I read stuff like this http://t.co/744MiVhjgB and I just think: "Jesus Christ, this guy coulda been the POTUS!" over and over again.
— billmon (@billmon1) May 14, 2014
Eric Posner, on “John McCain, Schmittian* Humanitarian“:
It’s a new category in political philosophy. His proposal for rescuing the Nigerian girls, from the Kansas City Star (with my annotations):
‘If they knew where they were, I certainly would send in U.S. troops to rescue them, in a New York minute I would, without the permission of the host country,’ McCain said Tuesday. Referring to Nigeria’s president, McCain added: ‘I wouldn’t be waiting for some kind of permission from some guy named Goodluck Jonathan.’ [!!]
… McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, said the United Nations’ charter gives the United States, the authority to mount a military rescue of the girls. [Actually, no.]…
And Obama shouldn’t worry about what the Senate and the House of Representatives would say if he exercised his authority as commander-in-chief and sent American troops into Nigeria.
‘If we rescued these young girls, an appetite for that?’ McCain said ‘It’d be at the high point of the president’s popularity.’ [Carl Schmitt would be proud.]
For the record, I denounce and repudiate kidnapping of teenage girls, and Boko Haram in general. And I’m very very glad that international opinion has shifted to the point where the Nigerian government has decided that permitting outsiders to assist in the search for those kidnappers is the better option. I’m also very glad that President Obama is a much smarter man and wiser politican than John McCain, because having a President whose first response to every foreign crisis is not BOMB BOMB BOMB makes me genuinely proud!
ETA: From the original Kansas City Star article:
Thus far, the Obama administration has sent a team to Nigeria that includes FBI officials with hostage negotiation skills, five State Department officials, including a team leader, two strategic communications experts, a civiliam security expert and a regional medical support officer. There are also 10 Defense Department planners and advisers who were already in Nigeria and have been instructed to provide support to the kidnapping response, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters.
ruemara
WELP. Dodged that bullet.
srv
You liberal surrender monkeys have not learned anything from the last decade
jze
Reminder of the time where he said he wouldn’t go into pakistan to kill OBL
John PM
McCain talks a hood game, but if he were actually president he would not be taking any of the action he days Obama should take (assuming he were still alive).
maya
Whatta think McCain thinks? Over and over again.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
I’ve given up hoping that the Village will notice what a pathetic old war-mongering fool this man is, banging his spoon on his tray because That One took away his Waragra.
Says the Godfather of Benghazi Demagoguery.
Mandalay
@Anne Laurie: O/T…a few weeks ago you posted about a Kickstarter project that was seeking funding for a documentary on a Senegalese man who was moving to Paris to train to become an opera singer. I can’t find anything about that project on the Intertubz now, even on the Kickstarter web site….do you have any link? (I’m not suggesting that it’s not a real project, but my search skills are obviously not very good.)
Thx.
Baud
@ruemara:
I wonder whether McCain or Romney was the bigger bullet. Palin may put McCain over the top.
karen
Sounds like he’s trying to set PBO up.
@John PM I figure McCain would have had an “accident” within the first 24 hours that he and Caribou Barbie were sworn into office.
Howard Beale IV
Oh, FFS. Someone please take the car keys away from gramps.
dmsilev
The Navy must have some old spare airplane that they can give to McCain so he can crash it. That might make him feel better.
RareSanity
If he thinks the President would be dumb enough to fall for that trap, he’s even more senile than anyone could have possibly imagined.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
IF only Goodluck Jonathan had serious, respectable name like Saxby Chambliss, Orrin Hatch or Lindsey Graham.
Posner notes another part of his jibber-jabber that struck me
I should not be surprised if in a few years that were not some grand square in Abuja named for President McCain
raven
@RareSanity: Lil Pic for ya.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mandalay: Link.
Anne Laurie
@Mandalay: The Tenor from Abidjan, funded & in progress, updates here.
raven
@RareSanity: And a Roseate Spoonbill at sunrise.
MomSense
@raven:
???
raven
@MomSense: The link works for me. Or are you asking about the relevance? Rare S said he’d like to see some of my pics from last week.
MomSense
@raven:
Link works fine for me–but there is nothing “lil” about that fish.
Suffern ACE
@RareSanity: yeah. Remember Libya, in which the Senators followed Cleeks Law unerringly every day. And then complained that he was too slow. And then complained that there weren’t troops.
Omnes Omnibus
@raven: I think she is disputing the implication that the subject of that picture was little.
ETA: Never mind, MomSense got there first.
raven
@MomSense: Ah, well, it was a fun catch.
raven
@Omnes Omnibus: Yea, I got it now.
pseudonymous in nc
What. A. Dick.
Many African parents name their children with the characteristics they hope for them in later life.
