Good news: Another Al Qaeda-related McCain gaffe
posted at 2:42 pm on April 8, 2008 by Allahpundit
And the DNC pounces. The clip is ambiguous: You can read it either as him quickly correcting himself or just sort of “covering his bases” by naming both major sects in Iraq, secure in the knowledge that AQ must belong to one of them. Goldfarb gives him the benefit of the doubt and points to a (common semantic) flub this morning by Ted Kennedy as tit for tat. That’s fine — I’ve played that game myself — but these repeated stumbles on a subject that goes to the core of his foreign policy credibility are becoming, shall we say, problematic. Memo to Team McCain: Someone had better pull him aside and run through the nuts and bolts of Sunnis, Shia, Wahhabism, and Al Qaeda just to make sure he’s up to speed, because with every new correction Obama’s inexperience looks less troublesome.
Blowback
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Have you ever spoken live on TV? I hear even Limbaugh stumble sometimes, and I don’t think you could accuse him of being slow or ignorant of issues.
funky chicken on April 8, 2008 at 2:45 PM
*eyeroll* …. whatever.
wise_man on April 8, 2008 at 2:46 PM
I second wise_man. That’s quite an over statement.
Topsecretk9 on April 8, 2008 at 2:47 PM
It’s not that he stumbled, it’s that he keeps stumbling on this particular point.
Allahpundit on April 8, 2008 at 2:48 PM
There really isn’t a huge amount of difference between Shia and Sunni except that they usually hate each other and they think there’s a difference. Al Qaeda and Iran have informal cooperation.
indythinker on April 8, 2008 at 2:49 PM
Is it? All of these little gaffes are going to be stitched into campaign ads, and every time he accuses Obama of not knowing what he’s talking about, they’re going to get played.
Allahpundit on April 8, 2008 at 2:49 PM
Oh, well then. Obama ’08! For the war, because he definitely knows his Islam!
funky chicken on April 8, 2008 at 2:50 PM
Mac misspoke. Right, Hillary?
Bigfoot on April 8, 2008 at 2:52 PM
People of average intelligence know not to speak so much about things about which they are unsure.
Politicians are below average in this regard.
EJDolbow on April 8, 2008 at 2:52 PM
Did you hear the latest? There was a storm in Kansas. Ten thousand people died. An entire town was destroyed.
True story.
wise_man on April 8, 2008 at 2:55 PM
And fair minded people will laugh. Why? because no fair minded person thinks McCain doesn’t know what he’s talking about on this issue.
TheBigOldDog on April 8, 2008 at 2:55 PM
Damnit. funky chicken‘s response was better than mine.
wise_man on April 8, 2008 at 2:55 PM
With a candidate named Barack you-know-what Obama as their candidate, the dems aren’t gonna want to spend a whole lot of time reflecting on Islamic subsects in the general election.
You don’t like McCain? fine…donate to this guy instead:
http://www.jaywolfe2008.com/
funky chicken on April 8, 2008 at 2:56 PM
Luckily most voters don’t know a sunni from a shia or even know why they should.
ctmom on April 8, 2008 at 2:57 PM
What would a fair-minded right-wing person conclude if, say, Joe Biden stumbled on this point two or three times and was the Democratic nominee? I dare say it would be a big issue in the conservative blogosphere and taken as proof that Biden really doesn’t know what he’s talking about, notwithstanding his years of foreign policy experience.
You guys keep thinking the average voter is just like you. They’re not.
Allahpundit on April 8, 2008 at 2:58 PM
Let’s see – the Shia terrorists are the dirty, unwashed and slovenly vermin with unruly beards and the Sunni terrorists, … oh yes, they are the dirty, unwashed and …
McCain needs me.
OhEssYouCowboys on April 8, 2008 at 2:59 PM
It’s not that he keeps stumbling on this particular point. he was correct when he said Iran supported AQI and Fox news went through and showed all the reports of AQI being trained and supported by Iran including briefing by senior military officials in Iraq. Politically however he knows that’s a loosing battle so it was easier to just say he misspoke and meant extremists.
The idea that the Iranians wouldn’t back Sunni groups when it is in their interest is wrong. They backed different factions of the Sunni Afghans during different periods of their civil war post Soviets. It’s well documented.
