McCain dismisses Boehner’s gaffe: ‘He misspoke.’
McCain dismisses Boehner’s gaffe: ‘He misspoke.’
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), a Vietnam veteran, weighed in last night on House Minority Leader John Boehner’s (R-OH) comment that the sacrifice of soldiers who have died or been wounded in Iraq “will be a small price if we’re able to stop al Qaeda.” McCain spoke to Time’s Ana Marie Cox on his campaign bus:
“He misspoke. With all due respect, every American wounded or sacrificed is the greatest possible price to pay,” and we should all be grateful, “particularly those of us who sit in relative safety while those young men and women are fighting.”
Asked if Boehner’s comments deserve the same level of condemnation as the Petraeus ad, McCain said no. “He misspoke, he didn’t take out an ad… I’m not excusing him, I just think it’s a different level.”
Boehner’s office claims he was talking “about the money spent in Iraq,” but a transcript of his comments shows he was clearly asked about “the loss in blood, the Americans who are killed every month” in Iraq.
UPDATE: Cox emailed TPM’s Greg Sargent to note that she didn’t report all of McCain’s comments. He also said that Boehner “ought to retract it.”
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John Boehner’s disgusting “small price” slander is just the latest episode in his shameful history of demagoguery on Iraq. For the details, see:
September 14th, 2007 at 12:49 pm“Beyond ‘Small Price’: Boehner’s Iraq Demagoguery.”
How would McCain know? Based on Boehner’s own statement he didn’t “misspeak,” but rather meant what he said.
Perhaps McCain THINKS Boehner told him he misspoke. It wouldn’t surprise me if McCain has 3 or 4 delusionary episodes each day.
September 14th, 2007 at 12:50 pmYeah, and Bush just misspoke when he told all those lies that he tells every day.
September 14th, 2007 at 12:51 pmIt’s already well proven that Boehner pulled a boner.
September 14th, 2007 at 12:51 pmMisspoke is such a bullshit phrase
September 14th, 2007 at 12:54 pmPerhaps that should be the next ad.
McCain not excusing Boehner. Show one R calling out another R on his statement(s).
September 14th, 2007 at 12:58 pmIt does seem that McCain would even attack or try to discredit fellow-GOPrs to re-energize his dismal campaign, watch out!
No matter, it is nothing for me to have sleepless nights about. Lets will more discord energy in the direction of the GOPrs for not asking tough questions of their leader.
September 14th, 2007 at 12:59 pmThere is a difference between comments being parsed and twisted to give a different impression of what a speaker actually said (case in point: John Kerry’s swipe at Bush being intentionally twisted to sound like an insult to the troops) and what Boehner said.
When you look at the entire exchange in the interview, how can Boehner’s comments be interpreted any other way than saying that our military personnel and our country is paying a small price for “liberating” Iraq (ha, like the country is liberated… um, we’re occupying it and enflaming civil war, stealing their natural resources…)?
It wasn’t a “misspeak”. He meant exactly what he said. Thousands of American lives, the future of thousands of Americans, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, a free Osama Bin Laden, and an emboldened violent sect within fundamentalist Islam, changing the middleeastern landscape by building more permanent bases for imperialists, and billions upon billions of dollars was worth Bush feeling like a tough guy and saying “we’re kicking ass”.
September 14th, 2007 at 1:04 pmBoehner is a bone-head.
September 14th, 2007 at 1:04 pmYeah, and Bush just misspoke when he told all those lies that he tells every day.
Comment by VerbalKint — September 14, 2007 @ 12:51 pm
And what about all those bad decisions? Maybe he just “misgoverned.”
September 14th, 2007 at 1:05 pmwhat he really means
will be a small price if we’re able to able to steal 25 triilion of Iraqs Oil
September 14th, 2007 at 1:05 pmMislead, misquote, misinformed, misspoke. What’s next? Sheesh.
September 14th, 2007 at 1:05 pmGopers all think alike. The trolls outed Boehner and his ilk when they blather on about how low the loss of life is in comparison to WWII, Vietnam etc. Boehner meant exactly what he said, and said exactly what he meant.
September 14th, 2007 at 1:08 pmLet’s not split hairs here. Boehner is ass and he hates our troops…end of story.
September 14th, 2007 at 1:09 pmwhat he really means
will be a small price if we’re able to able to steal 25 triilion of Iraqs Oil
Comment by Tobey Tall — September 14, 2007 @ 1:05 pm
If you know of a better way to prop up a falling dollar, I’d love to hear it!
