"His [McBush's] Grandiosity on Display" or "When huge stakes meet a small campaign"

[ProSense]

His Grandiosity on Display

08.15.08 -- 11:59AM
By Josh Marshall

John McCain says: "My friends, we have reached a crisis, the first probably serious crisis internationally since the end of the Cold War. This is an act of aggression."

Let's run-down the list. Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, followed by the US expulsion of Iraq from Kuwait. Collapse of Yugoslavia and subsequent wars of aggression between successor states. US invasion of Afghanistan. US invasion of Iraq. There are a slew of other examples of serious international crises over last 16-18 years.

One of the great threats we face is the personal sense of grandiosity of the lead foreign hands who shape the course of our role in the world. Not national grandiosity, but personal grandiosity. Because if you're a foreign policy hand or political leader your own quest for greatness is constrained by whether or not you live in times of grand historical events.

There's a lot of this nonsense floating around today by pampered commentators who want to find a new world historical conflict to write bracing commentary about before we're done with the one from last week. But John McCain might be president in six months. And whether it's his own shaky judgment, temperament or just the desire to find a campaign issue, this loose cannon is a real threat to this country.

When huge stakes meet a small campaign

Posted August 15th, 2008 at 1:20 pm

Way back in April, which seems like a surprisingly long time ago, Atrios had a prediction: “This election is going to be much much stupider than the last time. Last time much of the stupid was at least nominally about serious issues, this time it’s just all about the stupid.”

The last four months have made this prediction look pretty good.

<...>

I not only think this was (and is) right, I think it points to a deliberate strategy. The bigger the election, the more likely an Obama victory, because on the biggest issues — the strength of our economy, the intelligence of our foreign policy, the sanity of our environmental policies, the sensibility of our judiciary, the condition of our healthcare system — Obama is clearly, obviously, transparently right and McCain is wrong.

<...>

This may sound like cheerleading, but all available evidence suggests Obama really wants to have good-faith discussions about the major challenges facing our future. Accordingly, he’s offered pretty detailed prescriptions in every major policy area. I wouldn’t go so far as to say Obama’s pitch has been pander-free, but by modern standards, he’s been setting the curve on substantive, high-minded campaigning.

And have we heard from McCain? When he’s not describing his own beliefs in vague generalities, he and his campaign are talking up celebrities (Britney Spears, Paris Hilton), tire gauges, and arugula. Today, the McCain campaign — I’m not making this up — even went after Obama for taking his shirt off on a beach. Trivial nonsense stacked on top of trivial nonsense.

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[TwilightGardener]

1. Agree with Josh Marshall--McLoosecannon is itching to create an aura

of immediate and historic world peril, and only HE, Mighty SuperMcCain, can save us!!! He is truly desperate to create a new and more dangerous conflict than even the Middle East can provide--because Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan apparently aren't proving frightening enough to scare people away from Obama and towards him. How can he be the international wartime leader/hero that he's always wanted to be if the world is not yet on fire? Fucking delusions of grandeur.

[Overseas]

2. Will this latest series of dumb statements by JSM III wake the media up.

I hope they have finally been appalled by his idiocy and read this every day before they go on to do their news chat shows. Surely now they can wake up and be honest about the dangerous Johnny McBombBomb following the footsteps of his Hug-Buddy Dubya and Cheney's Thugs. Surely now they can't pretend JSM III has the better foreign policy knowledge. So I'm re-pasting the Josh Marshall clips you already posted just for emphasis.

John McCain says: "My friends, we have reached a crisis, the first probably serious crisis internationally since the end of the Cold War. This is an act of aggression."

Let's run-down the list. Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, followed by the US expulsion of Iraq from Kuwait. Collapse of Yugoslavia and subsequent wars of aggression between successor states. US invasion of Afghanistan. US invasion of Iraq. There are a slew of other examples of serious international crises over last 16-18 years.

This one and then the "We are all Georgians," comment that was totally inappropriate to the situation. Maybe some of us are Ossetians.

[ProSense]

3. McCain's free ride. n/t

[Island Blue]

4. K & R. What a pathetic little man. n/t