Matthew Yglesias » Romney: McCain’s Lying

Sep 15th, 2008 at 10:44 pm

Romney: McCain’s Lying

Since Mitt Romney’s not a candidate for office, I’m free to disparage his character — he’s not the trustworthy guy in the book. Therefore, I assume it’s not an abstract love of truth that’s inspired him to slam John McCain for lying:

Bitter at not getting the veep nod? Oh well, whatever his motives he’s right.

UPDATE: Ah . . . this is from January. I was duped by Matt Stoller — he can’t be trusted!

Comments
43

43 Responses to “Romney: McCain’s Lying”

John Says:
September 15th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
At first I was quite astonished by this, but now I’m thinking that this is, in fact, a clip from the primaries – the sourcing is incredibly vague on the youtube page, and this seems like something Romney would have said before the Florida primary when McCain was attacking him dishonestly about the surge.

It’s still true, and McCain’s dishonest attacks on Romney were a pretty good preview for his dishonest attacks on Obama now, but you should be careful about a clip like this, Matt, before endorsing it.
Dinko Says:
September 15th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Hey Matt, thought you should know that Daily Kos says this is from January. Still as relevant as ever, though!
John Says:
September 15th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
And, indeed, it’s from January 31. Open Left and Kos have already issued corrections. Some weak stuff, man.
Steady Rifle Says:
September 15th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
Don’t you give me those shifty eyes pay attention!

Ha Matty! You know I love you bud but looks like you might have got smoked here!
JK Says:
September 15th, 2008 at 11:09 pm
It may not be love of truth that motivated him, but the fact that what he said was true likely played a huge part in why he came out it said it. It’s going to be very hard for other Rs to go out and attack him for stating the obvious truth, and it makes him look more like a straight shooter. Smart political move on Romney’s part.
Swan Says:
September 15th, 2008 at 11:33 pm
whatever his motives

Just a bit thrown out there to make the Republicans look like they don’t all kind of take orders from the same, central source.

The fascists would hate it if Europeans started telling Americans that it looks like we have a fascist government and a centrally-controlled media. Hence you have Wolf Blitzer (during the election season, when a lot of people are actually paying attention) saying things like “Our hearts go out to the victims of the hurricane in Cuba” when in fact the guy is a conservobot-henchman, and not an example of a liberal media in the slightest.
Swan Says:
September 15th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
People take being lied to a lot better if they can convince themselves they are not being lied to, and the Republicans are pros at the sport.

Hence there are a lot of red herrings thrown around, for example to make it look like lots of people aren’t coordinated. But in my opinion Romney is a loyal little soldier, and Repubs like him would generally know much better than to throw some shit in McCain’s direction without orders to do so during a time like this.
mrspeel Says:
September 15th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
WooHoo, Mitt! I’m really, really impressed by Mitt’s candor and very happy that he made that statement to the press! I guess when Karl Rove and Bill Bennett call John McCain out too, he
must have crossed some line, where sleazy lies aren’t tolerated. Hooray for those who spoke out and for showing that at least some Republicans have a bit of sense when it comes to fair play!
flounder Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 12:00 am
I think we all should pretend like Romney said this yesterday. Then the wingers will get all outraged and by trying to correct the record will help spread it too. Did I mention that this act would crystallize the fact that lying isn’t something McShame started doing last week?
John Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 12:07 am
Good God, comments 5, 6, 7, 8, did you even bother to read the earlier comments?

9 – I agree that this is illustrative of McCain’s general tendency towards lying as a campaign tactic, but I think the foolish post by Matt, combined with the already corrected ones by Kos and Open Left, ought to be sufficient to get the wingers crowing.

No need to make ourselves look like idiots.
TKD Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Who cares when Romney said it? The point is he called his own party’s nominee a great big liar. Do you imagine that if there were tape of Democratic candidates calling Obama a liar, the Republicans would refrain from using it because it was said during the primaries? The clock is ticking, people. Every vote counts. Use everything.
Whitey Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Mitt Romney reinvents himself yet again, in the cast he was born for: New England conservative. The man sold his soul in his run for the White House, but if you manage to navigate the slime, it seems like he had some pretty decent, centrist views when he first started his political career.

