A surge for all seasons
By Steve Benen Wednesday Aug 06, 2008 4:00pmWhat can I say, John McCain just loves surges.
If you’ve got a problem, John McCain has a surge. In Iraq, of course, McCain loves the surge so much, he’s willing to credit the surge for events that occurred before it even began. In Afghanistan, McCain opposed sending additional troops, that is until a few weeks ago, when McCain announced he supports a ... wait for it ... surge in Afghanistan.
Over the last several days, McCain has become so enamored with this child-like formulation — surge = problem solved — that he’s now willing to extend it to policies that have nothing to do with the military or foreign policy. On Saturday, addressing the Urban League, McCain talked about his approach to inner-city crime. He recommended a surge.
It’s become so reflexive, the McCain campaign, two weeks ago, was talking about the debate over energy policy, and said, in relation to Obama’s position, “This is the domestic policy equivalent of the surge.”
But this is especially odd given today’s remarks about the economy. What’s the difference between McCain’s economic policy yesterday and his new-found support for an “economic surge”? Nothing, except now, McCain’s policy is surge-rific.
I’m curious — if McCain was challenged to give a speech without the word “celebrity” or “surge,” could he do it? I really doubt it.
Login or Register to post comments.
A surge is what you do when you screw up the first time and need to fix it.
man, i just don't get how repubs can support this guy. doesn't make sense to me at all.
That can only mean that he wants to go after your assets before your assets are usable in the homeland.
So the party that hates giving decent poor black people money to survive is going to give the gangs money to stop causing trouble in those same neighborhoods?
'Cause that's what they are doing in Iraq.
I had a real healthy "surge" this A.M.
McCains probably have a big Budweiser Contract with the Pentagon. Isn't that the Official Military Brew?
warren buffet: my secretary pays more income tax
(percentage wise) than i do.
why.......they declare under capital gains 15% and don't
forget UBS is getting probed for setting up a tax shelter
that could be sheltering a possible 100bil.....if people
paid maybe we wouldn't have to increase taxes.
right now some communities are getting killed because they are NOT collecting property taxes from empty foreclosed homes.
John McCain will put people to sleep with his speeches. At his point it really doesn't matter what he says not one is paying attention to him anymore.
Ah, surge-tastic.
Maybe the surge could paint my garage. I'd really appreciate it.
Weaseldog @ 1:
WOW! That is one of the realest things I have heard in my life!
Yellow Elephant Safari @ 10:
What you need is a painter and paint surge.
Resist the urge to say surge.
The one thing that my warped mind thinks of when I hear McCain say "surge" is the Bronson Pinochet character from "Beverly Hills Cop" named Serge(?) standing up and saying in that lispy gay voice "Johnny ,Serge in Iraq, Serge in Afghanistan, Serge in the inner city, there just some much of me to go around.".
I’m curious — if McCain was challenged to give a speech without the word “celebrity” or “surge,” could he do it? I really doubt it.
nope they have it down to a one word bad.."celebrity"
a one word good."surge"
elementary linguistics "for dummies"
i want to take a second to thank the spineless, pathetic and compromised news whores in the msm for their help in creating the false notion of the surge's success.
thank you, the GOP and mccain couldn't be happier to have y'all as their official apologists, spinners and misinformation disseminators.
And come October, McCain is going to need a healthy celebrity surge.
"if McCain was challenged to give a speech without the word “celebrity” or “surge,” could he do it? I really doubt it."
add to that list "a little straight talk" and "my friends".
but curiously enough, we don't seem to hear him say "and now a little straight talk" all that much anymore. probably because he knows he is lying through his forced smile teeth.
Ah, the problems that can be solved with walls and bribes(After most of your enemies were killed or expelled). It would be Utopia.
Can he have a speech without the nauseating words, "my friends"?
I guess he's trying to remind his audiences that "the surge worked" in Iraq so a surge by any other name would still smell as sweet.
I laughed out loud today when I saw the clip on tv of him saying we need an economic surge. It sounded so funny and so hollow. He said this after he spent several minutes talking about how dastardly Sen. Obama's economic plan would be.
Sometime when he's speaking, if there are people behind him, look at their faces. So many of them have blank stares on their faces and often when the applause line comes it takes someone to start clapping before the others realize that they should too.
