NYT’s Roger Cohen: On Iraq, McCain Is ‘Less Wrong Than Most,’ ‘Too Honorable To Dismiss’
NYT’s Roger Cohen: On Iraq, McCain Is ‘Less Wrong Than Most,’ ‘Too Honorable To Dismiss’
“Nobody’s been right all the time on Iraq, but Senator John McCain has been less wrong than most,” writes the New York Times’ Roger Cohen — a self-proclaimed “liberal interventionist” — in a column titled, “A Center Called McCain.”
Cohen derives his argument straight from McCain’s talking points. McCain is “flesh and blood” and “straight-talking and “tends to defy categorization,” in Cohen’s words.
Instead of substantively examining McCain’s record, Cohen glosses over it. He claims that “McCain has scored points for being consistent and forthright on the war.” But McCain’s record shows how dishonest he has been with the public. In 2003, he proclaimed:
“I believe, Katie, that the Iraqi people will greet us as liberators.” [NBC, 3/20/03]
Months later, McCain quietly tried to clear himself from blame:
“The whole situation was underestimated by the administration and, frankly, the military, as well.” [MSNBC, 2/25/04]
Cohen writes of McCain, “He knew a bungled war when he saw one and pressed early for increased force levels.” Indeed, McCain was an early advocate of the escalation, but he has shown a tragic inability to understand the complexities of Iraq:
“We’re not going to get into house-to-house fighting in Baghdad. We may have to take out buildings, but we’re not going to have a bloodletting of trading American bodies for Iraqi bodies.” [CNN, 9/29/02]
“There’s not a history of clashes that are violent between Sunnis and Shias. So I think they can probably get along.” [MSNBC, 4/23/03]
“Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.” [The Hill, 12/8/05]
Slate’s Jack Shafer said that Cohen’s writing on foreign policy “establishes new standards for the aggressive pursuit of the trite.” Matt Yglesias adds, “On the Cohen standard, by contrast, if we take any bad situation and just render it very chaotic that counts as a good idea.”
It is this attitude that makes Roger Cohen even more wrong that most.
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McCain is “flesh and blood†and “straight-talking and “tends to defy categorization,†in Cohen’s words.
Hey! Reagan is dead, didn’t you get the notice?
January 17th, 2008 at 3:00 pmRoger’s gotta little case of Villager man-love going on here….
January 17th, 2008 at 3:01 pmRong, rawng, rahng, how many ways can McCain spell his predictions on Iraq
January 17th, 2008 at 3:01 pm‘Less wrong than most’ is not a good enough qualification for either a president or a source of news. The past 7 years have taught us how bad ‘wrong’ can be. It is time for ‘correct’. Past time.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:05 pmOh boy, I so hope he won’t be candidate. This will be unbearable. When it comes to McCain the press just lies on the floor, on its back, wagging its tail…
January 17th, 2008 at 3:06 pm“Nobody’s been right all the time on Iraq, …”
I think Dennis Kucinich has been right all the time on Iraq.
/sarc on
January 17th, 2008 at 3:12 pmWhat a surprise that the Corporate Media never manages to think of him.
/sarc off
As you can read from the link below, I agreed with McCain about a troop escalation all the way through 1/1/2006 when I finally realized that the administration had another idea, get through the midterm elections.
http://mrpurple2008.com/2006/01/01/happy-new-year-and-a-change-in-position-from-me-on-iraq.aspx
I feel that if an escalation was implemented in January of 2005 after the election, we’d be in a much better place but Bush 2.0 wouldn’t let go of Rumsfeld and with a Congress bending to his will, there was no reason to.
A former Repub strategist turned Purple,
January 17th, 2008 at 3:13 pmMr. Purple
http://www.mrpurple2008.com
roger cohen pays the fare for a round-trip journey on the “zero dignity express”!
January 17th, 2008 at 3:14 pmI think McCain’s record on Iraq is slightly south of a stopped clock’s, which could be said to be “Less Wrong Than Most” if by “Most” you mean Bill Kristol and Dick Cheney.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:15 pmFunny how some of you attack me on the other thread for putting forth a democratic concern (relief for immigrants), and now you’re over here wasting time repeating yourselves yet again about Iraq. Yes, we get the point, so what about pushing congress to pass a immigration relief package? When’s that gonna happen? Or will all of you pretend to be tolerant.
