McCain Blasts Cheney Over Iraq Failures, Continues To Distance Himself From Escalation Plan
McCain Blasts Cheney Over Iraq Failures, Continues To Distance Himself From Escalation Plan
The new Capitol Hill newspaper, The Politico, launches tomorrow. In its lead story — an exclusive interview with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) — the senator lashes out against Vice President Dick Cheney. Roger Simon writes:
With his presidential hopes tied to an administration whose Iraq policy he supports but cannot control, John McCain for the first time blamed Vice President Cheney for what McCain calls the “witch’s brew” of a “terribly mishandled” war in which U.S. forces are on the verge of defeat.
[...]
Although McCain had once lavished praise on the vice president, he said in an interview in his Senate office: “The president listened too much to the Vice President … Of course, the president bears the ultimate responsibility, but he was very badly served by both the Vice President and, most of all, the Secretary of Defense.”
At a July 15, 2004 appearance in Michigan, McCain called Cheney “one of the most capable, experienced, intelligent and steady vice presidents this country has ever had.”
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.”
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Flail, McCain, Flail. Take down as many GOP jerk-offs with you as you can, ok?
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:13 pmFlip Flop McJowels. Which is it Mr Straighttalk? Great guy or laothesome? McJowels responsed’s “Which way is the breeze blowing.”
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:15 pmFlip
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:22 pmFlop
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:23 pm“I was for Cheney before I was against him.”
hmmmm sounds familar. McCain is such a schmuck will say or do anything to get that GOP nomination. Hope he does. In 2008 Dems gonna kick his rear-end up one side and down the other.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:24 pmFLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP FLIP FLOP
McCain’s changes of course leave him running in cirlces, much like the military leaders turning the corner in Iraq again and again and again.
Pitiful!
Hope he’s the GOP candidate, because we could run anyone and he/she will win!
PEACE
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:24 pmWitches Brew. I love that. The back stabbing is in full swing now.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:25 pmHow about “ping pong” McCain as a nickname? Watching him go back n’ forth on every issue is kinda similar.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:26 pmAh, the rats start biting each other. It’s good to see.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:27 pmWith friends like McCain on your side…….
You know the rest.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:39 pmI swear, this guy flip flops more than a large mouth bass just pulled out of the water.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:41 pmWonder who else McCain will throw under the bus to be the next president?
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:41 pmFlipper McGee McCain….flip/flop….flip/flop….there’s no way he’s going to distance himself from his affiliation with the war mongers – no way in hell. He’s trying hard with this much backpeddling but it’s all water under the bridge….and over for flipper McCain!
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:42 pmNOTICE THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF CONS
1. Sheep – Still dining on the dung curds of a failed administration
2. Rats – Jumping ship to save their smarmy carcas.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:42 pmPing Pong is good, too….flipper McPingPong and Suzie Wong Fu and Who Flung Doo!
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:42 pmbubble…bubble…toil and trouble……McCain is “Darth’s brew” and he knows it. They’re cut from the same cloth….and in this “witch’s brew” together.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:43 pmJust caught a brief glimpse of Fox’s John Gibson as I left work. What an idiot.
First, he referenced Kennedy’s appearance on MTP (?) yesterday where he talked about the “surge” and how it was not the thing to do, and Gibson asked his guests: “What are the Democrats in Congress saying? That George Bush is no longer the president?”
Then, he claims the surge is working by saying it was responsible for al-Maliki dropping protection of al-Sadr’s militia.
Ummmm…the surge hasn’t even taken place yet. At least not enough troops have been sent to make any kind of difference.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:45 pm#8 Jay, I like it;
John “Ping-Pong” McCain of AZ.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:45 pmI like McFlop!
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:46 pmI wish someone would tell these Rethugs that’s it’s all over for them! Just heard on the news that there’s some cockamamie new threat inside Iraq…Al Queda, of course! This story could be spun any day of the week but, naturally and predictably, the propaganda machine decides to spin it on the eve of this jerk’s national disaster of an address….they’ve jerked people’s chain one time too many for any legitimate effect this time. They need to go back to the Rove ThinkTank and come with something a bit more original. The public ain’t buyin’ it this time, buds!
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:46 pm#18: How John”PingerPonger” McCain of OZ?? We all know that the “little man behind the curtain at Oz is none other than Pappy Bush!
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:47 pmPing Pong McDung and McCowFlop, his sidekick
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:47 pmso, i wonder how his last visit to the oncologist went… mayhap that remission has also been reversed… some soul searching, maybe?
ehhh… prolly just the usual political weather vane stance…
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:48 pmi actually hope so… really, i do…
al-Sadr has told his militia to stop wearing their black ski masks and coats and to lay low. This will seem on the surface that “The Plan” “TM” is working.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:49 pmMcCain knows he won’t get the GOP presidential nomination for 2008, so now he’s trying for the VP spot….Unfortunately for McCain, Cheney has invited him on a hunting trip….