I'm not sure if it's pitiful or funny.
When you have brain-dead creative people building your campaign, the silly, the absurd, the pathetic is worth throwing it up against the wall and see if anything sticks. As a forty-plus year advertising agency veteran, it makes you want to puke.
Big crown there.
"Hey Rick, can you see if you can rustle up about 10, not too slovenly looking folks off the street? I need a crowd backdrop for this little ditty."
i can't stop watching the enthusiastic crowd in back of him. hanging on his every word and projecting the positive vibe the senator is generating.
can anyone tell me again why he thinks speaking before crowds that measure in the tens of thousands is a bad thing conpared to crowds that measure 6 3/4 people?
what a fun image.
Samson- @ 15:
IMO, the entire 'surge' is more or less a false notion, created by Washington.
Why is it that this 'surge' is practically nonexistent in foreign reporting on Iraq? Iraq is still in the news in Europe, but the 'surge' isn't. They're still hearing about new acts of violence and terror in Iraq on a daily basis. Ask a your average European about it, and he or she will probably be entirely unaware of the existence of this 'successful' campaign.
I've got a strong feeling the average Iraqi's view of the surge is closer to that of the rest of the world than the USA's. Am I wrong?
Somebody asked Bimbo Cindy, the painted trollop, about it the other day at Sturgiss, while she was getting nekkid for the Ms Cow-Chip contest...
She said Bombin' Johnnie doesn't cum, he even surges in bed...
a refresher on the mcSurge col.mcFarland/gen.patreus
listen quick bites on what they really said the RNC is depending on their secrecy of the policies regarding this war to sway the uninformed public....same old trick
this is a good short video mcSurge refresher.
http://www.veracifier.com/episode/TPM_20080723
I'd like to surge McSame!
right on! @ 27:
right into the middle of next week...
And what an amazing array of doofus, vapid, doltish-looking losers on the dias behind him?
The cumulative IQ of the whole bunch didn't top 130, with Bombin' Johnnie's figgered in...
What we need is a Democratic surge, a bush-cheney-rove purge and a g.o.p.dirge.
helenahandbasket @ 30:
that's surge......purge and dirge....i can believe in!
What a complete idiot!
What he needs is a afternoon nap.
"noun, verb, surge" is at it again
somebody wrote this before....
spongejohn surgepants
Most times the people behind him, when he's speaking, remind me of the expressions you see on people's faces in hostage tapes. They look as though they are being held against their will.
I wonder if they really want to come out and see him or if they are encouraged?
I read somewhere today that McCain isn't as cozy with his traveling press as he once was. He doesn't have fireside chats with them any more on the plane. Maybe they forgot to get sprinkles on his donuts or something.
pissed off patricia @ 36:
that glazed look when asked about viagra looked similar to bush when he was reading my pet goat
he wants to distance himself from looking/being seen with bush
he's confused, again...
still thinks he's in south dakota--surgiss..
Thomas Stone @ 22:
My first thought was it looks like a police line-up.
The fix is undoubtedly in. Hey - is that a serge suit?
you folks gotta realize, mcsame's not trying to reach anyone with a triple-digit (over 99) iq...these ads are for the lumpiest of the lumpen-proles...and they're probably working ...
Does Cindy go everywhere with him? I don't remember ever seeing a presidential candidate who had his wife appear with him everywhere he went. I can't understand the reasoning behind this.
Buffalo Chip McCain reminds me of Theodore Brewster in "Arsenic And Old Lace" who thought he was Teddy Roosevelt and kept running up the stairs with his bugle yelling "CHARGE!".
pissed off patricia @ 42:
he can neither wipe his ass nor button his fly...those damn comminists, they tortured him...so Cindy, the Cnnt, has to accompany him everywhere...no Secret Service guy would do it...They don't get paid enough for that...
Raising taxes in a bad economy is the worst thing you can do? How about cutting taxes for the wealthy during a war you dunderhead? Does that make a lotta sense? Bampot.
The white hair dude spent less time at his job, like you know the Senate, missing tons of important votes and he still takes credit for everything right. What a maroon!
If McCain want s to feel a surge, I know just the place on his person where he can stow his tire gauge.
woody, tokin librul @ 29:
When the right wing accuses the left of arrogance and elitism, they can point to your comments for support.
