AND OTHER CONSERVATIVE MYTHS
Who is afraid of John McCain? Talk radio, conservative blogs, and other "right" ideologues are busy turning John McCain into something akin to The Great Satan or the anti-Christ. While I am concentrating on the way McCain is being harmed by these precious little mendacious canard spewing ...... conservatives, the same thing that has been done to John McCain has also been done to Mike Huckabee. Because they no longer view Huckabee as a threat to their increasingly extreme world-view they are, for the most part, leaving him alone and concentrating on McCain.
Talk radio went out of its way today to destroy John McCain. (Or so I am told. I no longer listen to conservative talk radio with the exception of Michael Medved), The way they are treating him, the only ones who are truly being harmed are talk radio hosts. David Bauder has a reasonable column today in Townhall and, aside from Medved, it is increasingly rare to find a reasonable column on Townhall.
“…Radio host Michael Medved said that the big loser in South Carolina was talk radio, "a medium that has unmistakably collapsed in terms of impact, influence and credibility because of its hysterical and one-dimensional involvement in the GOP nomination fight." Its continued resistance to McCain will be ineffective and will hurt both the Republican Party and the radio industry, Medved said.
The long-running hostility toward McCain stems from his failure to follow conservative orthodoxy on issues including immigration, global warming and money in politics, Hewitt said. McCain's endorsement by The New York Times _ the newspaper conservative talkers love to hate _ was just another indignity. Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, warned against any conclusion that talk radio hosts would be diminished if McCain were to win the GOP nomination.
"It will give them an opportunity to reposition themselves in a more independent and populist way," Harrison said. Talk show hosts aren't judged on whom they pick as a candidate, any more than the jobs of football announcers are on the line with their Super Bowl predictions, he said….”
The long-running hostility toward McCain stems from his failure to follow conservative orthodoxy on issues including immigration, global warming and money in politics, Hewitt said. McCain's endorsement by The New York Times _ the newspaper conservative talkers love to hate _ was just another indignity. Michael Harrison, publisher of Talkers magazine, warned against any conclusion that talk radio hosts would be diminished if McCain were to win the GOP nomination.
"It will give them an opportunity to reposition themselves in a more independent and populist way," Harrison said. Talk show hosts aren't judged on whom they pick as a candidate, any more than the jobs of football announcers are on the line with their Super Bowl predictions, he said….”
THE HITS JUST KEEP ON COMING!
We have been treated to an unending litany of the evils of John McCain since Thursday or Friday. The man had the nerve to contradict something Mitt Romney said, and then all you know what broke out. John McCain is evil and must be removed from the face of the earth. Better yet, he needs to be towed out to the ends of the galaxy and booted over into the next one. This galaxy is just too pure for conservatives to all him to co-exist with the likes of those who are pure conservative ideologues. I hope you can detect my dripping sarcasm.
You know the attacks are getting to be unreasonable when Con Web Watch takes out Newsmax
for lying about Senator McCain.
“…He has a terrible anger problem. (See Ted Sampley's excellent article at the US Veteran Dispatch.)…”
Our good conservative former Congressman is trying to bring up the absolutely vile and nasty and absolutely discredited things Sampley has said over the years about John McCain, but cannot do it and retain what little credibility he retains, so he simply sends people over to a site that basically accuses McCain of some dastardly and vile deeds. Diane Alden is another good Newsmax conservative who is taking on John McCain. FYI – Alden is the dimwit conservative who did not recognize the words of Ronald Reagan when I sent her an email contributing them to GWB. Wizbang
Powerline
Hedgehog
Polipundit
Fortunately there are still bloggers with integrity.
Flopping Aces has the decency to reference McCain’s rebuttal of yet another far right hit.
“…"Let me just look you in the eye," McCain told me. "I've said a thousand times on this campaign trail, I've said as often as I can, that I want to find clones of Alito and Roberts. I worked as hard as anybody to get them confirmed. I look you in the eye and tell you I've said a thousand times that I wanted Alito and Roberts. I have told anybody who will listen. I flat-out tell you I will have people as close to Roberts and Alito [as possible], and I am proud of my record of working to get them confirmed, and people who worked to get them confirmed will tell you how hard I worked."
