Stephen Dinan, political and national reporter for the indispensable Washington Times, points out that the Arizona Senator is stooping pretty low these days, trying to cash in on this week’s testimony from Gen. David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker.
The McCain campaign quickly issued a fund-raising pitch after their guy had the “privilege” to hear “these two patriotic Americans” talk about the “progress” that has been made in Iraq. Dinan notes that while other Senators used the appearances to score political points, McCain took “it a step further by fundraising off of it.” The Republican warned potential donors that Senators Clinton and Obama will “surely echo the sentiments of their extreme liberal supporters and call for a pre-emptive withdrawal from Iraq. The American people deserve better.” Earth to John, the majority of the American people wants to get out of Iraq ASAP. It’s a mainstream America, not an extreme liberal viewpoint.
McCain wants both Democrats to “move beyond empty and destructive rhetoric and elevate the debate to a level that the country deserves.” The phony maverick then resorts to the empty rhetoric of neocons like Vice President Cheney when he declares Iraq is “part of the larger struggle against radical extremism.”
McCain impugns the patriotism of both Democratic contenders by urging potential money-givers to sign a “petition calling on Senators Clinton and Obama to support our troops on the ground and the mission they are carrying out.”
Of course, Clinton and Obama support the troops. They know the best way to do that is to get them out of Iraq and give them a real mission to carry out, such as finishing off the resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan and hunting down he who is no longer named by President Bush.
It’s high time for the media chorus to stop singing praises of “Good Old John,” who offers nothing more than an endless occupation of Iraq.
(Photo: Washington Post)