Maybe if we reach out to what you call the 'losers', we'd have a chance to run this country. They are probably going through hard times. They don't need McCain but maybe they need some patient persuasion to be convinced of this.
woody, tokin librul @ 41:
Those people are probably going to vote for him anyway so why not try reaching out to the next higher rung.
A guy called into Washington Journal this morning and he was ripping Obama. Then the man said, I know what McLain will do. I know all about McLain, he's a good man.
Yeah, he knew everything about his candidate, except his name.
Hey POP - If Cindy doesn't tag along there's a risk that his wee lobbyist "pal" would come back. Or he might hit the red light district and get caught. I'll bet that the ever-present Cindy wasn't Good-Time Johnny;s idea.
helenahandbasket @ 30:
Indeed!
bobsf @ 48:
Well, okay, but be sure to show'em the visual image, too, so they see I wasn't exaggerating...
pissed off patricia @ 49:
John McCLain is the name of the Bruce Willis character in all those Die Hard movies...Which rung is that on, sil vous plait?
its great how obama is the vague guy... as if mccain ever gave any details about his plans. dem in 08, or ill be depressed
I hear surge works pretty good on dirty laundry.... Not so much on other things, like nation building and what not.....(yea, that's that's right, some weak snark...) JD
woody, tokin librul @ 53:
That's the rung that the ocean washed the sand over so it's about three inches beneath the surface now. That's what I'm talking about, instead of McCain always aiming at the people whose votes he can count on, the ones who would never vote for Sen. Obama, why not aim higher for more involved voters who may be on the fence.
Umm, rungs, fences? I'm not sure where I'm going with these symbols.
woody, tokin librul @ 52:
I understand what you guys are saying but that last line made me laugh out loud
Surge is much easier for McSame to say. He has a real trouble with escalation, accretion, accrual, addendum, addition, augmentation, boost, expansion, increment, proliferation, raise, rise, and supplement.
pissed off patricia @ 42:
Cindy carries along the "Depends" and changes him when necessary since he is
unable to do so after surging in his pants.
Surge is the new 9/11.
A Noun, A Verb, and "Surge".
Giuliani would be proud.
Somebody let me know if I missed any there at 58.
I heard McCain say today that we need an energy surge.
Obama needs to surge way ahead of McCain but according to Andrea Mitchell, Wolf Blitzer, Pat Buchanan, David Gregory, Brian Williams, Katie Couric, Tom Brokaw, Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, Kyra Phillips, Candy "Sasquatch" Crowley, and Chris Matthews, he can't close the deal.
cls @ 54:
Dem in '08, or I'll be Canadian. Eh?
kerplunk @ 63:
And we all live by every word that bunch says, huh?
McCain and Obama are joined at the hip.
Obama has been yammering non-stop about Afghanistan. We must win. etc...
He has already said he wants to send troops from Iraq (the "strategic blunder") to Afghanistan.
But...
McCain = bad.
Obama = good.
Obama's fiasco will be so much better than McCain's.
cls @ 54:
How true. As just one example: McLame energy plan includes 45 new nuclear energy
plants being built...and that is the extent of his "plan". What I want to know is: Where
are these nuclear plants going to be built(with Fed./State/Public approval); how long
does it take to constuct just one nuclear plant; approximately how much is the cost
of just one nuclear plant; and finally, who is going to pay for these 45 nuclear plants?
doggiebobo @ 67:
And what do you do with the waste from all those plants.
Isawthelight @ 66:
Not exactly accurate: BOTH have said that they will send the required number of
brigades into Afghan only after consulting w/the commanders on the ground in Afghan
and following their advise as to such additional troops.
pissed off patricia @ 57:
Sorry, I do have a sense of humor, but these folks don't make me laugh. They don't at all look enthused about supporting McCain. They are right, he really does not care about them. They look distracted. They might be wondering how they are going to pay for food or rent. Their sad faces say more about the state of this country than McCain's words ever could. It's sad to me.
Isn't a "surge" a symptom of the Viagra kicking in?
pissed off patricia @ 68:
True, but recent scientific studies are supposedly disclosing that waste products from
nuclear power plants can somehow "safely' be stored underground for periods exceeding
75 years...similar to what is now being done in much of Europe where there has not been any spills/contamination in over 40 years. I am not saying I support(yet) more
nuclear plants, but it sure seems that such energy production should be in the "mix"
when alternative energy sources are discussed..and using the "fear factor" as primary
reason to exclude is not, in my opinion, justification enough to totally discount. As I
mentioned, Europe(Germany,France and others) have been using nuclear energy as one
of it's primary sources for years and years...and w/success I might add.