You know what would be great? If Mitt had some kind of rebirth as an honest politician, realizing that a lying Mormon from Massachusetts isn’t going to get anywhere in the GOP of today, and instead worked with people like Lincoln Chafee to reform the party to a brand of economic conservatism that might leave the culture war behind. I realize that this is the wishful thinking of all wishful thinking, but with this party destroying its future for the sake of the present, one can hope.
Dan K Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 12:36 am
This clip is from the primaries – January 31. Still a nice touch, but it has nothing to do with him not getting the VP nod.
Freedom Fry Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 1:03 am
I’m with Flounder on this one. Wow, good for Mitt Romney. Sticking up for the truth against his new overlord.
John Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 1:04 am
Who cares when Romney said it?

While the quote is interesting no matter when Romney said it, context is important, and it’s rather different for Romney to accuse McCain of lying in the context of a heated primary campaign than it is for him to do so, you know, right now when he’s been for the last months a strong supporter of and surrogate for McCain.

Deliberately misrepresenting this as though it’s a comment on recent events, rather than events of months ago, is dishonest, which is, you know, what we are trying to accuse McCain of being. Presenting this as though it’s “Romney has had it with McCain’s dishonesty and is publicly saying shit about him” only undermines the narrative of McCain’s dishonesty, since it is itself dishonest.

Also: Everyone: One more time: Clip from the Primaries, not now. It shows that dishonesty is not a new thing for McCain, it’s just that nobody cared when he was being dishonest towards Romney, whom the press detested. It does not really say anything about what’s going on now.
Joel Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 1:06 am
Romney is positioning himself for 2012. Heart and soul!

I’d be upset if I were a high minded republican right now.
John Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 1:07 am
Yglesias you piece of shit
Curly Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 1:22 am
Yglesias you piece of shit

John, the lack of punctuation makes your comment so much better.
disappointed Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 1:27 am
Oh no, I think someone kidnapped Matt Yglesias and replaced him with a stupider version of Ezra Klein. Since the website change, the quality of posts is way down. The uninformed posts about the financial markets, the dumb posts about business travelers, and now the appalling lack of skepticism in this post.

What happened, Matt? You used to be so great. No more “Yglesias Awards” for you.
seanflynn Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 1:38 am
Richard Cohen calls McCain a dishonest liar in tomorrow’s WaPo.

Sarah Palin may get her wish – this surely must be a sign of the apocalypse.
Craig Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 1:42 am
So let me get this straight you can’t disparage McCain’s character because he is running for president. But if I disparage McCain you can agree with me and encourage me to do it more. Can you say this:

The laws prohibit me from calling McCain as an out of touch elitist, but if I could I would use this blog to make you think that about him.
msw Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Leads me to wonder if Romney turn downed offers to go on a townhall meeting tour with McCain. Why else would the honorable McCain tell lies about Romney?
Richard Steven Hack Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 6:59 am
No, disappointed, Yglesias was never great.

Meanwhile he ignores the fact that Pakistani troops fired on US helicopters trying to cross into Pakistan today.

Officials: Pakistani Troops Fired on US Helicopters Trying to Cross Border
http://news.antiwar.com/2008/09/15/officials-pakistani-troops-fired-on-us-helicopters-trying-to-cross-border/

Money Quotes:

Early this morning, US helicopters crossed the border into Pakistan’s South Waziristan Agency and attempted to land in Angor Adda, in a raid reminiscent of September 3rd’s unprecedented attack by US helicopters and ground forces in the same region, which killed 20 civilians. This was seen as the beginning of America’s so-called “gloves are off” strategy of escalating attacks along the Pakistani border. But this incident ended quite differently from the previous raid.

Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Parvez Kayani announced last week that the Pakistani military would no longer allow foreign forces to operate on Pakistani soil. On Thursday, another high ranking Pakistani official, Major-General Athar Abbas confirmed the order, and said the army had been ordered to retaliate against foreign operations. If the Bush Administration was unclear on the sincerity of this position prior to today, it is no doubt clarified as Pakistani troops opened fire on the invading helicopters, forcing them to retreat into Afghanistan.

