22
Aug
11

“an interesting man”

By Chipsticks 74 Comments
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From April 2011 – See the original video at Business Insider

Steve Benen: Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham issued a joint statement last night on the developments in Libya … Remember hearing about the “blame America first” crowd? Well, say hello to the “thank America last” crowd.

McCain and Graham “commend” everyone except the United States military, and then, even while applauding the developments, take yet another shot at the Obama administration. These two just can’t bring themselves put aside petty partisan sniping, even when they’re thrilled by the fall of a dictator.

….. When the fear of Obama getting some credit for success is stronger than the satisfaction that comes with a tyrant’s fall, there’s a problem.

…. the fact of the matter is, the efforts of U.S. forces in are being cited as “a major factor in helping to tilt the balance after months of steady erosion of Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s military.”

…. if McCain and Graham really want to complain about why “this success was so long in coming,” maybe they can talk more about their trip to Tripoli two years ago, when both cozied up to Gaddafi, even visiting with him at the dictator’s home, discussing delivery of American military equipment to the Libyan regime. Both senators shook Gaddafi’s hand; McCain even bowed a little.

I’m curious if McCain and Graham have simply forgotten about this, or if they’re just hoping everyone else has.

Full post here

Politics Daily (August 2009): Sen. John McCain, visiting Libya this past week, praised Muammar Gaddafi for his peacemaking efforts in Africa. In addition, McCain called for the U.S. Congress to expand ties with Gaddafi’s government, according to Libya’s state news agency. McCain had a face-to-face meeting with Gaddafi, which he detailed on his Twitter page with the following message:

“Late evening with Col. Qadhafi at his “ranch” in Libya – interesting meeting with an interesting man.”

Earlier post on McCain and Gaddafi here

****

Wow, the President’s opponents have such fine judgment, eh?

74 Responses to ““an interesting man””

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  1. 1 meta
    August 22, 2011 at 10:35 am

    McCain and Graham make my skin crawl. They hate that PBO is cautious and that he pursued a multi-lateral approach. Sounds like they’d be happier with more US casualties. Republican presidential candidates were in favor of doing NOTHING but you don’t hear them criticizing that move. UGH.

    • 2 Hachikō
      August 22, 2011 at 11:31 am

      John McCain is a bitter, spiteful, old man with an entitlement complex. He makes my skin crawl.

      His twitter handle is @SenJohnMcCain. I’ve tweeted him to let him know what I think about his disgusting “statement.” You should give him a piece of your mind, too.

  2. 3 conlakappa
    August 22, 2011 at 10:35 am

    Aw, did The Mack Daddy make some of his secret-recipe grilled chicken for Mu? These guys sound ridiculous and bitter. Are they talking as the men who would be President and Secretary of State? We have news for you, boys: you lost. Now show a modicum of class.

  3. 4 zizi
    August 22, 2011 at 10:40 am

    They are not the only ones denying PBO any credit. I posted this comment in aarujo’s diary today on Dkos when someone quoted Juan Cole’s denial of PBO any credit

    To Juan Cole & others witholding credit to PBO (0+ / 0-)

    I truly get sick of the same brigade of critics who never hesitate to blame President Obama for even the most tangential problem, but rush to deny him any and all credit for his successes. No one is claiming that PBO took a bazooka and led the Arab spring. The critics denying him his credit fall into the SAME trap of a warped US EXCEPTIONALISM mindset that only sees US leadership in terms of charging at the FRONT of the cavalry. These critics CANNOT imagine any other kind of leadership style, much less nuance and subtlety.

    PBO’s unmistakable foreign policy posture and statements made it clear that the US will at a minimum NOT STAND IN THE WAY of the Middle Eastern/North African peoples’ ASPIRATIONS for freedom!!!

    Were that not the case and critics think the past 6 months events would have been possible REGARDLESS of US policy, we simply need to ask WHY this did not happen sooner? People forget that the US previously supported these dictators STEADFASTLY. George Bush went so far as to coddle Gadhafi in he service of US oil companies very recently, Pan Am 103 victims be damned. President Obama inherited that same foreign policy legacy of coddling Middle Eastern dictators, but he told them in their face in Cairo that they will be judged by their own people for WHAT they build NOT what they destroy.