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:53 pmjoe friday -
do this: The Plan (-T-M-)
without the dashes… (i hope)
The Plan (TM)
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:58 pmI suppose that if one keeps throwing rocks at the world, eventually you’ll hit something.
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:59 pmMcCain has finally given an utterance that is irrevocably and without a doubt, true.
Comment by katy — January 22, 2007 @ 5:58 pm
Thanks Katy-Some one showed/told how to do it and I lost it-will try again. The Plan ( T M )
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:08 pmJoefriday, take out the spaces inside the parenthesis also.
The Plan (TM)
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:11 pmMcCain looks terrible these days. I don’t think his health will withstand a run for the presidency. I know his soul is already gone…
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:13 pmMy my, how the worm turns.
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:14 pmEvery Democratic group worth its salt needs to go on the air tomorrow night right after the State of the Chimp with ads showing McCain’s flip-flops…Brand this loon now and everyday until 2008….
-
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:17 pmMcCain looks terrible these days. I don’t think his health will withstand a run for the presidency. I know his soul is already gone…
Comment by Zooey — January 22, 2007 @ 6:13 pm
that’s what i was thinking… i felt kinda bad about my comment…
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:19 pmso, i’m not evil after all… or at least i’m in good company…
Think this guy has his finger in the wind or something?
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:20 pmso, i’m not evil after all… or at least i’m in good company…
Comment by katy
Don’t be silly, you’re not evil! But you are in good company… Heh.
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:34 pmIf the right questions were asked in 2002,and true HONEST evaluation of this war with Iraq was done before we went into it,then we would not be in the situation we are in now. The Congress and the senate unfortunately didn’t do their homework well, so is the media. Now we hear the same voices getting louder about another war with Iran. Are we going to ask the real questions now, or we will be in a worst situation than we are in now next year and the years to follow?
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:37 pmThis country does not need another Repugnican, jesusmongering President! That goes for you too Senator Brownback!! Anybody that kisses up to the Christianists must be ignored for the greater public good!!! ™
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:40 pmI got it! McCain was for escalation of the war before he was against augmentation. Makes perfect sense to me. sarcasm-big time.
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:42 pm[...] See St. John backpedal. H/T to Atrios. [...]
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:00 pmHe’s a Maverick, I tell ya! (not a loose cannon).
And since we’re talking about McCain, what kind of message does it send to our soldiers in harm’s way when a US Senator openly criticizes and blames their commaning officer (General Casey) the way McCain has?
“I have very serious concerns about General Casey’s nomination,” McCain, of Arizona, said. “I’m concerned about failed leadership, the message that sends to the rest of the military.”
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:07 pmImagine if Laurence Harvey in the Manchurian Candidate had gone through with the plot,Frank Sinatra bought off, and Angela Lansbury in position to grind her foes to dust, then you have McCain,the Establishment Media,and a closet queened Republican Party unleashed.
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:08 pmTo think that I used to respect this man…
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:09 pmThe “second coming” of Dubya is John McCain! Run for the hills! Cross fingers in the air….for evil brews it’s “witch’s brew”… and McCain, the soul-less, knows it all too well. I would agree with the posters who see McCain’s health deteriorating….it’s pretty apparent and perhaps responsible for his sudden “change of heart”….that’s all that’s left since his soul was sold to the GOP years ago. I hope it was at least worth the ride for him.
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:10 pmMaybe FlipFlop McDung will flip back to the democratic party while he still has time to repent?
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:11 pmRemember how John Kerry was labeled a flip-flopper? Remember when the republiscums had themselves a gay old time making fun of John Kerry’s Purple Heart by wearing Band-Aids and laughing at him like a bunch of prepubescent schoolgirls and boys? Remember how John McCain did not come to the aid of John Kerry and dispel all those nasty republiscum attacks, even though he knew better? He’ll pay for all of that in ‘08. And he won’t win. And he’ll have only himself to blame. Pity.
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:16 pmJohn “PingPong” McCain has the best ring to it. I can just picture the campaign ads, too.
This guy seems to be disintegrating before our eyes. Pretty soon he’ll be sounding like Bush. Probably get the Republican nomination that way, too.
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:17 pm#42 At one time many people respected John McCain but we watched in total horror as he traded his soul for corruption. It was the same with Colin Powell – very depressing to see what we once though were good, moral men lowering themselves to such reprehensible levels.