TheBigOldDog on April 8, 2008 at 3:01 PM
Exactly.
Michelle on April 8, 2008 at 3:02 PM
Gaffs only stick when they reinforce pre-existing beliefs. Certainly you’ve been a student of politics long enough to understand that fundamental law by now.
That’s why Tuzla killed Hillary and Obama has to a large extent escaped a mortal wound over Wright.
TheBigOldDog on April 8, 2008 at 3:05 PM
Wrong again AP. They are all scum and should be wiped off the face of the Earth. So it doesn’t really matter. As for Obama, he still doesn’t know they are evil. That’s not inexperience, that’s stupidity.
Andy in Agoura Hills on April 8, 2008 at 3:05 PM
He’d be given the benefit-of-the-doubt by the left blogosphere, the media, et all. Not too many prominent liberal bloggers would be trying to play fair when it comes to their party’s nominee.
amerpundit on April 8, 2008 at 3:06 PM
McCain wants to win, Obama want to lose.
Obama wants to put liberals on the Supreme Court, to take your freedoms away.
Chakra Hammer on April 8, 2008 at 3:07 PM
I don’t think Rush is running for Pres. These will make great “senior moment” commercials for Obama.
stenwin77 on April 8, 2008 at 3:07 PM
Exactly.
Not exactly. Obama has pre-existing beliefs vis-a-vis Wright.
Andy in Agoura Hills on April 8, 2008 at 3:08 PM
Did you know Canada has a president? At least McCain has an excuse, being old. What’s Obama’s?
amerpundit on April 8, 2008 at 3:10 PM
Luckily? We’re lucky to have an uninformed voter base? I’m hoping that crowd stays home.
Qper on April 8, 2008 at 3:10 PM
Hey, I read over at MM.com that McCain calls his wife “c*nt” too….apparently some Comedy Central character is publishing some kind of breathtaking expose on that, which Ms. Malkin was only too eager to repeat.
MDS in action.
funky chicken on April 8, 2008 at 3:11 PM
You guys keep thinking the average voter is just like you. They’re not.
Allahpundit on April 8, 2008 at 2:58 PM
It’s not that he stumbled, it’s that he keeps stumbling on this particular point.
Exactly.
Michelle on April 8, 2008 at 3:02 PM
—
I mean ZERO disrespect, so please do not think I’m being rude…but I would totally disagree – I don’t think voters are like you (two) – as informed and clear on this point.
It would be one thing if Biden was asked to explain his “gaffes” and his explanation showed he didn’t know what he was talking about but if he DID and it was evident he’s got the wrong “verbiage” stuck in his head, peeps are not going to discount him for being the same as every other normal human being.
Topsecretk9 on April 8, 2008 at 3:11 PM
With all due respect, your analysis far too often is your personal reaction and not a detached analysis. Shall I cite examples? The public’s reaction to the 1984 mashup comes to mind. Kerry’s botched joke comes to mind as well.
My analysis is rarely if ever my personal reaction but my analysis how average working Americans will react based on years of observation. Again, the two examples above are cases where our analysis differed 180 degrees and my instincts proved corrected.
TheBigOldDog on April 8, 2008 at 3:11 PM
Case in point, Sylvester Reyes.
Topsecretk9 on April 8, 2008 at 3:13 PM
I think he should really embrace his oldcootism and call them Boche or The Hun.
Cuffy Meigs on April 8, 2008 at 3:13 PM
If McCain needs to be brought up to speed on Sunni’s, Shia and Islam, you might as well elect Obama or Clinton.
BL@KBIRD on April 8, 2008 at 3:13 PM
And the average voter is going to recognize what Mac said as a mistake??? rolls eyes
Either the viewer is going to be knowledgeable and recognize the guffaw as what it is (considering the credibility of the source), or will be an idiot that doesn’t know shiite from shinola and will not be swayed by it one way or the other. Either way, its nothing.
tommylotto on April 8, 2008 at 3:15 PM
It’s bad enough the petty things that Hilary gets attacked for here. Let’s not Hilary the Republican nominee!! If McCain isn’t good for much, at least he’ll stop a Democratic Congress from doing bad things.
I would find something substantive to criticize about Biden’s position.
