Rove: McCain Got His Facts Wrong On The Iraq Surge, ‘But Don’t Make A Big Deal Of It’
Rove: McCain Got His Facts Wrong On The Iraq Surge, ‘But Don’t Make A Big Deal Of It’
Last night on Fox, Hannity & Colmes co-host Alan Colmes noted that CBS News chose not to air a portion of its interview with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in which McCain falsely claimed that President Bush’s “surge” policy in Iraq “began the Anbar Awakening.”
But former Bush aide turned Fox pundit Karl Rove would have none of it. Discussing the issue with Colmes, Rove tried to shift the subject to something he’s more comfortable with — attacking Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) — and pleaded, “Let’s not get into this”:
ROVE: Well, Alan, first of all, let’s not get into sort of nit-nat mistakes. After all, Barack Obama said we need more Arabic translators in Afghanistan. They don’t speak Arabic in Afghanistan. [...]
COLMES: What about his time line being wrong on the Anbar awakening?
ROVE: Look, let’s not get into this.
After more pressing from Colmes, Rove finally agreed, “I’d be happy to respond if you like. Would you like me to respond?” Rove finally told Colmes, “you’re right” and admitted that McCain “had his timing wrong.” But again, Rove insisted: “But don’t make a big deal of it.” Watch it:
It seems even master spin-meister Karl Rove can’t explain away McCain’s blatant misunderstanding of history.
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Bush made some errors, but let’s not get into it!
July 24th, 2008 at 11:27 amEh. We make our own reality. No biggie.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:27 amMcCain’s comment looked so bad because he was trying to say Obama didn’t know the facts, didn’t understand history. Then he made up something, otherwise known as “Bush reality.”
July 24th, 2008 at 11:28 amMcPutz can’t get ANYTHING right, from Social Security to Czechoslovakia(which has not existed for nearly 20 years), to the Iraq-Pakistan border(which does not exist), to domestic economics(by his own admission), yet, we should not make a big deal out his being completely clueless?
Get real KKKarl.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:28 amTypical GOP/corporate propaganda media machine response to issues:
July 24th, 2008 at 11:32 amif we ignore it people will not be aware of it or will just forget about it.
They are ALL weasels.
Hey, McCain is just a senile old fart, so let’s not let that get in the way of voting him President!
July 24th, 2008 at 11:36 amAnd Porky is a lying thug, but don’t make a big deal of it. KKKarl Rove is a thug who should be in jail. It amazes me that reichwingers pick the worst criminals available to be their role models. Say alot for the Greedy Oil Party.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:38 amYou’re welcome to your own opinion, KKKarl…
…but not your own facts.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:39 amChew on this peace prick hypocrites then get back to me: http://www.nypost.com/seven/07242008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/antiwar_hypocrites_121275.htm?page=0
July 24th, 2008 at 11:43 amIOKIYAJM
July 24th, 2008 at 11:47 amAssomalley,
July 24th, 2008 at 11:48 amAfghanistan and Pakistan are where the terrorist are you shit for brains moron.
I’m gonna sing it from the rafters along with all of the other misunderstandings he seems to have on a wide range of issues.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:49 amDon’t let the facts get in the way of a neocon agenda. After all, facts are inconvenient things to the GOP.
Your day is coming, Karl!
July 24th, 2008 at 11:49 amOK, Karly, let’s talk about his not knowing Sunni from Shiia, or his inability to grasp fundamental stuff about the economy, I’d be glad to change the subject to either of those topics…
July 24th, 2008 at 11:51 amaceomalley7 Says:
Quoting the New York Post Op-Ed page is like using the National Enquirer as a primary source… oh wait… that happened with a troll yesterday….
hmmmmmm
July 24th, 2008 at 11:51 amI think it is dangerous to treat Colmes like a “real” progressive. I think he’s a Fox ’straight-man’ only. His function is to ask a variant of what a real journalist would ask, but usually an already tamed variant. Then his job is accept the dodge given by the guest and drop the subject.