So, let’s just call the senior senator from AZ ‘Planecrash Sundayshows’ from now on.
Elizabelle
@raven:
I liked your photo of the beach trees in the sand. Beautiful pic; should be a magazine cover.
Omnes Omnibus
@pseudonymous in nc: That’s Senator Planecrash Sundayshows to you, sonny.
amk
A mind is a terrible thing to waste doesn’t apply to mcangry.
MikeJ
I also remember during the 2008 campaign McCain said that 1) he would chase bin Laden to the gates of hell and 2) he would never violate the territorial integrity of Pakistan without explicit permission from its government. So he wouldn’t have gotten bin Laden.
raven
@Elizabelle: Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island. Did you see this drone video of the boat I was on (this was the day before). There is some bloody fish footage for those who don’t wish to see that.
Morzer
Cindy’s antiquated rentboy should work on getting a real job and learning what intelligence and dignity look like.
dmsilev
I just hope that Senator McCain’s obituary starts with “A failed Presidential nominee who chose Sarah Palin as his running mate”.
Amir Khalid
John McCain’s remarks include a casual diss of Nigeria’s President Goodluck Jonathan, including mockery of his name. From what I know, McCain travels the world on the American taxpayer’s dime. He even visited Malaysia two years before Obama did. I do hope McCain isn’t planning any senatorial visits to Nigeria in the near future.
MomSense
@Omnes Omnibus: @raven:
I’m in a silly mood today. Work was insane and there are lots of chores to be done but I don’t feel like doing anything!
Baud
@dmsilev:
It will here!
Omnes Omnibus
@dmsilev: It should also mention that he didn’t make Admiral, which probably bothers him more than the presidency thing.
Morzer
@dmsilev:
“John McCain was a man who, despite having advantageous family connections was an abject failure at his chosen profession, divorced his chronically ill wife to chase after a younger, wealthier woman, whom he subsequently drove to drug addiction, was deeply involved in corruption with Charles Keating……”
scav
Boundaries schmoundaries, States Rights are only for certain ‘Mercan exemplars that behave in certain godly ways, not those nation-states we keep around so we can win events at the Oo-lympics and throw ordinance around freely without having to tidy afterwards.
‘sides that Goodluck Boy’s sittin’ on some of our sweet crude and that just can’t be lowed to stand. Has the Sunday Piece of Work ripped his short off yet and issued a commemorative coin?
Gin & Tonic
@raven: More fun (or at least better fishing) than the RI trip, I see.
Amir Khalid
@Omnes Omnibus:
Not winning the Presidency must bother him almost as much as not making Admiral. Didn’t he go into politics at least partly to compensate for that failure?
RareSanity
@raven:
Holy Schnikes!!!
Is that a catfish?
RareSanity
@Suffern ACE:
Yeah, I remember all that…good times.
Media sure does have a short memory for stuff Republicans say they support when they turn around and rage about it only hours after they initially said it.
Morley Bolero
In other news, Habs win! Bring on the Rangers!
Omnes Omnibus
@Amir Khalid:
I believe that is the case. He failed to live up to the records of either his father or his grandfather. Being president might have helped to fill a little of that hole in his soul.
Felonius Monk
Is this anyway to talk about the esteemed Senilator from Arizona? Whose legislative record is pretty nearly
spotlessblank. — Why, of course, it is.Mandalay
@Anne Laurie: Thanks. Apparently the stuff about Senegal and Paris was just in my head, so it’s hardly surprising I couldn’t find anything. It looks like the project is going OK.
Bob
Ok, you link to the Kansas City Star, but would it have killed you to mention McClatchy as the source?
JoyfulA
@Omnes Omnibus: Reminds me of the MacArthurs. Like military titles are seen as hereditary.
MomSense
@Amir Khalid:
Do you remember that moment at the healthcare roundtable when John McCain was being a real b00b to the President and Obama responded in a very biting tone something about
‘the election is over’ while giving him the ‘and I won’ look? McCain laughed and tried to make a joke out of it but he does not have a good poker face. He still seems bitter about losing.
Omnes Omnibus
@JoyfulA: How many kids follow in their parents’ professions? I would guess, quite a few. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, mill workers. I came across many “military” families, both officer and enlisted, during my time in the army.
MomSense
Tried to edit a word that WP doesn’t like but it didn’t work.
FYWP
Schlemizel
@John PM:
EXACTLY THIS!
McCains only position is that Obama is wrong. If the President sends troops in Walnuts will say its too late or too early or the wrong direction. We saw this with Libya and Syria, the default position is whatever BHO is doing McCain would have done the opposite if only the nation had not been beguiled by the Kenyan Muslim usurper.
Comrade Mary
@pseudonymous in nc: WIN.
Also: fuck McCain.