Officially, Pakistan’s military denies that the Americans ever crossed the border or that their forces fired on them, but several news agencies cite local officials and anonymous military personnel who confirm the incident. One of the local residents told DPA that they had advanced warning of the impending American attack, and that “thousands of armed tribesmen” had amassed on the Pakistani side of the border intent on fighting them off.

The latest border incident comes with newly elected President Asif Ali Zardari en route to Britain for talks with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Brown has said that he will press Pakistan to allow NATO forces into its territory, though NATO has insisted that it won’t participate in any US cross-border raids.

President Zardari announced in an editorial published the day after the first Angor Adda attack in the Washington Post that he “stands with the United States,” a position that seems increasingly untenable as the unpopular US air strikes continue and tribesmen in the South Waziristan area threaten to abandon a long-standing peace deal if his government doesn’t end the US attacks on them.

Pakistan troop fire turns back U.S. helicopters
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=349151

Money Quotes:

Firing by Pakistani troops forced two U.S. military helicopters to turn back to Afghanistan after they crossed into Pakistani territory early on Monday, Pakistani security officials said.

The incident took place near Angor Adda, a village in the tribal region of South Waziristan where U.S. commandos in helicopters raided a suspected al Qaeda and Taliban camp earlier this month.

“The U.S. choppers came into Pakistan by just 100 to 150 metres at Angor Adda. Even then our troops did not spare them, opened fire on them and they turned away,” said one security official.

The U.S. and Pakistani military both denied that account, but Angor Adda villagers and officials supported it

Military spokesman Major Murad Khan confirmed that there had been shooting. But he said the American helicopters had not crossed into Pakistani airspace and Pakistani troops were not responsible for the firing.

“The U.S. choppers were there at the border, but they did not violate our airspace,” Khan said.

“We confirm that there was a firing incident at the time when the helicopters were there, but our forces were not involved.”

A spokesman for the U.S. military at Bagram Airbase, north of Kabul, said its forces had not reported any such incident.

“The unit in the area belongs to the (U.S.-led) coalition. They are not reporting any such incident,” the U.S. military spokesman said.

But the official denials were contradicted by Pakistani civilian officials and villagers in Angor Adda.

One official told Reuters by telephone that “the troops stationed at BP-27 post fired at the choppers and they turned away”.

Two Chinook helicopters appeared set to land when troops began shooting, alerting tribesmen who also opened fire on the intruders, said a senior government official in Peshawar, the capital of North West Frontier Province.

A resident described the tension in the village through the night. “We saw helicopters flying all over the area. We stayed awake the whole night after the incident,” he said.

The fiercely independent tribesmen of the region carry weapons regardless of whether they are militants.
Angellight Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 8:52 am
If McCain can so easily and readily lie to you without blinking, how can you believe him when he tells you ANYTHING! You can’t. What happened to A man’s word is his bond? Realistically, you just can’t trust McCain to be honest, nor his running mate Sarah Palin. They show a blatant disregard for the truth — they lie about their lying!

John McCain — “he walked the anti-regulatory party line, with only occasional exceptions…and tried to lay down a smokescreen of righteousness by campaigning against small potato[e!]s like legislative earmarks–money to study the mating habits of, uh, crabs, in, uh, Alaska (proposed by Governor Honorable).” Joe Klein

And more importantly, John McCain wants to Privatize Social Security which could experience the same disastrous fate as the current economic condition –

http://www.truthout.org/article/mccain-would-privatize-social-security
John Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 10:18 am
Oh, Matt, passing the buck to Matt Stoller? Lame. Also – Stoller sucks.
psmith Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Trust, but verify!
fletc3her Says:
September 16th, 2008 at 11:29 am
In Mitt Romney’s defense, McCain has only gotten worse as the year progressed.
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Romney: McCain’s Lying

43 Responses to “Romney: McCain’s Lying”

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