I remember Reagan’s aides correcting Reagan for having mis-spoke his position. It was no big deal but for a few jokes by leftists.
thuja on April 8, 2008 at 3:16 PM
yes, he does, but they are only now being exposed and resonating and congealing in the minds of average Americans. Up to this point he had been developing an imagine of believing just the opposite of Wright. Now, the seeds of doubt are planted and all future related gaffs will stick like superglue.
If his wife was the candidate she’d be finished already because her own statements already planted the seeds and the Wright revelation would have cemented it and knocked her out.
TheBigOldDog on April 8, 2008 at 3:18 PM
Allah, what are you about anyway? Ed, where are the Quarters for us rational readers?
leftnomore on April 8, 2008 at 3:19 PM
That’s quite a lofty assertion to make, and neither you nor ad-nauseum punditry can verify that Wright’s beliefs and Obama’s must be the same. But he went there for 20 years, he’s gotta subscribe, right?
Let me play an association game with you. I attended a single Catholic Church for close to 15 years. I was given communion and confirmation, as well as weekly masses and sermons by my priest. He has just recently finished a 3-year prison term for stealing about $900,000 from collection funds over many years (true story). So I attended that church and listened to that priest all those years… I must think theft is okay, right? I probably embezzle funds all the time, don’t I? We are using that guilt-by-association logic, are we not?
Qper on April 8, 2008 at 3:21 PM
Wow! AP makes a valid point on a McCain weakness ( I know, I know, everything plays to McCain’s advantage) and the “level headed, non-extreme, moderate” McCain supporters go nuts. Folks, this does sound bad, it hurts McCain’s main appeal to his “base.” And your willingness to have it swept under a rug with “hey it’s scary on tv, give him a break” isn’t going to make this or anything else go away. The Left, whether you like it or not still controls a large portion of the news cycle, and will hammer something, whether “fair” or not over and over and over again, until it does stick.
Weight of Glory on April 8, 2008 at 3:21 PM
When it comes to America and the West, there isn’t a damn bit of difference between the Sunni and Shia terrorists. They want our destruction. As already stated, AQI has received assistance from Iran. During the Gulf war, Iraqi fighters were flown to Iran. Both sects fought together against the Soviets in Afghanistan.
In the end, both sects of terrorists want our destruction. And both sects will assist each other to meet that end. Sunni? Bah. Shia? Bah.
Kill ‘em all.
OhEssYouCowboys on April 8, 2008 at 3:22 PM
It depends.
Sometimes the ad gurus hit on the perfect combination of showing a gaff (or gaffs) and explaining why the gaff(s) prove the gafee doesn’t have a grasp of the facts. It’s not too hard to do this in 30 seconds and show it over and over and over just to make sure everybody gets it.
The general voter doesn’t have to be knowledgable about the entire history of the war to understand. And they don’t have to be junkies like most of us.
BacaDog on April 8, 2008 at 3:23 PM
Andy in Agoura Hills:
I think McCain would agree with you, and it’s the reason he makes these gaffs. But it’s one thing to hear an extremist on a blog like this, and quite another to have one as president. Most people don’t want someone with views like yours as president.
dave742 on April 8, 2008 at 3:24 PM
You’re kidding. AP simply makes a rational campaign suggestion (that McCain bone up on his ability to rattle off ME identities) and he suddenly becomes irrational? Well, AP, welcome to the deranged side. You can pick up your name tag on the table over here.
Weight of Glory on April 8, 2008 at 3:24 PM
That’s a sadly hollow analogy. If your priest had been advocating embezzlement from the pulpit and you sat there for 20 years then I’m going to assume you agreed with his message.
TheBigOldDog on April 8, 2008 at 3:25 PM
He’s old and not accustomed to thinking on his feet with an openly hostile media waiting to expose his every gaffe. What’s the problem?
Oh wait…
spmat on April 8, 2008 at 3:26 PM
McCain is already weak and old-which are reasons which helped me to decide for Romney, before Romney dropped out. I won’t compliment the Emperor’s attire, and I won’t pretend that McCain is better than he is. Not even to win a very important election. He has my vote, but not my heart.
Doug on April 8, 2008 at 3:26 PM
They will be told over and over and over again that it was a mistake, by pop cultural stooges like Conan and Letterman no less. They will make “old” jokes, and Alzheimer jokes, and will pound it every night until your rank and file late night watcher will suddenly become an ‘expert” on the subject. You just wait, Henry Higgins.