No self-respecting progressive (no right-thinking person) could sit in the same room with Hannity for that long. The man is a paid stooge designed to make liberals look bad and pre-empt the real objections we have.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:51 amROVE: Look, let’s not get into this.
Translation: It’s not ‘don’t focus on this because it is a minor mistake’; but, don’t focus on this because it is a MAJOR mistake.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:52 amAccording to Rove’s logic the media shouldn’t pick at McCain’s “nit-nat mistakes”. But it is okay when they twist & warp the facts about Obama. That “fair & balanced” reporting is getting in the way again.
Rove is going to start foaming at the mouth soon, we better cut to a commercial.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:53 amShorter Rove: McCain’s not dumb. And after two decades with Bush, I’m an expert on dumb.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:53 am“…even master spin-meister Karl Rove can’t explain away McCain’s blatant misunderstanding of history.”
I can!
It is called CRS. A commom affliction of the old and senile fully defined as “Can’t Remember Shit.”
July 24th, 2008 at 11:54 amTypical Rove, imperiously demanding the press not cover the mistakes and lies of his candidate. Why are we listening at all to this man?
July 24th, 2008 at 11:54 amAnd Obama was right, we don’t have enough Arabic translators to question the foreign fighter insurgents we capture, most of whom speak Arabic.
Rove is completely incompetent, even in attack mode.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:54 amHe means:
“Let’s not get into it because this is a Republican news organization and we can only attack Democrats”
July 24th, 2008 at 11:54 amAbsolutely.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:55 am#16, Peter C, well said.
I saw that setup the first, (& only) time I tuned in, years ago.
Insannity rules the roost, Colmes is a parrot bowing to his wishes and, as you say, setting the topic up to diminish it.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:56 amWill a surge work in Afghanistan like it worked in Iraq?
July 24th, 2008 at 11:56 amThe answer is yes…
The best KKKarl could do to try to change the subject was to talk about an Obama quote from two months ago in which the candidate corrected himself on the spot?!? The fact that the military doesn’t have Pashto or Dari translators either doesn’t help. Rove’s MO has been to attack the opponent’s strength (i.e. defending a draft dodging drunk by swiftboating the war hero running against him). It has to be his worst nightmare to see his candidate swiftboat himself by destroying his alleged foreign policy expertise every time he opens his mouth. I love it.
July 24th, 2008 at 11:57 amEnlist now if you support Obama’s Afghanistan surge…
July 24th, 2008 at 11:57 amassomalley & Fred Kagan will lead the fight in Afghanistan!…
or is it Iraq?
Iran?
Toledo?
Hard to keep track of which war warmongers talk about, eh?
July 24th, 2008 at 12:00 pmMore of the Islamofascists are now in Afghanistan & Pakistan because of the Iraq surge…you know, that fight or flee instinct…
July 24th, 2008 at 12:01 pmAce,
Gonna love our new CiC in ‘09. I am sure President Obama will thank you for your support.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:01 pmaceyducey; speaking of enlisting…..when are YOU going to do it?
July 24th, 2008 at 12:02 pmIf the Splurge ‘awakened Anbar’ when will McChimp ‘awaken’?
-1 yr
-10 yrs
-100 yrs
-10,000 yrs
Of course, it’s hard to wake up when you’re already dead…
July 24th, 2008 at 12:04 pmKKKarl falls in this category: COWARDS and MAFFIOSI don’t like to talk about certain subjects, so they say, “let’s not get into it.”
Same as ElRushBo, who keeps brainwashing his audience, but doesn’t have the guts to engage in a debate with an intelligent person who disagrees with him and can put him in a true LIMBO during a serious confrontation.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:05 pmralph #24 ( and Peter C)
Colmes isn’t what I’d call a progressive (I don’t even call myself that) but he pressed Rove on this and he’s pressed on stupid right wing talking points before, rather than just letting them slide as say Russert and Matthes have so often done.
