but none of them as odd as what's happened to McCain.

Oh, I don't know about that. Kerry's fumbling the past two days seems pretty odd for someone that allegedly holds our military in such high regard (despite the fact that this is the third time he has trashed our soldiers during wartime).

But you're right, presidential ambitions produces odd symptoms...

Though I can't understand why you'd choose to keep licking Kerry's boots on this day following one of the biggest political gaffes of all time.

Oh, btw, calling McCain a chickenhawk and a coward in one post...and you're calling McCain's behavior "odd." GFYJO!

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."--G.W. Bush.

I await the frenzy from the "biased liberal media." What's that? He said it in 2004?

Funny how some people know what Bush really meant that day but pretend not to know what Kerry really meant this week.

"one of the biggest political gaffes of all time"

LOL! SMDUYC!

"he's spent the years since trying to get a job as the pool boy in Crawford."

The. Most. Embarrassing. Post. On. Tapped. EVER. Get a hold of yourself, Pierce. We know you really really really want to win this one. But this is just shrill.

I'm surprised that no one else is disgusted by Pierce's suggestion that McCain is a chickenhawk coward.

Actually-if you read the post (challenging, I know, but stay with us), you'll see that Pierce does not call McCain a chickenhawk, but expresses sadness that he would line up with the chickenhawks. Uh, I think that means that it's sad a once proud maverick and war hero would aligne himself with people that shouldn't even be allowed in the same room with him.
Let me know if you want it drawn in pictures.

Sorry - align. New glasses, no typing skills

Yeah, you might have noticed in the last 24 hours that conservatives seem to lack basic reading ability. Oh no, Pierce called McCain a chickenhawk (except he didn't)! Why, that must be one of the worst political gaffes of all time!

"I'm surprised that no one else is disgusted by Pierce's suggestion that McCain is a chickenhawk coward."

I find Pierce's posts routinely disgusting lately. His attitude and Kerry's are of the same piece, completely lacking in respect and civility. Kerry's "gaffe" is one of the biggest of all time. He was the Democrat presidential nominee and his words are emblematic of the inherent qualities and principles of the Democrat party. The electorate has once again been able to witness the scorn with which liberals regard America.

Congratulations Dems -- you have just lost the midterm elections.

Wow! Willful ignorance is always hard to argue with. "This pointless war has killed untold numbers of people, and undermined our security." "Yeah, well Clinton got a blow job." "This deficit is damaging our country's future." "Well, Kerry looks French." "A once proud city is in ruins through criminal negligence." "Why do you look at America with such scorn?"

Wow! Willful ignorance is always so hard to argue with. "Thanks to criminal negligence, cronyism and incompetence, a once proud city lies inn ruins." "Yeah, well Clinton got a blow job." "The fiscal irresponsiblity of this administration has hampered our economic competitiveness for years to come." "But Kerry looks French." "This misguided war has killed untold numbers of people and undermined our security." "Why do you regard America with scorn?"
What idiocy.

Jeez... I hate Safari. Sorry about the double post.

Pierce effectively calls McCain a chickenhawk by alleging that McCain's aligning himself with chickenhawks. He's associating McCain's behavior, actions, and political career with chickenhawks.

It's a disgusting slur against McCain. Right up there with calling McCain a coward.

Nice touches, guys. You're simply reinforcing that typical liberal steretype of disrespecting our soldiers and veterans. What's next...restart the comparisons to Ghengis, the Nazi's, Pol Pot, the Soviets and their gulags?

Pierce effectively calls McCain a chickenhawk by alleging that McCain's aligning himself with chickenhawks. He's associating McCain's behavior, actions, and political career with chickenhawks.