Is it me, or are they so desperate that they got the back up cast from Deliverance to stand behind McSame... Was that his whole audience?
I guess they need ANYbody in the shot to remind people that he is just like Obama. When McSame speaks, at least 5-7 people may show up!
John Hoffman @ 71:
Yes, other symptoms include a racing heart and tunnel vision.
The surge is working! Fool me once, can't get fooled again!
http://kagro-x.dailykos.com/
You can tell its 4 months before the election. The surge is working!
I wonder how much longer before we get an orange terror threat level and a bin Laden tape surfaces?
Where was and has he been since the waters surged in New Orleans?
doggiebobo @ 69:
As I said, BOTH, have said the same thing.
But McCain is the baddie, and Obama (parroting "consulting the commanders" Bush) is untouched by his comatose devotees.
Yeah, there's a great idea. Take the one thing in eight years that supposedly 'worked' in the Bush Administration and apply it to all problems.
Let's say, for sake of argument, that the phrase 'Axis of Evil' still has some credibility to it.
Well, my friends, we need to declare war on the 'Axis of Inflation' and then tackle the 'Axis of Energy Inefficiency' and the 'Axis of Climate Change.'
This is Republican Politics 101: it's not the issue, it's the framing.
What, exactly, would the 'economic surge' be? Send 30,000 troops into the Federal Reserve?
And here's a little problem for the Republicans: the 'surge' is a targeted, big-government, taxpayer-funded tax-and-spend program. As we all know, these kinds of things are the root of all evil, unless it's a military operation.
Isawthelight @ 78:
Guess you and I are watching/reading/listening to different news sources, for what I
have seen is that Obama is being critized for his position and the MSM is handling McLame's "plan" with kit gloves.
McCain's whole surge meme has me baffled. There was no surge. A surge would involve a temporary increase in troop levels. This was an escalation. Any subsequent troop reductions owe to political pressures stateside.
The idea of the surge was to get Iraq to stand up on their own, or at least get them well on their way.
Inserting troops wall-to-wall will certainly reduce violence, which has had a positive effect, but the political end has not succeeded - so why are we still saying that we will listen to the generals on the ground when we should be listening to the politicians in charge of accomplisheng that goal?
constituent @ 26:
refresh you mcSurge knowledge the awakening happened first
McCain is taking a page from Giuliani's book who managed to slip "9/11" into the conversation in the most asinine and pointless way possible on a seemingly daily basis.
It takes a true douche bag to be able to pull this kind of thing off.
Do you want the return of No-Knock laws?
Martial law?
Vote McThusela!
Commentator @ 64:
Stay where you are, the one thing the world dosen't need is more americans polluting it. It's a typical M.O. though, fuck up one thing then destroy it and move onto the next thing.
I'd suggest staying where you are and dealing with what you have made and become.
Alexdem @ 24:
I'm European and I have a lot of Iraqi friends. No you are not wrong, Iraq is a complete war zone with a country in ruin griped by a US invoked civil war, as a country you destroyed Iraq and are now torturing and raping it.
It's not on the news in the US as the average american wouldn't have the mental capacity to understand or believe it, it must be "liberal lies" ........ so many americans, so stupid and so wrong ........... though you're just about to get McCain so it doesn't really matter, given a clear choice of more Bush type polotics or something a bit different and progressive, you'll go for the war monger.
Wouldn't make much difference anyway, the world is done with the US, you have shown everyone what you are like and who you really are, the years of fake PR telling everyone how amazing you all are (which most could see straight though anyway) is well and truly over.
Economic implosion, slide into insignificance and less of your travelling around the world and then the rest of us can get on with getting on with each other, lovely.
A surge? We're spending money on Iraq. We're not spending money on college. That's why so many college students are broke nowadays.
The republican machine is very very good at simplification and sound bites. America's idiots will like the surge word. Hell if it worked in Eye Rack it'll work on our economic problems AND our gas problem!! I've got it, we need a surge in drilling!!!! That'll create jobs AND get us more oil!!! It's so easy! John McCain the Surge Candidate.
jeeze, look at the enthusiastic goons standing behind him. Makes you wanna go right and join the cause, eh?