Weight of Glory on April 8, 2008 at 3:28 PM
So they are going to run ads to try convince people that the architect of the turn-around in Iraq doesn’t know what he’s talking about? I hope they spend $50M trying to convince people of that.
TheBigOldDog on April 8, 2008 at 3:29 PM
And that pretty much brilliantly sums up the McCain campaign.
RushBaby on April 8, 2008 at 3:29 PM
I think he needs to work on his tribes…but he has time and knows it.
If the ‘average voter’ can’t figure out Tony Rezko, I doubt they’ll give a fig for McCain not knowing this right now. But yeah, he’ll need to bone up on this stuff before his first debate with Obama….at that point it will matter somewhat.
No they won’t…it’s too obtuse for their audiences. They don’t know the difference either, so it’s not funny.
Asher on April 8, 2008 at 3:31 PM
That’s a ridiculous comparison. Its wrong on many levels. But here’s just one: Obama has said multiple times that Wright was his close spiritual advisor on politics. Was your priest?
Andy in Agoura Hills on April 8, 2008 at 3:31 PM
McCain is the architect for the turn-around in Iraq?
Weight of Glory on April 8, 2008 at 3:32 PM
Along with Obama’s complete lack of NATO oversight. What’s worse a couple of gaffs or looking so ambition driven that you abandoned your Senate responsibilities so you could turn your 1.5 years of experience into 1.5 years of campaigning?
I think you are being too pessimistic on this particular point Allahpundit. Who has more sounds clips that will make them look bad Obama and Democrats et al or McCain?
Theworldisnotenough on April 8, 2008 at 3:34 PM
I disagree. Their MO for the last eight years has been to reduce obtuse and difficult realities to silly little one liner joke bits for their monologues. It’s what they do, and they will continue to do it.
Weight of Glory on April 8, 2008 at 3:34 PM
OMG, we’re doooooommmmmeeeeddddd!!! McCain doesn’t know the diff between Sunni and Shi’ite. OOOOHHHHH NOOOOOEEESSSS.
Does it really matter? Al Qaeda is a terrorist group who wants to murder people. Who cares what kind of Muslims they are? I sure don’t.
Just like I wouldn’t care if someone was just a little bit Nazi or Hitler. Are they still Nazis? Were they still trying to wholesale massacre people? Then who gives a crap?
And finally do you really think terrorist groups suddenly choose to not work together against the Great Satan because they are Sunni and/or Shi’ite?
Then again, I don’t care. If a terrorist group attacks, people still end up just as dead.
mjk on April 8, 2008 at 3:36 PM
Qper,
if you knew he was doing this and didn’t speak out, then yes, you probably embezzle yourself.
redshirt on April 8, 2008 at 3:36 PM
I agree, I’m a fairly intelligent and informed individual and I can tell you that for me Sunni, Shia, or wahaba-everism are all the same nutcases in a can and when they aren’t busy killing us “infidels” they’re busy killing each other.
The important thing is electing a POTUS that has the clankers to open a great big can-o-whoop-ass on them so they don’t have the means or will to kill or attack us anymore and they can occupy their time killing each other.
Liberty or Death on April 8, 2008 at 3:36 PM
Did Liebermann have to whisper in his ear again?
This is what happens to some when they get old. Also according to polls their electability goes down. This is the dumbest nomination since Dole. McCain should have been elected in 2000, these past eight years have not been good on him and I really don’t know if he’s up for the rest of the campaign.
LevStrauss on April 8, 2008 at 3:38 PM
Bad comparison. Was your priest advocating embezzlement from the pulpit for those 15 years? If so, then yes we have a problem.
amerpundit on April 8, 2008 at 3:39 PM
He’s not? He’s been calling for the surge (more troops) for years and he was right. He criticized the President’s and Rumsfeld’s strategy every chance he got without ever once giving up on Iraq or advocating a pullout. He never once backed away from Iraq even when things were at their darkest and it was in his own personal interest to do so. As he said many times, I’d rather lose and election than lose a war. I disagree with McCain on many issues but I respect his integrity and military judgment.
TheBigOldDog on April 8, 2008 at 3:39 PM
Yep.
freevillage on April 8, 2008 at 3:40 PM
AP makes a valid point. He should be wary of misspeaking about the central core issue to his candidacy.