"I don't get it," McCain continued. "I have a clear record of that. All I can tell you is my record is clear: I've supported these guys. I went to the floor of the Senate and spoke in favor of them. It's in the record, saying, 'You've got to confirm these people.'"
I asked whether McCain had ever drawn any distinction between Roberts and Alito. "No, no, of course not," McCain said.
I asked about the "wore his conservatism on his sleeve" line. "I'm proud of people who wear their conservatism on their sleeves, because they have to have a clear record of strict adherence to the Constitution," McCain told me. "Remember, in all my remarks, I've said, look, we're not going to take somebody's word for it. You have to have a clear record of adherence to the Constitution, a strict interpretation of the Constitution. I have said that time after time after time."
"And maybe as an aside, why would I say anything derogatory about somebody like that? What would be the point, after working so hard to get not only those two confirmed, but the Gang of 14 which I know is controversial but our record of getting those judges confirmed that the president nominated, I'm still proud of."…”
THE IRAQ FLAPSTATEMENT BY SENATOR LINDSEY GRAHAM ON MITT ROMNEY AND IRAQ
"ARLINGTON, VA U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham today issued the following statement on Governor Mitt Romney’s remarks on secret timetables for withdrawal from Iraq:
“Governor Romney’s statement regarding secret timetables for withdrawal from Iraq could not have come at a worse possible time. April of 2007 was the height of the Democrat effort to mandate withdrawal and it was when the surge was least popular with the American public. Timetables were synonymous with Democrat efforts to withdraw, and if imposed would have led to our defeat.
“As we all now remember, it was in April that Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid declared the war lost. It is clear that Governor Romney’s statement was incredibly counterproductive.
“History will record that it was John McCain’s political courage and personal judgment that made the surge possible.
“This is yet another effort by Governor Romney to rewrite history regarding his positions on critical issues, and John McCain has nothing to apologize for.”
“Governor Romney’s statement regarding secret timetables for withdrawal from Iraq could not have come at a worse possible time. April of 2007 was the height of the Democrat effort to mandate withdrawal and it was when the surge was least popular with the American public. Timetables were synonymous with Democrat efforts to withdraw, and if imposed would have led to our defeat.
“As we all now remember, it was in April that Democrat Majority Leader Harry Reid declared the war lost. It is clear that Governor Romney’s statement was incredibly counterproductive.
“History will record that it was John McCain’s political courage and personal judgment that made the surge possible.
“This is yet another effort by Governor Romney to rewrite history regarding his positions on critical issues, and John McCain has nothing to apologize for.”
Malkin & Company at Hot Air continue to attack Lindsey. This is getting old. Now he’s smearing Romney. So is Malkin and her bunch going to endorse Romney?
From The Politico
“…Romney also attacked McCain as a Washington insider, and specifically contrasted his executive background with McCain’s legislative experience — and leadership on several key pieces of legislation that have drawn ire from conservatives.
“Senator McCain has been in the Senate for the last 20 years. And frankly, being a committee chairman is not leading a great organization or making great things happen,” Romney said.
“If he’s been a leader, where has it led us? Look at his legislation. McCain-Feingold, that hurt our First Amendment rights. McCain-Kennedy, that was granting amnesty to 10 million illegal aliens. And now McCain-Lieberman, that wants to put a huge tax effectively on American gasoline buyers and rate payers.”
McCain, when asked about recent comments from conservative talk show titan Rush Limbaugh, who said a McCain nomination would “destroy the Republican party,” McCain passed on taking a shot at his erstwhile critic.
“I am a proud conservative. I think that when a lot of Americans, a lot of Republicans review my credentials, they'll vote for me.”
Huckabee cracking kneecaps
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, polling a distant fourth in the upcoming Florida primaries, continued to attack Romney, while offering implicit support for McCain.
When asked to take sides on the Romney-McCain dispute, Huckabee sided squarely with McCain.
“Dishonest? I’ve never seen John McCain say something that is just blatantly untrue,” Huckabee said on “Fox News Sunday.” Huckabee later praised McCain, saying “we have a civil approach to presidential process. Neither of us has sought the office by cracking the kneecaps of the other.”
Mitt accuses McCain of lying then flops on it.