September 14th, 2007 at 1:09 pmsorry…he’s an ass
September 14th, 2007 at 1:10 pmContrast this “he misspoke” excuse to McCain’s response to Kerry’s botched joke:
“Senator Kerry owes an apology to the many thousands of Americans serving in Iraq, who answered their country’s call because they are patriots and not because of any deficiencies in their education,†Mr. McCain said.
Mr. McCain said any suggestion that only the poorly educated would agree to serve in Iraq is “an insult to every soldier serving in combat.â€
September 14th, 2007 at 1:12 pmGreat, McCain…lest we forget, “bomb, bomb, bomb…bomb, bomb Iran”
-douchebag
September 14th, 2007 at 1:15 pmThe moveon ad was a disgrace to all Americans. Boehner’s remark was just stupid and not well thought out. There really isn’t a cost great enough for us to back down and declare defeat against AQ afterall. The moveon ad on the other hand was an assasination peice on focused on our military. I is amazing the Dem party hasn’t spoken out against the ad. They certainly should never except any donations from such an extremist group. When a group takes an ad out against our military, no American should support it.
September 14th, 2007 at 1:21 pmWhat…did Boehner claim the troops were lying before they even had a chance to speak?
September 14th, 2007 at 1:23 pmtry this for a bit of “Good” news. Shaheen is in in NH
September 14th, 2007 at 1:24 pmBlood-thirsty chicken-hawk A excuses blood-thirsty chicken-hawk B for his blood-thirstiness…
Charmed, I’m sure…
September 14th, 2007 at 1:25 pmComment by Roger_Roger — September 14, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
Is that really you, R2?
(A lot of namejacking around here as of late, just checking)
If it is you, have some more coffee, OK?
September 14th, 2007 at 1:26 pmRoger_Roger,
Whatever you’re taking isn’t working.
September 14th, 2007 at 1:27 pmAm I alone on this or does it seem that Boehner’s comments are deliberately taken out of context?
Wolf Blitzer:”Mr. Leader, here’s the question. How much longer will U.S. taxpayers have to shell out $2 billion a week or $3 billion a week as some now are suggesting the cost is going to endure? The loss in blood, the Americans who are killed every month, how much longer do you think this commitment, this military commitment is going to require?”
Looking at the question that was asked, there’s more than enough reasonable doubt that he was talking about the money being spent vs. the lives of our soldiers as being the “small price”. By continually posting Boehners comments without posting the question that was put to him, TPM is using the same BS tactics employed by idiots like Sean Hannity, Bill O and Ann C. PLEASE STOP THE MADNESS. This type of behavior is despicable when conservatives do it, so why does TPM think it’s OK?
September 14th, 2007 at 1:31 pmBoehner has shown himself to be a clueless idiot on a regular basis- there’s more than enough LEGITIMATE criticism to be leveled against him without having to resort to mis-construing his comments in order to crucify him.
The more I read about this issue here, the more disgusted I get. If we’re really so much better than the neo-cons, it’d help to show it on issues such as these.
Comment by Roger_Roger — September 14, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
I imagine you have successfully cornered the market on the perfect understanding of what the First Amendment actually stands for.
Giving that those 2 men, Crocker and Petraeus could easily be designated as the 2 hardest working men in the world today and deserve respect because of the unique situation they find themselves, it is also reasonable to remember that it is for little things like the Freedom of Speech and other enduring American principles they are fighting to protect.
The 109th Congress for all of its might could not muster the will to pass a law against flag-desecration (even if it sounds reasonable) because of the ill it would bring upon the idea behind the First Amendment.
I think speech always wants to and should be forever free no matter whose ox gets gored.
September 14th, 2007 at 1:43 pm“The moveon ad was a disgrace to all Americans. Boehner’s remark was just stupid and not well thought out.”
Roger2
No, moveon’s ad was stupid and not well thought out (they should’ve realized that the Repubs would jump all over it hoping to discredit everything ever written on their blog regardless of Patreus’s clear cowtowing to Bush). Boener spoke his mind and showed his true colors. He’s always been a mouthpiece for the GOP’s evershrinking core and is fooling noone with his unpatriotic bootlicking bs
September 14th, 2007 at 1:43 pmIf a Democrat or war critic said what Bonehead did, they be all over the airwaves denouncing his patriotism and demanding an apology to the troops. If a Republican said it, he only ‘misspoke’ Disgusting. The GOP has NO honor.