Are you really this stupid or do you practice in front of the mirror?

specialist, do they pay you to write this stuff or are you volunteering? it's a disgusting slur against mccain to say that he lines up with chickenhawks? uh, even when he lines up with chickenhawks? i sort of doubt logic is your specialty, but maybe you could answer these questions:
is it always a disgusting slur against mccain for us to call people like bush, cheney, etc chickenhawks?
2. if it isn't a slur against mccain to call bush a chickenhawk in general, why exactly is it a disgusting slur against mccain to say that when mccain associates himself with bush he is associating himself with a chickenhawk? is standing next to mccain supposed to make bush other than a chickenhawk? is that the slur, that we're denying mccain's ability to confer heroism on the people he sucks up to?

this incident is just pathetic, even by the standards set by bush, even by the standards set by mccain, hell, even by the standards set by you. kerry says some things that if a moron squints at them long enough can look like an attack on our soldiers. bush and his enablers (like st. mccain) get our soldiers into an idiotic war, don't equip them properly, fail to plan for any aspect of the operation, and now, abandon one of them to the enemy to avoid pissing off their puppet leader. and which one are you upset about?

The chickenhawk game that you lefties play is an obnoxious one. You certainly did not cry foul when a real draft dodger decided to send our troops into Bosnia or Haiti. Yet, a President who actually served his country is smeared as a chickenhawk when you disagree with him.

And why am I not surprised that yet another TAPPED posters characterizes our troops and vets as "morons" for being insulted by Kerry? Just another liberal dissing our troops. Another day at the office.

Oh my, did someone step on a cat's tail? That last set of comments from tom sound awfully screechy.

"a President who actually served his country is smeared as a chickenhawk when you disagree with him." Did someone in the thread smear Eisenhower? Kennedy? Must've missed that. I do, however, recall Kerry, who I'm no fan of, being smeared. In addition, how is stating that someone is aligning himself with a group he is clearly aligning himself with, an insult. At least try to be coherent.

i'm calling you a moron, specialist. this idiot logic is difficult for me. is calling you a moron an insult to our troops or an insult to mccain?

Specialist, I was refraining from posting this, but your bullshit simply won't stop:

I hope your sainted cousin dies in Iraq. Fuck you, and fuck all your warmongering troglodyte friends and fellow travelers.

You waste no time trashing men and women who have served when it suits your purposes. So your overheated complaining about Kerry is worthless.

And again, if it wasn't clear before: Fuck you, chickenhawk.

LMAO!! The best past is that only one or two TAPPED posters would actually criticize Anonymous for such an outburst. The rest agree with it all the while condemining righties for the same type of hysterical and irrational comments.

I mean here is a guy who repeatedly told me that he thinks I was lying about having a cousin who graduated from the naval academy resorting to declaring his hope that my allegedly mythical cousin dies in Iraq.

My goodness. People in general tend to be rational, easy-going people, but politics just messes this all up for them. And Anonymous is the perfect example of this.

"You waste no time trashing men and women who have served when it suits your purposes"

Really? Like who? Certainly not Kerry. While I do criticize him for maintaining for so long that it was his medals that he threw over the wrough-iron fense at the Capitol, I have never questioned his service nor his patriotism. While I have noted the fact that he has disrespected our troops in the past and hence it's easier to believe that his allegedly botched joke was really disrespecting our troops in Iraq, I have never doubted his service or his patriotism.

So, Anonymous, which members of the US armed services have I trashed...allegedly? Just one will do. Well?

BTW - don't think for a second that you're folling anyone with your fake appeal to restraint...that ship sailed long ago.

bwahahahahahahahaaaaa

what the hell is bwahahaha about there, tough guy? someone wanting your allegedly real cousin to die in iraq makes you say bwahahaha? you need medication.

and anonymous, this guy's an idiot, but hoping anyone dies in iraq = beyond the pale.

Yeah, Tom, I am amused. I mean, is he so incensed by an anonymous poster that he feels to get back at that poster he has to wish death upon a family members that he doesn't believe even exists?

