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Is McCain Lying, Stupid or Both?
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Also in Election 2008
Obama Expands on Economic Plan, Emphasizes 'J-O-B-S'
Steve Benen Washington Monthly
McCain Makes the Case Against Himself
Faiz Shakir Think Progress
TONIGHT: Incredible Iraq Documentary 'Section 60'
Staff AlterNet
One day after Joe Lieberman corrected him in public for once again stating his oft-repeated false claim that Iran, a majority Shiite country, was supplying the mostly Sunni militant group, al-Qaeda, McCain unbelievably repeated the false claim again:
For the third time in two days, the Arizona Republican has pushed the definitively false statement that the terrorist group Al-Qaeda was getting assistance from Iran, even though he was publicly ridiculed for the same false assertion on Tuesday.
This time, in a statement from his campaign honoring the fifth year anniversary of the war, McCain wrote:
"Today in Iraq, America and our allies stand on the precipice of winning a major victory against radical Islamic extremism. The security gains over the past year have been dramatic and undeniable. Al Qaeda and Shia extremists -- with support from external powers such as Iran -- are on the run but not defeated."
On Tuesday, the senator, appearing in Israel, made a nearly identical assertion that al-Qaeda was leaving Iraq to retool and regroup in Iran.
[...]
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who was accompanying McCain on the trip, was forced to lean over and whisper in McCain's ear that it was Shiite extremists, not Sunni al-Qaeda, that was going to predominantly Shiite Iran.
So he's still repeating a spiel he knows -- and has been told, in public yet -- is wrong.
There are three possible explanations:
1) He is knowingly and deliberately telling an untruth -- that's known as lying, for you rib-stuffed members of the press corps who have trouble seeing the many flaws in Mister Not-So-Straight-Talk.
2) He is dumber than paint and/or has debilitatingly severe memory-loss issues to go with his known anger-management problem.
3) Both of the above.
Honestly, that last one seems to fit best the known facts. Which makes it all the more amazing -- and sickening -- to see America's press corps covering for him.
Tagged as: iran, iraq, lieberman, terrorism, sunni, shia, al qaeda, mccain
Phoenix Woman is a regular blogger for FireDogLake
| Also in Election 2008 | |||
| Obama Expands on Economic Plan, Emphasizes 'J-O-B-S' Obama struck an optimistic yet pragmatic tone in a policy speech on the economy today. Post by Steve Benen. October 13, 2008. |
McCain Makes the Case Against Himself Next President "won’t have the luxury of studying up on the issues." Post by Faiz Shakir. October 13, 2008. |
TONIGHT: Incredible Iraq Documentary 'Section 60' Filmmakers Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill's latest doc will air tonight on HBO at 9pm (EST). Post by Staff. October 13, 2008. |
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