I think Colmes has acquired some confidence and conviction lately and made an effort to ppurse truth and rationality. Im pleased about that.
Unfortunately as it’s Hannitarians watching the show, I doubt anything is getting through, so it’s all rather Phyrric in the end.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:05 pmLook’s like I got my answer to “where’s carl rove” I asked on the think fast thread yesterday…Hummm..And his fat bloated ass is still running around the country and running his mouth off on the good old TV instead of answering question’s before a hearing because.?….Never mind..I give up…..Blessings
July 24th, 2008 at 12:07 pmColmes is just wasting his time and energy.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:12 pmTalking rationally to an Hannitarian audience will not, ever, have any positive results: they don’t have the intelligence required to understand Colmes’ comments and rationale.
They are used to hear just bush-it and be happy repeating it over and over again. No thinking, no scrutiny, no deeper perception at all.
They like it so much that they will vote for “more of it.”
Rove? Spinning? Aimlessly? In 2008?
No one could have predicted!
July 24th, 2008 at 12:13 pmapropos of translators, whatever happened to all those electronic translating gizmos the US was supposed to be equipped with?
I recall they were being touted during the Mission Accomplished-Liberation-There will be NO ‘feces/fan interfacing” period.
Did those electronic translators help? I guess not. Did they have enough? I guess not. Are we still paying for them? I guess so. Who knows?
July 24th, 2008 at 12:13 pmWell, considering that McCain is Bush Redux, and the level of participation in actual government of the actual Chimp-in-Chief, Rove probably thinks that the more lame duck the Republican candidate, the better, specially because he’s waiting for a new position in the next Republican administration (if there exists one).
July 24th, 2008 at 12:16 pmWell, with McSame making soooo many of these mistakes it does bring attention that he isn’t the man to sit in the hot seat. Yes, everyone makes mistakes, but his are looking like he is clueless to things he should be pretty up to date on.
But then again probably 80% of America didn’t know that Iraq-Pakistan don’t share a border.
Maybe McSame should google more before he answers a question…wouldn’t that be cute.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:17 pmRove has a point I guess. American’s didn’t make a big deal out of Bush’s gross incompetence in 2004. Why should we expect that American’s care more now about incompetence than they did in 2004?
Note, I’m not suggesting that that is the way that it should be. Only that history may me on Rove’s side here; America has enough ding-dong’s that McCain could pull if off if he can get them to the polls. Hagge, for instance, has indicated that he may re-endorse McCain and that is quite a few ding-dong’s right there.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:18 pmaceomalley7 Says:
July 24th, 2008 at 11:57 am
Attention troll shit:
Returning the original mission in Afghanistan is in no way chickenhawkish. It’s laughable — LAUGHABLE — that implementing the strategic plan, set from the beginning, would be a demerit. It is the plan IMPROVING our national security and making the best use of the services of our men and women in uniform.
Shinseki recommended hundreds of thousands of troops go into Iraq to prevent massive violence — and was subsequently laughed out of his job. SO YOUR SURGE IDEA IS NOTHING NEW, NOT YOUR IDEA, IS PARTIAL TO THE ORIGINAL RECOMMENDATIONS, AND COMES ONLY AFTER HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF IRAQIS ARE DEAD.
YOU support the Iraq invasion, which had no benefit to our national security. YOU oppose a timetable for withdrawal. YOU want the oil, so YOU pay the insurgents out of your own pocket not to attack, and YOU take your ass over there w/o the appropriate armor.
I’m f ucking sick of this regressive, backwards us vs. them mentality.
Now shut your f ucking mouth.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:21 pmSorry for the outburst, people.
I will flag the return of roger, alias #439949.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:23 pmUncle Ho Says:
aceyducey; speaking of enlisting…..when are YOU going to do it?
