Webb calls out McCain on GI Bill: 'He's so full of it'
By Steve Benen Wednesday Apr 30, 2008 7:30amA couple of weeks ago, John McCain talked about the importance of increasing the size of the U.S. military. To entice more volunteers, he said, the government should focus on incentives: “[O]ne of the things we ought to do is provide [the troops with] significant educational benefits in return for serving.”
A few days later, McCain announced that he’ll oppose a bipartisan measure to renew and expand the GI Bill for a new generation of veterans.
Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.), the leading proponent of the modernized GI Bill, is calling McCain out and creating an interesting battle.
From Annapolis to Vietnam and back to the Pentagon, John McCain and Jim Webb trod the same paths before coming to the Senate. Iraq divides them today, but there’s also the new kinship of being anxious fathers watching their sons come and go with Marine units in the war.
So what does it say about Washington that two such men, with so much in common, are locked in an increasingly intense debate over a shared value: education benefits for veterans? [...]
McCain has all but locked up the Republican presidential nomination and is preparing for a fall campaign in which his support of the Iraq war is sure to be a major issue. Yet the former Navy pilot and Vietnam POW makes himself a target by refusing to endorse Webb’s new GI education bill and instead signing on to a Republican alternative that focuses more on career soldiers than on the great majority who leave after their first four years.
McCain concedes he hasn’t tended to his day job in a while, but said his Senate office staff told him that Webb “has not been eager to negotiate.”
“He’s so full of it,” Webb said in response. “I have personally talked to John three times. I made a personal call to [McCain aide] Mark Salter months ago asking that they look at this.”
For Webb, this seems to have far less to do with campaign politics, and far more to do with a deep desire to get a bill through the chamber: “I don’t want this to become a political issue. I want to get a bill done.”
For the troops' sake, it'd be great if McCain agreed.
Login or Register to post comments.
My dad joined the army in 1945 for the sole purpose of paying for college. With the cost of state universities increasing 10% a year a revised GI bill would not only encourage more people to join, it could be the impetus for long term economic growth by creating a more educated work force.
Aw, screw it, let's send out some $600 checks instead. There is a long term strategy for you.
Myopic fools.
Old man McCain's depends are full of it.
McStain contemplated this while flying around in his wife's jet. He doesn't think the bill would help him so why give a shit for anyone else.
I like Webb, but I'm getting a bit tired of his 'support the troops' mantra. I support those who refuse to engage in the murdering of innocent people. Why doesn't Webb have a bill for them? Why not a bill to stop wars altogether? Why not a bill to help those who fight for peace?
I don't support a G.I. bill because it's just further enticement to lure desperate kids into being accomplices to first degree murder.
One more reason why Webb's perfect for the VP slot.
Clinton/Webb '08!
McCain was all over tv this morning. Listening to him and watching his laugh or smile after everything he said made me wonder, how in the hell could the US ever give this man the most important job in the world? Several times he didn't finish his sentences, reminding me of george bush. Lord, this is the best the Republicans can offer at a time when our country is screaming out for wise, serious, honest and dedicated leadership.
Webb is looking out for the future of the men and women of the military. McCain is looking out for McCain and his campaign.
When I try to post a comment I get a little message that there is a "server problem" but the comment does get posted. When I hit the "Refresh Comments" button I get the same server problem message and the page does not refresh. Is it just me or is anyone else running into this problem?
Sen. McCain is suffering from PDS and also show sgin of early stages of Alzheimer, the forgetfulness tow and three times a day, having people there to correct mistakes about things he talk about everyday and then consently forget from moment to momen. The angry temper( calling his wife a c--t in public), something is very wrong.
If McCain's goal is indeed to expand the military then some increased incentives would work. We have been seeing a sharp drop off in new recruits for some time now across all branches of service and this refusal to endorse Webb's bill will make the situation even worse. Focusing on career troops is fine but those career troops need people to command. Can you imagine an infantry platoon consisting of veterans of which the lowest ranking member is a staff Sergeant?
