"John McCain has reacted angrily to media revelations about his youngest son, Jimmy, to his right"

*Takes a 2nd look at the picture*

remind me again what the left's favorite talking point is supposed to be again? I lost that memo.

That would be leadership by example. Why isn't the example/leadership working?

strangeguitar: JIMMY!

I heard him say his father is a... continuing source of inspiration.

Wow, subby!! So, all the Young Republicans are lined up around the block, waiting in line to sign up at the recruiting station? I must have missed it!!!

Great! Make the kid a target.

/dumbasses

This changes EVERYTHING!

GaryPDX - Great! Make the kid a target.

/dumbasses

That's the plan. Make the kid a target. He gets pulled from duty. They can report that McCain doesn't have a kid in Iraq. Commence operation "McCain is a Chickenhawk". :P

In 1942-43 the highest marginal tax rate was 94% on income over $2.8 million (2007 dollars approx.) to help pay for the war. I'm thinking the other tax brackets were pretty steep back then too. Is McCain (and the rest of the GOP) willing to step up to the plate on that?

I don't want to keep paying for policing people on the other side of the world who don't want it. Maybe those 30%'ers here in the US can split up my portion $14 billion/month if they still want this occupation so badly.

I think it's great his sons decided to serve this country, but it says more about them than it does about John McCain. Though I do respect that McCain hasn't been trying to turn their service into political capital.

/oh wait, I'm voting Dem
//Am I not allowed to say anything nice about McCain?

Obama gets more money from the military than anyone. Just wanted to state that.

GaryPDX: Great! Make the kid a target.



"Sometimes people behave unethically in political campaigns."

I don't blame the man. As a person with two sons, I'd be very pissed if they got "outted" like that. Very very pissed. Lightning bolts from my ass pissed.

DamnYankees: Obama gets more money from the military than anyone. Just wanted to state that.

1.) Can you please provide a link?

2.) Can you please provide an explanation as to the relevance?

I'm being serious, not snarky.

BobtheFascist: That's the plan. Make the kid a target. He gets pulled from duty. They can report that McCain doesn't have a kid in Iraq. Commence operation "McCain is a Chickenhawk". :P

Actually, the argument is "McCain is a Warhawk," as in "100 years in Iraq."

fatassbastard: DamnYankees: Obama gets more money from the military than anyone. Just wanted to state that.

1.) Can you please provide a link?

2.) Can you please provide an explanation as to the relevance?

I'm being serious, not snarky.

1) Link (new window). It's from a while ago, but it's probably even more relevant then, back when he had much more competition.

2) The canard that the military is anti-liberal or that liberals hate the troops is ridiculous.

I don't see what his adult son's life choices have anything to do with him, on either side.

DamnYankees: fatassbastard: DamnYankees: Obama gets more money from the military than anyone. Just wanted to state that.

1.) Can you please provide a link?

2.) Can you please provide an explanation as to the relevance?

I'm being serious, not snarky.

1) Link (new window). It's from a while ago, but it's probably even more relevant then, back when he had much more competition.

2) The canard that the military is anti-liberal or that liberals hate the troops is ridiculous.

Ah, gotcha, makes sense. Thanks.

HulkHands - Actually, the argument is "McCain is a Warhawk," as in "100 years in Iraq."

Sure. But the entire quote has been released & it's nothing more than a talking point. It doesn't take much reading comprehension to know what he was getting at. A base in Iraq, not fighting for 100 years.

Coalition of One.

You forgot Jimmy!

BobtheFascist: HulkHands - Actually, the argument is "McCain is a Warhawk," as in "100 years in Iraq."

Sure. But the entire quote has been released & it's nothing more than a talking point. It doesn't take much reading comprehension to know what he was getting at. A base in Iraq, not fighting for 100 years.

To steal from BlueDjinn, who had a great post about this defense of '100 years':

The "out of context" claim itself is somewhat out of context.

The key point of contention is the line following the "100 years" bit: "as long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed."

Well, that's like saying "I've have no problem with my toddler standing in the middle of a busy freeway...as long as he wasn't hit by a car."

I understand what McCain was getting at--the fact that we've had substantial military presences in S. Korea, Germany and Japan for decades. HOWEVER, there's absolutely zero comparison in terms of how much each of these costs us in lives, dollars and world opinion.