You’re all in the majority. Get to it.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:15 pmWhat the hell is going on at the Times anyway? For several years now they have moved to the right just as the country is finally turning to the left. This makes no sense to me.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:17 pmJewish people need a President to bomb Iran so McCain’s their man. Lieberman was selected as VP for the vote and Lieberman will make sure Iran is bombed on day one for no reason but to get control of the land Isreal was allowed to settle on in 1947. Americans better be careful as Lieberman just might knock off McCain and be the President and then Isreal will have full control of the United States of America. Some what like the Trojan Horse better check what’s inside first and you might get the same results. Buy dumbing down Americans it’s so easy to take over. At lease Isreal wont have to worry about how to come in the US their already hear. Remember Bush said the enemy is of color as if you are Jewish or White your ok and can walk right in. As the Saudis set up their own plan which is good. Loan money to a spoiled rich drunken idiot name George W. Bush. Just keep giving him money for his failed businesses only to call in a favor later. Yes letting Bandar Bush keep an eye on the idiot until their was enough money loaned the the US. We see how we have a 9 Trilliion dollar debt and now the Saudis are buying shares of US banks to bail them out. Do the math when the US is at it’s lowest just call in those loans with interest. Yes the War isn’t with the US it will be with the Middle East and Isreal as Isreal will have control of the US. Question is who will win. Looks like the Middle East has more allies. We can all thank the Bush Administration. Don’t worry companies like Goldman Sachs who got inside information to the plan has gone international and will take their business of over seas. US Treasury Secretary Paulson got his job to start his own business and while using taxpayers money he hired Alan Greenspan to take his company overseas too. As Americans suffer we’ll see the names of the crooks living overseas watching and laughing at how easy it was to rob the USA and get away with it. America will see change but it wont be the change for the better if a Republican gets back in the White House.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:17 pmWould you trust McCain with your savings account? Ask the thousands of Americans who were robbed of theirs during the Savings & Loan scandal under the protection of the Reagan Administration. McCain was a major player in that scam – a member of the Keating Five. They never tracked the money during the cover-up. McCain is not a “straight talker” – he’s a “plain bullshitter.”
January 17th, 2008 at 3:23 pmAlas, Frosty Cupcake,
They are not the gold-standard they once claimed to be. I’m not sure they are even ‘less wrong than most’.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:23 pmMore Orwellian Doublethink and historical revisionism from the whitehouse ministry of truthiness
January 17th, 2008 at 3:33 pmMcCain’s new slogan for the side of the bus:
‘LESS WRONG THAN MOST; MORE OLDER THAN ALL.”
January 17th, 2008 at 3:40 pmDo you think that Cohen has a hidden agenda? After all, McCain said that he wants America to occupy all the Muslim countries in the Middle East for the next 1,000 years.
Sigh……….
January 17th, 2008 at 3:40 pmNot to be personal, but look at that picture and realize that he chose that simpering face to be his image to the public.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:45 pmBush is a worthless ying, election-stealing war mongering traitor. McCain has been generally quite supportive of the Bush gangster regime. “Less wrong?” Oh please, gimme a break… It’s all just old-fashioned imperial aggression by the Bush regime against the people of Afghanistan and the people of Iraq. And the senile idiot McCain wants to bomb Iran… These Republicans are completely insane, the same way that other historical European fascists back in the 1930s…
January 17th, 2008 at 3:46 pmWhile I agree that McCain’s views are not productive for anyone to embrace, most of the wrong quotes in this post were spoken almost verbatim by Hill-Dog.
The only person in this race who’s shown a shred of independent thought on our foreign policy is Obama, which is my main reason for supporting him.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:46 pmBush may be a worthless “ying” but I was trying to say, “worthless lying…”
January 17th, 2008 at 3:47 pmIt is this attitude that makes Roger Cohen even more wrong that most.
Satyam, ESL.
January 17th, 2008 at 3:48 pmPeter C:
True.
Oval:
“Bush may be a worthless “yingâ€
That is hilarious! I think I’ll make it my phrase of the day tomorrow, “Bush is a worthless ying.”
January 17th, 2008 at 3:58 pmPeter C, nominated for best catch phrase of the week!
January 17th, 2008 at 4:13 pmimorgan on Obama: “The only person in this race who’s shown a shred of independent thought on our foreign policy is Obama, which is my main reason for supporting him.”
Is avoiding the tough votes and continuously voting to continue funding what you call “independent thought?” Why does Obama get a free ride on the Kyle-Liberman amendment when he avoided the vote and his campaign director, Dick Durban voted for the amendment?
I find it amusing that of the three Democratic frontrunners, Obama is clearly the most conservative in his positions and his record, yet many liberals think of him as the greatest hope for change. His economic stimulus ideas are the most conservative of the three and so are his healthcare proposals.