If the recruiting drops off even more then those career troops may just start leaving the service themselves in larger numbers and McCain will be left with virtually no military force to speak of. Webb's bill might just create the incentives needed to attract new more people into the military. The way McCain is going about this, there will be to many chiefs and not enough Indians as they say.
pissed off patricia @ 7:
"Listening to him and watching his laugh or smile after everything he said made me wonder, how in the hell could the US ever give this man the most important job in the world? Several times he didn't finish his sentences, reminding me of george bush."
Surely signs of senility.
Our Founding Fathers Understood.
This Union, our Contract with each other, is bigger than any Contractor, Wall Street or Lobbyist or White House
We hope there can be peaceful solution and outcome to all of this:
Four small words: Leaders, Justice, Diplomacy and Peace
If There's a Brokered Convention: Who Will Be Our Will Rogers?
http://markcrispinmiller.blogspot.com/2008/04/if-theres-brokered-convent...
Are the Democrats heading for a repeat of 1924? Many pundits and reporters seem to be hoping for that kind of epic event. Maybe they should consider this little history lesson.
Saloum @ 4:
I take it you have never been in the service. If you had, you would understand the young people join the service for good and honorable reasons. I don't think that most kids who joined the Nat Guard thought they would end up in Irag. It was the people of this country who allowed bush and the goverment to send them to war, both repugs and dems, yet you would try to wash your hands of the blood that we all share in and blame the troops. They have served this country and should have a GI bill for that service. The blame for this war is on all are hands for what we did or did not do to stop it.
POP I watched Mr McCain this morning as well. All I can say is I hope your countrymen and women are not DUMB enough to swallow the garbage that comes out of his mouth. He and hillary keep talking about the gas tax like it's some amazing thing....well it's not and how do you know it won't be doubled to make up the shortfall after the summer? And the other thing he talks about is healthcare, don't be sucked in by his sweet talk
diamondmc @ 13:
Agreed.
John McCain is the perfect man for president. He's just as pliant and easy to lead as chimpy or Reagan. I don't understand how anyone can handle listening to him for any length of time though. He's sure got a lot of friends it seems. Half of his sentences start with "My friends.....".
I'm still unsure as to how a person who gets shot down and spends 7 years as a prisoner is a "hero" though. Is it because he lived? Heroism is sure easy to come by these days. Every one from a football quarterback to a former prisoner of war is a hero. Heck, I guess to some Scooter Libby is a hero. It would be really nice if we were to scale back the hero thing for the people who really deserve it. Firefighters, ER doctors, EMTs, teachers, etc. We as a society make the most trivial and useless people out to be heroes and roll models. I heard someone say that 50 Cent is a hero because he survived being shot 9 times. That's just plain stupiditly in my books.
McCrazy has turned his back on all vets and told them they can eat dirt. I would ask Mr. McWar how many deployments did some of these kids who where only in for 4 years do in Irag? To not support the GI bill is to say to those vets that they didn't give enough. Any vet who would vote for this idiot is out of his fucking mind.
The GI bill is a nice supplement to a college education but you are still going to pay out of pocket at any decent university. What I'd like to see is better use of on duty Tuition Assistance. When I was stationed in Japan it was amazing how many Army guys would be enrolled in class but then have to drop out, not because of deployments but because their commanders/supervisors had them doing shit details around the base. The Army pisses away so much money on this kind of thing because of their short sightedness.
If McCain really wants to get more people to enlist then start paying the combat troops a LOT more money. Maybe something in line with what the Blackwater pricks are getting.
Getting shot down and becoming a pow does not make you a war hero. I served with the 25th inf div. as a grunt in Viet Nam 67-68 and the true war heros that I know are white grave stone markers. I am not one... I came home. McCrazy also is not one.
diamondmc @ 13:
I can tell you for sure one man who joined the Guard and never expected to be sent to Iraq when the invasion began. He joined the Guard because he wanted to help people down here in Florida after hurricanes and such. He knew when he was sent to Iraq that this war was bs and said so privately.
McBullshit is up to his ears in it, this we know. He'll simply chalk it all up to senile dementia one of these days. Someone needs to ask him the hard questions like: Where is your mistress, Vicky Iseman? What really happened during the Vietnam war with loading those guns which you were told would be problematic and probably result in deaths of our own? His so-called experience probably parallels his cadet days - an abysmal failure where he violated the military code of conduct several times.
