Lugar disagrees with McCain’s call for the U.S. to ‘act’ against Iran.
Lugar disagrees with McCain’s call for the U.S. to ‘act’ against Iran.
Yesterday on Fox News, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) called the Iranian election a “sham” and said that he hopes the U.S. “will act.” President Obama said that he would refrain from weighing in. “[We] want to avoid the United States being the issue inside of Iran, which sometimes the United States can be a handy political football,” he said. Today, McCain responded, calling on Obama to turn up his rhetoric. “He should speak out that this is a corrupt, flawed sham of an election and that the Iranian people have been deprived of their rights,” he said. But this morning on CBS, McCain’s Senate GOP colleague and Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN) sided with Obama:
HARRY SMITH: Beyond watching…beyond supporting the idea that these disputed votes should be recounted, is there anything the United States can do?
LUGAR: No. I think for the moment our position is to allow the Iranians to work out their situation. When popular revolutions occur, they come really from the people. They’re generated by people power within the country. For us to become heavily involved in the election at this point is to give the clergy an opportunity to have an enemy…and to use us, really, to retain their power.
Watch it:
As the Wonk Room’s Matt Duss noted, “Were the U.S to clumsily wade into this Iranian political crisis, as McCain would have us do, it would support Ahmadinejad’s main arguments against his domestic opponents, and likely provide the perfect pretext for a more intense crackdown. In other words, the preferences of hardliners in Iran and the U.S. are pretty closely aligned here.”
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I am still amazed to hear a voice of reason coming from the right.
PEACE
June 16th, 2009 at 12:15 pmWhat? You mean when you see a big ol’ forest fire, you’re not supposed to throw gasoline on it?
What a shock to the man who was almost our President.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:20 pm*shudder*
“In other words, the preferences of hardliners in Iran and the U.S. are pretty closely aligned here.”
The preferences of “hardliners” in all nations are closely aligned. They support each others’ domestic political power by keeping their populaces afraid of one another.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:21 pmspencers mom Says:
I am still amazed to hear a voice of reason coming from the right.
Just pinch yourself as a reminder that the voice of dissent also came from the right.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:21 pmPlease, they’re only using Iran to justify their (R) differences with the (D)’s.
“He should speak out that this is a corrupt, flawed sham of an election and that the people have been deprived of their rights”. Would he say the same if the elections were happening in Uganda? Italy? Palau? Saudi Arabia? Mexico? Kuala Lumpur?
June 16th, 2009 at 12:21 pmLugar disagrees with McCain’s call for the U.S. to ‘act’ against Iran.
– - If President Knee-jerk were in office, we’d be carpet bombing Tehran by now.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:24 pmI thank my lucky stars that McCain isn’t the pres.
Nice guy, lousy CIC.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:25 pmOT, but over at TPM they have a photo of the protesters in Iran, and they’re holding up signs that read “WHERE IS MY VOTE?”
I’m wondering why their signs are in English?
PEACE
June 16th, 2009 at 12:25 pm… another smart move on the part of our now president -
making friends with this guy…
thank you.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:25 pmNow that’s what you call putting a Lugar to McCain’s head! Wicked cool! Sit down Grampa, you are irrelevant!
June 16th, 2009 at 12:25 pmToday, McCain responded, calling on Obama to turn up his rhetoric. “He should speak out that this is a corrupt, flawed sham of an election and that the Iranian people have been deprived of their rights,” he said.
Then Ahmadinejad would be able to use that to claim that Mousaki was an American pawn. Why does McCain want to help Ahmedinejad?
June 16th, 2009 at 12:28 pmBadmoodman has got it right…Not only Iraq, Afgan, and Iran he would be making plans for N. Korea as well.
Our troops wound never get a break with McCains Bomb, Bomb, Iran mentality.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:30 pmslightly OT:
i wonder if something bad once happened to john mccain at a beach boys concert…
some bad love from mike love perhaps?
June 16th, 2009 at 12:34 pmLuger is correct. “When popular revolutions occur, they come really from the people. They’re generated by people power within the country. “
June 16th, 2009 at 12:35 pmBad old Senator McCain. He loved supporting Georgian aggression against South Ossetia in August 2008. One of his chief campaign workers was a consultant for the dictator of Georgia. Heck of an analysis, knee-jerk war-monger.
