Ed Shultz won't retract remarks

By Libby

I see that Ed Shultz refuses to back down from calling McCain a warmonger. As I said yesterday at The Detroit News, I don't think he should. Neither did I think it was necessary for Obama to apologize for him, although Obama to his credit did go on to make clear that McCain fit the definition. Which is the point really.

Maybe some would consider the label impolite but it's not an obscenity and by any reasonable definition, McCain fits it to a tee. He very much believes in war and military force as a foreign policy. He's been allowed to skirt that fact by a compliant press who chose to focus on whether he really meant he wanted to fight in Iraq for 100 years or 'only' ten or so. And the media conveniently forgets his little ditty -- bomb, bomb, bomb Iran. That clip should be played every time McCain claims he's not really a warmonger.

It's clear McCain seriously believes war is the answer and I have some very serious, and I think legitimate, fears about his possible psychological need to exorcise his personal demons over Vietnam by exercising power as  a 'war president.'

Update: Well I no sooner posted than this story popped up on Think Progress.

Today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) spoke to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, making the case for the “unmistakable progress” in Iraq. A telling moment in his remarks came when he was arguing why President Bush’s surge “dramatically turned around the situation in Iraq.” Just as he reached this point in his speech, MSNBC cut away to report on escalating violence in Iraq: [...]

MSNBC: And speaking of Iraq, we do have breaking news out of Iraq, where at least four mortars have been fired into the heavily-fortified Green Zone today. It’s unclear at this time if there are casualties or any major damage. Now the news comes just a day after five U.S. soldiers were killed in Iraq. Two, again, inside that Green Zone.

It astounds me that anyone can believe we've made any real progress in Iraq when the Green Zone isn't even safe anymore. I remember when the debate was over whether anyone had a clear picture of what was happening on the ground because they never left that safety zone. That seems a long time ago now.

In any event watch the video at the link. It's clear McCain wants to stay in Iraq indefinitely and is willing to push the same propaganda that got us into this mess, to keep us there. If that doesn't fit the definition of warmonger, I'd like to know what does.

Comments

[Jay McDonough]

On McCain from swimming freestyle:

"...Another might be McCain, despite his great interest and advocacy for honesty, is blowing smoke, not providing a "candid assessment" of our progress in Iraq. This is the same John McCain who famously declared it was perfectly safe to go for a stroll through a downtown Baghdad market place, posing for pictures along the way. Not long after the Senator's stroll, it was reported he was surrounded by a phalanx of U.S. troops and had a half dozen Blackhawk helicopters providing air cover overhead.

Pollyana or opportunist con artist? It's all the same to me."

http://swimmingfreestyle.typepad.com

[Libby]

I think it's the second choice Jay.