McBullshit, indeed. This man is not only a nutcase; his push-button temper is downright frightening.
McBull's version of the GI Bill: Screw our veterans any way you can.
I don't know the deal with Webb's modernized bill, but I do know that the GI Bill was never intended to pay for a complete college education. When I went in I paid $100.00/month for 12 months and the payback was up to $12,000. Pretty good interest rate if you ask me. I think by the time I got out it was somewhere around $18K payout but I'm not sure.
The Army College Fund is where it's at if you want real money for college. When I went in it paid something like $30,000 but it wasn't offered to people in my MOS. It was mostly a bonus kind of thing to MOSs that were hard to fill - infantry for example. I don't know if it was a straight bonus or you paid in like the GI Bill.
In any case, soldiers today should be getting better incentives since they're being asked to endure much more hardship than when I was in (Clinton years). I love how the same dicks who are sending soldiers to war would 1) never be anywhere near wearing a uniform themselves and 2) are always against providing any kind of benefits to soldiers - even the ones the soldiers were promised when they went in. Ask any wounded soldier about the medical care he receives - particularly the ones who now have life-long disabilities.
We've had 7 years of a teleprompted commander in chief. McNutcase also isn't capable of completing a single thought without his notes or a huge teleprompter. What does that tell us? Not only "more of the same" but another huge embarrassment for the american people when the international community calls our president an uneducated moron.
it's like webb expects a repug to give a shit.
good luck with that one!
:(
Saloum @ 4:
Why not a bill to make it rain candy and have gumdrops growing on trees? Maybe you should have a cup of coffee to wake yourself up before posting. Armed forces are a tool, they are neither good nor bad. The boots on the ground don't have a choice, they are required to follow their orders and carry out the mission. Yes, they are supposed to refuse (I forget the proper term, immoral?) orders, but that's not the issue here.
You're tired of a career officer wanting to do something good for those who have served their country, risking their lives in the process? I'm basically a pacifist by nature, but I'm enough of a realist to know that sometimes there are things worth fighting and dying for. I'm glad that there were people who were willing to *volunteer* to serve their country in th 1940's, or else we might not be able to have this conversation.
The troops are caught in a very bad spot. Some probably joined for the financial incentives, some joined to get some kind of post 9-11 revenge, some joined for their own sense of patriotism and duty. Lots of different reasons. Should that matter? They put their lives on the line for a noble cause. Should they be punished for how the armed forces have been used? Should they pay the price for how their leadership, both civilian and military, has misused them? That's what I'm getting from your post. I disagree.
If any soldier crosses the line, then by all means investigate and charge him or her. That's a given. But if you agree that our legal system is based on the assumption of innocence, then how about cutting the military some slack and not tar everyone who serves with the "murderer" label? Is that really too much to ask?
For years now I've been paying particular attention to the level of eloquence and graciousness of foreign leaders. I'd have to admit that even with English not being their first language, they are heads above Chimpy in their articulation of their thoughts and impromptu, spontaneous responses. Chimp's been warned to never go "off the cuff" so the people can't really see how limited his intelligence and speaking ability actually is.
When he is full of himself (or mood elevating meds) and goes off the cuff, he's made the biggest comedy bloopers ever and his handlers are probably in angst on the sidelines.
osiris @ 24:
our preznitwit IS edumacated and so is McAssJacket. two of the 'best' schools in the country, if you believe that garbage. it just goes to show that the royal families always produce a generation of idiots who get by on their legacies and nothing else.
Everyone supports the troops when they go do our dirty work, but when they come home we don't want to know them. This country has a terrible history of treating our vets like shit. For the first time in our history we did the right thing after WW2 and then after that we forgot about them again. Webb thinks that once again we should do the right thing and what does McCrazy do? He says screw them.
