It’s Sunday, so it’s time for William “The Bloody” Kristol to pull more factoids out of the orifice of his choice to further his (and only his) agenda.
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In the discussion of John McCain’s “surprise” win in New Hampshire (don’t let that polling that showed him ahead all the way up to the primary sway you) to rise from the dead of pundit-declared lost candidacies, Bill Kristol has just one factor that won it all for McCain: The surge.
KRISTOL: McCain advocated the surge, defended the surge. It was unpopular; people thought…two-thirds of his own campaign wanted him to abandon his position on Iraq. He stuck with it. He showed guts, he showed intelligence. The surge is now working, very, very well. And McCain, Republicans, like it.
LIASSON: And he held two town meetings. He worked his butt off.
KRISTOL: He worked his butt off too, but I don’t think…that wouldn’t have mattered, he could have had town meeting after town meeting. And if many voters had thought that perhaps it was a mistake to go into Iraq, we didn’t change strategy effectively, it would have been disastrous for McCain. So he was identified with the surge, he is the most credible Commander-in-Chief. That’s what worked for him in New Hampshire.
Leave aside the new and improved definition of what it means that the surge “has worked,” does it surprise any of you to know that Kristol is completely and utterly wrong, again?
New Hampshire Republicans said the economy was the nation’s most pressing issue, with the war in Iraq barely edging illegal immigration for second place. McCain, 71, fared well among those preoccupied by the economy and the war.
Four in five New Hampshire Republicans are worried about the economy, and they preferred McCain over Romney (with Huckabee and Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, tied for a distant third).
Nearly two-thirds of the Granite State’s GOP voters approve of the war in Iraq, and that group gave slightly more votes to Romney than to McCain. But McCain more than made up the deficit by winning big margins from the one-third of GOP voters who disapprove of the war.
So, in a classic case of voting against your interests (or, in other words, the platform upon which all of the Republican party rests), NH Republicans who are against the war voted overwhelmingly for the biggest war cheerleader in Congress today (outside of Joe Lieberman). Way to go, smart guys.
Filed Under: Election 08, Fox News Sunday/Chris Wallace, Iraq, John McCain, Right Wing Pundits
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Oh no. Not this loser again.
By the way. Kristol is one of McCains advisor’s. He’s behind this McCain campaign.
Every day when I wake up, I thank GOD that I am not Kristol.
What a disaster.
This type of blog is against the interests of the American people.
Nicole, why do you write here about what Bill Kristol says?
Are you looking for something to say?
Bill Kristol should be ignored.
My money is on McCains going to be the front runner. Don’t forget this the guy who threw a fit-tantrum on Sept 11 because we didn’t immediately nuke Afghanistan.
L.A. Confidential @ 5:
L.A., my bet is Hillary vs. McCain, and McCain wins.
VietVet8666 @ 4:
I couldn’t disagree more. Besides being spawned from a line of rightwing fanatics, Kristol (for worse and worser) is an influential player in the world of rightwing disinformation. He is an integral part of the well-coordinated and well-funded VRWC slimebucket. His statements must be challenged in the strongest way, every step of the way. The once effective RW tactic of “repeat a lie often enough and it becomes truth” is no longer as effective as it once was thanks, in part to progressive blogs.
So I say: hit ‘em hard! Challenge! Defend! Enlighten! Expose them for what they are: frauds.
Bit delusional Billy? Even if this supposed strength were to get McCain the Republican nomination (it won’t), it would get crushed in a national election, as most Americans don’t have our heads up our collective “orifices of choice” when it comes to this war.
I always love the way fat ass Republicans “worked their ass off”
If he thinks riding the surge is the winning horse, then Kristol keeps his remarkable .000 lifetime batting average. The surge failed, the deaths are still there, the animosity is no less, there is no working government, but the players are better armed.
There is no spin to sell the imperial occupation. And when McCain tries, his candidacy goes in the same toilet as the Bush legacy.
VietVet8666 @ 6:
Not with a motivated Dem voter base he won’t.