Iraq didn't declare war on us, didn't attack us, didn't want us to destroy their infrastructure, didn't want our presence in the first place, don't want us there now, and certainly don't want us setting up shop for the next X decades. We've spent a half a frickin' TRILLION dollars there already and are spending another $10 billion per MONTH now. We've lost over 4,000 troops and gotten another 40,000 or so wounded or maimed for life. We've slaughtered over 100,000 Iraqi civilians, destabilized the region, pissed off the entire world and strained our military to the breaking point.

And for what? In Germany, Japan and S. Korea, there are legitimate U.S. interest reasons to be there. Has being in Iraq the past 5 years resulted in cheaper oil? Improved relationships with other nations? A more stable Middle East? A backing down of rhetoric by Iran? ANYTHING positive whatsoever (and don't talk about "new schools being built" when we're the ones who blew them up in the first place--and destroyed their electrical, water and sewage systems, which are still mostly non-operational 5 years later).

Excellent post, Damn Yankees.

Litterbox: Excellent post, Damn Yankees.

Thanks, but I just copied it from BlueDjinn, from another thread.

Why are they asking Don Cherry for his opinion?

DamnYankees

We leveled Japan & Germany. We stuck around for the rebuild & forged alliances. We owed them, for chissake. IIRC, we were practically invited into Korea.

We owe the country of Iraq a rebuild too. We are responsilbe for that mess & I think we oughta stay there until it's done. We left them hanging last time & it caused a mini holocaust. Expecting a nation to rebuild itself in a mere 5 years is laughable. We can't manage to ween people off of welfare in a mere 5 years in this country. How can we expect a wartorn nation to pick itself up by the bootstraps? Granted, I am displeased with their progress & do feel we need to push the new govt to become more active.

And f*ck world opinion. Our so called allies were brokering under the table oil deals with Saddam & hiding behind toothless sanctions to get it done. Busted. Sucks to be them. Granted, they were looking out for their interests, but then they should've kept their asses out of the mess the first time around.

Bottom line, no one will be able to fix the Middle East. Not Bush & certainly not Obama. It's a centuries old struggle from a centuries old mentality. I'll concede this though. If Bush was truly going in there on some crusade to fix the Middle East, he was sorely mistaken. However, I don't believe it was anything more than taking care of unfinished business.

I think he has two kids in the military.

McCain isn't a chickenhawk. Rush, O'Reilly, Hannity, Cheney, and the entire right-wing pundit core are chickenhawks.

DamnYankees: Litterbox: Excellent post, Damn Yankees.

Thanks, but I just copied it from BlueDjinn, from another thread.

Oh yeah, I remember that one. It was explaining why it's okay for Obama to go around saying McCain wants 100 more years of war in Iraq. It was pretty farking stupid, but it did sound good.

BobtheFascist: We owe the country of Iraq a rebuild too. We are responsilbe for that mess & I think we oughta stay there until it's done. We left them hanging last time & it caused a mini holocaust. Expecting a nation to rebuild itself in a mere 5 years is laughable. We can't manage to ween people off of welfare in a mere 5 years in this country. How can we expect a wartorn nation to pick itself up by the bootstraps? Granted, I am displeased with their progress & do feel we need to push the new govt to become more active.

fark.

I can't believe I'm agreeing with farking Bob.

But...

This.

We farked this up. Us. As a nation. Yeah, dirty dealings were going on, but in all other facets of the law, ignorance does not excuse wrongdoing, and what we did was wrong. To leave those people to sink makes monsters of us all.

Farking dumbass newspapers

Hold on a second...if McCain is 71 and his son is 19, then that means that John McCain...Oh God, Old people sex! Get it out, get it out!

McCain forced his children into the military to fight his dirty little war. Worst. Father. Evar.

/And he cheated on his wife. Worst. Husband. Evar.

BearToy: This changes EVERYTHING!

This. It's not exactly comforting to know that McCain sincerely believes this to be an ethical fight. I respect his son, but the old man is senile and severely out of touch with reality.

Aeonic_Blue: We farked this up. Us. As a nation. Yeah, dirty dealings were going on, but in all other facets of the law, ignorance does not excuse wrongdoing, and what we did was wrong. To leave those people to sink makes monsters of us all.

