Right on cue, Republican whining commences on ‘100 years’ ad

April 28, 2008

It was as predictable as the sunrise. The Democratic National Committee launched a very good ad hitting John McCain — in an entirely fair and accurate way — for his comments about keeping U.S. troops in Iraq for another century. Given that whenever anyone, anywhere, mentions the words “John McCain” and “100 years” in the same sentence Republicans get apoplectic, it stood to reason that the new DNC ad would cause quite a few GOP operatives to really a blow a gasket.

And, right on cue…

The Republican National Committee wants CNN and MSNBC to stop airing the DNC’s new national television advertisement, calling it “false and defamatory” and illegally coordinated.

“This is a complaint about the facts that are being misrepresented in the ad, and this being a deliberate falsehood, that we are saying, stations have an obligation to protect the public from airing a deliberate falsehood,” said Sean Cairncross, an RNC lawyer.

The RNC provided no evidence to support their change that the communication was illegally coordinated, aside for a few newspaper articles pointing out that some Democrats work for both a candidate and the committee, like pollster Cornell Belcher. DNC chairman Howard Dean said this morning that neither campaign saw or heard the ad before the put it out.

The RNC is ginning up the threat of legal action to give weight to their criticism of the ad’s content. Cairncross would not say whether the party will sue CNN or MSNBC, the two cable networks airing the ad, if they refuse to kill it.

On the one hand, it’s just sad to see Republicans whining so vociferously and dishonestly. On the other hand, I couldn’t be more pleased.

First, the ad isn’t “illegal.” If the Republican National Committee had any evidence at all of unlawful coordination between the DNC and the Clinton or Obama campaigns, it would have backed up the bogus charge with some kind of proof. None exists, but the RNC seems to enjoy throwing around baseless charges.

Second, there is no “falsehood” in the ad, deliberate or otherwise. The DNC commercial quotes McCain directly. It relies on his own comments, the context of which does nothing to change the meaning of his remarks. He believes the United States should be prepared to leave troops in Iraq indefinitely, maybe 100 years, maybe more. He said it, he meant it, and Democrats would be insane not to tell voters about it.

The DNC was very careful in exactly how it worded the ad, precisely because it knew the RNC would make a variety of ridiculous demands. So what on earth is the RNC going to sue over? At least for now, there are no laws against running ads that make John McCain look bad.

Third, last week, when the North Carolina Republican Party wanted to run a cheap and scurrilous ad involving Jeremiah Wright, the national networks ran the ad over and over again — for free — because the commercial was ostensibly part of a national controversy. Perhaps, in the interest of balance and evenhandedness, those same networks can air the “100 years” ad over and over again, letting the public know about this controversy?

And fourth, in case you haven’t seen the ad the RNC doesn’t want you to see, here it is again:

(If, by chance, you’re just joining us and don’t know what all the fuss is about regarding McCain and his “100 years” remark, check yesterday’s post.)

The DNC isn’t going to back down on this, and the more the RNC whines incessantly, the more attention the ad should get. Stay tuned.

The DNC doesn,t make Mccain look bad , John McCain makes McCain look bad .

  • I hope the Party Against Trivial Lawsuits and Trial Lawyers™ dares to take this to court.

  • The DNC should be hitting Mcsame with an add of this type at least once/week. Hoist him and the Republicans with a rope made out of their own words and watch them sputter and flop. Sounds like great fun, to me.

  • Sorry RNC…”The moving hand having writ moves along in time…and all thy piety and all thy wit cannot call it back again to change a single line”

    He didn’t even “mis-speak”. This is what he believes. This is what he would do. Keep the security boom ($) booming for as long as possible. What’s 4000 dead compared to a trillion dollars. As Bush put it,..”Money trumps…er a…peace sometimes”.

  • Well, geez, CB…you want to hold McCain responsible for what he says and does? C’mon. This media darling should never be called to the carpet for anything. Isn’t it written in BBQ sauce somewhere?