I actually think that McCain is appealing to the right wing ideology in that the military is made up of people that live by some Samurai Bushido code. In their minds, people join the military simply for the "glory" of Bush's wars and therefore do not need any additional benefits. I'd bet that many on the right wing think that way and that is why McCain refuses to back Webb's bill.
diamondmc @ 19:
I'll tell you what. I'm even tired of prefacing every sentence about McCain's service with, 'While I respect it...' I mean fuck him. He wants to ride that wave like Ghouliani rode 9/11. You're right - getting captured and being a POW doesn't make him a war hero or any kind of hero. It means he drew a short straw and got screwed (probably literally). I don't know if the stories about him spilling his guts for preferential treatment are true but I don't care either.
The honest truth is I respect him as much as any person who volunteers but that doesn't make any of them heroes. It's far more heroic to stand and fight with a bayonet when you're scared shitless (instead of running) than it is to get in a plane and fly overhead dropping bombs.
Fuck McCain
Fuck is fucking POW status
and Fucking hope he never becomes president.
Court Jester @ 26:
The troops were lied to just as the american public was lied to and believed that they were serving their 'patriotic duty'. Now they all know the sad, ugly truth and if what's currently happening with the massive shafting of our true patriots is any indication, we're looking at a Vietnam redux where they will return home contaminated with Depleted Uranium poisoning and psychiatric problems.
Joe O. @ 30:
Most of these people joined the guard and reserves either out of an altruistic sense of patriotism or for a paycheck. The economy of this country is tanking and it's a case of survival for some of them. After all, why would anyone choose to leave his loved ones if not for some higher goal?
Joe O. @ 30:
All those chickenshit rightwing neocons, when it came time for them to serve, ran away and let someone else go in their place.
I think it's time for people to begin doing research of McCain's real military career. In it you will find a panoply of faux pas.....from violation of the military code of conduct during his college years to being protected by Pappy (Admiral McCain) all along the way - even down to the murder of his crew due to irresponsible decisions by both McCain's to mount artillery which they were warned could result in disaster on board. It did. The public needs to know the whole truth about McNutcase's military record.
Just as they need to know the truth about those many flights he took with his romantic interest, Vicky Iseman. The last we heard she was given a check for$20,000 and told to exit stage reich to go into hiding until after the election cycle. Isn't it time that this woman be questioned for improprieties with a presidential candidate? Do we want a repeat performance by another womanizer president? I think not.
Two letters would have completed the thought. “He’s so full of [sh]it,” Webb said in response.
diamondmc @ 29:
WWII was the last war worth fighting. Every war we've been in since then has been one brand of bullshit or another. Some people say even WWII was a capitalist venture but I don't know. What I do know is that Americans knew that WWII was a fight worth fighting. It was dirty, the soldiers lived and fought in pitiful conditions. Most casualties were medical - particularly in the Pacific. They caught things that were really nasty and Americans knew it. But they fought on and Americans respected them.
Ever since then Americans have known the soldiers are being used immorally and even though they know that, they also won't take it out on the profiteers and politicians who send them. Instead they take it out on the easy targets - the soldiers who return. It's sick and it's fucked up but psychologically speaking it's exactly what you'd expect from a population who won't stand up and stop the criminals in charge because it would inconvenience their lives and they might have to live on the run instead of in their cozy homes with weekly trips to Walmart.
Wright is right - we bring this on ourselves and we deserve it. And it will stay this way for years to come because we're not anywhere close to being fed up enough to stop it. We won't do shit about any of this until we have nothing to lose.
As bad as things are right now, we're all pretty comfortable. When enough of the population is starving and enough of the population is homeless and enough of the population is diseased we'll finally get around to what we should be doing now - overthrowing these fucks in DC and starting over with a new government.
I find it so overtly biased by the whoring MSM that these obvious questions go unnoticed yet the words of one's religious leader are being bantered about ad nauseum. If the press wants to out themselves to the people about their fascist underpinnings, I think they're doing a stellar job at it. No one today believes anything they hear on the mainstream news programs....especially Fox News.
It's a pretty sad state of affairs when we have to resort to comedy central to get at the truth about what's happening all around us.
To hell with the newspaper and news programming monopolies! They don't control the people; the people control them.
Discontinue your subscription and block your television from these insidious purveyors of distortion and disinformation. They're worthless and we need to let them know that they're now becoming totally irrelevant to the american truth landscape.