This is the defense of imperialists, from time immemorial. It's what the British were saying about the middle east 75 years ago. It's what they said about Africa.

Nothing we do can stop Iraq from going up in flames. It will happen. We can't stop it. This is not a homogenous, unitary people who just need good government. We need to let them deal with their own shiat.

Yes, we DO need to leave. Saying it's getting better is like saying the rape is getting better. No, it needs to end.

Stay till we fix it? The fixing hasn't even started.

Taking a bullet for the party. That is admirable Jimmy.

ComicBookGuy: Wow, subby!! So, all the Young Republicans are lined up around the block, waiting in line to sign up at the recruiting station? I must have missed it!!!

Yea, I'd like to know how many are in line to sign up, too, so I can ask them why liberals care so much whether or not they're signing up... because liberals seem to bring it up pretty often but don't say why it matters...

ClicheGuevara07: Hold on a second...if McCain is 71 and his son is 19, then that means that John McCain...Oh God, Old people sex! Get it out, get it out!

Hold on there, Sparky. That's 52. I'm in that range, youngster. I've forgotten more tricks than you'll ever know. Let me know when you can keep a proper LAWN!

/off..OFF!

I don't think that, even if his son wasn't there, anyone could be taken seriously if they questioned McCains military credentials or commitment to doing what he truly believes is right in that regard.

GaryPDX: ClicheGuevara07: Hold on a second...if McCain is 71 and his son is 19, then that means that John McCain...Oh God, Old people sex! Get it out, get it out!

Hold on there, Sparky. That's 52. I'm in that range, youngster. I've forgotten more tricks than you'll ever know. Let me know when you can keep a proper LAWN!

/off..OFF!

While I don't object to people of any age having sex, I have to think it would suck to be a 10 year old boy with a 62 year old father. OTOH, if he had the energy to produce the kid, he probably had the energy to play with him.

Two years in the Marine Corp and a full tour in Iraq, yet he's still a lance corporal? My knowledge of the Marine Corp is rather limited, but isn't an L/Cpl the USMC's E-3 rank? Unless their rank structure is very different from anything with which I am familiar, wouldn't you have to be about as dumb as a sack full of of cattle dung and rusty nails to not get promoted beyond E-3 after two years?

submittard I voted for McCain in each primary because he was the only republican who had the stones to put his own ass on the line. I don't see why it's somehow liberal to hate chickenhawks.

The rest of the republicans are more like these people

Strange I don't see many Democrats attacking McCain's record or the fact that he was a true war veteran. If anything, I think a lot of people respect McCain's opinion of war. If anything I just hear that he's naive about the influence of lobbyist or the religious influence that swirls within all these Middle Eastern sects and tribe.

Now in terms of Bush Cheney and Rumsfield, the architects to this massive failure, that's a whole different outlook, one that receives the vicious wrath of the left, and deservingly so.

In terms of attacking people's military record, I don't think any body from either group is as vicious and brutal as the Bush&Cheney team.

So, we're supposed to be surprised that the grandson of an high-ranking offical (I want to say Admiral but I'm not 100% and don't have the mind to look it up tonight) and the son of a POW has bought into a life of military service?

I'm sorry, I appreciate the young man's service, but I'm not exactly shocked or heartened by it.

maddogdelta: submittard I voted for McCain in each primary because he was the only republican who had the stones to put his own ass on the line. I don't see why it's somehow liberal to hate chickenhawks.

The rest of the republicans are more like these people

Point of the comic?

Empanda: GaryPDX: ClicheGuevara07: Hold on a second...if McCain is 71 and his son is 19, then that means that John McCain...Oh God, Old people sex! Get it out, get it out!

Hold on there, Sparky. That's 52. I'm in that range, youngster. I've forgotten more tricks than you'll ever know. Let me know when you can keep a proper LAWN!

/off..OFF!

While I don't object to people of any age having sex, I have to think it would suck to be a 10 year old boy with a 62 year old father. OTOH, if he had the energy to produce the kid, he probably had the energy to play with him.

I bet McCains mother is still getting action.

Fact Man: maddogdelta: submittard I voted for McCain in each primary because he was the only republican who had the stones to put his own ass on the line. I don't see why it's somehow liberal to hate chickenhawks.

The rest of the republicans are more like these people

Point of the comic?

I laughed out loud.

Tell me you're kidding.