Omnes Omnibus
@Comrade Mary:
Why should anyone do that? I mean, ew.
Comrade Mary
@Omnes Omnibus: You’re right. Let me correct myself: fuck McCain with Rush Limbaugh’s dick.
Omnes Omnibus
@Comrade Mary: Oh dear, I am going to have to drink a lot to kill the brain cells that now house that image.
Anne Laurie
@MomSense: FYWP may or may not mind ‘boob‘, but it righteously hates ‘poker’ (as in ‘poker face’).
Amir Khalid
@Omnes Omnibus:
He does have seven children. And wasn’t he an enthusiastic womaniser during his Navy career?
Omnes Omnibus
@Amir Khalid: Could people stop bringing up the idea of John McCain having sex? Seriously, have decency standards slipped that much?
MomSense
@Anne Laurie:
I hadn’t even considered that!
Schlemizel
@Omnes Omnibus: do it with BiPs dick – thats a win-win
Omnes Omnibus
@MomSense: It is part of FYWP’s anti-Lady Gaga crusade.
kindness
Sadly there’s a portion of Americans who haven’t progressed beyond high school jocks and they just lurvs them some beating up on weaker peoples and nations. Yea I get it. They haven’t progressed to wisdom. They’re still amped on adrenaline. It’s sad. They act like life is another video game. What’s really sad? That we’re held hostage by a suck up press who doesn’t call these people/politicians on it.
Having said that I’m glad we’re helping Nigeria and so glad Obama isn’t sending in the troops.
Hawes
I don’t want to appear to take John McCain’s side, but I’m not sure I see the yield in negotiating with Boko Haram.
Hannibal Lecter? Osama bin Laden? Jeffrey Dahmer?
Sure, I’d give negotiations a shot.
Boko Haram are beyond messed up.
danielx
All together now…one…two…three…IN A PIG’S ASS!
I can hear it now: “If the president can send troops to Nigeria for some schoolgirls, why can’t he send troops to those gallant Ukrainians? This smacks of irresponsible and petty racial preference….IMPEACH!”.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
Omnes Omnibus
@kindness:
Honestly, if the the Nigerian government requests help, I would not be at all opposed to sending in some special ops guys to help out.
jl
McCain must think this stuff through like a sophomore in high school day dreaming about the fantastic adventure that will impress that pretty girl.
So, yeah, IF we knew where they were. And we could sneak in, right up to the edges of the camp. And, yeah, we could use our high tech night X-ray vision super goggles to spot all the body guards, and the snipers picked ’em all off, ping ping ping, like ducks in a row. And the special forces rushed in, the very next instant. And the grizzled old vet, who threw off his Senator suit to get in the surplus war plan and set those babies down in a perfect line to keep the the rest of the camp at bay…. yeah, that would be so cool. Total victory.
That settles it, McCain must be delusional (as well as cynical, though maybe that is not at play here) to be spouting this stuff right now, when we have no clue what is going on or where they are, or anything.
Higgs Boson's Mate
McCain reminds me of that species of barfly who sits on a barstool loudly declaiming “And if that bastard ever came into this bar I’d…” while knowing full well that “that bastard” is on the other side of the continent and wouldn’t be drinking in a place like that anyway. .
jl
@Omnes Omnibus:
” I would not be at all opposed to sending in some special ops guys to help out. ”
Well, sure, to ‘help out’ in any way that is sensible. Just please keep McCain far far away from the operation, please.
Omnes Omnibus
@jl: Obama is at least as sharp as we are. I think he knows this. We would only hear of any involvement by US troops once they are on a plane back to the States.
Suffern ACE
@jl: and we can do this without killing a single hostage. But it we do kill hostages, they had it coming.
jl
@Omnes Omnibus: I agree, except for one thing. If things go wrong and bunch of girls get killed (and thus can never be rescued, ever) we will hear about it, and troops may not be on a plane back to the states, at least not alive or in one piece.
I trust Obama to think through all the possibilities and weigh the consequences, as I do those he chooses for advisers.
McCain? No way. How can any sensible person take him seriously?
Suffern ACE
@Hawes: yeah. I say take their children and make them take AP science and social studies.
MomSense
@Omnes Omnibus:
I hope FYWP hasn’t found out about my hoof shoes!
Omnes Omnibus
@jl: Obama has been pretty sensible in his military involvements. The only major risk was the OBL attack and that game was definitely worth the candle. Special ops guys aren’t going to charge in willy-nilly. Either it will be doable or it won’t.
As far as McCain goes, he has no actual power over what happens. Sound and fury. Signifying nothing.
jurassicpork
Assclowns of the Week #98: Get Bent-ghazi edition is out. On the spit this week: Donald Sterling; Ann Coulter; Cliven’s Riders; Rush Limbaugh and much, much more!
