This ain't Hell, but you can see it from here

Category: John McCain/Sarah Palin

  • Arkin: Bush’s Nixonian withdrawal plan

    Remember little Billie Arkin who told us all that the troops in Iraq were living La Vida Loca and that we didn’t need to support them, they needed to support us instead? Well, the Washington Post let him out of his cage (now that mud season has ended in Vermont) and let him moderate a discussion on their “Planet War” forum. Rather than say that the President is planning for pulling the troops out of Iraq because they’re not needed any longer, Arkin blames the defeat of the US military in Iraq for the President’s decision;

    Cynics might dismiss the maneuvering as “just politics,” but in fact [Obama and Bush] are struggling with the same objective and reality: how to end the Iraq war favorably and without admitting defeat, and how to preserve the honor of the American military.

    For the Bush administration, the task is to balance success on the ground and a new yearning and confidence on the part of the local government with long-term security. And of course, there is a heavy dose of pressure from the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, who both deeply want to be relieved of the exhausting duty. Accelerating withdrawals before the elections aren’t intended to help McCain, as some have speculated. They are motivated by a desire to leave the White House redeemed, and to give the American people what they want.

    Obama, on the other hand, is not flip-flopping or changing course or doing anything in his “refinement” other than being presidential. Everyone wants to “end the war,” the question now is how to get there. I would argue that the issue is not “defeat” of the terrorists or even the kind of stability in Iraq that would satisfy a tough auditor. The universal imperative has become to preserve American military honor.

    Now, keep in mind, that Billie Arkin made this brilliant assessment from the wilds of Vermont. He makes no indication that any of it is quoted from any source or any amount of research – it’s simply his unsupported opinion…from Vermont. From Vermont, Arkin has made the decision that we’re losing in Iraq (despite the mounds of evidence to the contrary that is publicly available) and that the President just wants to pull the troops out to save their honor – like Nixon in 1972. Arkin, as in his previously famous writings, blames the military’s ineptness for this imagined failure in Iraq and blames the Administration for keeping them there to spare their feelings.

    What Arkin won’t admit is that the only reason our troops have been involved over there so long is because him and his peace-freak buddies can’t shut up while the troops do their jobs. Even after the job is nearly done, he continues to berate them.

    And, of course the commenters in the forum suffer mightily from BDS;

    Bush has always said he wants to leave Iraq, and its easier when the country you occupy doesnt want you there. Bush has had 8 years of deception and misinformation that has led us deeper then we were ever promised we would be in Iraq. So to now say that his policies are similar to Obama’s is a stretch. Obama has a record of being opposed to the war from the beginning. Any refinement is seen as flip-flopping because the press is so used to a President that doesnt change anything he doesnt want to. The universal imperative of American Military honor has not chance under Bush. His entire history of ignorance and NOT listening to the generals on the ground (contrary to popular belief) had led us to hurt our military honor. This honor can be regained by winning the war on terror in its main battlegrouns- Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is something that Obama sees as a priority and Bush has seen as a secondary to his fiasco is Iraq. So I dont see the similarities.

    (Spelling and punctuation errors are from the original author, probably the result of pounding on his keyboard in frustration at being wrong once again)

    I should probably point out that Arkin did a brief tour in the Army as an intelligence officer in Berlin (during the late 70s) and that he went to work for Greenpeace after that. Besides blathering on for Washington Post, he seems attached somehow (his email address) to the Institute of Global Communications, a “progressive community” consisting of PeaceNet, EcoNet, WomensNet, and AntiRacismNet – so there’s probably no agenda there.

    Crossposted at Eagles Up! Talon

    Welcome Conservative Grapevine readers…and thanks to DPUD for linking us up again. Welcome C.H.U.D. Busters‘ readers.

  • AFL-CIO maliciously using veterans to make faulty point

    By now you have likely seen this ad.

    [youtube IZYh0I73ldc nolink]

    Since I actually work for a Veterans Service Organization, and deal with these issues, I knew right off the bat that it wasn’t accurate. Unfortunately, I also knew that pointing that out would subject me to statements about being a shill for McCain, despite having repeatedly stated that I will either not vote for him, or vote for him like I did Hillary in the campaign, with eyes shut and nose held.