September 14th, 2007 at 1:48 pmI’m struck by McCain’s use of the phrase, “relative safety” when comparing us at home to the soldiers in Iraq.
“RELATIVE” safety??? - as in “yeah their getting shot at, but we’re in danger too, some of those Code Pink ladies yell pretty loudly” ???
McCain is too senile to govern.
September 14th, 2007 at 1:55 pm#23 Croaker:
what about “The loss in blood, the Americans who are killed every month, how much longer do you think this commitment, this military commitment is going to require?” leads you to the “reasonable doubt” that Boehner was NOT talking about the lives of our soldiers when he said “small price to pay”?
Why would anyone but a right-wing partisan bend over that far backwards to excuse the Congressman? Even John McCain isn’t willing to bend that far.
September 14th, 2007 at 1:59 pmCorrection:
Why would anyone but a right-wing partisan or a concern troll bend over that far backwards to excuse the Congressman? Even John McCain isn’t willing to bend that far.
September 14th, 2007 at 2:08 pmMoveOn’s ad was proven to be exactly correct as Gen. BetrayUs literally betrayed us by serving as a shill for Bush’s latest spin on success in Iraq. Why do you think the GOP jumped all over the ad?
Boehner’s remark fits the GOP pattern. Claim to “support the troops,” escalate the War indefinitely, and roll out the lies every time you speak. Did you hear that he is Bush’s best buddy in the Congress? What a pair of liars.
September 14th, 2007 at 2:10 pm#23: Absolutely right.
First of all, TP, fix the freaking quotes in the article. They don’t even match, and it looks like you’re attributing a direct quote to him that he didn’t say.
Second, he was answering a question that had two parts: 1) Money, and 2) Loss of life by our soldiers.
In his answer, he said “long term, the investment that we’re making today will be a small price if we’re able to stop al Qaeda here”
Given that he said investment, that clearly leans towards the monetary part of the question, not the lives-of-soldiers part. I think there’s plenty of room for doubt here, and TP should be ashamed of their shoddy quote-job on this story.
Finally, do people really disagree with his statement? If we could have a stable middle east and the elimination of Al Qaeda, wouldn’t that be worth a hundreds of billions of dollars and a few thousand lives? That would be a monumental, world-changing accomplishment that would likely earn back its costs and result in far fewer death overall.
Of course, the current administrations delusional mismanagement of the war makes this a virtual impossibility (and it was pretty much a pipe dream to begin with). But if we seriously had that opportunity on the table, then yes, it would be a small price to pay, overall.
September 14th, 2007 at 2:11 pmThe MoveOn ad attacked a political operative masquerading as a military officer - it said nothing about our troops. Maybe you should read the ad. “Declare defeat?” WTF are you talking about? Do you mean we would surrender our government over to al Qaeda? I’ve never heard such BS in my life. You should stop posting - you’re not smart enough to make an honest, cogent point.
September 14th, 2007 at 2:12 pmIs it harder to pull a Boner or extract a Boner?
Does crying follow pulling or extracting?
Just trying to understand our Congress Critters, of course.
September 14th, 2007 at 2:16 pmamazing the Dem party hasn’t spoken out against the ad.
…
Comment by Roger_Roger — September 14, 2007 @ 1:21 pm
—–
The American people, especially Vets, will not let that slide!!!
Comment by pdiddy — September 14, 2007 @ 1:25 pm
September 14th, 2007 at 2:19 pmRetracting a Boner is hard work for a Republican, especially when on their way to an airport men’s room or when glancing longingly at a photo of Chimp.
September 14th, 2007 at 2:42 pmWhy does this episode remind me of that Horton elephant cartoon cartoon where he sits on the bird egg?
Image Boehner on the nest saying:
“I said what I meant, and I meant what I said, a GOP shill is loyal 100%, regardless of the people’s intent!”
September 14th, 2007 at 2:43 pmThe question DIDN’T have two parts. The question asked about the current situation in Iraq, and about the two primary forms of US investment in the war — financial and human. But it was a single question.
If Boehner chose to address only one part of that question, he f*cked up, because the human cost — blood and human lives — was the most recent mentioned before he made his “small price to pay” remark. You could make the argument you float here, if Boehner THEN went on to talk about the loss of American lives, but he didn’t. He said “small price to pay” in response to a question that specifically mentioned “$2 billion a week” (money) and “Americans killed every month”.
If Boehner really was only talking about money, then he completely IGNORED the sacrifice of the troops and their familes, and that is even MORE SHAMEFUL.