    To say that PBO’s Cairo speech was not a watershed moment is to be dishonest. What the people HEARD was a clear signal that the COAST was CLEAR to follow through with their aspirations; that the US will not ACTIVELY harm them or SNUFF out their efforts. That is HOW people get EMPOWERED to do for themselves what they desire the most. That is hugely important considering their prior fear of US siding with their brutalizers.

    No one can take these people-generated successes away from the people who fought their battles themselves, and no one can take the kudos due PBO for ENABLING people to EMPOWER themselves. It is as clear as daylight.

    –“What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them.” — Pres. Obama (1/20/2009)</em.

  4. 7 StR
    August 22, 2011 at 10:42 am

    I dug up this tweet and retweeted it – Ha!

  5. 8 57andFemale
    August 22, 2011 at 10:43 am

    Treason. What else do you call it? I know we can be critical of the misuse of that potent word but I thought long and hard before posting this comment. They. Are. Traitors.

    When they would rather harm the U.S. President who has done more to topple dictators and bring justice to our enemies than any President since FDR, we have a serious problem in this country. Extremely, dangerously serious.

    John McCain, Lindsay Graham, you are traitors. You set up the American people to not pull together with this President when the nation is at risk. You do it willfully, knowingly, and you don’t care about the country more than you care about petty politics.

    Same for Maxine Waters and her ilk. You would rather have a fighting loser than an effective winner. You willfully throw rhetoric around that will give us a far right Supreme court for the next two generations and a court stacked with political Republican hacks, who are the gatekeepers of what even gets to the Supreme Court. You prefer the end to the EPA, the end of workers’ rights, destruction of our safety and environment and safety net. Yeah, right, you’d cheer the fighting loser. My ass, you would. You are traitors when you’d rather score cheap political points than help this country celebrate progress and work for more.

    I’m obviously in quite a mood today, but I’ve had it. Only Pres. Obama couldn’t go up to 90% approval for killing bin Laden, but got a mere 10-point bump. How dare you all take my tax dollars to pay your salary and willfully do harm to the country I love. Fuck you all, you traitors.

  6. 12 FiredUpInCA
    August 22, 2011 at 10:45 am

    “Speaking on Fox News just days before Mubarak was forced to resign, McCain described the popular movements in the Arab world as a “virus.”

    Sen. John McCain: “This virus is spreading throughout the Middle East. The president of Yemen, as you know, just made the announcement that he wasn’t running again. This, I would argue, is probably the most dangerous period of history in—of our entire involvement in the Middle East, at least in modern times.”

    http://www.democracynow.org/2011/2/28/headlines

    Of course after Mubarak resigned, he and Joe Lieberman were the first congressional delegation on the scene:

    “Sen. John McCain: “This revolution is a repudiation of al-Qaeda. This revolution has shown the people of the world, not just in the Arab world, that peaceful change can come about and violence and extremism is not required in order to achieve democracy and freedom.”

    Clearly, Palin was not the only unqualified person on the McCain/Palin ticket.

  7. 13 Ladyhawke
    August 22, 2011 at 10:56 am

    McCAIN CAN’T STAND THE FACT THAT HE WAS BEATEN BY OBAMA. AT A RECENT MEETING, SAYS A WHITE HOUSE AIDE, “HE WOULD NOT LOOK AT THE PRESIDENT.”

    ====================================

    The above comment tells you all you need to know about Senator John McCain and his deep hatred for President Obama. It is from a revealing and scathing article by Todd Purdum of Vanity Fair in November 2010 entitled “THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS”. The subtitle is: Desperate to keep his Senate seat, John McCain repudiated his record, his principles, and even his maverick reputation, entrenching himself as the anti-Obama. Which raises the issue of whether the leader so many Americans admired—and so many journalists covered—ever truly existed.

    It really is pathetic to see this angry and bitter man given so much deference by the feckless media. They hold him up as their go to guy for anything that happens because they know he will never have anything positive to say about President Obama. His hatred for President Obama is palpable. And this is the guy who lectured us all about putting “COUNTRY FIRST”. How he looks at himself in the mirror is a mystery to me.