Hit these propagandists where it hurts: In their pocketbooks and bottom line! Make your statement mean something by taking action today.
diamondmc @ 13:
While I certainly agree that they may have joined because of the promised benefits, they haven't "served" this country, they've been accomplices in the murdering of innocent people. Rationalize it all you want, but murder is murder. Why do they get a pass? Because they were just following orders? That's a cop out. And you're right, I've never been in the "service", because I don't find carrying a gun and killing people a service to anyone. It's a disgrace, and I have more respect for myself and my family than to disgrace them by engaging in corporate sponsored holocausts.
diamondmc @ 29:
Who's "everyone"??? I don't support the troops, and I don't support the "dirty work". I support those true American heroes who refuse to be a partner in crime.
The right thing to do would be to help those who were hoodwinked into going over to Iraq, get them the aid they need, then stop all G.I. bills or benefits for the future so that no one volunteers for any more illegal invasions. Only then will we get a military draft so that the playing field will be a bit more even, and Jenna Bush can go fight her daddy's war.
CafeenMan @ 37:
I agree that Wright's point is valid, although IIRC he was actually quoting someone else. Unfortunately, he packaged it with a bunch of other crap that allowed the media to dismiss everything he said. Kinda like Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory.
You nailed it about the comfort level. That's why no GOP *dares* talk about a draft, which I'd like to see debated. Make it a "national service" draft, with several ways to serve the country, including militarily. Sure it's heavy handed and has the possibility being gamed; but on a symbolic level it would hopefully give all the complacent voters a much-needed kick in the ass. Gee, maybe I might have to go to war and risk my life, or maybe my kids would have to risk theirs...
Hopefully it would give some of the politicians something to think about rather that just posturing for re-elections. It might even muzzle the Campus Republicans and the 101st Keyboarders who are so keen to have other people fighting their wars for them. I know it will never happen, and W is the poster boy for how the GOP elite deal with a draft. But I still wish that someone would bring it up, just to give all the war cheerleaders an attitude adjustment.
pissed off patricia @ 20:
Wow, he said so "privately"? What a courageous thing to do. B.S.! He should've quit, gone public with why he was quitting, taken the punishment and been a hero for talking other kids out of joining.
Just going along with the program when you know it's wrong is the sign of a coward.
This stance McCain is taking on this bill, while spouting off on the campaign trail that he 'supports' measures such as proposed in this bill, is not a winning one for him. In fact, he looks petty, selfish, foolish, and any other 'ish' you can think of. If he 'supported' the troops he'd make an effort to speak with Webb and come to a better understanding of what's in the bill, instead McCain is the one playing politics on this issue, not Webb. He should be ashamed of himself. But i doubt he is. Perhaps he really doesn't know what he's doing. Seems then that he shouldn't be president.
I'm sure everyone saw Olbermann last nite.
Did you all see the general poll that had people favoring a Dem candidate over a GOP candidate in the general election by 58% to 33%?
Two more gas price hikes and that number will certainly cross over into the 60+% range.
Which means only the 28%ers, the mindless sheep that they are, are the only folks that would vote Republican.
Saloum @ 40:
What an odd combination - you're a Buddhist without empathy... I was wrong about the caffeine, you should go get your medications checked.
Let's take one last shot at rational thinking, shall we? I agree that the US should not be in Iraq. But we are. In the real world, armed forces have a necessary role. As do police. And even politicians. Most of the other comments here about the military are general comments, not just about the horrors in Iraq. It's offensive AND incorrect to call everyone who has ever served in the armed forces a "murderer" or an "accomplice to (first degree) murder" or that being in the military means you are "engaging in ... holocausts". If you can't or won't see that point, then you are beyond help.
The fact that we live in a society that, at least for the moment, allows us to have these kinds of conversations is a reality that was paid for by the blood and sacrifice of soldiers. The fact that you can "choose" not to be a soldier is also a freedom paid for by blood and sacrifice. The list of freedoms and privileges that you and I enjoy thanks to blood and sacrifice is long.