Come on...that's priceless. It's also completely irrational. You have to wonder how this poster would handle himself in the real world. Talk about a chickenhawk. Do you believe that this poster would ever utter such a thing to someone standing in front of him? Only if he was holding a gun and the person in front of him was twelve.

Bwaahahahahhahahaaaaaa!!

The illuminating thing is that you're in the distinct minority here in criticizing such remarks. You're like among less than five here that would even consider criticizing such remarks. In fact, the vast majority of posters here probably mindlessly nod their heads and give a silent "Hear, Hear!" to anonymous.

Truly illuminating.

"TAPPED

« | Main | »

FEVERED. Someone please show me a single act of public political courage undertaken by John McCain since he won the New Hampshire primary in 2000 that he hasn't hedged, trimmed, or walked back completely. The Bush campaign trashed his wife and daughter, and he's spent the years since trying to get a job as the pool boy in Crawford. He gave a brave speech about the danger of political preachers, but he'd walk on his knees across broken glass to get himself blessed by Jerry Falwell's direct-mail people. But yesterday might well be the purest day of opportunistic sycophancy in the history of the Straight Talk Express. First, he jumps on the idiotic controversy du jour, lining up with the usual chickenhawk suspects to trash his "good friend" and fellow veteran John Kerry. But he does so at this thing, an event in support of a man who recently threw the term "cut-and-run" at Tammy Duckworth, who lost both legs in Iraq. Ho-ho. Now that's some straight-talkin' for you. Presidential fever produces odd symptoms in people, but none of them as odd as what's happened to McCain. His ambition has made him a coward.

--Charles P. Pierce

Posted by Sam Rosenfeld on November 1, 2006 08:36 AM | Permalink

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Comments
but none of them as odd as what's happened to McCain.

Oh, I don't know about that. Kerry's fumbling the past two days seems pretty odd for someone that allegedly holds our military in such high regard (despite the fact that this is the third time he has trashed our soldiers during wartime).

But you're right, presidential ambitions produces odd symptoms...

Though I can't understand why you'd choose to keep licking Kerry's boots on this day following one of the biggest political gaffes of all time.

Posted by: Specialist | November 1, 2006 09:45 AM

Oh, btw, calling McCain a chickenhawk and a coward in one post...and you're calling McCain's behavior "odd." GFYJO!

Posted by: Specialist | November 1, 2006 09:47 AM

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."--G.W. Bush.

I await the frenzy from the "biased liberal media." What's that? He said it in 2004?

Funny how some people know what Bush really meant that day but pretend not to know what Kerry really meant this week.

Posted by: Emartin | November 1, 2006 10:04 AM

"one of the biggest political gaffes of all time"

LOL! SMDUYC!

Posted by: Dr. Anatole Gavage-Huskanoy | November 1, 2006 10:05 AM

"he's spent the years since trying to get a job as the pool boy in Crawford."

The. Most. Embarrassing. Post. On. Tapped. EVER. Get a hold of yourself, Pierce. We know you really really really want to win this one. But this is just shrill.

Posted by: pnut | November 1, 2006 10:11 AM

I'm surprised that no one else is disgusted by Pierce's suggestion that McCain is a chickenhawk coward.

Posted by: Specialist | November 1, 2006 10:28 AM

Actually-if you read the post (challenging, I know, but stay with us), you'll see that Pierce does not call McCain a chickenhawk, but expresses sadness that he would line up with the chickenhawks. Uh, I think that means that it's sad a once proud maverick and war hero would aligne himself with people that shouldn't even be allowed in the same room with him.
Let me know if you want it drawn in pictures.

Posted by: Kevin | November 1, 2006 10:39 AM

Sorry - align. New glasses, no typing skills

Posted by: kevin | November 1, 2006 10:39 AM

Yeah, you might have noticed in the last 24 hours that conservatives seem to lack basic reading ability. Oh no, Pierce called McCain a chickenhawk (except he didn't)! Why, that must be one of the worst political gaffes of all time!