Where was old Johnny McCain when the Republicans rigged the Florida vote in 2000 for Bush? Not even a little peep out of old Johnny…
When was old Johnny McCain when the Republicans electronically rigged and stole the 2004 President Election, when some seven million Kerry votes were flipped into Bush votes Election night? Not a peep outta old John.
Johnny is very selective when he decides to critique elections and then to suggest action…
June 16th, 2009 at 12:36 pmIt would appears that Sen. McCain’s solution to everything is ‘war’.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:36 pmYou would think McLame would be alittle gun shy with the war thing, since he wasn’t to good at it when he was in.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:39 pmUSA’s 2000 election was a SHAM!
June 16th, 2009 at 12:40 pmThe reasons given to invade and occupy Iraq and Afghanistan is a SHAM!
Withholding the TORTURE PHOTOS is a SHAM!
Escalating the Afghanistan/Pakistan War is a SHAM!
The Military Congressional Industrial Complex is a SHAM!
War Criminals walking and talking freely is a SHAM!
Bailing out banks is a SHAM!
The absurd Military budged of a struggling economy is a SHAM!
The USA’s Congress… is a laughable matter… sadly…
“…give the clergy an opportunity to have an enemy…and to use us, really, to retain their power.”
Hey, who put common sense in his drinking water…Republic Fascist Party members specialize in the “coolaid”.
All McCain wanted was to bomb them into the “Stone ages”.
Fcuk the Republic Fascist Party
June 16th, 2009 at 12:40 pmSen. Richard Lugar, whom I share a first name with, is a Republican Dick I respect.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:40 pmI said it before and I’ll say it again, ‘Bomb, Bomb, Bomb, Iran.’ McCain is close to Lieberman. The Neo-cons and McCain are just chompping at the bit to go after Iran. In the summer of 2007, I was terrifird of getting up in the morning to discover we were going to strike Iran, the rhetoric from the Bush Adm. was so bad.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:40 pmWhat strikes me is that 20 – 25 years ago Lugar fit into the political spectrum as a fairly typical conservative Republican — not someone with whom I often agreed politically but one whose views I could at least understand and usually respect while disagreeing. He now often stands out as a lone wolf of conservative sanity, the only Republican who will at least agree that water is wet and the Earth is not flat. Says a lot about what the Republicans have devolved into.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:40 pmFor us to become heavily involved in the election at this point is to give the clergy an opportunity to have an enemy…and to use us, really, to retain their power.
DING DING DING We have a winner.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:43 pmYou know, if they ran Lugar in 2012 we might actually have a fight on our hands. Good thing the rest of ‘em are all batshit insane.
.
Badmoodman Says:
If President Knee-jerk were in office, we’d be carpet bombing Tehran by now.
Action Johnny always likes to act. He may not know what action is called for, but that doesn’t stop him from acting. Palin! Suspend the campaign! Georgia! About the only time he’s withheld action was when he said he knew where Osama Bin Laden was, and would only go capture him if we elected him President.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:44 pmOK, let us look at the recent timeline:
US CIA was instrumental in setting the Iranian political process. Then, partly as a backlash against the govt imposed from the western nations, there was the takeover of Iran, the taking of American hostages, the failed attempt at rescue, the release of hostages.
That was only a couple of decades ago. They are still working out their political system.
Of couse, stealing elections and protests in the street also occured in the US just a couple of elections ago.
So what makes anyone think we are the right people to go in and try to (re)institute our wishes on the country ?
June 16th, 2009 at 12:48 pmNot.
Our.
Problem.
Iran is a sovereign nation and it’s up to their people to fix this nonsense.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:49 pmAs much as I am upset about President Obama’s move to the middle, I am so thanklful this ancient moroner isn’t our POTUS.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:52 pmI still laugh everytime I think of that senile old fool, wandering around the stage with that blank stare in his eyes at the Obama McCain debate. Even SNL couldn’t make that up.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:52 pmsacopenapa Says:
SHAM-WOW!