He’s already a member of the 101st chairborne, fighting that old “war of ideas”
July 24th, 2008 at 12:27 pmThis is getting ridiculous, everyone saying “don’t make a big deal out of it”. It is a big deal. McCain wants us to believe that he knows how to “win wars”. Well, if he doesn’t know history and/or facts of what has transpired in Iraq, then how is he going to “win” the occupation of Iraq. That’s another question. How in hell do you “win” an occupation. I really do wish that Obama would stop calling it a “war” and call it what it is, an occupation. I’m not sure why he persists in calling Iraq a “war”.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:30 pmaceomalley7 Says:
Chew on this peace prick hypocrites then get back to me: http://www.nypost.com/ seven/ 07242008/ postopinion/ opedcolumnists/ antiwar_hypocrites_121275.htm?page=0
Hey prick, there’s nothing new in that article. It’s just the right wing version of what Obama has been saying for a long time. He has always said he would leave some troops in Iraq to protect American lives. He is still saying he will bring the troops home in 16 months. And now he is saying he will send more troops to Afghanistan which is something that should have been done a long time ago.
So prick, go back under the rock you crawled out from. We’re not interested in the right wing version of the truth because it rarely contains any truth in it.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:34 pmLet
July 24th, 2008 at 12:34 pmLet`s make a big deal out of this because he never gets` it correct in the first place.This man who wants to run this country is so lame he has be corrected day in and day out, who in his right mind would want him president and a decider, not me even if I was a re-puke.He is all wrong for any country if by some slim as hell chance he steals this election.
July 24th, 2008 at 12:38 pmaceomalley7 Says:
——————————————————————————–
Will a surge work in Afghanistan like it worked in Iraq?
The answer is yes…
—
July 24th, 2008 at 12:38 pmHi aceomalley7:
Hope you are well. I really am impressed with your capacity to know unknowable future events. Might you share your secret? Thanks in advance…
McWars Says:
Sorry for the outburst, people.
I will flag the return of roger, alias #439949.
It’s ok McWars, it gets to us all eventually. I liked your outburst. We all need to learn to flag the serial trolls rather than getting sucked in by them (as I did).
July 24th, 2008 at 12:41 pmHi aceomalley7:
July 24th, 2008 at 12:42 pmHope you wind up on the business end of a bayonet some day.
McCain has based his entire campaign on his great judgement in supporting the surge. No one is supposed to talk about it when he screws up his only campaign issue. If he can’t keep his story straight on the surge, what is he going to talk about?
July 24th, 2008 at 12:45 pmI very much appreciate your understanding, Bilbo. Is ignoring trolls an art or science?
July 24th, 2008 at 12:48 pmAce = Ass
July 24th, 2008 at 12:49 pmaceomalley7 Says:
Will a surge work in Afghanistan like it worked in Iraq?
The answer is yes…
July 24th, 2008 at 11:56 am
_____
Really? So do you expect a massive ethnic cleansing campaign in Kabul, a mass exodus of Afghan refugees to Iran and Pakistan, and a voluntary Taliban cease-fire? Cause that’d be the only way an Afghanistan “surge” could work like it worked in Iraq.
July 24th, 2008 at 2:02 pmNothing suggests “pathetic” more than being browbeaten into submission by Alan Colmes, of all people.
ALAN COLMES!?!?!?!?!?
Good job Karl, what’s next, caving in to a Raggedy Ann doll?
July 24th, 2008 at 2:58 pmUh, McCain can’t even discuss what he identifies as the central point of his ability to be president.
No problem. Be happy.
July 24th, 2008 at 6:13 pmOsama Bin Laden is Saudi. Many of Al Queda are not Afghan, but were foreign fighters defending Islam and Afghanistan sovereignty. The main languages in Afghanistan are Pashto and Dari (along with many others). Both Pashto and Dari are written primarily with the Arabic alphabet. So, Obama is correct that Arabic translators are needed. But, other languages need to be translated and understood in Afghanistan as well.
i
July 25th, 2008 at 8:36 am