    ====================================

    http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2010/11/mccain-201011#gotopage1

  8. 14 utaustinliberal
    August 22, 2011 at 11:00 am

    Great Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum rush to the podium to speak out of their behinds. Thank goodness McCain isn’t President. We’d probably be engaged in multiple wars with multiple nations. They’re both buffoons and Liberman can definitely be added to the list.

    • 15 hopefruit2
      August 22, 2011 at 11:40 am

      Yes. And tell McCain, Graham and Lieberman that I said go to hell!

      • 16 majii
        August 22, 2011 at 12:50 pm

        Kucinich, too. That rat weasel published an op-ed in The Guardian today slamming NATO and spewing some mess about working “to seriously bring about a negotiated end to this war.” Where has this tool been? The Libyan people don’t want to negotiate anything with Qaddafi–they want him gone, like six months ago! He has gotten on my LAST nerve with this mess. I’m glad he might lose his seat to redistricting. Good riddance to another attention-seeking nut wasting taxpayers’ money in Congress.

        http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/aug/21/libya-nato-intervention-gaddafi

    • 17 Debz
      August 22, 2011 at 12:23 pm

      The people of Libya fighting for their freedom, the three stooges think it would have been a good idea to drop bombs on the heads of those freedom fighters. There are no words other than thank God that old coot isn’t President!!!

  9. 18 sherijr
    August 22, 2011 at 11:02 am

    John McCain- continuously proving to America what crappy judgment he has… he would have been the end of this country imo.

  10. 23 Bill
    August 22, 2011 at 11:07 am

    It was not mentioned but Senator Susan Collins was along on the visit with the Three Amigos.. Wonder what her function was?

  11. 24 prettyfoot58
    August 22, 2011 at 11:08 am

    · Comment from the comment section of Steve Benen’s article
    · The “Thank America Last” Crowd
    ·
    ·
    · EM on August 22, 2011 8:51 AM:
    I’m reading the NY Daily News this morning, and there is literally no mention of Obama bombing Libya, and putting together the NATO coalition that imposed the No-Fly Zone. None. It’s as if the U.S and Obama had nothing to do with it. It’s as if it never happened.
    And this is the same paper that was bitching like crazy when we did intervene. Just bizarre.
    So, Obama deftly nudged Mubarak out, put a bullet in Bin Laden’s head, and now Quadaffi is gone, without a single American casualty. This guy clearly has no clue what he’s doing

  12. 29 Me4obama
    August 22, 2011 at 11:08 am

    These three idiots will be put in their place when My President comes out to accept his award for yet another VICTORY.

  13. 30 gd4pbo
    August 22, 2011 at 11:09 am

    Conveniently forgetting again I see. Thank God McBombIran isn’t president.

  14. 31 Me4obama
    August 22, 2011 at 11:15 am

    It pains me to see the MEDIA not mentioning PBO’s name now yet last month they had Kucinich on all cable channels threatening to IMPEACH Obama for Saving the coperations of Libya. Shame on them and am going to blast them on Twitter until my fingers bleed. I hope Lawrence comes through tonight and rev Al.

  15. 32 yardarm756
    August 22, 2011 at 11:17 am

    McCain is lower than whale shit imho!

  17. 34 Sue in Minnesota
    August 22, 2011 at 11:21 am

    Were they not such reliable instigators of bitterness and division, I would simply refer to them as the “Three Stooges.” But McCain, Lieberman and Graham give me no reason to laugh. I especially disdain McCain for the havoc he wrought upon America by inserting Sarah Palin into our public square. IMO, his inability to acknowledge or take responsiblity for his horrible decision and it’s consequences is enormously reflective of his lack of character and personal integrity. Country first my ass!

    • 35 Ametia
      August 22, 2011 at 11:50 am

      Holla! McCain’s daughter need to gather him and his dentures and take him to the SunnyBrook Nursing Home STAT!