    Anyway, I didn’t post anything, and now I don’t have to, as Factcheck.org did it for me. I’ve followed Factcheck since they debunked the worst ad I’ve ever seen, that assinine Vietnam Body Armor ad by Vote Vets.

    Anyway, this is the summary of what they found:

    The AFL-CIO is attacking McCain with a TV spot saying he voted “against increasing health care benefits for veterans.” Actually, he voted for increases in those benefits. The labor federation points to McCain’s votes against Democratic proposals to increase funding. Those were defeated along party lines, and then quickly followed by alternative measures to increase benefits by smaller amounts, all of which passed unanimously or with near-unanimous majorities. McCain supported all of them.The AFL-CIO also points to a McCain vote against a war spending supplemental appropriations measure from 2007 that included additional funding for veterans’ health care, along with much else. The measure passed the Senate along partisan lines but was vetoed by President Bush. But McCain voted for a later version of the supplemental that ultimately passed into law and actually included slightly more funding for veterans’ benefits.

    If you are going to use us veterans to make a point, could you at least TRY and make it somewhat accurate? Seriously. I am the last person to claim that the GOP is better on veterans (specifically VA) issues than the Democrats, something not borne out by the budgets when each were in control, so why not just state the facts and be done with it? I expect a ton more of these hit pieces, and if their goal is to make me more eager to vote for a guy whose immigration and global warming policies make me throw up a little in my mouth, then I say unto you: Mission Accomplished.

    ON EDIT: I’ve done a little more research on Jim Wasser, the AFL-CIO guy in the video, and come to the conclusion he’s a lying crap weasel.  It should shock no one that he did a bunch of stuff in 2004 for Kerry, ostensibly to rebut the Swiftees.  Anyway, I loved this passage he has on the AFL-CIO website:

    On the veterans’ issues, everyone respects McCain’s war service. We veterans never forget other veterans and we should never say anything bad about another veterans’ military service – that’s hallowed ground.

    Mr. Wasser, you have a call from General Clark on line 2, line 2.

  • Kerry; McCain inept

    kerry-in-a-bunny-suit.jpg

    The biggest doofus the Democrats ever nominated for President, John (lied while good men died in two wars) Kerry (who hasn’t signed his Form 180 yet) thinks we still respect his opinion (MSNBC link);

    “John McCain … has proven that he has been wrong about every judgment he’s made about the war. Wrong about the Iraqis paying for the reconstruction, wrong about whether or not the oil would pay for it, wrong about Sunni and Shia violence through the years, wrong about the willingness of the Iraqis to stand up for themselves,” Kerry, who supports Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

    “If you like the Bush tax cut and what it’s done to our economy, making wealthier people wealthier and the average middle class struggle harder, then John McCain is going to give you a third term of George Bush and Karl Rove,” the Massachusetts senator added, echoing an Obama campaign talking point.

    Kerry later said the McCain of 2008 isn’t the McCain he courted in 2004.

    Um, the success in Iraq proves that Kerry has been wrong about the war all along (after he was right about it). Kerry misjudged the majority of Americans’ opinion about the war from the beginning. Despite his personal campaign to lose the war in Iraq and denigrate the troops, he’s been proven a sap.

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    John McCain was a lone Republican voice against the people who told the truth about Kerry’s service. Not that I particularly agree with McCain on this, John Kerry should show his appreciation – not something John Kerry is known for.

    kerry_convention_salute.jpg

    Kerry stabbed the Vietnam War troops and veterans in the back, why not John McCain, too. John Kerry doesn’t have any respect for anyone except his-damn-self. Nice salute, by the way. Even an Air Force recruit could salute better on his first day of basic Training.

    John McCain was wrong about the tax cuts before he was right about them – you should be able to understand, Kerry. At least when he’s wrong he admits it. The tax cuts got us through a difficult period, but not where Kerry is most concerned – taking Americans’ money from them to fund his idiot programs.

    I noticed Kerry used the “that’s not the John McCain I knew” line of the Obama campaign when backing away from a supporter. I get the distinct feeling that we’ll all be saying “That’s not the Barack Obama I knew” about 100 days into his presidency.

    MSNBC notes;

    Not too long ago, Kerry might have described McCain, a fellow Vietnam veteran and former prisoner of war, as a bipartisan ally who could provide guidance on national security issues.

    Who is surprised? Kerry is still flip-flopping.