Saloum @ 43:
Come back to earth guy, you seem to live in some fantasy world that only you live in. To call someone a coward when you have not had to make the choices this person had to make is pretty elitist of you. What have you done to stop this war? Blogged on a few web sites as you live in your nice little house and have your nice little life? Tell me sir, who's the coward?
full of what?
Straight Talker McCain is just another pandering pol. If anyone needed more proof - he bows to the conservative wing of the Repugnant Party and their never ending quest to eliminate government.
Obama needs to consider Jim Webb for SecDef. Hopefully, when Darth slithers back into his cave, the Office of the Vice President will return to pushing cookies and smiling for cameras.
diamondmc @ 47:
We're not talking about Taco Bell. You don't just quit the Army; because, your boss is an asshole . The people who join the Army do so to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. We have a civilian government in this country that is run by major corporations and they see warfare as a profit making business opportunity. This is the fault of the American voter. Our democracy belongs to the American voters; yet, they continue to vote for the 2 parties (the democrats and the republicans) that represent the huge corporations. Blaming the military is just a shell game that people hide behind; because, they are either too cowardly or too spoiled to make a stand against against the corporate elite.
I was drafted in 1966 and served in the U.S. Army for 2 years and after mustering out in 1968 I used the G.I. bill to go to school and I can say that because I gave up 2 years of my life, giving me a free ride for 3 years of full-time schooling was the very least my country could do for me and for todays military to have anything less than what me and my contemporaries were accorded, as far as the G.I. bill is concerned, would be shameful.My point is this- I hope ALL of our military personnel will remember the fact that John McCain will not sign the new G.I. bill and vote against this idiot in November!Republicans support the troops- what a fuckin' laugh!!!
If the economy was in better shape, they probably wouldn't be able to recruit anybody. The kids I know who signed up either couldn't find a job, weren't smart enough to do anything else, or (the majority) believed the BS about getting the cost of college covered by the services.
One of my neighbors (19 years old) dropped out of high school, got a waiver to sign up, got shipped out to Iraq immediately after basic training, and got killed 3 months later. Another (18 yo girl) signed up and started college, finished basic training, got pulled out of her second semester at college, losing all credit for the the years classes and is now over there too!
This is simply lying to our kids and using every misfortune to take further advantage of them. No surprise that everybody quits as soon as they can!
Lord, this is the best the Republicans can offer at a time when our country is screaming out for wise, serious, honest and dedicated leadership.
You could say the same thing about what we have running for the Democratic endorsement. We had two very wise, serious, honest and dedicated contenders in
Dodd and Biden, who were shunted aside and ignored in favor of a greenhorn and a harridan who makes me shudder everytime she opens her mouth.
Roanoke (VA) Times - Editorial: An update for GI bill is long overdue
Court Jester @ 46:
So, let me get this straight. People murdering innocent civilians in Iraq are allowing me to post on C&L? Wow. What an odd world you live in.
Keep believing in your wonderful military all you want, I don't agree, never will. I don't see the world as a place where we need to solve problems by killing innocent people.
Your post did absolutely nothing to counter the argument that people who volunteer for the military and then agree to go carry out a flawed mission are murderers. They are. What other term would you like to use? They are killing innocent people who never did anything to them or their country. I call that murder. I suppose you call it patriotism?
I don't support the troops. I don't support the military. I am ashamed of them. They should be real men and refuse to pick up another gun. What an amazing statement that would make.
Webb calls out McCain on GI Bill: ‘He’s so full of Shit’
The GOP wants al alternative that helps only the CAREER soldiers, and not the MAJORITY who leave after their first four years ?!?!?!?
I thought they SUPPORTED THE TROOPS, y'know, ALL OF THEM ??!?!?!?
what a bunch of hypocritical assholes who dont give one god damn F@#$ about our troops !!
Republicans are liars and cannot be trusted.
The sooner Americans find this out, the better for all of us.
God Bless James Webb. I don't know what happened to McCain, but he's been riding the Crazy Train for some time now. Webb is the epitome of integrity; the ideal role model of what I expect out of a Naval Academy graduate. He is a breath of fresh air, considering the McCains and Ollie Norths of the world.