June 16th, 2009 at 12:53 pmJust more Neoconfascista chickenhawking, brought to you by PNAC and the Israeli lobby.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:53 pmSenator Lugar, “When popular revolutions occur, they come really from the people. They’re generated by people power within the country. ”
Mr. McWarmonger didn’t notice that his party is now irrelevant thanks to the people within the US. I actually thought that Senator McNaptime would distance himself from his new neocon buddies after the election seeing as they cost him a large chunk of votes and any respect that the non-Republican Americans had for him as a fairly sensible voice from the Right. He has now become just another Right Wing crybaby. Go take your BFF Lieberman to a drive-in movie in your new hybrid and ask him for a hug Grampy.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:55 pmWhy didn’t McCain propose attacking Ukraine when they were having election issues?
June 16th, 2009 at 12:56 pmWell Hell’s Bells!
Where were the Iranians and their government during our 2000 election fiasco???
Why did they not get involved (diplomatically or militarily)?
Because it was none of the farking business!
Just like now it’s none of ours!!!
Geez, I hate it when war mongers can’t utilize their cognitive skills and imagine the scenario from the other side.
Thank goodness some GOPers like Lugar can.
June 16th, 2009 at 12:57 pmDRxJ Says:
Well Hell’s Bells!
Where were the Iranians and their government during our 2000 election fiasco???
well hell’s bells! where were the AMERICANS!?!?!???
i am actually jealous of the amazing show of iranian people power…
and very proud of them…
June 16th, 2009 at 1:05 pmWhat exactly is McCain proposing that we do? Send over a stealth bomber to blow some shit up? Given the last eight years of foreign policy decisions we’ve seen from conservatives, he sure as hell isn’t proposing that we do anything intelligent or reasonable.
June 16th, 2009 at 1:08 pmObama put it right in his press conference this AM with the S Korean leader . . . “it is not in the best interest of America to be seen MEDDLING” . . .
And of course the GOP “leadership” Mike Pense wants CONGRESS to get involved . . . with a “resolution” . . . just what the Iranian hard-liners NEED, an AMERICAN attempt to “influence” their politics that will remind them of the Shah/CIA take over . . .
June 16th, 2009 at 1:19 pmGood lord, it truly scares the hell out of me that John McCain almost became the POTUS. Is it only me or am I missing something? Whenever McCain takes a stand on an issue, it is absolutely the wrong position. If he were elected, I am sure we would be facing down the barrels a Russian task force. He is belligerent and is incapable of following a complete thought process as to what the ultimate outcome of his actions.
I am a veteran and I use the VA for medical care. If McCain’s stand behind veteran issues is any kind of marker as to what kind of character he processes, then America did the correct thing in rejecting him.
Now John McCain is speaking out on health care and I am assured that his position will be wrong as usual. Follow the money, follow the money, and keep following the money.That is how you will get a full measure of a mans character.
June 16th, 2009 at 1:21 pmThis country is too broke and way in debt to act against Iran or any other country in addition to the ongoing costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. We’re in no shape when it comes to finances. Military forces are overstretched as well.
June 16th, 2009 at 1:35 pmMcCain is doing what all the Republicans do; they talk big about defense and security issues. This is their favorite issue for beating up on the Dems. However, this cowboy diplomacy is over because the public approves Obama’s handling of foreign relations. Too bad the Republicans have not got the message.
June 16th, 2009 at 2:01 pmGreat comments! Lugar is an old-timey Republican conservative — the kind you can disagree with vehemently but who will always put the country’s interests before cheap politican shots. That makes him pretty much a lone wolf over there in Republicanville.
On the other hand, if there were more sane Republicans Lugar & fewer like McCain, there probably wouldn’t be a Democratic Congress. One thing Obama understands way better than I would like is that a lot of so-called “independents” are really pretty conservative & only voted for him because McCain & Palin were so knee-knocking scary.
The Constant Weader at http://www.RealityChex.com
June 16th, 2009 at 2:25 pmTwitter and social media, primarily developed and owned by the private sector in the U.S., has proven the strongest support in history for a citizen’s movement. McCain fails to see that we did “act,’ and continue to act in a way much more significant than whatever 20th Century, antagonistic solution he would be referring to. And it didn’t involve governmental entanglements. Our support goes way beyond content: Our free-market provides the means of communication and, yes, revolution.
