also assume you cannot tell the truth.


  167. Jay Randal says:

    rachel wants to marry unbelievable? Is rachel male or female


  168. Jay Randal says:

    unbelievable is a straight female, so why would she want to marry rachel?
    Is rachel a he, she, or an it? I am confused > lol.


  169. Zep Tepi says:

    WE EITHER DO THE JOB OR GET THE HELL OUT. EITHER WAY YOU HAVE TO HAVE SUPPORT TROOPS TO GET OUT SAFELY.

    Comment by rachel j k

    Okay Halbert Holmert, I supported this last increase simply because we bought this shipwreck.


  170. katy says:

    jay –
    Her and I could run away to Massachusetts together and get married. I am sure someone out east could arrange a good and proper wedding for us?
    The deal is this.
    Make it happen and I will go away.
    Deal?
    Comment by rachel j k — January 21, 2007 @ 7:23 pm

    And I am still the prettiest tranny at the ball.
    Comment by rachel j k — January 21, 2007 @ 7:32 pm

    still confused?


  171. Jay Randal says:

    Yes katy I am still confused > lol. Wait till unbelievable sees that post.


  172. katy says:

    it makes more sense in total context… this showed up soon after rachels posts were deleted:

    I will make you guys a deal.
    If you can talk unbelievable into giving me her hand in marriage, I will continue to allow her to post here after we are married and I promise that I will not ever again. I would do it for her. But something tells me she may not want to ” take one for the team ” so to speak.
    Maybe I am wrong. But I do not think so.
    This is where you guys come into play.
    Here are the rules.
    Her and I could run away to Massachusetts together and get married. I am sure someone out east could arrange a good and proper wedding for us?
    The deal is this.
    Make it happen and I will go away.
    Deal?
    Comment by rachel j k — January 21, 2007 @ 7:23 pm

    hilarious… i don’t know how it does it, but the many personas of this troll just keep on cracking the code at TP headquarters…
    .


  173. trueblue says:

    I sat another walk out.
    Soon.


  174. Marie says:

    #161 veritas
    I agree wholeheartedly.
    So, without identification of an enemy per se (at least one you can easily identify), there can be no effective plan for any war. This is precisely why getting rid of Bush and getting out now and “cutting our losses” is the only answer.
    There is no military solution for Iraq – everyone who knows anything seems to agree on that point – except for Bush&Co — that group of imperialists with a trigger-happy nutcase in the Oval office; the tactless one who eschews diplomacy, statesmanship. So the only way to end this nightmare is to remove him and his company. Redeploy our forces. Begin a gradual withdrawal with a deadline of 6 to 8 months from now. We will have to abandon the bases, leave most of our equipment, but we will get out. Iraq will use the time to work it out themselves. Chaos and mayhem will likely follow, but there is chaos and mayhem today — there is nothing we can do. We screwed it up horribly – wrong war, wrong reasons, hell, wrong country!!
    I want to see funding denied for any additional troops. I know Bush will steal money from other places to do what he wants, and he will say his opponents are undermining the soldiers.
    I think the public (69% of them) will know the facts. Bush will have to be removed from office. He will either have to resign and go with whatever remains of his dignity, or he will have to be fired. The first step is the no-confidence vote coming up soon.


  175. trueblue says:

    sat….
    Oops…SAY


  176. Zooey says:

    I sat another walk out.
    Soon.
    Comment by trueblue

    Yep.


  177. Zooey says:

    Wow. What just happened? Judd got deleted, too.


  178. Judd says:

    Sorry.

    I was cleaning out this thread and accidently deleted some legitimate comments, including my own.

    Anyway, to review: don’t respond to people being disruptive. Just tell us and we’ll take care of it. If you respond you are giving them what they want and you end up destroying the thread.


  179. Zooey says:

    Since Judd’s message is a good one, here it is again:

    Important Note:

    We will do everything we can to remove disruptive comments. But you need to play a role as well. When you see these kind of comments on the blog DO NOT RESPOND.

    When you respond, you destroy the thread forever. Once we delete the offending comments the thread doesn’t make sense.