    I mean really, if people knew what McCain said on the few occasions anyone bothers to report it, would the media have their darling?

    The man is going to sink himself if the masses ever hear anything but what a moderate, straight talking, goes against the flow kinda guy he truly is.

    Sue away, RNC. You can have a fainting party. Be sure to invite Boner, for no gooper cries as well as he does.

  • “At least for now, there are no laws against running ads that make John McCain look bad.”

    Well – of course not, none that are on the books; but what about the ones that are secret statements from Mr. Shrub II or were inserted into some Highway\commerce bill after both Senate and House voted on and approved? Mayhaps – the law was written in invisible ink – you need lemon juice and hot air to see in plain day.

  • BTW…even though the add was truthful it was still tame. It could have been a lot more dramatic showing the destruction of Iraq vs the profiteering of contractors. It’s ludicrous for the RNC to be complaining. It’s as bad as Goliath crying and pointing to David saying no fair he hit me with a rock.
    Bad DNC, it’s no fair telling the truth.

    I laughed at the idea of McCain…that’s McCain…being president. What a joke. But who else did the republicans have that was less embarrassing?

    BTW…thanks guys…I looked that McCain incident up from the links you posted and this is what I found:

    “…McCain…..Crashed 5 jets, plus was responsible for the Forrestal fire. Surviving crewmen and those who investigated the Forrestal fire case reported that McCain deliberately ‘wet-started’ his A-4E Skyhawk to shake up the guy in the F-4 Phantom behind his A-4. ‘Wet-starts’, done either deliberately (the starter motor switch allowed kerosene to pool in the engine and give a wet start) or accidentally, shoot a large flame from the tail of the aircraft. In McCain’s case, the ‘wet-start’ ‘cooked off’ and launched the M34 Zuni rocket from the rear F-4 that punctured the Skyhawk’s fueltank, knocked the M-65 1000 lb bomb off it’s 500 lb rated mount, and touched off the explosions and massive fire. The F-4 pilot was reportedly killed in the conflagration, along with 167 of his fellow Forrestal shipmates (including those who died later from wounds suffered). ‘Wet starting’ was a common practice among young ‘hot-dog’ pilots. McCain was quickly (they were still counting the Forrestal dead) transferred to the USS Oriskany (the only Forrestal crewman to be immediately transferred).”

    They even have video. Thanks Cleaver who first brought up reference to it.

  • Poor McAngry, can’t even handle hearing his own words repeated back to him. And he’s supposed to be some kind of tough guy? What a pussy.

    I think he will hear from the young people he will need to draft if he gets to start the war with Iran he’s joked about.

  • I hate to say it, but that ad has another bonus — McCain looks like an old old man with a severe humpback.

  • Sure. And all the GOP representations of Jeremiah Wright were taken completely in context and explained to portray the minister and his relationship with Obama in the best possible light.

  • Racer X – Please don’t disparage pussy by comparison to McBush.
    I personally prefer (via Atrios) Whiney-Ass-Titty-Babies, cooked down to WATBs.
    If McSame can’t stand up to his own words, how can he stand up to the terrorists?

  • “First, the ad isn’t “illegal.” If the Republican National Committee had any evidence at all of unlawful coordination between the DNC and the Clinton or Obama campaigns, it would have backed up the bogus charge with some kind of proof. None exists, but the RNC seems to enjoy throwing around baseless charges.”

    Personally, I think the second ad should be the RNC’s response to the first ad, how they claim it’s illegal, but offer no proof to back that claim up, they just want it gone because it makes their candidate look as bad as he actually is. Then end it with “If the RNC can’t effectively fight the DNC, HOW will thyey stand up to al Queda?”

    Of course, THAT would require the DNC to not back down over this ad. Fingers crossed.

