Yesterday the despicable John McCain attacked Barack Obama for supporting Jim Webb's G.I. Bill.
There could be many reasons outside of the obvious political reasons for McCain's actions around this bill and his refusal to support it.
Matt Yglesias points out that even if you take McCain at his word that his stance against increased benefits for veterans it doesn't look good for the aging Senator. He's he either against expansion of benefits because they cost too much (a position that doesn't fit with his regular support of pouring money into the bottomless pit that is the Iraq war) or he's against expansion of benefits because he truly believes it will hurt retention in the armed forces. In other words his dream of 100 years in Iraq will be threatened.
There could be many reasons outside of the obvious political reasons for McCain's actions around this bill and his refusal to support it.
Matt Yglesias points out that even if you take McCain at his word that his stance against increased benefits for veterans it doesn't look good for the aging Senator. He's he either against expansion of benefits because they cost too much (a position that doesn't fit with his regular support of pouring money into the bottomless pit that is the Iraq war) or he's against expansion of benefits because he truly believes it will hurt retention in the armed forces. In other words his dream of 100 years in Iraq will be threatened.
In either case how does McCain not come off as anything other than a batshiat crazy jerk here?
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12 comments:
It seems he's losing support from a lot of veterans over this, and rightfully so. His stance seems to be "We can't show soldiers a light at the end of the tunnel, because they might want to move toward it. This is about sacrifice, not reward."
The soldiers mean nothing to him. They are only numbers, a resource to be used up and discarded.
"Support Our Troops"*
*Unless they are no longer troops (having separated from service), or are injured, or crippled, or have PTSD, or are out of work after separation, or want INCONUS living quarters/medical facilities that aren't substandard, or just want to come put an end to a pointless, costly war.
JoeTTRoll:to some, soldiers are arrows on a battlefield map
They need MORE GI Bill, not less.
What McChimp fails to understand about the difference between "sacrifice" and "reward"...is that if your planning to sacrifice, you just what to make sure your family is taken care of...and if that's what he defines as a "reward"...then there's a whole lotta Paris Hilton wanna be's with a gross sense of entitlement which he's been ignoring for quite some time.
Ok, I get it...
regular soldiers & increased benefits = "unearned reward"
rich folks & ever-decreasing taxes = "natural entitlement"
Jeepers! If he keeps putting his foot in his mouth, he might lose the election! ;o)
Dr. Z: You're right! Let's stop critiquing McCain, lest he wise up and start paying attention.
We can just save everything up for the general election.
joe-
That's a pretty good way to formulate it. It's all about sacrifice.
It's also placing retention above recruitment in the scheme of things. Those men and women aren't slaves. They already give up so much.
ladybug-
Hope you're well. Good to hear from you.
What McChimp fails to understand about the difference between "sacrifice" and "reward"...is that if your planning to sacrifice, you just what to make sure your family is taken care of...
You nailed it.
zaius-
Or choke on a cuticle.
arkonbey-
That sounds like a good plan.
As I've mentioned before...
McCainiac.
Oh, McCain need not fear what sort of jibber-jabber comes out of his mouth. He's leading the polls by a run away margin over Obama.
And besides, it's not like there's any chance of a McCaine McMuntiny.
I love McCain's excuse for not supporting the bill. It will encourage people to only enlist once then go to college. McCain wants them to enlist multiple times before they go to college. What an ultra maroon.
Batshit crazy jerk seems to work well, I say go with it.
This is an insult to batshit, which is at least useful in a mulch.
don-
I'd rather be a Hulkamaniac.
spirula-
Great article at Sadly, No. I think Jillian is incorrect when she asks "Am I totally off base for wondering what’s going to happen to the Democrats if they can’t win the White House under the most favorable conditions for victory they’ve had in almost a century?
The conditions for getting a democrat in the White House are never favorable. Not when they have to run against the republicans and the media. This year will be no different.
As for his base- of course they'll be on board. The Republican party and the modern conservative movement are solely held together by their hatred of democrats. That won't magically change.
I love "McCainne Mcmutiny" though. ;-)
bradda-
Yep. His entire strategy seems to be focused on retention. I guess it's because everybody in his family was career military. He's been sucking at the government teat his entire life and doesn't understand why anyone else would want to get off.
fran-
I knew you would.
randal-
And bats. Which eat skeeters.
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