      • 36 Sue in Minnesota
        August 22, 2011 at 1:00 pm

        😀 Where can I donate to that cause. Good riddance to white trash.

        I’ld love to the day his POW records are unsealed…the way he treated family members of MIA/POW in a Congressional hearing has never left my conscience. Hero…not by my definition.

  18. 37 dotster
    August 22, 2011 at 11:23 am

    OT—just sneaking in to post cape cod times accounting of the Obamas’ activities yesterday:
    http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110822/NEWS/108220315

  19. 40 StR
    August 22, 2011 at 11:23 am

    McCain seems to live in a pre-internet world where the MSM carried his water and he could stick his thumb in the wind and take the popular political stand of the day and then months or years later when the winds have changed claim that view and act like the complete oppositie view he held and championed earlier never happened.

  20. 41 bjw2
    August 22, 2011 at 11:39 am

    You just can’t make this stuff. If I was writting a book I would dismiss a plot line such as this for the reason of thinking no one would believe a plot lie this hyprocritical.

  21. 42 Linda
    August 22, 2011 at 11:40 am

    Tracy Chapman – Talkin bout a revolution

  22. 46 zizi
    August 22, 2011 at 11:42 am

    You guys have got to read this inspirational blogpost about Libya and the Arab Spring in its entirety ( http://www.black-iris.com/2011/08/22/libya-gains-its-freedom-and-the-arab-spring-enters-20/ ).Here’s the money quote:

    I could not help but hear the deafening silence of those who believed the Arab spring had already met its doom, and those who had abandoned their hope in the capabilities of average citizens. The silence of the same people who are content with the grandeurs of their status quo. The same people that have consistently demonstrated their inability to understand the value of freedom, and especially what it’s worth to people who don’t have it, and people who cannot afford it. It is thrilling to see their beliefs shaken to the core; to see them watch a people risk the certainty of the status quo for the uncertainty of something greater, and achieve it.

    So to the Arab leaders that remain in power I cannot help but point out the obvious. Not all evolution mandates revolution, but when you refuse to evolve, when you nurture an environment where your people have less and less to lose, where they are willing to risk their status quo, their fear of the unknown, and their very lives, all for an intangible aspiration – then you force a revolution. You create a situation where people are willing to gamble everything, in hopes of achieving anything; anything but this. Because anything is better than this. And all the guns, tanks, money and promises won’t be able to convince those people otherwise.

  23. 50 Me4obama
    August 22, 2011 at 11:52 am

    Corporations are people Romney, what is he saying? That opportunist Bastard. He is putting his finger in the air to see where the wind blows it. And that jerk Huntman will be on Piers Hacker Morgan Show tonight tune in because he is going to show us he can speak Chinese that’s his foreign policy credentials and he is going to play us a pianno that’s his domestic policy. Many dictators will be afraid after watching him on the show and jobs will be created in pianno lessons.

    • 51 Sue in Minnesota
      August 22, 2011 at 1:02 pm

      Wonder if they will broach the subject of how his Ambassadorship to China personally benefitted his family’s business interests.

  24. 52 Linda
    August 22, 2011 at 11:53 am

    Libya unrest: rebels advance into Tripoli.

    Interactive map on how they took Tripoli

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/aug/22/libya-middle-east-tripoli-interactive

  25. 53 Mae who love our CIC
    August 22, 2011 at 11:53 am

    McCain and others must think that the only source of getting information is by news print. He us either a blatant liar and or he is declining mentally.

    I am thankful that we have a great leader in President Obama. Another great accomplishment. May God continue to bless him and the United States of America.

  26. 54 hopefruit2
    August 22, 2011 at 11:53 am

    Hello This is Colonel Qaddafi of Libya. I’m in hiding right now, but I just wanted to let you all know that I would watch TOD everyday if I could. I have access and now that the internet in Libya has been restored, I’m very happy to be here.

    I’m on Twitter too! my handle is @ObamaisStillMyFavoriteSon

    Love & Hugs,
    Uncle ‘Daffi.

    P.S. Please tell Wolf Blizter that there are better pictures of me that he could show last night. Why choose the ugly one?

