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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"The Rush to Demonize Sgt. Bergdahl" By THE EDITORIAL BOARD at the NY Times
The Rush to Demonize Sgt. BergdahlBy THE EDITORIAL BOARD at the NY Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/06/opinion/demonizing-sergeant-bergdahl.html?_r=0
"SNIP.....................
But the instant the Obama administration actually made that trade, Mr. McCain, as he has so often in the past, switched positions for maximum political advantage. I would not have made this deal, he said a few days ago. Suddenly the prisoner exchange is troubling and poses a great threat to service members. Hearings must be held, he said, and sharp questions asked.
This hypocrisy now pervades the Republican Party and the conservative movement, and has even infected several fearful Democrats. When they could use Sergeant Bergdahls captivity as a cudgel against the administration, they eagerly did so, loudly and in great numbers. And the moment they could use his release to make President Obama look weak on terrorism or simply incompetent, they reversed direction without a moments hesitation to jump aboard the new bandwagon.
The last few days have made clearer than ever that there is no action the Obama administration can take not even the release of a possibly troubled American soldier from captivity that cannot be used for political purposes by his opponents.
Though we criticized the administration for ignoring the law in not informing Congress of the transfer of the Taliban detainees 30 days in advance, leave it to Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and other hyperventilators to claim that continued release of prisoners from Guantánamo without prior notice is now considered an impeachable offense, a ludicrous leap.
.....................SNIP"
Uncle Joe
(58,111 posts)Thanks for the thread, applegrove.
applegrove
(118,012 posts)Uncle Joe
(58,111 posts)Rosa Luxemburg
(28,627 posts)alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)Even here. A lot of posters have plenty to be ashamed of. What a disgraceful performance.
BlancheSplanchnik
(20,219 posts)Neither will they.
Helluva bandwagon to jump on.
Yecch.
4now
(1,596 posts)That Dems would jump on the bandwagon and attack an American POW. How some people live with themselves is beyond me.
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)I won't name names, but what a joke they've made of themselves. Even the smart ones resorted to pathetic insinuations. What a disgusting pack of assholes.
sulphurdunn
(6,891 posts)Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)C_U_L8R
(44,891 posts)when McCain makes a total jackass of himself and his party.
I don't think they are scoring any points with anyone but
rightwing rubes, racists, dolts, and dickheads.
Iwillnevergiveup
(9,298 posts)could be an excellent title for your new book!
MADem
(135,425 posts)That IS what this is all about.
Make no mistake.
alcibiades_mystery
(36,437 posts)They should very well be pissed. They should shitcan the reporter and out the source and announce both prominently to their readers, to whom ther have done a great disservice. A printed apology to Sergeant Bergdahl and family would useful as well.
MADem
(135,425 posts)It's either someone inside the Five Sided Farm with access to investigatory materials, or it is someone on the HASC or SASC, or one of the senior aides to one of the principals on those committees.
And...if the latter, it's a Republican. Make no mistake.
SunSeeker
(51,367 posts)If you lie to a reporter, you assume the risk of becoming the story. You are not a source, you are a propagandist.
murielm99
(30,656 posts)when Bin Laden was taken out. They did not have a unified response that worked, or that could be used to blame Obama when Bin Laden was killed.
They probably had secret meetings to decide on a strategy for the next time Obama came up with something good or startling concerning the wars in that part of the world.
Cha
(295,899 posts)flash of flames with failed gov palin.. isn't it?!
liberalmuse
(18,670 posts)how to address this insanity anymore. These people are becoming more and more unhinged.
CrispyQ
(36,225 posts)And crickets from the "news" media on the hypocrisy. They should put McCain front & center & call him out on his complete 180 on this issue. There is not one ounce of integrity among all of them. Worthless pieces of shit, all of them.
barbtries
(28,702 posts)nobody ever mentions the hypocrisy.
i keep remembering when bush insisted he was not letting rumsfeld go, then the election came up and rumsfeld was out just like that. at a press conference he was asked why he had lied, and he just shrugged and said it was an election. nobody called him on it. honesty is not even considered a virtue anymore, i guess. hypocrisy, yawn.
tallahasseedem
(6,716 posts)every time I think they can't go any lower, they do.
Hekate
(90,189 posts)mountain grammy
(26,568 posts)It's time to name names and call out all the "hyperventilators."
defacto7
(13,485 posts)vlakitti
(401 posts)actually agreeing with the NYTimes editorial board on something? Oh the embarrassment! These are the people I used to think were the "centrist" wing of the establishment selling us a line of hooey and now I think they're right?
I think they are starting to get that the "conservative" movement has moved into its own private bedlam and they can no longer show any support for its lunacy. Overall, a good thing.
SunSeeker
(51,367 posts)Skittles
(152,964 posts)they ALWAYS find a way to be even more scummier
tomp
(9,512 posts)...to show a difference between themselves and the dems. the further right the dems move the further right the repubs move. and it all serves the rich.
CJCRANE
(18,184 posts)Iliyah
(25,111 posts)CNN is still on the bandwagon of calling him a deserter which tone mimics the Time Mag cover. I suppose now a soldier if caught will have to wonder if he or she is "worth it".