September 14th, 2007 at 2:43 pmSorry, #35 was in response to Evil Cornbread at #31.
September 14th, 2007 at 2:45 pmComment by criticalthinker — September 14, 2007 @ 2:43 pm
Orphic anyone?
September 14th, 2007 at 2:47 pmWhat appears to have been overlooked is McCain’s bizarre remark that Americans should be “grateful” for the soldiers who have died and become grievously wounded in Iraq. Why should Americans be grateful for the fact that those troops have died and become maimed and crippled, not for their country, but rather for the lies of their government? It is also quite doubtful if many of the military families will automatically swallow the propaganda that they are handed by the government and McCain after their loved ones are returned in a casket and/or paralyzed or severely burned or blinded or brain damaged or missing some of their limbs or suffering from the effects of PTSD.
September 14th, 2007 at 2:52 pmCox emailed TPM’s Greg Sargent to note that she didn’t report all of McCain’s comments.
I don’t care what McCain thinks about but seks.
September 14th, 2007 at 3:02 pm.
“their loved ones are returned in a casket and/or paralyzed or severely burned or blinded or brain damaged or missing some of their limbs or suffering from the effects of PTSD.”
Comment by Erroll — September 14, 2007 @ 2:52 pm
Without necessarily encroaching on whoever’s authority we have been told to (brute-force) adhere to, I simply can no longer foster any support for a war with no clearly-defined objectives.
And someone asks for whom I am trumpeting the idea of “bringin’ ‘em home” for.
September 14th, 2007 at 3:04 pmThe sacrifice of Americans in Iraq is a small price to pay for stopping Al Qaeda? Over 3,000 Americans and counting are still dying over there to stop Al Qaeda, who killed less than 3,000 Americans before we invaded Iraq.
Small price to pay??
September 14th, 2007 at 4:09 pmOf course Cox didn’t report all his comments, that would mean someone from the MSM is reporting a full and accurate picture.
September 14th, 2007 at 4:26 pm#30 Trollbuster
First of all, your comment about me being a “right-wing partisan” is ridiculous. Anyone with logical faculties can rightly assume that I am not “right-wing” by my comments here. Trust me, I’m irritated enough that I’m in a position to defend Boehner, (a man I personally despise) in the interest of being reasonable, but facts are facts. Progressives should avoid the very appearance of evil at all times- we have a hard enough time getting people to listen to us as it is. The last thing we need is to be ignored because we choose to misrepresent or overstate the facts in order to score a few political points.
Second, it’s ABSOLUTELY dishonest to list Boehner’s response without also presenting the question asked of him. He was being interviewed at the time and could very easily have missed the “blood” part of the question, instead focusing on the monetary aspect. Haven’t you ever been asked multiple questions and neglected to address each point individually? I’ve done it many times. Read the question and his immediate response and you’ll see that there is enough reasonable doubt to assume, as his publicist stated, that he was talking about the monetary aspect of the question and not stating that the lives of the soldiers is a “small price” to pay.
September 14th, 2007 at 4:34 pmBoehner is an idiot, but I doubt that even he is stupid enough to make a statement that deliberately devalues the lives and sacrifice of our soldiers.
re#40 Comment by G walker man — September 14, 2007 @ 2:47 pm
http://altreligion.about.com/ library/ glossary/ symbols/ bldefsorphicegg.htm
Thanks for providing me with the perfect word, that illustrates what I was thinking!
September 14th, 2007 at 4:59 pmOMG McCain stinks to high heaven. He didn’t stand up for John Kerry a fellow vet in 2003 when Republicans deliberately misunderstood him, but he speaks out for Boner.
September 14th, 2007 at 5:30 pmMcCain says Boehner misspoke. Methinks McCain misthought.
September 14th, 2007 at 7:25 pmMcCain’s mistake was not his. It is a proven fact that if your mother and father did not have kids, you won’t either. Boner is as his name implies. Bush ‘n Chinny luv him ’round da Oval Office er rest rooms.
September 14th, 2007 at 9:09 pm(Oh, is dat Craig, too?) Boner’s tears are the proper lubricant that is needed.
Not good enough McCain! You jumped all over Kerry. I think Boner needs to apologize. You wouldn’t be acting partisan would you, LOL!
September 16th, 2007 at 1:57 amNo he spoke what all Republicans think, as long as it is someone elses child doing the bleeding and sacrificing.
September 16th, 2007 at 4:30 pm