    • 55 Me4obama
      August 22, 2011 at 12:01 pm

      Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahaha LMAO @obamaisStillMyFavoriteSon 😆

    • 57 Chipsticks
      August 22, 2011 at 12:06 pm

      😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆 😆

      Sorry Colonel, you’re banned!!!!

    • 58 Me4obama
      August 22, 2011 at 12:10 pm

      Do you know I thought about it last night that Qaddafi will come out of a deep HOLE with Dust all over his face and the first words he will utter will be I want to speak to my African Son Barack Obama and tell him that I will always love him and NATO has mistreated me and wants to take my Oil blah blah blah….

    • 59 prettyfoot58
      August 22, 2011 at 2:56 pm

      lololol….mercyyyyyyyyy

  28. 64 zizi
    August 22, 2011 at 12:05 pm

    Here’s the huge poster of Libyan gratitude dubbed “The Fantastic 4” in Benghazi to Amb Susan Rice, David Cameron, Sarkozy & Pres. Obama. Take that McCain!!!
    http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/08/22/300927/photos-libyans-applaud-president-obama-and-international-allies-with-large-thank-you-sign/

    Here’s the money quote:

    At the main square in Benghazi, people have been gathering to celebrate the end of the rule of Muammar Qaddafi. As euphoric Libyan rebels advanced into Tripoli on Sunday, there were scenes of jubilation in the rebels’ de facto capital, Benghazi, where thousands celebrated in the streets. One large sign in the middle of the square in Benghazi features a picture of the “Fantastic 4” (from right to left): Obama, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister David Cameron, and U.S. Ambassador the U.N. Susan Rice. The text on the sign reads: “God Bless You All. Thanks For All.”

  29. 69 57andFemale
    August 22, 2011 at 12:28 pm

    Okay, my friends, let’s make use of this: Jennifer Donohue, A Republican strategist, just waxed poetic on MSNBC about Rick Perry being the ‘heart and soul of the Republican party’ this election cycle, how Repubicans are going to ‘vote with their hearts’ and vote for Perry and not play it safe anymore.

    If Rick Perry is the ‘heart and soul’ of Republican party, then they have no heart, they have no soul, as his record clearly indicates.

  30. 70 Linda
    August 22, 2011 at 12:28 pm

    PBO…The Smooth Operator !!!!

    • 71 hopefruit2
      August 22, 2011 at 12:34 pm

      Nice – one of my favorite “easy listening” tunes of the ’80s. 🙂 Right now in 2011 so apt…

      Thanks, Linda!

  31. 72 chiara
    August 22, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    I don’t understand how these GOP politicians got away with meeting with this man who is a brutal dictator and a sponsor of terrorism around the world. I really just don’t get it. Had Obama or any other Democrat done that same thing and then had the audacity to tweet that Gaddafi was a great partner in the “war on terror”. It’s sort of sickening.

    I just watched a man who worked for Bush come on to Tamryn Hall’s show and say it’s “understandable that the president is trying to take credit for this”…….blah blah blah…….she smacked him down pretty hard and said that we all just listened to his statement and he didn’t try to take credit for anything……..she was good. She’s now had a couple segments about how the GOP candidates and neo-cons are having a muted response to this because it really chaps their hides that he has any sort of success. One guest just cautioned that the neo-cons are going to try to distract from this success and move straight on to pushing the administration to intervene (with boots on the ground) in Syria. That is a huge losing proposition but it’s what they will go after now. God I really, really dislike the GOP

    • 73 Ametia
      August 22, 2011 at 5:00 pm

      Just who in the fuck do these folks think is PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF of these UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?

      Does the media and these clowns they are parading on camera really think that we AMERICANS are that asleep and clueless that we don’t know that PRESIDENT BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA is POTUS, and therefore is LARGE & IN CHARGE!

      LAWDY, somebody hold my earrings…

  32. 74 Ann_T
    August 22, 2011 at 10:12 pm

    Repugs just cannot stand that PBO is a very intelligent man. He utilizes strategic thinking. He is not impulsive. PBO is a true leader. McCain, Graham and the like are just full of hot air. They need to sit down and STFU!!!!


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