Monsters of Politics Summer Tour: IRAQ!!!

Nothing brings out the superficial nature of American "infotainment" like a Presidential campaign.  Every 4 years Americans are subjected to a series of attacks, reposts, and Pavlovian attempts to engage their emotions through a slick PR campaign for 30 seconds at a time. 

Now, Americans aren't stupid, we know what is best for us.  And we know bullshit when we hear it.

But like a hungry person at a backwater convenience store with nothing remotely appetizing, we will settle for stale pork rinds, corn nuts, and trail mix rather than go hungry.  So every 4 years we get suckered in again.

So what is the big issue right now?  Who has been to Iraq last:

"The next commander in chief is going to have to make decisions that will either lead to peace and security in Iraq or chaos and conflict," said Alex Conant, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, sounding a theme that Republicans have pushed all week. "The voters need to know how the candidates will make that decision. And the fact that there are 2-year-old Iraqi children who weren't born the last time Obama was in their country raises questions about what he is making his decisions on."

Oh my God!  Obama hasn't met 2-year-old Iraqis?  I bet they would love to tell him how great things are in their country (putting aside the lack of sanitary water, electricity, and the fact that many of their family members have been blown-up). 

What kind of callous jag-off if this yahoo anyway?  How dare he propose to withdraw US forces without checking with the Iraqis first?  Never mind that a huge majority of Iraqis want us to do just that.  He hasn't gone there to investigate to see if it is still true.

Never mind the fact that McCain's trips to Iraq have hardly been investigative, or honest:

NBC’s Nightly News provided further details about McCain’s one-hour guided tour. He was accompanied by “100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead.” Still photographs provided by the military to NBC News seemed to show McCain wearing a bulletproof vest during his visit.

. . . 

McCain recently claimed that there “are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today.” In a press conference after his Baghdad tour, McCain told a reporter that his visit to the market today was proof that you could indeed “walk freely” in some areas of Baghdad.

Wow, a whole hour spent on Baghdad's streets with an army for protection.  I bet he learned a lot as his military body guard handlers shuffled him through the market.

And never mind that McCain can't tell the difference between the sects in Iraq, the conflict that he is centering his campaign around.  It is much worse that Obama said "uncle" when he meant "great-uncle" and said "Auschwitz" when he meant "Buchenwald."

And how does Obama respond to this nonsense?  Does he dismiss it for the garbage that it is?  No.  Does he remind the world that McCain has no serious plans for ending the war and suggested that staying in Iraq for a 100 years would be fine?  No.  Does he mention what McCain's visits have been like, or that he doesn't even understand the basic sectarian splits in the region?  No.

Instead he plays right along with the line of BS:

Sen. Barack Obama said Thursday that he might visit U.S. forces in Iraq sometime this summer, but declined Sen. John McCain’s invitation to travel to the war zone together, calling the idea a “political stunt.”

Obama told the New York Times that his campaign was considering a foreign trip after he secures the Democratic presidential nomination, which he foresees happening by next week.

“Iraq would obviously be at the top of the list of stops,” he said.

Look the fact is that McCain is way out of step with a vast majority of Americans.  Obama should remind them of that, and point out that while McCain wastes his time in Iraq on PR stunts, he has been here talking to the American people about the issues that they care about.

Sadly, I'm not holding my breath on this one folks. 

tags: iraq  mccain  obama  sunni  shia  lies  

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