The average American voter does not read HotAir. They are at home, regularly fed by the leftist MSM programming of their choice.
Let’s see if McCain gets a fair shake from the left on this, like the NYT for example, who endorsed him only to try and tear him down with baseless personal slander shortly after.
There are many in this country who are uninformed and prone to manipulation by the leftist media.
awake on April 8, 2008 at 3:42 PM
That’s gotta hurt.
Rick on April 8, 2008 at 3:42 PM
If not architect, top advocate. 2007, McCain begins calling for a “substantial, sustained surge”.
amerpundit on April 8, 2008 at 3:42 PM
Yes, McCain should have. But thanks to W and Rove, he wasn’t. I wanted to vote for Romney in 08. When it came to my state’s turn, he was already one foot out of the race before I got a chance to give my say. That’s how it works. I sure as heck don’t like it.
Now, we have a choice – to vote for Obama(assuming he’s the nominee) or McCain.
I don’t want Obama to win. So I guess I’m voting for McCain.
wise_man on April 8, 2008 at 3:44 PM
I think you will agree that “architect” carries with it the notion of design. And though McCain supported the surge and criticized Rumsfeld and Bush, that is a far cry from characterizing him as the “architect.” If you want, I’ll give you links on the numbers of troops McCain was calling for to secure Iraq back in 2004, and they were way way higher, by the hundred thousand, than what has be currently used in the surge, which has been characterized by all of us as a success. So was he right about needing more troops, yes. Was he the architect, no.
Weight of Glory on April 8, 2008 at 3:44 PM
In that case, I fear that fair-minded people won’t be the swing vote.
calbear on April 8, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Al qaeda itself is an umbrella group that seeks to join Islamics under one banner. They have backed the Chechnyians in Russia, The JLA in Asia, the KLA in the Balkans, the Algerian Islamics, Islamics in Kenya and somalia.
All these groups arent untied as sunni the only thing they have in common is that they are Islamic first.
Veiwing Al Qaeda as a sunni only organization is dangerous. Look at Azzam the American his background is NOT being raised in a Wahabist nation yet he still works for Al Qaeda.
To limit them to just one faction is a dangerous thing
William Amos on April 8, 2008 at 3:45 PM
Yes he was an advocate for more troops. But I’m just trying to pull back on the reins with some of the more zealous McCain supporters here. Even with your statement you felt the need to make McCain’s advocacy superlative: “top” advocate. He was the bestest best advocate.
Weight of Glory on April 8, 2008 at 3:48 PM
I may be way off-base here, but I don’t think it’s a gaffe. It’s not really clear what he means, but I think he’s clarifying with Petraeus that the AQ fighters aren’t just”…an obscure sect of the Shias overall, or Sunnis or anybody else then?”
Remember when the lefties refused to believe that the AQ fighters were actually AQ? For awhile they were in denial, and they were saying that the alleged AQ were just local insurgents. That’s the only way the question makes any sense to me. I really do not think that he’s calling AQ Shia.
I’ll dig myself in deeper by saying the other “gaffe” weren’t really. Iran does aid AQ, now and in the past, and they aid Sunni Hamas, as well as Sunni militias in Iraq. Anyone who thinks that Sunni and Shia don’t work together is completely ignorant.
juliesa on April 8, 2008 at 3:49 PM
That’s a badly incorrect assumption on your part.
TheBigOldDog on April 8, 2008 at 3:49 PM
What about Levin calling Gen. Petraeus “Admiral?”
Connie on April 8, 2008 at 3:49 PM
How many sermons did he devote to the five-finger discount? Which station of the cross did he update to include Christ pick-pocketing a Roman soldier while he had his back turned?
I’d love to see your diocese’s manefesto on the blessings of thievery.
Oh, none of that was ever mentioned? Well, unless you’re a congregation of telepaths, I’d say your example falls a little short. Or perhaps evil is transfered by osmosis…and if that’s the case, then Obama should be topped off after 20 years of standing in a shower of it.