Posted by: Steve | November 1, 2006 10:49 AM

"I'm surprised that no one else is disgusted by Pierce's suggestion that McCain is a chickenhawk coward."

I find Pierce's posts routinely disgusting lately. His attitude and Kerry's are of the same piece, completely lacking in respect and civility. Kerry's "gaffe" is one of the biggest of all time. He was the Democrat presidential nominee and his words are emblematic of the inherent qualities and principles of the Democrat party. The electorate has once again been able to witness the scorn with which liberals regard America.

Congratulations Dems -- you have just lost the midterm elections.

Posted by: Rock | November 1, 2006 10:59 AM

Wow! Willful ignorance is always hard to argue with. "This pointless war has killed untold numbers of people, and undermined our security." "Yeah, well Clinton got a blow job." "This deficit is damaging our country's future." "Well, Kerry looks French." "A once proud city is in ruins through criminal negligence." "Why do you look at America with such scorn?"

Posted by: Kevin | November 1, 2006 11:05 AM

Wow! Willful ignorance is always so hard to argue with. "Thanks to criminal negligence, cronyism and incompetence, a once proud city lies inn ruins." "Yeah, well Clinton got a blow job." "The fiscal irresponsiblity of this administration has hampered our economic competitiveness for years to come." "But Kerry looks French." "This misguided war has killed untold numbers of people and undermined our security." "Why do you regard America with scorn?"
What idiocy.

Posted by: Anonymous | November 1, 2006 11:09 AM

Jeez... I hate Safari. Sorry about the double post.

Posted by: kevin | November 1, 2006 11:10 AM

Pierce effectively calls McCain a chickenhawk by alleging that McCain's aligning himself with chickenhawks. He's associating McCain's behavior, actions, and political career with chickenhawks.

It's a disgusting slur against McCain. Right up there with calling McCain a coward."

Yeah, that AND Kerry called anyone who criticized his idiotic speech a "right wing nut job" and a chickenhawk.

He was talking to you, John McCain, and you, Harold Ford.

Good grief, what a putz this guy is.

I believe that it is the small irritations that make one cynical. Take, please, the NPR series THIS I BELIEVE, of which I believe I am thoroughly sick for a couple of reasons. First, I do believe in modesty. Attempting to make the world your mirror is vanity. No, attaining a national audience for the purpose of extolling one’s own virtues and asserting the necessity of making those virtues universal is the job of presidential candidates, of which we have a glut, though what establishes their credentials for the position is, as they say, unclear.
One opportunity to exhibit gravitas accrues to an individual whose is allowed, in every ad and intro for said series, to claim as his own “valor, honor,” or whatever set of enduring patriotic virtues he may commandeer to seduce voters whose NPR-listener profile makes them historically unlikely to support conservative senators from Arizona, who have a profile of their own to overcome.
Am I cynical enough to believe that NPR is pimping for John McCain? Absolutely not. Am I cynical enough to believe that NPR is so credulous as to be gulled into doing so? The evidence concerning that proposition came in during the First Gulf War; the gush from the likes of Noah Adams about “smart bombs” that destroyed infrastructure but not human beings was definitive. Am I cynical enough to bet that McCain seized the opportunity to brand himself as the repository of honor? This, I believe.

"You certainly did not cry foul when a real draft dodger decided to send our troops into Bosnia or Haiti."

I was one of those troops, son. We brought back every man from Bosnia alive. The only casualties in Haiti were two suicides, both in my batallion. PresidentClinton handled both arenas the best way they could have been handled, the second tempered by timely intervention from another person I'm sure you don't like, former president Carter.

Clinton was the popularly elected president (something BushJr cannot claim) and as such had the responsibilities of Commander-In-Chief of the armed forces. Please explain how what he did during the Vietnam conflict changes what his responsibilities were when he was president.

