McCain v. Facts

The fact that John W. McCain doesn't know anything about Purim is a small thing, but the fact that Joe Lieberman has to constantly stroll along by his side correcting him, like a real-life version of the whispered fine print in a Cialis commercial, is a big thing. It's deeply embarrassing to have to be constantly corrected, and ripe for mockery. Meanwhile, I guess Lieberman wasn't there a month ago in Houston when McCain made exactly the same "misstatement" conflating Iran and Al Qaeda.

MCCAIN: Al Qaeda is there. . .they're functioning, they are supported in--many times--in many ways by the Iranians. . . .

Of course, this is because there's no such thing as a "misstatement" here. It's a deliberate strategy, and he's in fact been wrong about these matters for a long, long time.

BEFORE THE IRAQ WAR MCCAIN MADE QUESTIONABLE CLAIMS ABOUT THE CONNECTION BETWEEN AL QAEDA AND IRAQ
Before the war McCain claimed that Iraq would be a “weapons assembly line for al-Qaeda’s network.” “Iraq and al-Qaeda present the United States with enemies on multiple fronts. In World War II, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, we went to war -- against them and against the Nazis, who had not attacked our homeland. We did not have the luxury of fighting one enemy at a time. Sept. 11, 2001 showed that al-Qaeda is a grave threat. Saddam Hussein has the ability to make a far worse day of infamy by turning Iraq into a weapons assembly line for al-Qaeda's network.” [USA Today 2/13/03]

McCain said Bin Laden and Saddam connected because they share “common cause.” “But what I think it's ample evidence of is that bin Laden will do anything he could to harm the United States of America, and he has common cause with Saddam Hussein who will do anything he can to harm the United States of America. And the two of them together can make a very potent recipe.” [NBC Today Show, 2/13/03]

IN FACT, THERE WAS NO OPERATIONAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AL QAEDA AND IRAQ BEFORE THE WAR
A comprehensive report by the Institute for Defense Analysis found no relationship between Al Qaeda and Iraq. “An exhaustive review of more than 600,000 Iraqi documents that were captured after the 2003 U.S. invasion has found no evidence that Saddam Hussein's regime had any operational links with Osama bin Laden's al Qaida terrorist network.” [McClatchy, 3/10/08 ]

The 9/11 Commission report found no “collaborative operational relationship” between Al Qaeda and Iraq. [9/11 Commission Report]

He isn't confused or sleepy or fatigued. He truly believes this, and has more of a concern for an imagined sense of "honor" than the truth. His desire is for everyone to be as "confused" as he is about the disparate forces in the Middle East because it'll make it that much easier to bomb various countries at random.

And if you have any belief that having a military veteran in the White House will at least allow for some empathy with the plight of the troops and an awareness not to grind them up in service to their country, this is all you need to see more clearly on that front.

On his first day in office in January 2007, Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) introduced the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2007, intended to be “a mirror image of the WW II G.I. Bill.” A new version with broad bipartisan support was introduced in February to help fund education for service members who had served in active duty since Sept. 11, 2001. Veterans would receive education benefits equaling the highest tuition rate of the most expensive in-state public college or university and a monthly stipend for housing.

Today, The Hill reports that Webb is still waiting for an important co-sponsor who could help push other Republicans to approve the bill: Sen. John McCain (R-AZ):

“McCain needs to get on the bill,” Webb told reporters after a Christian Science Monitor breakfast meeting on Wednesday. He said legislation mirroring the post-World War II GI bill should not be considered a “political issue.” […]

Webb’s bill has 51 co-sponsors, including nine Republicans. Webb, a former secretary of the Navy, said he may have to get 60 co-sponsors to ensure Senate passage, but then added that many more Republicans could vote for the bill if McCain endorsed it.

That's everything you need to know. He views men and women in uniform as no more human or real than little green Army men. McCain voted against allowing proper troop readiness. He's voted against increasing safety equipment and against increasing veteran's care. He's voted to keep American G.I.'s hostage in a foreign country as referees inside a sectarian war. He has voted against troops and veterans consistently over the past seven years.

The "cluelessness" on foreign policy is an EXTENSION of his contemptible record on the military. In his mind the troops are nothing but instruments used to project American power. And so are facts about Iran and Al Qaeda.