Asher on April 8, 2008 at 3:50 PM
I’m actually only a McCain supporter by process of elimination. I exchanged “top” for “foremost”, which was actually used in the MSNBC article.
amerpundit on April 8, 2008 at 3:50 PM
This is a true statement. Once is an accident, and he didn’t correct himself there Joe did. Twice is eyebrow raising. If it happens again, not only will we have an opposition campaign theme, but fair minded people will start wondering exactly how good of a grasp he has on the facts.
Spirit of 1776 on April 8, 2008 at 3:51 PM
Hmmm so far on this thread, we know two things. McCain needs to attend a tutorial to get the Shia, Sunni thing correct ( it IS an embarrassing thing he’s committing) and he’s an “old coot”. Kinky Freidman(sp?) is looking better all the time.
MNDavenotPC on April 8, 2008 at 3:52 PM
What makes you think that?
tgillian on April 8, 2008 at 3:52 PM
Pretty soon you’ll have him down to just nodding in agreement.
TheBigOldDog on April 8, 2008 at 3:53 PM
You’re right. That was an assumption on my part, and I should not have written it.
Weight of Glory on April 8, 2008 at 3:53 PM
Honestly, where did any poster go “nuts”? If by merely disagreeing and commenting as such is nuts, than what the heck is a blog comment tool for?
I don’t think Allah would say anyone went nuts or suggest no one is allowed to disagree.
Topsecretk9 on April 8, 2008 at 3:54 PM
I’m getting more than a whiff of MDS (McCain Derangement Syndrome) here. How is this somehow more troubling than out-and-out lies and not-too-well-hidden racism and anti-Americanism?
We all know who pays the bills around here, and have seen plenty of evidence that MM doesn’t like McCain. But these “slips” don’t disguise the fact that McCain is at least supporting our military and is unwilling to take the road to surrender.
The slaps at a man who has demonstrable credentials — and far fewer negatives than Osama Obama and The Hildebeest — are getting old.
I say: if you want egregious misuse of vocal cords, think “Wright,” “my trip to Pakistan” and “sniper fire.”
MrScribbler on April 8, 2008 at 3:58 PM
And the hole will get deeper after April 22.
Don’t know if you caught him on FNS but he bounced around a bit. I expect it. Not because of his age but because of campaigns in general. Won’t matter a bit when MediaMatters hits the plebs with 60 minutes a day of ‘Johnny Mac said’ ads.
Limerick on April 8, 2008 at 3:58 PM
The comment was in response to the suggestion that an Obama ad running McCains supposed gaffes would be damaging. My point is most voters wouldn’t even know a mistake had been made therefore it wouldn’t be that effective.
But I’m with you, uninformed voters should stay home.
ctmom on April 8, 2008 at 3:59 PM
These Sunni/Shia gaffes will not be easily portrayed by Letterman/Leno/Conan, because it is difficult for public, as a whole to understand. However, it should not be as difficult for a long-time senator or presidential candidate to grasp. He needs to understand the dynamics of the middle east, more now than ever. I’m surprised that he continues to be confused about these matters. It seems to me that his advisors would have solved this problem after the first occurance, but this is the fourth, I think.
sandman on April 8, 2008 at 4:01 PM
If you take that whole statement that you quoted, you will see that there was a bit of an attempt at humor and hyperbole. I don’t think that every one was really going nuts. I was trying to draw the comparison that some of us have been called deranged for far less of a disagreement than what was written on this thread.
Weight of Glory on April 8, 2008 at 4:01 PM
How benign. Next we will be asking the candidates to use verbal punctuation. Also[comma] etc etc etc… :)
Nelsa on April 8, 2008 at 4:03 PM
Or you could read it as him not knowing the nature of Al Qaeda’s membership. After all, this isn’t the first time he’s made this sort of mistake.
paul006 on April 8, 2008 at 4:03 PM
You are, of course, referring to the “narcissism of small differences”, the passionate hating of people very like oneself but different in some minor degree.
Sigy on April 8, 2008 at 4:04 PM
Al and Ida? Cindy and I play bridge with them on Tuesdays!
Valiant on April 8, 2008 at 4:06 PM
The only thing McCain did wrong is not make the ‘comma’ more pronounced. That is all. You can now go back to watching liberals make fools of themselves on different topics.
ilitigant on April 8, 2008 at 4:07 PM
We are trying to keep 7% of the voters on this side of the room. Stuff like this just makes it harder and harder to do that. Mistakes will happen, but every one let go as benign makes it that much harder to keep that 7%. He may be the Maverick but he damn sure better be smart enough to understand that handlers have a purpose. If not you can kiss that 7% goodbye and welcome Barry to Pennsylvania Ave.