Spiritual calibration is a very interesting phenomenon, however. When we grow spiritually (called awareness) in the direction of enlightenment, the growth is incrementally slow…..but when we reach a particular level of spirituality (which McCain had attained) and then “choose” to purposely opt for the characteristics which lower one’s spirituality like greed, power, ego, money, and the rest….the descent is much swifter – exponentially they slide. McCain and Powell had a slow rise of decades to garner the level of respect that they had achieved…..but in a heartbeat (alignment with the baselevel calibration of Bush and Cheney – who, BTW, calibrate lower than 100 which is where pure evil resides – this peak of high spiritual calibration vanishes – never to return in this lifetime.
McCain and Powell epitomize and could be case studies for what occurs physiologically, emotionally, and spiritually when one opts the dark side of “witches brew” as McCain so accurately characterized it – because it’s clear that he knows this “witch’s brew” from being within it himself.
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:17 pmMaybe FlipFlop McDung will flip back to the democratic party while he still has time to repent?
Comment by veritas — January 22, 2007 @ 7:11 pm
ee-gads…
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:17 pmLet’s bring back Salem on this administration!!
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:17 pmAs AustinSF said…”I was for licking Cheney’s ass before I was against it”
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:34 pmAnd so, Warner starts to cave on the president and mccain is right behind. And as warner only pulls back a bit so does mccain to the border. Chickenhawks! Or less.
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:56 pmSo, the cards again begin to crumble and where are the spinless (less a few) democrats? Cries of outrage should fill congress.
Leave Iraq, NOW!
Awesome. Now he’ll lose the tiny group of die-hards who might have shifted their support to him. But the McCain Doctrine still stands, and we’re in full-implementation mode!
I guess he’s just not that bright. And it wasn’t the tiger cages: didn’t he graduate last in his class at the Naval Academy?
Can’t wait until he turns on the Lieberdweeb, or vice versa!!
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:16 pmAwesome. Now he’ll lose the tiny group of die-hards who might have shifted their support to him. But the McCain Doctrine still stands, and we’re in full-implementation mode!
I guess he’s just not that bright. And it wasn’t the tiger cages: didn’t he graduate last in his class at the Naval Academy?
Can’t wait until he turns on the Lieberdweeb, or vice versa!!
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:16 pm“I don’t think his health will withstand a run for the presidency. I know his soul is already gone…”
being souless would make mccain a natural followup to bush.
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:19 pm.
shorter mccain: bush, the decider is too stoopid to make his own decisions.
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:26 pm.
McCain is just trying to weasil out of a situation that he created. His warmongering has come back to bite his butt > lol.
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:29 pmGod it’s sad to watch McCain self-destruct like this, or it would be, if the media didn’t still treat him like a combination of Churchill, Truman and Lincoln. When his train is completely off the rails and his simple-minded militarism is no longer a threat to the country and the world, I’ll start feeling sorry for this pathetic shell of a man.
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:38 pmMcCain was gambling that the McCain Doctrine would never be implemented….. the Busheviks outflanked him – he’s lost the “i told you so” vote…..dagagagadagdaga – McCain’s going down (again)….
January 22nd, 2007 at 9:09 pmI gave up on McFlop when he backed those rotten greedy a$$ distant relatives of that poor Cuban boy Elian Gonzales (sic) that they should have custody of him rather than his father. McFlop showed right there that he was more interested in getting the Florida Cuban vote than doing the right thing. McFlop was the first politician I ever sent an email to- and it was not nice.
Still working on” that” ™ thing.
January 22nd, 2007 at 9:24 pmJoe – there’s some ‘family values’ to admire right there….I hope Fidel pops his clogs soon and removes the cancerous effect of Cuban-exile politics and its overly large impact on the politics of the US…
January 22nd, 2007 at 9:44 pmHey folks….go easy on Mr. McCain there, would you?
Everyone knows the elderly often forget to take their meds.
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:33 pmI am a YDD. As a Vietnam Vet. I supported McCain, if for no other reason but for what he suffered at the hands of ‘Charlie’. I thought him a man of honor. I was wrong ! ! MC Cain spent 7 years as a POW, and saw up close and personal what our service men suffered. He will do what ever it takes to become President, why I do not know. He has to know that another 21,000 troops sent in by Bush are no more than cannon fodder.
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:35 pmI am sorry that he was a Navy Aviator.
It’s not McCain’s meds, but maybe a lack thereof. He seems to be going around the bend. Watch him when he is being interviewed. The eyes are vacant. Sure, some of this may be that he now realizes he was a fool to support Bush all along, thinking the Bush money would come to him for his own campaign. But I think there is more going on. One example would be to ask him why he has been such a dupe for Bushco. That alone reflects very poor judgment.