    Instead, ignore the comments and report the person to us. We’ll take care of it as soon as we get the message.

    As I indicated earlier, we are working on a technical fix for all of this. But it just can’t happen immediately. We are pushing to make it happen as fast as possible. But even with registration, people intent on disrupting the discussion won’t go away. How you react makes all the difference.

    Thanks. And thanks for your patience.

    Comment by Judd — January 21, 2007 @ 9:54 pm


  180. Wayne says:

  181. trueblue says:

    Sorry, Judd.

    I’m very happy to see Think Progress being so proactive.

    I have been baited, but will strive to resist.
    Thanks.


  182. rachel j k says:

    Judd,

    Thank you for the warm welcome.
    You have a great site here.

    I really like it here and the people too.

    Maybe we could all get together and roast marshmallows and wienies sometime huh?

    I am all for registration to keep my name from getting hijacked all the time too Judd.

    Pencil me in on that vote.
    Thank you for deleting the vular comments on this thread too.

    Some were downright outlandish.
    I cannot control what other posters do with my name, but if we had registration then I would be able to.

    Nice meeting you.


  183. katy says:

    but, but, my job application! …i wanna be moderator!

    ok… sorry…

    p.s. – judd, did you find the real offensive ones by “___ nemesis”?


  184. DieNowForPeace says:

    Judd, you rule!

    Thanks.


  185. Juan C says:

    Judd, thats why I always tried to tell them. :)


  186. Wayne says:

    McCain is trying to play all sides and it is not going to fly.
    People are seeing through all the crap the neocons have been pushing.

    My dad, who was a big time Repug supporter, retired from military and civil service, just told me last week he is not voting for another Republican next election…..

    Time to sell some iceskates in Hell now LOL


  187. HGM MA says:

    Did anyone see McCain’s falt affect during MTP, what was up with that? It seems as if he was stuck to a morphine pump, which went off anytime he had to answer a question.


  188. Zooey says:

    Time to sell some iceskates in Hell now LOL
    Comment by Wayne

    Hey Wayne, long time no see.

    I hope we see a lot of people getting sick of the Repugs over the next two years. I’m still waiting for my parents to see the light.


  189. Tenebrae says:

    #14 Freedom

    Supported McCain over Bush in 2000. It seemed then there was a difference between the two, and while I am an independant who generally leans to the Democratic party, I saw McCain as a far better option than Bush. If he had won the Republican nomination I am not sure who I would have voted for. As it is, the point is moot. He didn’t make it then, and if the Republican establishment and base have any brains between them, he won’t make it again this time. His appeal among independent voters plummetted about the same time he began giving away his soul to the religious right….


  190. kinnardi, rachel j says:

    Judd you have a great site here.

    I like it here. I think I will stay around for a long time to come.

    And the people are so friendly. The regulars and everyone here have been so supportive and friendly in my quest for truth in government.

    I dont even let the ones who steal my name and go on posting sprees bother me anymore.

    Most people know me here by now. Thank you for deleting those vulgar posts on this site.
    They were despicable. Thank you for checking in and introducing yourself.

    Now back to work and hope the trolls are a thing of the past.
    I wish we would go to registration. It would stop some of this, but like you say, not all.

    Kudos to you.


  191. katy says:

    judd – suggestion -

    in BOLD red, this message, next to the “post – i agree” button:
    DO NOT RESPOND TO DISRUPTIVE COMMENTS -
    REPORT TO ADMIN. HERE (’here’ being a button that links to email)

    just a thought… sometimes a reminder is helpful…


  192. Zooey says:

    katy,

    I can see it now, trolls reporting our comments as disrutpive to their disruption. Heh.


  193. RUCerious says:

    McCain Saber rattling again?
    Plastic saber, he got it at ToysRUs.
    What a joke this old fart is.
    He’s a disgrace to the veteran community.


  194. ItsJustKarma says:

    What a coincidence! The escalation is like John MacKain’s brain: Too small.