Limerick on April 8, 2008 at 4:09 PM
Weight of Glory on April 8, 2008 at 4:01 PM
touche’ and thanks.
Topsecretk9 on April 8, 2008 at 4:14 PM
Blast from the past!
QUESTION: Mr. President…
BUSH: Go ahead. Real quick.
QUESTION: A number of Americans are understandably going to be concerned about an open-ended U.S. military commitment to Iraq. Can you at least assure the American people that by the time you leave office a little more than three years from now, those American troops will be out of Iraq?
BUSH: In order to answer that, let’s go back and see what our experience has been. First of all, the big military mission really was completed within a year.
I made a couple of “minor” changes. Can anyone guess what they are?
MB4 on April 8, 2008 at 4:16 PM
His Gaff will only get play on Olberman, Fluff Post and KOS, but Obama and Hillery’s get 24/7 coverage on FOX.
The types that frequent OB,HP,KOS are just as quick to eat their own.
I would rather have FOX behind me than coming at me.
TroubledMonkey on April 8, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Andy states what he says in anger, but he makes a substantive point about what needs to be done in some situations. If some group has decided it either us or them, as the muslims appear to have decided, it becomes necessary for us to fight back to the death.
Yes, dave742, we may be in the applauding for Neville Chamberlain returning from Munich phase of dealing with Islam. However, the muslims will soon invade Poland as they invade everywhere and it will be 1939 all over. And we should deal with the muslims even more ruthlessly than we dealt with the Nazis and Japanese Shintoists. The Germans and the Japanese had other cultural traditions of peace. Islam does not.
thuja on April 8, 2008 at 4:19 PM
And to think we nominated McShamnesty because of “foreign policy experience”.
malan89 on April 8, 2008 at 4:22 PM
I don’t think I stated why I disagreed with Allah on this point.
Obama says his travels and visits abroad as a youth and teen make him more qualified than McCain on policy matters.
I’m sorry, but I don’t think a “gaffe”, of which I know to be a gaffe, mitigates Obama’s fundamental inexperience (of which he’s touting as more qualified and experienced)
Topsecretk9 on April 8, 2008 at 4:24 PM
correct that
McCain on “foreign” policy matters.
Topsecretk9 on April 8, 2008 at 4:25 PM
Silvestre Reyes, the Democrat chosen to head the House of Representatives committee, was asked whether members of Al Qaeda came from the Sunni or the Shia branch of Islam.
“Al Qaeda, they have both,” he answered, adding: “Predominantly probably Shi’ite.”
He then asked the congressman about the terrorist group Hizbollah. “Hizbollah. Uh, Hizbollah…” he said, laughing. “Why do you ask me these questions at five o’clock? Can I answer in Spanish? Do you speak Spanish?”
And at one point, MacCallum stopped just short of calling Reyes dumb, saying, “Democratic Congressman Sylvester Reyes seems to be suffering from a serious lack of intelligence on his part about terrorist organiations. We’re going to tell you, it’s very shocking actually, what Congressman Reyes has said.”
Has anyone seen McCain and Reyes at the same time?
MB4 on April 8, 2008 at 4:29 PM
You’re right. They are much stupider and they keep watching the MSM and they keep getting told something over and over again until it becomes truth to them. That’s how it works. So yeah McCain is in deep doo doo if he keeps this up because they will pound him over the head with it and everyone will end up thinking he’s blithering, drooling old fart not fit to be president and Obama truly is the messiah. People are just plain stupid.
jewells45 on April 8, 2008 at 4:30 PM
I don’t see that AP, it’s like a typo without spellcheck. Once out, you correct it and not make a big deal. People who make a big deal, have little else to complain about. My dad yelled out the wrong name of his kids all of the time, I think he knew which one was which (I hope). It is just a manner of speaking, not an official statement or declaration…big deal out of nothing.
No more then Barack saying the first person he is going to meet with is the President of Canada…big deal, I think he knew it was a Prime Minister, and if not, big deal.
right2bright on April 8, 2008 at 4:31 PM
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