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:40 pmJohn McCain talking is like watching a pinball in action, bouncing off one bumper after another, back and forth, up and down, up through a hole and down through another one. And then all is lost on his conversation as he opens his mouth one final time and the pinball is lost right down the middle between the flippers.
John McCain, the new Pinball Wizard!
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:41 pmA good naval Aviator will know when he is “behind the power curve.” McCain will simply do anything to get the Republican nomination. Apparently he is ” behind the power curve” and believes that the dynamics, lies, of earlier are still working. He will do a near perfect repeat of Rove’s 2004 and 2006 campaigns, not realizing that it is now 2008.
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:59 pmThe worst part of all o this is he and the rest will be telling us what we want to hear. If he had any brains and wanted to eliminate the cost of poling he could just stop into 5 blogs like this one and figure out what the majority believe. We need to figure out how to put up a people choice candidate that we know will look out for us for a change. No duel citizens, or pack money bitches, or corporate yes liars, we need America firsters and much more so now.
America First
January 23rd, 2007 at 12:19 amFrom now on, I’m calling him McCampaign.
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:16 ami cannot believe i once saw mccain as a sole voice of reason in that party. i dont care if he twists, shouts and waves it all about. i would vote for my left testicle before i would vote for this opportunist. he crashed and burned in slow motion and has a fork sticking out of him. you sold out, mccain, now go pray with the wingnuts for salvation.
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:23 amI guess he’s just not that bright. And it wasn’t the tiger cages: didn’t he graduate last in his class at the Naval Academy?
Comment by Veritas78
Actually, not quite last in his class but fifth from the bottom.
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:53 ama dirty polictician he is trying to get influence to the big oils company that “he is better hawk than cheney, so he can get funding from them”
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:57 amAttention T.P. posters who want an easier way to superscript [â„¢].
Hold down the “alt option” button and hit the “2″ key.â„¢
January 23rd, 2007 at 3:01 amLieberman and McCain were the featured guests at the AEI event McCain spoke at.
They were also the featured guests at the recent JINSA Awards banquet held to honor McCain with their annual War Mongers Award (Scoop Jackson Award), given out annually to the American militarist who best serves the interests of Israel (last year it was General Peter Pace).
McCain / Lieberman is your future – and this will NOT be determined by your votes. This is preordained.
DO THE MATH
Possible McCain-Lieberman Alliance
Introducing McCain to a packed ball room of pro-Israel business executives, defense contractors, and Washington insiders, was Sen. Joseph Lieberman, fresh from being re-elected as an independent after losing the Democratic Party primary in Connecticut.
Lieberman’s glowing tribute to his Republican colleague did not go unnoticed. “McCain-Lieberman? There’s something to that,” JINSA board member Morris J. Amitay told the crowd.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2006/12/6/111221.shtml?s=lh
“Every time we do something you tell me America will do this and will do that . . . I want to tell you something very clear: Don’t worry about American pressure on Israel. We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it.” – Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, October 3, 2001, to Shimon Peres, as reported on Kol Yisrael radio.
January 23rd, 2007 at 4:37 amOne thing that I keep hearing from my friends in DC about Sen. McCain is that he is psychologically unfit for the Presidency, due to the abuse he suffered at the hands of the North Vietnamese during his imprisonment. Those close to him report privately that McCain is quick to anger, makes rash decisions and has, on occasion, made statements that were irrational. I don’t disagree that Mccain served his country well and with distinction during Vietnam; I question, however, his mental stability arising FROM that imprisonment/torture. And, God knows, the LAST thing we need in the next President is yet another person who is divorced from reality. Retire from the Presidential race quietly, Senator; you are not the right person for the job.
January 23rd, 2007 at 6:03 amI say he’s name should be John “Soldiers Slain” McCain. That sums up his and W’s policy.
January 23rd, 2007 at 6:44 amIt is acknowlegment by McCain of Cheney’s powerful postion on this war. Traditionally vice presidents were not the ones to be blamed for foreign policies misdeeds. In this administration,Cheney seems to hold more power than any other previous vice president. McCain seems to know where all the war plans are cooked…
January 23rd, 2007 at 7:01 am#72 “We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it.â€
In the same way that wife controls husband I gather. But did Darth Sharon _really_ say that?
John is #1 loathsome 2006 according to The BEAST: http://buffalobeast.com/113/50_most_loathsome_2006.htm
January 23rd, 2007 at 7:25 amHow can you do that…talk out of both sides of your mout at once. Neat trick. McCain you should join a side show.
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:01 amSo this is what it looks like when you sell your soul to the devil?.
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:41 pm