  195. ItsJustKarma says:

    Judd, I share Your opinion. It’s like with mosquito bites. If You start scratching it will itch even more! ;-)


  196. ItsJustKarma says:

    Something technically: Is it possible to have the last posts appearing on top of the thread? That would be so sweet. Not that I am not willing to scroll…
    But life is short, isn’t it?


  197. RUCerious says:

    BTW, most of the sites I build offer that sort by threadID or date/time posted, it isn’t hard…


  198. mighty aphrodite says:

    “I would have liked to have seen more” troops sent to Iraq. He added, “If it had been up to me,” more U.S. troops would be on their way into Baghdad.”

    ******Spoken like a MAN who would like to win this war…..as opposed to those Progs who would welcome defeat…..

    “Plastic saber, he got it at ToysRUs.
    What a joke this old fart is.He’s a disgrace to the veteran community.” Comment by RUCerious
    ******RUserious(?) – You aren’t fit to lick the soles of John McCain’s shoes. I don’t think you would have lasted 20 minutes as a POW at the Hanoi Hilton….unless you were incharge of the guards bordello….

    Tooooodles,loser……


  199. Zooey says:

    The Hag is losing “her” touch. Too bad…


  200. RUCerious says:

    Give it a break Haggette. McCain did his time in Hanoi, I did mine in Phu Bai, and what battle theater did you get your Bronze Star in?


  201. katy says:

    I can see it now, trolls reporting our comments as disrutpive to their disruption. Heh.
    Comment by Zooey — January 21, 2007 @ 11:03 pm

    oh yea…
    ok… never mind (channelling rosanne rozannadanna)…


  202. Prettiest Tranny at the Ball says:

    MA?

    Welcome and behave.
    And remember, I, not you, am the prettiest tranny at the ball here.


  203. RUCerious says:

    katy – LOL!
    BTW, did you ever see her rant on the “endangered feces”?


  204. katy says:

    i probably did, rucerious… saw them all…
    can’t come up with specifics now, but your comment was enough to get a big laugh… i can just imagine…
    gawd, she was great…


  205. ItsJustKarma says:

    My girls are just watching ‘V – For Vendetta’ again. Now there You can see somebody’s determination to finish the deceit of the people. I can imagine
    to hear him commenting about things like tiny hermaphrodite.
    ROTFL!


  206. Jay Randal says:

    Good to see Judd cleaning up the thread of troll droppings.


  207. ephraim zogby says:

    I_am_mighty_aphrodite_and_a_zionist_fool

    Judd?

    Can you do something about this posters name and content?

    This is what bugs me the most besides the content…

    zionist_fool


  208. Kilo says:

    Why no intelligence justification this time around? Because there is none.
    Comment by Find Muck — January 21, 2007 @ 1:17 pm

    Why wouldn’t the previous one suffice ?

    Why would they need to cite any NIE let alone a new one in order to increase the level of troops in Iraq to a level at which it has previously been ?

    This isn’t some unprecedented move or significant difference from the tactics already employed over the previous 5 years.


  209. Kilo says:

    You can’t call somebody a “raving anitwar activist” and then expect for people to believe you are “non war”

    Why not ?
    Do you not believe there is such a thing as activists who are nuts and give their cause a bad name ?

    Can one not be against the war without embracing the nutters who inject the terms “war crimes” and “impeachment” and “hitler” into every discussion to ensure that that discussion is completely ignored and paints the whole anti-war arguement as the position of a pack of raving lunatics ?

    Or is there just the one position ?

    Like either you are for no immigration restrictions or you have to join hands with the neo-nazis who want a pure white continent.

    That’s quite ridiculous.
    Even more so when you state this in a thread where many believe the Bush administration abused it’s power following 9/11, yet none of you have any credibility to speak on that while you have nutters here charging Bush with actually carring 9/11 out himself.
    These people you don’t single out to critique their statements.
    Lesson there for you.


  210. AngPatRac says:

  211. Randy Nason says:

    This photo looks like a mug shot. Was John McCain busted for impersonating a public servant, or something?