This seems to be something peculiar about GOP voters. How is it that otherwise intelligent people can look at something that by any reasonable measure is a bad idea to them and think that the best way to keep it from happening is to vote for someone that is most closely identified with making that measure happen.
I don’t accept that it is just a matter that all GOP voters are dumb as rocks. It is tempting to believe that but I just cannot bring myself to think it is the whole story.
I havent seen any recent polls so its hard to say. My inclination is that McCain is just a blip on the radar in NH and that someone else will edge him out. His odd speech after the NH win just reinforces the idea that he is just too f’ing old to put in the hours.
But Kristol is right that the “surge” (aka bribing of sunni and shiite leaders and the short term troop increase) has calmed things down for now. So it is a plus for McCain.
“L.A., my bet is Hillary vs. McCain, and McCain wins.”
And America rides the bullet train straight to hell, singin’ bomb-bomb-bomb, bomb-bomb Iran.
theWalrus @ 7:
I agree that the misinformation of the wingnuts need to be challenged, but outside of Keith Olbermann, how many takes these people on? Our media has failed us when it comes to reporting facts and debunking the garbage that is thrown at us. If the MSM was doing its job, Kristol wouldn’t be able to get a paid gig as he would have zero credibility.
theWalrus @ 7:
I would add that the name of this site is “Crooks and Liars”.It’s obvious purpose is to monitor the doings–nefarious or otherwise–of our shiny happy right wing friends.I would have thought that fact would be self evident.
theWalrus @ 14:
Clinton won’t take us into WW3.
VietVet8666 @ 6:
Lord help us. I watched him speak a couple of times and his mind is not sharp, his jokes are repeated over and over already, and he has a “my friends” tourettes which is going to drive people crazy. Lastly he looks haggard now and is 71. I don’t think he will physically be able to make it through another year of brutal campaigning.
Kay, may I beg to differ but until we remove our head from the “Diebold Orifice” the war will continue and we will be told the majority voted to keep on killing.
“If the MSM was doing its job, Kristol wouldn’t be able to get a paid gig as he would have zero credibility.”
Forget the MSM. Really. It’s hopeless. They are bought and paid for. Their “journalists” are politico-starfuckers, their owners could care less about what the people need or want. That’s why the progressive blogs are so vital and important.
Andy @ 18:
He’s the ultimate flip flopper also. This guy changes positions and flip flops so fast I wonder sometimes if they have a wireless cattle prod implanted up his as*.
Being blackmailed by Sunni terrorists is now called a success by the republicans. America will pay them half a billion dollars not to attack our troops. What do they think will happen when that money stops? How could congress ever have approved this spending? This is definitely something that will never be discussed on television.
Bush the Liar @ 22:
Just like everything this administration does, they didn’t ask for approval from congress.
I just wish the Dems would start tar and feathering the Republican candidates with George Bush’s 7 years of failed policies and disasters. Everytime they speak. I mean, how much more unpopular can a President get? They are an integral part of his party. The Party that has failed, miserably. Make ‘em one and the same so that when the voters go to vote they’ll see Bush’s face where the Republican nomimee’s is.
“The surge has worked.” “The surge has worked.” “The surge has worked.” “The surge has worked.” “The surge has worked.” And on and on and on. It’s working based on what? Kristol’s word? Bush’s word? Cheney’s? It’s more spin.
VietVet8666 @ 6:
mccain is two breaths away from senility. he is not presidential material. that aside, he does not have the intelligence to read even those speeches written for him.
dadams @ 26:
Knowing the Cons they would wheel him around the White House Comatose, roll him up to the oval office desk, pick up a rubber stamp, put it in his hand and help him stamp whatever bill they want to get out.
Bill HR134684 Authorizes continued looting of the American Treasury. Stamp.
dadams @ 26:
McCain is evidence that the republican presidents are not the ones who call the shots. They are just mouthpieces for the corporatists who really call the shots.