Scarsdale
(9,426 posts)I doubt if the powers that be think ANY of these young people in the service are worth it. Cannon fodder, from day 1. I would not encourage any young relative of mine to enlist, and I have had two husbands serve, one army one air force. When people such as W and 5 deferrment Cheney start useless wars, let them send their own family members into battle. By the way, didn't McCain's VP nominee "desert" her position as Alaska's governor? She did the state a huge favor, and avoided prosecution, but that's beside the point. Since her abdication she has not shut her big flapping yaw about the Obama administration.
Pathwalker
(6,596 posts)stuartsdesk1
(85 posts)A lot is being said about Obama violating a law that demands he give 30 days
notice to congress before releasing any Guantanamo detainees.
It's even theorized that his release of 5 detainees in exchange for an American POW
is an impeachable offense (just wait 'till the GOP gets control of the senate in 2015
and calls for impeachment - so they're hoping).
But two nights ago on NPR an astute commentator raised the possibility that the
law itself is ILLEGAL - i.e. UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
Since the president is commander in chief and has total control of the armed forces
and must do what is necessary to protect and even retrieve his soldiers from enemy hands,
this sounds like a good bet to me.
If the Republicans continue to push this line of reasoning the matter may well reach
the Supreme Court. Then it will be open to public scrutiny and logical judgment.
Which is probably more than I should ever hope for from the Court itself -
For a slightly different take on the Bergdahl affair and other shenanigans of the right wing
please view this contributor's original cartoons on
http://stuartsdesk.com
Check out "Tea Party Tales" and "Oldies But Goodies" (featuring Paul Ryan's craziness) by clicking at upper left
of home page.
perdita9
(1,142 posts)I was beginning to think all editors were idiots who would swallow whatever the GOP spewed out
erronis
(14,944 posts)Be prepared to outbid the Kuchs.
usafvet65
(46 posts)"being a McCain" or "that's a McCainion statement". Lets alter for ever the name McCain to mean a hypocritical lair.
Join me lets make him regret the loss of his "good" name.
hopemountain
(3,919 posts)watched mccain defend his hypocrisy awhile ago. he is a stupid, bitter old man.
mazzarro
(3,450 posts)My suggestions are "McCainist" - a hypocrite; and "McCainism" - hypocrisy.
riqster
(13,986 posts)Ilsa
(61,675 posts)Phil Gramm was a senator from Texas that would oppose pork or just any project funding in Texas. It would pass, and when the project would have its grand opening, he'd be there to take credit for getting the federal money.
Rofl
shireen
(8,333 posts)I wonder if the concerns about Bergdahl's father's long beard should be extended to those guys in Duck Dynasty.
maddiemom
(5,106 posts)Mr. Bergdahl wrapped a scarf around his head and carried a duck, conservatives would love his beard.
applegrove
(118,012 posts)libodem
(19,288 posts)In a hundred years. They will eventually be exposed as the asses they actually are. Dumb asses.
This whole war has been a ridiculous exhibition of callous cruelty. An exercise in exploitation of a sovereign nation, for opium and minerals. We are leaving it more corrupt and a worse Hell hole than ever for the women and children.
You can't put enough lipstick on this pig.
abakan
(1,815 posts)But why can't it happen in our lifetime? What makes us so powerless to stop them now? And will we ever be be powerful enough to keep them from rewriting history the same way they have made a saint of ronny raygun?
Cosmocat
(14,543 posts)the further we get away from Reagen the less people remember him as a senile clown show who cut and ran from Beurit only to attack some island country I can't even remember the name of now and the Iran Contra debacle ... All we have left is everything on the planet republicans can name after him, how he single handedly took down the soviet union and is on par with Washington and Lincoln with the great presidents.
Sorry ... They scream bloody loud and bloody relentlessly and meld reality to what the want it to be.
bigmonkey
(1,798 posts)That was the name of the place Reagan invaded. Quoting the Wikipedia entry:
"...the invasion began early on 25 October 1983, just two days and several hours after the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut (early 23 October Beirut time)."
Ecumenist
(6,086 posts)and I have been telling the "ingnant yung'uns" about what raygun was REALLY like. When I show them ACTUAL news stories from SEVERAL different papers. they end up walking on their bottom lips. They're SHOCKED that they've been lied to.....so BADLY. I'm doing it ONE CHILD at a time.
myrna minx
(22,772 posts)Scurrilous
(38,687 posts)Boomerproud
(7,889 posts)They've even demonized his father. They have never had any shame. Remember how O'Reilly treated the son of a victim of 9/11 because he wouldn't follow the narrative of that horrific day being a Conservative Holy Day?
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)Zen Democrat
(5,901 posts)Ecumenist
(6,086 posts)date
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)riverwalker
(8,694 posts)Josh Korder, a former Army sergeant from Minnesota who served with Bowe Bergdahl, signed a non-disclosure agreement, and admits he may be in violation of that by speaking out. He also left the service with an other than honorable discharge.
Jake Tapper et al in the future, try vetting your "sources". You let Richard Grenell, GOP operative peddle these guys to the media and let them create the narrative (Rove style). You let them repeat things that have now been found to have no basis in truth.
Overseas
(12,121 posts)Response to applegrove (Original post)
blkmusclmachine This message was self-deleted by its author.
certainot
(9,090 posts)Hubert Flottz
(37,726 posts)I refuse to believe that Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill are also "Terra-ists." (unless you're somebody like John McCain, or his smarmy boyfriend, Lindsey Graham)