Aug 27th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
The “Tiny” Factor
John McCain’s latest attack ad is being derided as “misleading” by the Associated Press and others. But it’s worth returning to Barack Obama’s actual statement about Iran:
I mean, think about it: Iran, Cuba, Venezuela — these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don’t pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us.
Ever since the original statement, McCain has been outraged by these remarks. But which aspect of it is wrong? Iran, Cuba, and Venezuela are all much smaller than the Soviet Union. None of them threaten us in the way the Soviet Union did. Inaccurate information doesn’t lead to good policy.
31 Responses to “The “Tiny” Factor”
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August 27th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
it doesn’t make me wonder: we’ve seen it for 8 years.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:09 pm
I assume you’ve seen Sully’s post on Lieberman and Graham’s WSJ op-ed? It’s a must-read.
Team McCain has absolutely no fucking point of reference.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Team McCain has absolutely no fucking point of reference.
Actually, they do. Problem is, it’s always 1939.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Iran - existential threat that will DEZTROY TEH US IF IT GETZ NUKULAR BOMB!!!!!
Russia - we need to go to war with Russia over some shit hole no one has ever heard of despite the fact that they are an actual nuclear power today with enough weapons to turn every city with more than 10,000 people into a smoking hole.
Why, oh why, does anyone take McCain and his merry band of lunatics seriously?
August 27th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
Yes, well, your post title, “The ‘Tiny’ Factor” certainly points to the all too obvious psychological explanation though, doesn’t it.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I’m beginning to think that the internal McCain campaign motto is something like “the only thing we’ll use to smear is fear itself.”
As to Team McCain’s frame of reference, I’m afraid it’s “what’s can we use to get 50% + 1 electoral votes?” and my friends, it may work.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Yes, well, your post title, “The ‘Tiny’ Factor,” certainly points to the rather obvious psychological explanation.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Hey, love this new system you’ve got here, which just like the old one practically guarantees a slew of double-posted responses in every thread–but in a whole new way! Instead of just taking 40-minutes or so for the submission to get confirmed to the browser, it puts you right through but doesn’t actually put your response up for a couple minutes. Brilliant. I think I liked the old one better, but it’s admittedly a matter of taste.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
hello
August 27th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Hey Matthew. I’m wondering if your readers might want to see (and share w/their own blogs) my campaign poster. Feel free to post it elsewhere. Thanks. Best, MR.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
We could add that the Soviet Union was not just itself a very, very large country, but at the height of its power dominated a global empire of Communist client states, including states in Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, The Middle East and Southeast Asia.
And despite the warnings we sometimes here about the threat of Iranian “hegemony”, we see no signs of this hegemony, not even a regional hegemony in the Middle East. Iran has an ally in Syria, and a sub-state proxy in Hizbollah, and that appears to be it. They are otherwise pretty much surrounded by US allies and clients.
It’s amazing that these nervous neocon biddies get away with so much, and are not more effectively called on their extravagant hysterics.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
Ambinder says:
It doesn’t occur to Ambinder that the media could quote the false claim and simply state “this is a lie.” They could add text to a video clip stating “this claim is false, McCain is lying.”
Why is Ambinder dumb as dirt?
August 27th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
All rightwingers are outraged by reality. In this particular case, McCain probably just heard the “tiny” part and thought Obama was talking about McCain’s height.
August 27th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
It alway strikes me as odd that the Republicans have such fear of all these “Tiny” countries. Now I know that people will argue that this is just a campaign strategy, but it seems more and more that a genuine fear exists which probably eminates from their unwillingness to engage with the world, and their rather static view of what America is and should be.
August 27th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
The characterization of Iran as an existential threat is a direct reference to Israeli interests. McCain and his advisors are trying to scare Jewish Americans into supporting his vision of continuing the failed military approach to Middle East politics.
August 27th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
10 days ago, wasn’t the Russian incursion into Georgia the biggest threat to world order since end of cold war? Why is John McCain arguing with himself?
August 27th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Well of course Iran is a tiny country. Didn´t McCain himself say that when he spoke about the “Iraq-Pakistan border?
August 27th, 2008 at 3:33 pm
McCain is near-sighted old man reaching for the shotgun and blasting holes in the ceiling at every noise he hears.
The McCain ad is not misleading. It is a bald faced lie.
August 27th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
I can see the ad now…
August 27th, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Even without the context of the USSR, Iran really doesn’t pose a serious threat to the U.S. Barack Obama - too accurate on foreign policy and international security issues to be president.
August 27th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Matt quotes Obama on Iran not being as big a threat as Russia.
Matt of course doesn’t quote Obama on why Iran is a threat AT ALL.
Meanwhile, in the real world:
Obama would step up pressure on Iran over nukes
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080826/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_obama_israel
So presumably Obama is in favor of a blockade of Iran - which, of course, is an act of war.
August 27th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
calipygian, that was fantastically hilarious.
August 27th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Because of course a slight risk that a developing country in the Mideast that might, someday, be able to produce enough nuclear material to pass to some group that might try to smuggle it into the U.S. to create a “dirty bomb” is the same as the Cold War, where a twitchy finger on the red button could have eliminated life on earth as we know it. Right.
The Republicans are a bunch of goddamn drama queens and people fall for it to support their agenda. It’s just so sad.
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