June 16th, 2009 at 2:45 pmLUGAR: No. I think for the moment our position is to allow the Iranians to work out their situation. When popular revolutions occur, they come really from the people. They’re generated by people power within the country. For us to become heavily involved in the election at this point is to give the clergy an opportunity to have an enemy…and to use us, really, to retain their power.
Bingo!
Bombing Iran would unite the people to fight the foreing invader.
June 16th, 2009 at 3:01 pmAll the bellicosity and bluster won’t change the fact that John McCain was a disappointment to his dear old Dad. The fact that he is a loudmouth war monger is the reason he lost the last election to a level headed, intellectually superior individual who has a habit of weighing and measuring his words, and I must say, successfully. Thank the gods that John McCain has been marginalized.
June 16th, 2009 at 3:08 pmAND In another reality…
Action…
[Zoom in Oval Office]
[Pan to Sec. Defence Joe Scarborough]
Mr. MCCain the Iranians are revolting over their suspected tainted election I recommend we give Israel the go ahead.
[Close-up MCCain]
We should at, we should act, uh we should act at at attack ack
[hack cough] act.
[Pan Scaryborough]
You said that Mr. President, what do what to do…
[Pan MCCain]
we should bomb Iran with messages of our outrage!
[Pan Sarah Palin by steel case]
[Zoom close up Palin's hand pressing the button starting WWIII]
[Voice Over MCCain]
NO SARAH WAIT!! That’s not what I meant!
Don’t touch that!
No wait Sarah that’s not…
Oh hell it’s nap time anyway.
[MCCAIN naps on couch]
[pan back wide angle outside White House]
[cue Hysterical giggle Palin]
[Palin voice over]
Well we sure showed them, you betcha :)
June 16th, 2009 at 3:50 pmpublicsteele Says:
Twitter and social media, primarily developed and owned by the private sector in the U.S., has proven the strongest support in history for a citizen’s movement. McCain fails to see that we did “act…”
Look, the guy just figured out email last year, and only because people were making fun of him. So he’s still about 20 years behind Twitter.
.
Evil Spaniard Says:
Bombing Iran would unite the people to fight the foreing invader.
… under their right-wing incumbent.
June 16th, 2009 at 4:13 pmLugar is one of the few remaining Republicans who still has a rational brain.
June 16th, 2009 at 6:13 pmTake action against Iran? Install another Shah you mean?
June 16th, 2009 at 7:08 pmWe would have a fight on our hands if Lugar were the leader of the Republican party. I’m guessing he doesn’t want to be the party’s babysitter.
McCain not being president makes me happy—that was a close call. His campaign was one of the most frightening things I have ever seen, in my life. Sarah’s crowds screaming “terrorists” was uberscary.
President Obama has become my favorite president. I haven’t really liked a president since Carter, and I thought him too good to be president. I think if we stick with him and keep Congress Democratic, we’ll do well. Congress needs to be whipped by the public.
June 16th, 2009 at 8:09 pmWhatever the end result of the Iranian election, the Mullahs will have no other choice than to change some of their policies towards young people, women and gays.
June 17th, 2009 at 1:49 amSen. Lugar, a voice of conservative reason in the US Senate, knows that only a few years ago Mexico was going through a period of voter revolution against the conservative establishment and even though the election there was clearly stolen, the US under Pres. Bush did not side with the people.
Sen. McCain does not remember when he said during the campaign: “we’re all Georgians now” just to win points with the anti-Russian electorate. Well, the EU has just blamed the president of Georgia for starting the war with Russia. So much for McCain’s foreign policy wisdom!
Why the hating on John M. – Warmonger? He is asking for the President of the United States to make a statement. Why do we pretend nothing is happening in Iran? If a sham election took place in any other country the US would be the first country to speak out. Hell the Dems still can’t shut up about 2000.
June 17th, 2009 at 4:15 amIsn’t Free and Fair Election the US Mantra?
Bunk we didnt say squat about the rigged election of Shevernadze in Georgia nor the rigged elections in El Salvador and Guatemala. We have to tread carefully here. We are the guys who overthrew thier first democratic government. Every Iranian knows that. We just dont have the credibility there to throw down any guantlets. I am sure things will be said but it needs to be done with care and delicacy. It would be very easy to make things worse.
June 17th, 2009 at 5:33 am