Sullivan asks: “And did Bush’s Nazi silliness unwittingly stomp on McCain’s big speech today?”
To which I respond, if McCain is lucky. I briefly blogged about the McCain speech yesterday, asking why he chose 2013 as a good time to withdraw the troops, and after having some time last night to watch more of the speech and read the whole thing, I have my answer.
There is no answer. The whole speech is made up. It is all, every last word of it, pure fantasy. There was no outlining of plans, no presentation of facts that would lead you to believe all of the things he “sees” in his “vision” will come to pass- it was nothing but pure nonsense. Here is a partial list of things he sees in his “vision”:
We “win” in Iraq. No mention of what “winning” actually means.
The Taliban is “defeated.” How? Who knows?
We have a bigger Army and bigger Marine corps, and they are “better” trained and “better” equipped.
Bin Laden will be dead.
The economy will be “growing.”
New trade agreements leading to increased exports. Who are the agreements with? Who knows? What are we exporting? Who cares?
Health care will be “affordable.” How? FORCE OF WILL, BABY. Don’t you know John McCain is a veteran!
And on and on and on it goes. He might as well have also promised to cure AIDS, give everyone a PONY, and promised time travel.
And what is so amazing about it is that most of the press seems to have taken this… seriously. Why was he not laughed off the stage? Why, after eight years of an administration making their own reality, is this buffoon offering us visions and people are not throwing tomatoes at him? This is insanity, plain and simple.
*** Update ***
Not everyone is bamboozled:
No doubt, John McCain’s attempt to lay out the goals of his prospective presidency was a worthy and honorable effort–but there was something deeply hilarious about it as well. Take his paragraph about Iraq:
By January 2013, America has welcomed home most of the servicemen and women who have sacrificed terribly so that America might be secure in her freedom. The Iraq War has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension. Violence still occurs, but it is spasmodic and much reduced. Civil war has been prevented; militias disbanded; the Iraqi Security Force is professional and competent; al Qaeda in Iraq has been defeated; and the Government of Iraq is capable of imposing its authority in every province of Iraq and defending the integrity of its borders. The United States maintains a military presence there, but a much smaller one, and it does not play a direct combat role.
And the tooth fairy will spread giggle-juice throughout the land, and the Mets will win the World Series and I will lose 20 pounds while continuing to consume vast quantities of Chinese and Italian food.
It is a depressing commentary in and of itself when Joe Klein is the only one calling bullshit on this. Joe fucking Klein, people. At any rate, props to Joe for seeing through this nonsense. Read his whole response.