    In a time of universal deceit,

    telling the truth becomes a

    revolutionary act.
    -George Orwell


  212. 2 war vet says:

    I wonder if DUMBYA and McCain slept well this weekend when 24 of our finest departed this earth for this illegal DEBACLE of lies!!!!


  213. Blog Veteran says:

    Unbelievable and John Gilpins check this out!
    Only on Raw Story!
    World exclusive: International nuke watchdog disputes claim
    Iran barred inspectors; Says enough in place; AP carries
    Iran claim as fact without IAEA comment: Developing…

    When it was the last time TP had a world exclusive,uh?


  214. Parrotlover77 says:

    Spoken like a MAN who would like to win this war…..as opposed to those Progs who would welcome defeat…..

    We already won. Sadam was deposed and executed for his crimes. His government was torn apart. A new government was established which held a free election.

    Why do repubs refuse to admit we already won the war?

    There is a new war, however, the Iraq Civil War, which sprung forth from disagreements on how the new government should be run.

    Why should we intervene? We got what we set out for: An Iraqi democratic government. Just because we didn’t like the government doesn’t give us any authority to stay there and keep fighting. That’s not what democracy is about. Democracy is about freedom — even if the freedom we created is not the direction we wanted.

    Why do conservatives hate freedom and democracy?

    Bring our sons and daughters home, now. They never should have been there in the first place.


  215. Shirley Dale says:

    It seems like McCain is still kissing Bush all the way hopeing to get to OUR White HOUSE himself ..No way do we need any more of our kids and grandkids being killed or mained in Iraq for Bush or McCainn’s WAR


  216. Spudge_Boy says:

    Comment by Kilo — January 22, 2007 @ 3:16 am

    Nobody, even our crazy troll mentioned “nuts”, or “nutters” (not sure what that is), until you showed up. The comment doesn’t say anything like that, either form me our the insane troll that was here. Just you.


  217. marcus robinson says:

    To bad he won’t be the next president. What an idiot this guy is.


  218. unbelievable says:

    Wait till unbelievable sees that post.
    Comment by Jay Randal — January 21, 2007 @ 9:10 pm

    I wish I hadn’t…. And I wouldn’t have if it weren’t copied into other people’s replies… Disturbing.

    Not that I think it will matter, but thanks for making it clear that I’m not into other women. Not even when I was drunk and in college… :)


  219. Think Progress » McCain Blasts Cheney, Says Bush Has Been ‘Badly Served’ By His Vice President says:

    [...] Also in the interview, McCain continued his back-pedaling from the escalation strategy that he first proposed. After offering a full-throated endorsement of the Bush plan just days ago, McCain opened the door to the redeployment of U.S. forces back to the borders of Iraq should the president’s plan fail. He added, “I don’t know if this is enough troops or not. I can’t guarantee success by doing this.” [...]


  220. knowbuddhau says:

    Hey FindMuck,
    Are you quoting the recent Ray McGovern article? It’s on consortiumnews DOT com as “Show Me the Intelligence.” I haven’t seen any attribution of source. I think he rocks, don’t you?

    The real reason we’re in Iraq is “to enhance Iraq’s relationship to OPEC.” That’s what Greg Palast reports it says in James Baker’s pre-war plan.

    It looks to me like they’re stalling until the new Oil Law (Hydrocarbon Law–is that it’s formal name?) is passed. Once those insane contracts are signed, then what? Isn’t that the victory Bush is really after?

    After we deposed Mosadegh in Iran, the blowback took the form of the Embassy crisis and a revolution. Now we’re rattling our sabers at them again. What will be the blowback from stealing Iraq’s oil? Who wants to bet me we’ll be back in Iraq in another 20 years or so?



Jump to Top

About Think Progress | Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy (off-site) | RSS | Donate
© 2005-2009 Center for American Progress Action Fund
View Most Popular

Advertisement

What We're About

Featured

image
Subscribe to the Progress Report



imageTopic Cloud


Visit Our Affiliated Sites

image image
Reports


Got a hot tip?
Have a hot news tip? We'd love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us the latest.

Name:
Email:
Tip:
(required)


imageArchives


imageBlog Roll