A surge in the economy? I'm sorry, isn't that called College Graduates!!!
McCain claims to know how to win wars. The Pentagon doesn't know how to win wars. It knows perhaps how to fight wars, but winning... that's more the job of the diplomats after the fighting is over because in the actual process of war, as anyone with a clue could tell you, nobody wins. Nevertheless, the ever modest Senator from Arizona, responding to Katie Couric, claimed Bosnia and Kosovo in the win column. Maybe he needs reminding who was commander in chief in those conflicts and who was supreme allied commander... and who was drowning out deliberations in the armed services committee with his snoring. Here's a hint: of the three two were Rhodes scholars and one finished near the bottom of his class. Which brings me to an even more salient point. When you look at the academic credentials of the parties involved you realize that it is no accident that America prevailed in the Balkans while it remains mired in Iraq.
To everything -
turn, turn, turnsurge, surge, surgeThere is a season -
turn, turn, turnsurge, surge, surgeAnd a
timesurge for every purpose under heavenA
timesurge to be born, atimesurge to dieA
timesurge to plant, atimesurge to reapA
timesurge to kill, atimesurge to healA
timesurge to laugh, atimesurge to weepTo everything -
turn, turn, turnsurge, surge, surgeThere is a season -
turn, turn, turnsurge, surge, surgeAnd a
timesurge for every purpose under heavenA
timesurge to build up, atimesurge to break downA
timesurge to dance, atimesurge to mournA
timesurge to cast away stonesA
timesurge to gather stones togetherTo everything -
turn, turn, turnsurge, surge, surgeThere is a season -
turn, turn, turnsurge, surge, surgeAnd a
timesurge for every purpose under heavenA
timesurge of war, atimesurge of peaceA
timesurge of love, atimesurge of hateA
timesurge you may embraceA
timesurge to refrain from embracingTo everything -
turn, turn, turnsurge, surge, surgeThere is a season -
turn, turn, turnsurge, surge, surgeAnd a
timesurge for every purpose under heavenA
timesurge to gain, atimesurge to loseA
timesurge to rend, atimesurge to sewA
timesurge to love, atimesurge to hateA
timesurge of peace, I swear it's not too late!.
doggiebobo @ 80:
With Obama, the issue I have is with the left.
They will criticize McCain for being right-wing, but when Obama does or says the same thing, they are silent.
Look at C&L. Endless McCain is Satan articles. Nothing about Obama - because his positions are nothing to crow about - that is if you care about progressive issues.
So we have a nominee who will escalate the war in Afghanistan, votes endlessly to fund the war in Iraq, votes for FISA, appears to be waffling on abortion rights, opposes gay marriage, is pro-death penalty...
Wow - I can't wait to vote for this pile of whatever as opposed to the other pile.
The surge healed my cancer, paid my mortgage and my cat is now better. Blessed be the surge.
So don't mess with the Surge
iIn other words,
We need to open our country to more foriegn products and at the same time stop making those same products here. But we surge more jobs here at home? Not everyone can work at Blackwater. We need to privatize our border security to Blackwater so that it will cost more tax payer money and a CEO can reap the profits from the Taxpayers.
My friends, Social Security is wasteful, I'll (John) will never have a us for it. I know this is what most Americans want. But I am a Maverick and I want to serve this great country and take away what the American poeple want. I know what is best for you and by ridding Social Security. I can give you what I want as your elected official.
We need to surge the oil drilling because China will pay good money for our domestic oil. More than what Americans want to pay. Our American oil companies will thrive and profit from America's natural resources.
This will look good on the books when we send more jobs overseas. Because, it will show up as a increase in our domestic product and show some improvement in our lopsided trade. It will look good on the books for me, I will enjoy the wealthy's support for my party, It will secure oil companies future in a global economy they can't seem to compete on their own and must be subsidized. Unlike the working class that lose their jobs and must settle for less wages and benefits that the executive can have more. No reason corporate executives need to suffer. Especially after being so gratious to donate to my campaign with deep pockets out of the kindness of their hearts because they believe in me.
Sort of how this comes off.
Login or Register to post comments.