Nicole, I love what you do and have a lot of respect for you, but will you please, please stop calling him William “the bloody”, this guy is a douchebag, do nothing, meaningless, hack pundit. He has no balls, no courage, and no say about anything. William “the cheerleader”, or William “the hack”, or even William “the Butthead” fit - but calling him bloody gives the connotation that he might have some idea what combat actually is.
How about William “the pasty”?
Hopefully soon: William “the unemployed” =)
VietVet8666 @ 4:
No!
Make 85% of America understand that Kristol is “pure fuckin Evil”! Than ignore him!
I didn’t know Kristol was McCain’s advisor, what a shame for McCain-
Kristol & O’Reilly must share the same brain - they never let the facts get in the way of their own delusions of grandeur!
If Bill Kristol says it’s raining outside, feel free to go out and suntan.
Bill Kristol: Wrong On Everything, Guaranteed!
C’mon .. BE FAIR !!
Kristol said the SUCCESS OF THE SURGE is what won McCain the NH Republican Primary — not his support of the war.
Kristol even acknowledges that 2/3 of his own people wanted him to “abandon his position on Iraq” but THE SUCCESS OF THE SURGE is what changed their minds!!
Yeah. I know. How can one be impressed by the success (?) of the surge AND be against the war .. but there you have it.
Willy “Can’t Miss” Kristol is making more predictions?
Where can I make book against whatever this moron says?
tjb @ 9:
When I Republican talks about “working his ass off,” I always think, “Wow, that’s a lot of work!”
jimbo92107 @ 35:
Then you know they’re lying.
Kristol makes me suspicious. I mean, the man is chronically wrong. You can almost make a universal constant out of his stuff: ‘If Kristol says A is true, A will therefore be exactly not true’. Now, where the problem comes in is that since despite the rule, people still have him talk. He might, just by statistical likeliness, hit on something true. And when a neocon stumbles on something true, you will be hit over the head with it forever.
=my2c
BC
The Surge, by definition, has FAILED — the stated intent was to create a situation where the factions in Iraq would negotiate an arrangement that would permit the government to operate effectively and democratic reforms to take root — that has NOT happened. Therefore, anything else going on in Iraq is irrelevant — if there were ZERO US troops and Iraqi civilians being killed, the surge would still, by definition, be a failure, because the factions have not even attempted to settle, the government is ineffective, and the democratic reforms can’t take place.
If you enter the Daytona 500, the obvious intent is to finish 500 miles and be in first place at the end of the race. If you finish 495 miles, you can’t claim victory. If you finish 499.99999 miles you can’t claim victory. If you finish second, you can’t claim victory. Why, then, is this administration allowed to keep changing the definition of success and claim the surge is working, when the stated intent has not come close to being realized?
i only read the blurb
But
He is right!
listen folks … spin it as you like
but
the surge worked enough to slow the violence
that helps the people on the ground
less death = good
I cant stand the war or the folks who waged it
but
we must accept that the mess is ours dem or repug
so if it slowed the violence it did work
did it fix the many other problems no
ugh
Ron @ 28:
My take is the Cons don’t even care if they win They’ve achieved their objective and are shoving McCain out there for the base (all show) so when The Dems get in they can cut and run. They know The Dems will be to busy to even have time to run them down.
b @ 39:
When did the surge actually begin? I believe it was Febuary or March. Then they said they didn’t have all the troops deployed all the way up to June and still had more U.S. casualties than previous years. And you say the surge worked? Get real.
Of course there’s less violence since we’ve murdered over 4% of the population, I should expect the violence to drop by that much.(23 Million at the start of the war over 1 million dead)Not to mention 2-3 million who have left.
BTW George Bush was never President he just plays one on T.V.
please stop ripping on mccain’s age….age is not his prob….his soul is
he lost his soul in 04 when he embraced bush
the man wants to be president so badly that he lost the things that made him palatable to the masses, and that must be killing him slowly
Isn’t SURGE the same as escalate? Or is it one of two motions in osculate? And if so we are all getting humped BIG TIME!
p-funk-diddy-blaster @ 3:
Every day I wake up, I ak God, “Why, i