James Webb for President!
For the troops’ sake, as well as for the sake of every American, it’d be great if McCain did what he promised to do during the 2006 campaign season if the Republicans lost control of Congress. Then again I guess they seem to still control it don't they.
pissed off patricia @ 7:
Once again you're right on target! His military "hero" status is his strongest asset and everything that he does that's anti-military needs to be hammered in ads and everywhere else. Keep ads etc. simple, direct and hard to spin.
Why should special treatment be given to people in perfect health who never even served over seas?
This is one of those very welcome and still-novel situations where a Democrat actually outmaneuvers a Republican politically. John McCain is screwed either way. If he joins in support of the bill, he's jumping on the Democratic bandwagon and will be even more excoriated by the right-wing base for being too "liberal." If he doesn't, he's anti-troop (as others have pointed out, his one asset is his military service) and obstructionist.
McCain's one chance to get out of this with a political win is to come up with an alternate bill, which he did, and if he can drum up enough support for it to pass he may yet salvage the situation and come out of this looking like a right-wing hero for killing a Dem initiative, and also like a pro-military hero. Nevertheless, getting those sixty votes will be difficult in a Democratic majority Senate, so I suppose McCain is settling for trying to smother Webb's initiative and not alienate the right-wing base, and trying to look not-anti-troops in the process.
(Also, I do think Webb's initiative is a subtle form of discouraging reenlistment, somewhat subtler than the mandatory period between troop redeployments the Democrats tried earlier to reduce troop presence in Iraq. Good for the Democrats to keep coming up with ways to work around the administration while being humane and looking good. That's the kind of politicking I like to see.)
No matter how this bill turns out, the situation exposes the fundamental weaknesses in McCain's campaign. He's a one-issue candidate whose candidacy will fall apart rapidly once he loses credibility on that one issue (remember Rudy?), and he is perceived as (and might once actually have been) a centrist candidate who is fast losing his appeal to the left and center in trying to pander to a far right which will never truly forgive him for his "maverick" days.
USNA Grad @ 59:
What does "god" have to do with it?
Does "god" not bless McCain?
Who is your mythical creature in the sky voting for?
In 1946 my Dad's best friend went to Yale all paid, 30 years later I had to go to a Jr. College on the same GI bill!
Let's face it, if you're a rich Republican politician (is there any other kind), odds are you're in office to represent people who just don't give a damn about or who actually despise people who aren't rich. You probably don't care either, because every dime spend on such folks is money not going to war profiteering, gray train graft and greasing of the ole' pork barrel with money extorted through unequal taxation from wage earners (including soldiers).
I say when it comes to John McCain.....show no mercy. I don't care how old he is, or that he was tortured as a POW. What matters most is this country and making sure we don't have another Bush term.
Saloum @ 64:
Given that God speak daily to George Bush and has lunch with him every Tuesday, I'm going to assume God is going to vote for McCain.
Webb for Vice President.
Rufus @ 68:
Allow me to clear up some things.
First of all yes I speak to Bush.
But he has yet to listen to a thing I say.
And no I don't eat lunch with him because I'd be ashamed to be seen with him.
And lastly I am not endorsing anyone for President.
Don't drag me into this.
If McCain was mister "straight talk" before, he certainly is a liar now. He's such a lying two-faced bastard now, I can't watch tv when he speaks anymore than I can watch Bush.
What's this about McCain "reaching across the aisle?"
Yeah right. The only time he ever reaches across the aisle is to ask for Libermann to change his diaper and/or to choke or curse someone.
Of course, if those incentives which McCain wants turn out NOT to work, and given that a hundred years is "fine by me", and given that recruiting is down, doesn't that mean he's gonna have to introduce the draft?
Forget a hundred years... think maybe ten. Your twelve year old kid might be out in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, or any one of a hundred other places the neocons want a "presence" in.
Unless you're a Republican.... Republican kids don't serve, do they?
I have three words for you:
Obama/Webb 2008!
Krash
Is there any question about how much disdain McSame and repugs in general have for the troops? I'm willing to bet you the troops will go with the Democratic candidate in this election.
Login or Register to post comments.