  • Colombia gets de-FARC’d (UPDATED)

    Of course, by now everyone’s heard of the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt from FARC guerillas along with the US citizens Farc has been holding for more than five years. Venezuela’s El Universal has the background on the rescue;

    The Colombian Army rescued safe and sound ex presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three US citizens and 11 military officers held as hostages by the rebel Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC), on Wednesday announced Colombian Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos.

    “They were rescued in an operation aimed at infiltrating the FARC first squad, the same that has held a large number of hostages for years. Through several procedures, we also could infiltrate the FARC Secretariat. Since hostages were divided into three groups, we managed to have them gathered at one single place and then moved to the south of the country, where they would supposed to report to (new FARC top leader) Alfonso Cano,” said Santos.

    The minister added that arrangements were made so that the hostages were picked up in pre-established place by a helicopter belonging to a ghost organization and that a FARC leader known as César and another member of FARC Secretariat traveled together with the hostages to hand them over to Cano.

    Santos said the freed hostages are flying in choppers to San José del Guaviare, capital city of the Guaviare region.

    “This operation, called ‘Check,’ is unprecedented and a proof of Colombian military forces’ quality and professionalism,” pointed out Santos.

    Actually, there must’ve been a mistranslation. According to their Spanish language article it was operation “Jack”

    “Esta operación que se denominó ‘Jaque’, no tiene precedentes y pasará a la historia por su audacia y efectividad, dejando muy en alto la calidad y el profesionalismo de las Fuerzas Armadas colombianas”, señaló Santos.

    McClatchy reports that John McCain had just finished a visit to Colombia moments before the rescue;

    McCain, Sen. Joseph Lieberman and Sen. Lindsey Graham took turns praising Uribe, who’s raised a ruckus within Colombia’s political establishment during the past week by asking the country’s Congress to let him run for president an unprecedented third time.

    Leftist critics of Uribe have said he’s trying to perpetuate himself in office like a “dictator.” Human rights groups have been saying for months that the president hasn’t placed enough priority on reducing atrocities against peasants committed by the military.

    However, Colombians overall have given Uribe extraordinarily high ratings, with 70 percent saying they view him favorably.

    Under Uribe, guerrillas in the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia are on the brink of defeat, major cities have become mostly safe for the first time in years and the economy has grown steadily.

    The news just keeps getting better for Colombians.

    Here’s Spanish-language video of the homecoming (h/t to my buddy Kate at A Colombo-Americana’s Perspective) ;

    [youtube LpEVf2MEsj0 nolink]

    I’m betting there are some angry screams coming from the Miraflores Palace in Caracas.

    More links at Venezuela news and Views.

    Of course, the Left thinks there’s some kind of conspiracy going on because McCain just happened to be in the same country. And suddenly Think Progress believes Fox News.

    Next they’ll be saying McCain freed Betancourt and the Americans himself in a Chuck Norris/John Rambo style raid.

    El Universal listed the former hostages names;

    Ingrid Betancourt, Thomas Howes, Marc Gonsalves, Keith Stansell, lieutenant Juan Carlos Bermeo, second lieutenant Raimundo Malagón, sergeant José Ricardo Marulanda, corporal William Pérez, sergeant Erasmo Romero, corporal José Miguel Arteaga, corporal Armando Florez, corporal Julio Buitrago (police), assistant superintendent Armando Castellanos (police), lieutenant Vainey Rodríguez and corporal John Jairo Durán (police).

    UPDATED: 30 minutes ago Colombia’s El Tiempo posted this Spanish Language video of Betancourt’s first press conference;

    [youtube 4AkU6mesU6A nolink]

    “El helicóptero casi se cae porque saltamos, gritamos, lloramos nos abrazamos, no lo podiamos creer. Dios hizo este milagro. Esto es un milagro”

    My Calle J translation;

    The helicopter almost fell from the sky because we jumped, we screamed, we cried, we hugged, we couldn’t believe it. God made this miracle. It’s a miracle.

    UPDATED AGAIN: More news and links at Fausta’s Blog.

  • Lil Mac and Blind Faith

    Last night I linked to Jammie Wearing Fool and the story about “Lil Mac” Wesley Clark, but the more I thought about the article, the more angry I became. First here’s the quotes as reported by the Washington Times;

     “[McCain] has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee and he has traveled all over the world, but he hasn’t held executive responsibility,” Clark said. “That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded _ that wasn’t a wartime squadron.”