January 17th, 2008 at 4:48 pmBut, don’t get me wrong, imorgan. I’d vote for Obama in a flash and have no second thoughts in the general election.
January 17th, 2008 at 4:50 pmRoger Cohen is a great example of what the NYT has become – a tired old rag pushing conservative propaganda under the guise of centrism; weak writing, addicted to RNC spin, endlessly dismissive of progressives and endlessly trying to undermine Democratic candidates.
January 17th, 2008 at 4:55 pm#27, I’m not convinced. The editorial page remains very much left of center, and the OP-ED page has many left-wingers. Brooks and Kristol are the only conservatives, while Friedman and Cohen are centrists, though of a liberal nature. Beyond that, Krugman, Collins, Herbert, Rich, Dowd, and Kristol are all liberal. I like their writing, but I think the NYTimes actually needs more centrist-to-conservative voices. I would like to see them add a conservative or libertarian economist to balance Krugman (a comment that I’m sure will go over well here!).
January 17th, 2008 at 5:03 pmBut, don’t get me wrong, imorgan. I’d vote for Obama in a flash and have no second thoughts in the general election.
Comment by Ret. Col. Jack Ripper — January 17, 2008 @ 4:50 pm
I’m no cheerleader, and I almost stopped supporting him due to that retarded ploy to frame Clinton as a demi-racist. Obama’s not the cherub that we’ve all been told he is, but I still read him as being more honest than Hillary. I don’t know enough about the avoided votes to know if that’s real or spin, but they all play games if they’re thinking about running for Prez. At this point to be honest, Edwards looks like the best guy, but he’s not really in contention.
January 17th, 2008 at 5:15 pmimorgan:
I’m going to an Edwards rally tomorrow. (I’m in Florida.) Don’t give up on Edwards just yet. If his supporters stay strong and committed, he may well still make it, but if we crumble in order to be pragmatic…well, that’s just too depressing.
January 17th, 2008 at 5:18 pmBut But But the swiftboat guys who always speak the truth said McCain was a traitor!!
Heh
January 17th, 2008 at 5:19 pmMcCain is insane and ever since he became a leg-humper of the thugs in this administration, he is worthless for this country. God bless him for his service and all he DID before but we don’t need what he plans to do in the future. Senile old men make bad Presidents. Look at the great GOP messiah, Ronnie Reagan and the price we are still paying for his senility.
January 17th, 2008 at 5:19 pmGreat epitaph: “Less Wrong than Most”
And why is Roger Cohen wringing his hands in his celeb photo?
January 17th, 2008 at 5:24 pmHmmmm. I believe that’s called “damning with faint praise.”
And that’s all Weathervane McCain deserves.
January 17th, 2008 at 5:32 pmthirdparty: “Beyond that, Krugman, Collins, Herbert, Rich, Dowd, and Kristol are all liberal.”
I’ll give you Krugman (I’m also sure Kristol was a typo), but the rest of them spent the entire 2000 election trying to convince everyone that Gore was a creep. Dowd has an unabiding hatred of all things Clinton. I think that if you look for ways to demonize Democrats while often giving repubes the benefit of the doubt, you are not a liberal. I’m not sure what they are – east coast ivy league elitist millionaires maybe – they’re certainly not liberals.
January 17th, 2008 at 6:51 pmAnd why is Roger Cohen wringing his hands in his celeb photo?
Comment by Bartolo — January 17, 2008 @ 5:24 pm
He’s not wringing his hands, he’s hiding a Christmas gift from Larry Craig.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:05 pmAlso, there’s no such thing as a “liberal interventionist”. That’s just a weasly way to say you’re a neocon.
January 17th, 2008 at 9:03 pmYeah, by Kristol I meant Kristof. I don’t think the definition of liberal is based on how much you like the Clintons and how much you like Gore. I know a lot of liberals who dislike them, and let’s not forget that they built their careers on centrism – the Clintons and the DLC, Gore and his fervent support for the Persian Gulf War and being generally a hawk on military issues in his Senate career.
You’ll have to do more than just site Democrats that these columnists dislike to prove they aren’t liberal. Is Noam Chomsky not a liberal because he rails against Clinton and Carter, and basically most mainstream Democrats (on top of railing against Republicans)?
You said that they give a free pass to the Republicans. But I haven’t seen any of these columnists give the GOP such a pass. Sure, Dowd writes nasty stuff about the Clintons, but I would also point you to her book, “Bushworld.”
January 17th, 2008 at 11:03 pmRoger Cohen — proof that the NYTimes is going to hell on a handcart.
January 18th, 2008 at 1:13 am