Is that a rubber turkey in your pocket, or are you just John McCain?
As irritated as McCain must've been after getting dirty tricked right out of the race at BushCo's hands in 2000, the only lesson he seems to have taken from it all is 'If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.' And if last week's reports of McCain thinking of switching parties only until Jim Jeffords took the headlines for himself are true, he took that lesson to heart very, very quickly.
And now, faster than you can say "Mission Accomplished," he's become another Orwellian Republican. As you no doubt recall, McCain was arguing last weekend that real progress is being made in Iraq, that (some) Baghdad neighborhoods were so safe you could just walk down the street with a pal. When rightly called on this load of horseshit, he decided to show just how hardcore an ailing old man can be by heading to Iraq to stroll down one of those streets with a close friend-- an Army general, no less!
Yes, just the two of them in body armor and helmets. Unfortunately for McCain and his attempt to highlight Iraq's safety, he drew a small crowd of chance onlookers and well-wishers. One hundred of them, in fact-- armed to the teeth, armor-clad, and helmeted. Not wanting to get lost in the totally spontaneous crowd, however, as soon as the general gave the OK and the cameras were rolling, McCain ditched that helmet of his in no time flat.
Oh, right. People showed up in vehicles to watch, too! I don't know about kids enjoying a bike ride, or mothers on their way to do some grocery shopping, but by some cool coincidence, "3 Blackhawk helicopters and two Apache gunships" stuck around to watch. What are the odds of that?!? Awesome!
As neat as it would've been to shake the hands of those brave men and women, and see that badass hardware in action, I have to admit that I'd be a little less keen on the mortar fire in Baghdad just after McCain's press conference. And the sniper fire there today. That's the kind of thing that makes people think-- totally inaccurately-- that it isn't safe to walk the streets of Baghdad in a pair of zubaz.
And now, faster than you can say "Mission Accomplished," he's become another Orwellian Republican. As you no doubt recall, McCain was arguing last weekend that real progress is being made in Iraq, that (some) Baghdad neighborhoods were so safe you could just walk down the street with a pal. When rightly called on this load of horseshit, he decided to show just how hardcore an ailing old man can be by heading to Iraq to stroll down one of those streets with a close friend-- an Army general, no less!
Yes, just the two of them in body armor and helmets. Unfortunately for McCain and his attempt to highlight Iraq's safety, he drew a small crowd of chance onlookers and well-wishers. One hundred of them, in fact-- armed to the teeth, armor-clad, and helmeted. Not wanting to get lost in the totally spontaneous crowd, however, as soon as the general gave the OK and the cameras were rolling, McCain ditched that helmet of his in no time flat.
Oh, right. People showed up in vehicles to watch, too! I don't know about kids enjoying a bike ride, or mothers on their way to do some grocery shopping, but by some cool coincidence, "3 Blackhawk helicopters and two Apache gunships" stuck around to watch. What are the odds of that?!? Awesome!
As neat as it would've been to shake the hands of those brave men and women, and see that badass hardware in action, I have to admit that I'd be a little less keen on the mortar fire in Baghdad just after McCain's press conference. And the sniper fire there today. That's the kind of thing that makes people think-- totally inaccurately-- that it isn't safe to walk the streets of Baghdad in a pair of zubaz.
posted by Matt Sandwich | 5:00 PM
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