    Moderator Bob Schieffer, who raised the issue by citing similar remarks Clark has made previously, noted that Obama hadn’t had those experiences nor had he ridden in a fighter plane and been shot down. “Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president,” Clark replied.

    Who the Hell is Wesley Clark to tell us what kind of experience is acceptable to be the President? I’m here to tell you that schmoozing with domestic terrorists and racist preachers isn’t qualifications for President, either, Wes, m-boy.

    Neither is being an E-4 journalist with a personal body guard, nor being a green lieutenant with a boat who accidentally shot himself in the arm. But that didn’t stop you from endorsing Gore or Kerry based on their military experience, did it?

    How many wartime commands did Clark have? Since the bulk of his service was between Vietnam and Kosovo, I have to say; very few. I guess it’s McCain’s fault that he was being held prisoner while the wars were going on and his peers got those plum wartime commands.

    Who keeps giving this knucklehead a forum? CBS should be ashamed for allowing this addle-brained, weasel-faced half-pint on the air. The Democrats should be ashamed that he gets anywhere near their party. All the little peckerhead did yesterday was point out that Obama has less experience than someone with even a tiny bit of experience.

    Getting fired from a command position during a time of relative peace doesn’t qualify Lil Mac for disparaging other veterans’ service with any credibility.

  • Sunday link fest

    Time to give back to all of my friends out there;

    im_pro_zombie.jpg

    Me, too.

    Jammie Wearing Fool catches Wesley Clark trashing McCain AGAIN.

    Zero Ponsdorf disagrees with Michael Yon – just this once.

    The American Pundit finds a politician who not only defends Obama and his posse, but he defends Mugabe in the same tone.

    Ziva at Babalu Blog gets nostalgic for pre-Castro Cuba.

    Big Dog recounts the childishness of the Democrats and Baldilocks tells them to grow a pair.

    Uncle Jimbo cuts loose on the Left at Blackfive.

    Bloodthirsty Liberal has little patience for this German revisionist.

    Doubleplusundead takes on the “Dueling Dumbasses” of the Second Amendment revisionists.

    I can’t even summarize this bit of Swedish buffoonery from Rich Horton at Blue Crab Boulevard.

    To show how bi-polar the Obamists are, Robin at Chickenhawk Express finds some hunting for people who bad-mouth B?O for his middle name and DrewM at Ace of Spades finds some changing their middle name to whatever Obama’s middle name is.

    The only guy on the internet who lists me in his blog roll as “This ain’t He**”, my buddy, Steve at Common Cents helps you find cheap gas.

    Confederate Yankee catches AP in an outright lie…once again.

    Don Surber‘s Weekend Scoreboard.

    Lisa and WL MacKenzie Redux at Dust My Broom writes about Jackboot Justice in our neighbor to the north.

    Fausta says there’s a monkey god in Obama’s future.

    Wordsmith’s Sunday Funnies on Flopping Aces.

    Gateway Pundit recounts Lieberman’s charge at Obama’s throat.

    Marooned in Marin reports that Feds are investigating the City of San Francisco for harboring an illegal alien who’s also a crack dealer.

    See-Dubya explains Obama using the McMurthy Lonesome Dove story at Michelle Malkin.

    My buddy Skye at Midnight Blue is still standing against the clowns in West Chester, PA every Saturday.

    Greyhawk at Milblogs pulls back the covers on Obama’s McPeak.

    Kate at A Colombo-Americana’s Perspective has nearly-live photos of the protests in Nicaragua.

    Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs lashes out at Olmert’s deal with the Palestinians.

    The Gentle Cricket says McCain has impressed him already.

    D. at The Dillard Doctrine has advice for the pro-mission organizations – join or die.

    Stop the ACLU reports that Think Progress has resorted to outright lies – not a first for them, though.

    Last Reporter at Red Maryland and Unfree State tells the story of Baltimore’s latest corrupt-thug mayor.

    There, that oughta hold ya’all.

  • McCain: No bailouts, automakers

    The Wall Street Journal Washington Wire writes that McCain didn’t make promises he wouldn’t keep in Ohio today;

    McCain said he would do whatever he could to assist the ailing companies but stopped short of considering a bailout. “It depends on what you mean by a bailout,” he said in response to a Wall Street Journal reporter’s question. “If you’re talking about it in the classic terms, I’m afraid not.”

