Web Search powered by YAHOO! SEARCH
share
email
print
font size
options
 
Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Heh. More here.

Of course, it always helps to get good press coverage with headlines like this: "McCain Will Be in Lehigh Valley Today -- But Where?"

Unrelated...no blood in ants.

This is an open thread -- that means you guys can talk about whatever you want for the whole day. I'm writing a book. Stop annoying me. :-) 


Posted by Will Bunch @ 10:00 AM  Permalink | 65 comments
Comments   
Comment removed.
Posted 10:26 AM, 07/23/2008
SteveMG
Where's Joe Lieberman when you need him?
Posted 10:32 AM, 07/23/2008
Ramon
At least the NY Times has stopped pretending that they don't care who wins the election and embraced their role as Obama's campaign paper. It's kinda refreshing, this honestly.
Posted 10:55 AM, 07/23/2008
jmc
Will, why don't you examine Obama's claims that he believes things are better in Iraq but he still would not have supported the surge. I mean, talk about a disconnect. Doesn't he know that he will be asked about the surge in every debate. He's gonna get hammered on this. Why doesn't he just admit he was wrong? Oh I forgot, he's a liberal.
Posted 11:08 AM, 07/23/2008
Molly
Why does the home page of Philly.com show all Eagles and no Phillies stories after a win like last night. It's training camp b.s. while there is a first place showdown with an awesome result. Any body know a good editor? Hey Will- any brains in ants?
Comment removed.
Posted 11:08 AM, 07/23/2008
Politburo
How exactly is that a disconnect? That things are better now doesn't change the facts that existed in January 2007. Obama's statement is really no different from the people who say they would still have voted for Iraq, even knowing now about the intelligence failures, the lack of WMD, the mess that's been created, etc.
Posted 11:11 AM, 07/23/2008
SteveMG
Let McCain try to hammer him in the debate. This is what's going to happen. McCain will get his history lesson thrown right back in his face because the awakening had nothing to do with the surge, and ultimately all the surge has done is to prop up a pro-Iranian puppet government. You're always quick to forget that the good old USA is supposed to be the benificiery of operations, not the Iraqis. It's ironic that to win an election, you are the ones willing to hand Iraq to Iran on a silver platter.
Posted 11:18 AM, 07/23/2008
bon
Politburo: That is not the same thing. Not at all. Obama is saying that making Iraq stable was not worth an extra 2 years of our effort. He is saying that, even knowing the surge would lead to victory, he would choose defeat. Because, according to his own muddled, confused answer, he had to oppose Bush's policies, even if they would work. (This is why McCain rightly points out that Obama would rather win an election than win the war in Iraq.) Someone who thinks deposing a genocidal, destabilizing dictator in the heart of the middle east was a good idea is not making any such odd logical leap. They simply think the WMD were a supplemental reason to an already justified war.
Posted 11:22 AM, 07/23/2008
bon
SteveMG: That is simply not true. Not at all. The awakening began in 2006, but it did not flourish until 2007 when two additional "surge" brigades were sent to protect the Sunni who wanted to fight AQI. McCain is 100% right, without the surge, the awakening would have been smothered in the crib. ----- You keep repeating the "Iranian puppet government" line. It remains incorrect (and I am pretty sure you know that at this point). If the Iraqi government is an Iranian puppet, whya re they fighting and dying to rid their country of Iranian-backed militias? Iraq will be a stable, independent, democrat ally in the war against terror. No matter how much you repeat the same fallacy.
Posted 11:26 AM, 07/23/2008
Politburo
bon: I can't say I'm surprised that you disagree.. However, you're once again drawing conclusions that are unsupported by reason and logic. First off, you are basing your argument on a false choice, specifically that the surge was the only viable option at the time. Obama's response specifically mentioned his alternate plan that existed in Jan 2007. Obama specifically said that we have no way of knowing what would have happened had the Obama plan was implemented instead of the surge. Obama did specifically state "What I can say is that there is no doubt that our US troops have contributed to a reduction in violence in Iraq."
Posted 11:27 AM, 07/23/2008
SteveMG
It was Iran who got Sadr to order a cease fire after Maliki's offensive fell flat on its face.
Posted 11:30 AM, 07/23/2008
Politburo
bon: You're spinning for McCain, but you should really read his statement first, cause you're losing what little credibility you have left. He said "[The surge] began the Anbar Awakening". He didn't say it accelerated the Awakening, he didn't say it helped the Awakening, he said it BEGAN the awakening. And yet you readily admit that the awakening actually began in 2006. Keep spinning.
Posted 11:40 AM, 07/23/2008
bon
Politburo: It did not the surge "accelerated" it. Indeed, the awakening, despite having gone on for months, had not gotten any traction or had any results. It did not really begin until those two additional surge brigades were added to protect the Sunni groups who wanted to fight AQI. The number of people involved directly in the movement skyrocketed and AQI was suddenly on the run. The statement makes sense and is factually correct, even if you want to quibble with when a movement "begins". ----- Do you think quoting Kieth Olberman's take on foreign policy is something different than "spin"? When you are finished denigrating what I have to say perhaps you will actually address what I said? :)
Posted 11:45 AM, 07/23/2008
bon
SteveMG: You are asserting debunked facts. Maliki's offensive was initially reported as a failure, but those early reports were wrong. The Iraqi military took over Sadr's strongholds easily and Sadr was forced into a ceasefire because he was being overrun. Iran is pulling Sadr's strings, and the Iraqi military has badly defeated him and disarmed his forces. This is a prime example of the Iraqis fighting Iranian influence in their country. There is nothing puppety about that. (Iraq is a regional superpower. So long as we stay long enough to allow them to build up an air force, they do not need to bow to anyone.)
About Will Bunch
Will's book: Learn about it here and purchase it here.

Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.

E-mail Will by clicking here.

PLEASE COMMENT WITH PASSION...

...but not with racial slurs, potentially libelous allegations, obscenities or other juvenile noise. Such comments will, at our discretion, be deleted in their entirety, and repeat offenders will be blocked from commenting. ALSO: Any commenter advocating killing any government official will be immediately banned.

Thanks.

Blog Roll
Philly/National
 
Atrios
 
Kiko's House
 
Suburban Guerilla
 
Booman Tribune
 
All-Spin Zone
 
Philly (Dragonballyee)
 
Afro-Netizen
 
Rowhouse Logic
 
MyDD
 
Bad Attitudes
 
Billmon
 
iFlipFlop
 
CorrenteWire
 
upyernoz
 
Tattered Coat
 
Fables of the Reconstruction
 
Slacktivist
Philly
 
Citizen Mom
 
The Next Mayor
 
Philly Future
 
Philadelphia Will Do
 
Philebrity
 
Young Philly Politics
 
Phillyblog
 
Welcome to Phillyville
 
Phawker
 
A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago
 
Keystone Blog
 
Philadelphia - America's Hometown
 
BlankBaby
 
Above Average Jane
 
Phillyist
 
Metroblogging Philadelphia
 
The Clog
Politics
 
Josh Marshall
 
Daily Kos
 
Juan Cole
 
Oliver Willis
 
Andy Borowitz
 
War and Piece
 
Wonkette
 
BuzzFlash
 
Raw Story
 
Cursor
 
Crooks and Liars
 
Swing State Project
 
Kevin Drum
 
Talk Left
 
AmericaBlog
 
Hullabaloo
 
Mad Kane
 
Think Progress
 
Jesus' General
 
The Carpetbagger Report
 
Majikthise
 
Echidne of the Snakes
 
David Sirota
 
Glenn Greenwald
 
TBogg
 
Fire Dog Lake
 
Taylor Marsh
 
Matthew Yglesias
 
Jon Swift
 
Drudge Report
Sports
 
Beer Leaguer
 
The 700 Level
 
Dick Polman
 
Balls, Sticks and Stuff
 
Shallow Center
 
Philling Station
 
Phillies Nation
 
A Citizen's Blog
 
The Good Phight
Media
 
Romenesko
 
Editor and Publisher
 
Pressthink
 
Buzzmachine
 
The Inksniffer
 
Media Bloodhound
 
Eat the Press
 
Mickey Kaus
 
Media (Huffington Post)
If you must
 
Blinq
 
The Corner
 
Instapundit
 
Andrew Sullivan
 
Free Republic
 
James Taranto
 
Blonde Sagacity
 
ScrappleFace
 
Blogorrhea