Ah, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, you are such a disappointment.
I remember those romantic days, when we had some hope that at last…at long, long last…we had an honest conservative. One with whom we could argue with a straight face. Who would play square with us, and disagree from a position of integrity. Someone who might bring back and honest and respectable conservative party, one that doesn’t make obscene power deals with bigots and scoundrels. One who tells the truth, at least so far as he sees it.
Well, not so much.
“Most Americans — when they are asked ‘do you want to set a date for withdraw?"
You’re lying, John. Lying. I’d love to cut you some slack, yet again, but no, its not possible. There are polls right at hand, you can read, you got staffers who can read. You gotta know this just flat isn’t true.
Imprisonment couldn’t break you, torture couldn’t break you. Ambition did you in.
You can parse it narrowly enough to make it fit. See, the kind of people who want us to cut and run, dishonoring our dead, aren’t *real * Americans anyway.
If this is directed at me, the part where the OP links the transcript to his thread so we can read for ourselves exactly what was said…instead of having it filtered through the OP’s perceptions. Is this an unreasonable request in your opinion 'luci? Are you saying no such transcript exists anywhere on the web?
Not particularly, no. I don’t know why the attitude when I asked YOU for a simple cite (that SHOULD have been in your original OP). Not like it took more than googling ‘John McCain Meet The Press August 20’.
Anyway…
I believe this is the relevent paragraph to the OP:
And from 'luci’s other cite:
As he quoted, as of 8/2-3/06, 57% presumably support a timetable, 40% presumably do not, with 4% unsure (and as noted above, its a half sample, with a MoE of plus or minus 4.5).
Sorry for the summary, just getting it all straight. Ok…so, to say that John McCain lied one would have to prove that he knew about this poll…and that he accepts it as fact. Myself, looking at the wording of the thing (and the fact that like most polls its black or white with no shades of grey allowed), I’d have to say I probably would have answered yes to a timetable too…but with a boat load of qualifiers that the poll does not allow for. So, does the poll accurately reflect the current prevailing attitude of US citizens, given that? Gods know…I sure don’t. But…the key is, does John McCain THINK it does? I’d say, probably not.
So, did he REALLY lie? Does this one statement REALLY have any bearing on his supposed ‘truthiness’, and can we make any kind of judgement reguarding it? I’d say…no. FWIW. Of course, I could legitimately be considered biased on this one, as I actually DO like John McCain and could conceivably vote for the man in the next presidental election. Not a sure thing by any means…but its possible.
Besides, McCain could always claim that he was thinking of this poll.
I agree though - it is reasonable to say that in his Meet The Press comment he was misrepresenting or overlooking the majority of recent polling data on the subject of a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.
Since the question has been asked twice over time in a CNN poll, and virtually the same question on a CBS poll (also in the OP link), and all 3 show a majority favor a timetable, abd the majority is getting larger… I’d have to agree this is proably a deliverate lie. I can’t imagine he doesn’t know this. Unless he’s insulated himself in by-invitation-only Republican “town hall meetings” like Bush.
That poll was WAY BACK in June. In those ancient days, news was circulated by carrier pigeon, and opinion always ran behind the headlines. Fortunately the Internet was built in July and we’re all caught up now.