    And he’s right. US automakers have been riding the ass-end of auto trends since 1978. They’re in this problem because they can’t think ahead to auto-buyers’ fickle “next thing”. They did fine when they dictated to the public what the public should buy, but they’ve proved inflexible to the market, while those sneaky little Japanese crap-box manufacturers have led the way.

    McCain then put on his Democrat hat and promised taxpayer dollars for R&D;

    Instead, he reiterated that if elected in November his plan is to invest in research and development. “I would like to invest American federal dollars in pure research and development as we move forward with new technologies, whether they be flex fuel or whether it be hydrogen or whether it be the electric capability,” he said. After developing such technologies “we’ve gotta hand it over to the private enterprise and the automotive companies.”

    Horseshit. Let the automakers invest in future technologies – it’s not the government’s job to pour bad money after worse into wasteful development. If the automakers REALLY wanted to beat the Japanese, they’d get ahead of them instead of wasting their lobbying dollars on  trying to influence government to give them MY money and trying to get the government to put tariffs on import cars.

    Give Americans a reason to buy American cars instead of trying to charge us more for NOT buying American cars, for crap’s sake.

    With gas at 4 bucks a gallon, you’d think that American ingenuity would come up something viable and innovative instead of just making more copycat Jap shit boxes.

  • PROMINENT DEMOCRATS AND INDEPENDENTS JOIN “CITIZENS FOR MCCAIN”

    ARLINGTON, VA — U.S. Senator John McCain’s campaign today announced a group of prominent Democratic and unaffiliated leaders and activists who have joined “Citizens for McCain,” a new grassroots effort headed by Senator Joe Lieberman (I-CT) to rally Americans of all political parties to support John McCain’s candidacy. “Citizens for McCain is an organization within the McCain campaign for people who put country before political party and support the presidential candidate who has a proven record of bipartisanship,” said Senator Joe Lieberman.

    Former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson (Arizona)
    Former Arizona State Legislator Phil Hubbard (Arizona)
    Mammoth Mayor Craig Williams (Arizona)
    Former Arizona LULAC Director Ray Gans (Arizona)
    Democratic 25th Precinct Chair Silverio “Silver” Salazar (Colorado)
    Adviser to Democratic Presidential Candidates and Georgetown University Professor Robert Lieber (District of Columbia)
    Blogger on HillaryClinton.com Renee Slater (Florida)
    Former Sheriff of Highlands County Howard Godwin (Florida)
    Jewish Outreach Adviser to Senator Hillary Clinton Rabbi Cheryl Jacobs
    Georgia Political Director for Gore-Lieberman ‘00 Joseph O’Farrell Jr. (Georgia)
    Former Democratic Des Moines County Chair Bruce Shulte (Illinois)
    Former State Representative Brian Golden (Massachusetts)
    Commander of Newport Memorial-VFW Post 1119 Francis Harding, Jr. (Maine)
    Former Palmyra Budget Committee Member Herb Bates (Maine)
    Former Lt. Gov. and State Supreme Court Justice Alexander Keith (Minnesota)
    Former U.S Representative and 2002 Independence Party gubernatorial candidate Tim Penny (Minnesota)
    Former State Representative Steve Wenzel (Minnesota)
    City Clerk Judi May (Mississippi)
    County Supervisor Gary Dearman (Mississippi)
    Alderman Bill Mosby (Mississippi)
    Former State Representative Jim Gamache (Missouri)
    Presiding Commissioner in New Madrid County, Clyde Hawes (Missouri)
    Former Concord Mayor Bill Veroneau (New Hampshire)
    Former Democratic Mayor of Waterford Township George Fallon (New J ersey)
    Former Democratic Committeeman in Warren Jeffrey Golkin (New Jersey)
    Former State Chair for Clinton-Gore 1992 Roberta Weisbrod (New York)
    Former Majority Leader in the State Senate David Carlin (Rhode Island)
    Former Texas Democratic Party Chairman Roy Orr (Texas)
    Elected National Delegate for Hillary Clinton Debra Bartoshevich (Wisconsin)
    Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Philip Frye (West Virginia)