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McCain: Murtha Has Become Too Emotional

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Appearing on Meet the Press, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) argued that Rep. John Murtha is advocating redeployment of U.S. forces – not because he believes it is in the best interest of the country – but because he has become overly emotional:

MCCAIN: I think he has become too emotional and understandably so. He goes to funerals. He goes, as many of us do, out to Walter Reed, and he sees the price of war. And I think that that has had some effect on him”¦

Of course, George W. Bush doesn’t go to soldiers funerals. That’s why his policy in Iraq has been so successful.

Security

Hadley Defends Cheneys Claim That Insurgency Was In Its Last Throes

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Fox News Sunday Host Chris Wallace gave National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley three opportunities to admit Cheney made a mistake when he said the Iraqi insurgency was in its “last throes” last May.

Opportunity 1:

WALLACE: Last May, Vice President Cheney said the following, and let’s put it up on the screen if we can, I think the level of activity that we see today from a military standpoint, I think will clearly decline. I think they’re in their last throes, if you will, of the insurgency.

Since then, 462 American troops have died. The insurgency back in May was not in its last throes, was it?

HADLEY: One of the things the president did in his speech on Wednesday was to try and be clear about who is the enemy, who we’re up against, and he categorized it really in three ways…

Opportunity 2:

WALLACE: But, Mr. Hadley, with respect, I don’t think you answered my question. Was the vice president mistaken last May when he talked about an insurgency in its last throes, given the fact that almost 500 American troops have been killed since then?

HADLEY: The violence is continuing, as I said in my answer to the prior question. We have made clear we thought the violence was probably going to go up in this period.

Opportunity 3:

WALLACE: But doesn’t that undercut the credibility of the administration, first of all, when the vice president talks about last throes, last May, and clearly it turns out it was wrong? And, with respect, there’s an unwillingness for you to admit it was a mistake then. A lot of people say that this administration, even when it’s clearly mistaken, is never willing to say it was wrong…Was he wrong when he said that?

HADLEY: Well, look. What I think we can say is that there were indications that we are making progress against the insurgency.

The truth is that daily attacks on American troops by the insurgency are at their highest level ever. Hadley demonstrated, once again, that this administration can’t handle the truth and can’t admit a mistake.

UPDATE: Crooks and Liars has the video.

Politics

In a 1984 memo, Samuel Alito

wrote that “he saw no constitutional problem with a police officer shooting and killing an unarmed teenager who was fleeing after a $10 home burglary. ‘I think the shooting [in this case] can be justified as reasonable.’” A year later, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the shooting represented an “unreasonable seizure,” and used the case to “set a firm national rule against the routine use of ‘deadly force’ against fleeing suspects who pose no danger.”

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