LOL... I just love it when dear little "Specialist" is in full faux outrage mode. It's hilarious reading his shit, knowing that he doesn't believe a word of it. Usually, I have to pay for entertainment this good.

I also love the frothing at the mouth over Kerry's joke about Bush. This is some seriously funny shit.

10th Mountain Man - you're someone I'd like to talk to more. My grandpa was a 10th Mountain soldier during WWII. He fought over in Italy in the Po Valley.

In any case, my point was that these posters and other lefties that are smearing Bush as a chickenhawk for enlisting in the NG were not similarly smearing Clinton when he decided to send troops to Bosnia or Haiti. They call Bush a chickenhawk because they feel enlisting in the Guard is cheap ticket out of real soldiering. They call Bush a chickenhawk because they disagree with his policies. However, they did not similarly smear Clinton who was, in fact, a draft dodger. That they did not and would never think to exposes their complete lack of integrity and credibility.

"Please explain how what he did during the Vietnam conflict changes what his responsibilities were when he was president."

I don't think it did. Just as Bush's Guard enlistment didn't change what his responsibilities were when he became President.

BTW - Bush didn't win the popular vote in 2000. However, I assume that you are aware that an election was conducted in 2003, right? Didn't Bush win the popular vote there?

for the last time, chickenhawk refers to the fact that bush and cheney and the rest of that crowd declined to fight in a war that they supported. cheney had better things to do. bush never even made that excuse. but they supported the war in vietnam. clinton opposed it, and even protested against it. to break it down for you, chicken indicates lack of personal bravery. hawk indicates a position in favor of or support of war. putting them together, that gives you a person who supports a war or war in general but declines to personally participate. i really hope that's clear, but i have no real expectation that it will be.

tom, it's a pathetically weak smear. It's not an argument. It doesn't add any weight to valid and legitimate criticisms of this war.

And you're engaging in a bit of revisionism here...Bush has been smeared as a chickenhawk because he enlisted in the NG. Apparently the Left believes that enlisting in the Guard is a cheap ticket to avoid real fighting. The Left believes that Bush is a chickenhawk because he enlisted in the Guard to avoid Vietnam, yet strongly supports using military force.

So your revisionism is not clear at all. It's a pathetic cover-up for a classless political smear that you guys have popularized. Of course, you'll be the first to cry foul when a Democrat is similarly tarred by a weak righty.

so why exactly were all the rich texans trying to get their sons into the guard unit bush was in? cause they were all itching to get them some vietcong scalps? too bad the texas air national guard was never deployed to vietnam, but then who could have foreseen that?

as for democrats who supported the war and didn't fight being accused along similar lines, has that ever, ever happened? no? maybe because the democrats don't nominate candidates who supported the war and didn't fight.

of course it's a valid criticism. bush and his crowd are pretty blythe about sending other people's kids to war, but they don't send their own, and they don't go themselves. they are asking other people to make sacrifices that they are themselves unwilling to make. it's a like a big healthy guy whose veins have never been pricked insisting everyone else go down and give blood right now.

ps. i reread your last comment, and i have to say i have no idea what you're talking about. "And you're engaging in a bit of revisionism here...Bush has been smeared as a chickenhawk because he enlisted in the NG. Apparently the Left believes that enlisting in the Guard is a cheap ticket to avoid real fighting. The Left believes that Bush is a chickenhawk because he enlisted in the Guard to avoid Vietnam, yet strongly supports using military force.

So your revisionism is not clear at all. "

i have no idea what all that means taken together, but this statement "The Left believes that Bush is a chickenhawk because he enlisted in the Guard to avoid Vietnam, yet strongly support[ed] using military force" is pretty much accurate. it's also what i said in the comment you were responding to.

You see, this is why Kerry's remarks are so revealing - they're an open window into the minds of liberals. You guys simply disrespect the military.

jesus you're braindead. how is saying that going to the national guard in vietnam was a way to avoid going to vietnam disrespectful to the military?

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