“…Mitt Romney was caught on tape Sunday saying his GOP rival John McCain was "lying" about his position on the Iraq war, before quickly telling a reporter he regretted his words. The Arizona senator was merely "dishonest," Romney said. Appearing on the campaign trail in Florida, Romney was asked about the criticism, launched by McCain, that he has a timeline for withdrawing troops from Iraq. "I don't have one, never had," Romney said. "He says you do," chimed a reporter. "Well, he's lying," replied the former governor, with a slight laugh. Within a second his tune changed. "He's dishonest [inaudible]. He's being dishonest about that. That's not accurate." "Are you calling him a liar?" the reporter asked. "No I'm not. I'm saying he made a dishonest comment. I misspoke."…”
This posting from the Pajama Pack reminded me of something: If this Iraq flap had been between any other Republicans, the one who wanted the time-table for withdrawal would be roundly criticized and the one bringing it up would be praised. The problem is it Mitt Romney and The Great Satan (i. e. John McCain). Thanks to Rush Limbaugh and a few of his narcissistic demagogue associates, we get this vile pile-on the moment anyone mentions the name John McCain. And, the moment Mitt Romney’s name is spoken we are to cross ourselves and say a prayer to god (Rush Limbaugh).
From The Weekly Standard
“…Asked if that describes Romney, he said it does. "It's very clear. He's changed positions on virtually every major issue. That's well documented." All of the skirmishing over Romney's comments in April 2007 has obscured his worst moment on Iraq since the beginning of his campaign--or the beginning of his formal campaign, anyway. It came in December 2006, when the surge was first proposed. In an interview with Human Events, Romney avoided taking a position altogether. He was asked: "One of the people who is considering a run, Sen. McCain, has advocated sending up to 30,000 more troops to help stabilize Iraq. Do you support sending more troops into that country?" Romney dodged the question. "I'm not going to weigh in. I'm still a governor. I'm not running for national office at this stage. I'm not going to weigh in on specific tactics about whether we should go from 140,000 to 170,000. That's something I expect the President to decide over the next couple of weeks and announce that to the nation. I want to hear what he has to say." But Romney had done everything but formally announce his candidacy. One day before he claimed that he was not running for national office, the New York Times wrote that Romney (and others) had done so much to build their candidacies that "it would be noteworthy, after all they have done, if they were to announce that they were not running."
The article provided specifics. "Mr. Romney's intentions are also no mystery: he spent 212 days out of state last year, The Boston Globe reported last week, and has methodically moved over the past year to the right side of the Republican ocean." Romney had begun to recruit staff and sign up advisers. He was raising money for Republicans across the country and regularly seeking policy advice. And the reluctance he showed in weighing in on the surge did not keep him from speaking out on many other policy issues. The inescapable conclusion: Mitt Romney was worried about the political implications of embracing a surge that could fail. So he avoided the question. McCain wants to frame the decision facing Republican voters as a choice between management and leadership. The Romney evasion on the surge a year ago would have made his point more directly.
Even with the criticism McCain has taken for his recent comments, he has to be pleased. The verbal sparring shifted the debate from the economy, where Romney would like to keep it, to national security, which benefits McCain. In that sense, it's not that important that McCain prove Romney was for secret timetables. The effect is that Romney must now try and prove that he wasn't. Politically, it could be a debate McCain wins simply because they're having it….”
Rich Lowry’s dishonest attack on John McCain. The article provided specifics. "Mr. Romney's intentions are also no mystery: he spent 212 days out of state last year, The Boston Globe reported last week, and has methodically moved over the past year to the right side of the Republican ocean." Romney had begun to recruit staff and sign up advisers. He was raising money for Republicans across the country and regularly seeking policy advice. And the reluctance he showed in weighing in on the surge did not keep him from speaking out on many other policy issues. The inescapable conclusion: Mitt Romney was worried about the political implications of embracing a surge that could fail. So he avoided the question. McCain wants to frame the decision facing Republican voters as a choice between management and leadership. The Romney evasion on the surge a year ago would have made his point more directly.
Even with the criticism McCain has taken for his recent comments, he has to be pleased. The verbal sparring shifted the debate from the economy, where Romney would like to keep it, to national security, which benefits McCain. In that sense, it's not that important that McCain prove Romney was for secret timetables. The effect is that Romney must now try and prove that he wasn't. Politically, it could be a debate McCain wins simply because they're having it….”
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