P. S. Please pay attention to the editor’s note at the end.
Villago Delenda Est
It’s a damn good thing we didn’t elect President McCain, because this particular crisis would be addressed right now by President Palin, seeing as McCain had an accident falling down some stairs on 21 January 2010.
McCain’s solution to EVERYTHING is to start bombing. Iran blows its nose at you? Bomb them! Grand Fenwick invades the US during an air raid drill? Bomb them! Latveria imports cheap knockoffs of Gucci bags? Bomb them! Germany won’t allow Anheuser-Busch to sell their swill at Oktoberfest because of that hippy-dippy Reinheitsgebot? Bomb them! Upper Volta refuses to change its name because it violates a trademark of the SCO group? Bomb them! Girl at the Mickey D’s drive up window didn’t ask if he wanted fries with that? Bomb her!
srv
You people have been trolled, this was really an interview with John McClane.
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: Let’s just add that, in addition to being a warmongering ass, is is an “air power can do anything” guy – or as I prefer to call it, an idiot with no strategic or tactical sense. He didn’t make flag rank because he is an idiot. He made O-6 because of the Hanoi Hilton and his dad and gramps.
Omnes Omnibus
@srv: Yippee kiya, motherfucker.
Villago Delenda Est
@Hawes: In a situation like this, I like to harken back to the words of Lt. Cdr. Montgomery Scott: “The best diplomat I know is a fully charged phaser bank.”
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus: The Navy at least had the sense to not give McCain a flag. The Army on the other hand gave a flag to that Sinclair dickweed.
Roger Moore
@RareSanity:
We have always been at war with Eastasia, comrade.
catclub
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Jefferson Beauregard Sessions
Roger Moore
@Comrade Mary:
I would prefer to use AsiangrlMN’s rusty pitchfork, but to each his own.
mai naem
McCain’s up for reelection in 2016 and I would not be surprised if he loses. 2010 was a good year for Repubs. Flake barely won in 2012 and that was with a good mormon turnout because of Romney and Flake both being mormons. Demographics are turning against McCain in AZ and the Dems should have a good turnout in 2016.
Omnes Omnibus
@Villago Delenda Est: Didn’t Sinclair’s “issues” come out after he had his star? Prior to that, he was a “hard-charging, hooah, Ranger-type.” Yeah, I find them suspicious, but the army actually does promote both infantry and armor guys to commands above brigade level. I don’t know why; most of them are dumber than stumps.
McCain nearly blew up one of his own ships. Getting a star was not in his future.
mai naem
Okay, I know this is totally against humane prisoner treatment but I don’t know why don’t stick an RFD or some kind chip/GPS device into these prisoners than Boko Haram wants released and then release them and follow the GPS. Knock them out with some sedative in their food and stick it in. Never understood why they didn’t do it with the obviously guilty Gitmo/Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan either. I am figuring the Israelis so it with the Palestinians.
Omnes Omnibus
@mai naem: Generally, it has been considered a bad idea to trade prisoners for hostages. It just encourages the taking of hostages.
srv
@mai naem: Who said prisoners in Afghanistan weren’t tagged?
Keith P
I’d imagine that Levi Johnston is a bit surprised to hear that John McCain now opposes forced marriages.
mai naem
@Omnes Omnibus: I know it’s a bad idea but it is done occasionally. I personally think they should figure out a way to “buy” those girls without it appearing that they were bought. They only wanted $300 a girl. That’s less than $10K . I bet that’s way less money than what they paid just to fly the Americans to Nigeria.
Omnes Omnibus
@mai naem
I hope it works out that way.
cckids
I know I’m desperately late to this, but, really, McCain? Ever hear of a little rescue operation attempted in Iran 20-some years ago? And then they at least knew where the hostages were, and had no religious/gender/age issues that could raise all kinds of godawful “image” problems.
I’d bet that, if asked, most military planners would look at this now like they did at Operation Eagle Claw, in dismay & horror. “If you tell us we have to plan this, here is the plan. But it sucks, and probably won’t work.”
McCain is just an ass.
Death Panel Truck
34 years. Only off by a decade and a half.
Villago Delenda Est
@Omnes Omnibus: Well, if anyone was paying the slightest attention at his brigade command farewell, his officers were openly mocking his relationship with that O-3, in front of his wife and the wives of the command. How word of that failed to get the promotion board that gave him a star baffles me, to be honest. His rater should have been told, at the very least…which should have got the word to the conclave of stars that call the shots on elevating an officer to flag rank.
artem1s
@Omnes Omnibus:
As long as it’s never, ever President Planecrash Sundayshows, TYVM
hedgehog the occasional commenter
@Omnes Omnibus: Where would you like your Internets delivered?