  • The DNC was very careful in exactly how it worded the ad

    They not only were careful, they actually showed McCain saying “100 years, maybe more” CNN Situation Room then went on to insist on showing the whole Q&A where McCain said it, so we could see the context. The voice asking the question about 50 years was the same voice, though in the ad it seemed to be a voice-over. When Wolf explained the “difference” between the ad and “reality”, he said the ad implied they would be combat troops. Of course, he has to be assuming the actual questioner was also referring to combat troops. Which he was! In fact the questioner followed up by asking even if we continue to lose a soldier a day. And McCain again said yes.

  • The RNC shouldn’t sue the Democrats. It should sue John McCain. He spoke his mind — or what’s left of it — and the GOP has every right to be incensed about what he said.

  • boooo hooooo – someone is repeating what I actually said. boooooo hooooooo – someone is holding me accountable for my voting record. boooooooooo hooooooooo – someone is pointing out my flip-flops with demonstratable, objective evidence of what I have said and done.

    CALL A WAAAAAHBULANCE!

    mclame and shillary are one in the same – can’t stand the truth nor the heat of a honest dialog.

    No more of the bush-clinton-bush-clinton/mclame criminal cabal!

  • At least for now, there are no laws against running ads that make John McCain look bad.

    Can’t dur chimpfurher declare us all ENEMY COMBATANTS, lock us up forever, torture us, and not allow anyone to know we have been abducted?

    Of course – the dems are just as responsible for that travesty – that is why we need real change and not more of the same via mclame or shillary.

  • If the GOP can’t take what it dishes out, it needs to fold its tent and go home! This ad is far more tame than anything the GOP threw at us during 2004.

    As I stated on a thread yesterday, I much, MUCH prefer Howard Dean’s fighting style to Terry McAuliffe’s haphazard leadership (if you can call it that). What more can I say but . . . YEAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!

  • I wonder where John McCain’s outrage was when John Kerry was being Swiftboated.

    The DNC ad quotes McCain himself, not a bunch of jackasses who weren’t around John Kerry during the times they said the official records of his service were WRONG and he was lying. This ad has no lies — it has the word straight from the jackass’s mouth.

    That said, I wish the Kerry campaign had sued the Swiftboaters into oblivion, because THOSE ads certainly were lies and no doubt were coordinated with the Bush campaign.

    Now, I hope the 527s will cream John McCain into worm paste.

  • CB,

    Your four points are all good, but there’s also a fifth one…
    […] we are saying, stations have an obligation to protect the public from airing a deliberate falsehood,” said Sean Cairncross, an RNC lawyer.

    *Even if* the ad was a lie from start to finish, Faux Noise had gone to a lot of trouble and expense, to establish its Constitutionally guaranteed right to bamboozle the public at will. As the result of that effort, stations have absolutely *no* obligation to protect the public from lies. Hoisted by their own petard and couldn’t have happened to a more deserving bunch of crooks 🙂

  • How is the any different than the RNC running ads against Kerry for his “I voted for it before I voted against it line.”

    Maybe it was out of context or unfair or what have you, but that didn’t stop the RNC from hammering Kerry for it at every turn.

  • I’d be happier if the ad included McCan’t statement that we would only stay if there were no ongoing causalties, then ask him just how long that’s going to take over the pictures of death and destruction and the toll of lives and money and time.

  • Memekiller said: “Why can’t we whine like that? This is the kind of hissy fit we should have every time they do a lapel pin controversy.”

    Only real (Republican’t) men get to whine (you know, bullies).

    Liberals like us are supposed to keep a stiff upper lip (very British that).

  • “This is a complaint about the facts that are being misrepresented in the ad, and this being a deliberate falsehood, that we are saying, stations have an obligation to protect the public from airing a deliberate falsehood,” said Sean Cairncross, an RNC lawyer.

    He said, completely failing to remember the “swfitboating” of John Kerry, which really was a slopbucket full of lies, and a deliberate falsehood from the get-go.

    (Terminator voice): Fuck you. Asshole.

  • Exactly! Finally, an issue where Republicans are in a lose-lose situation! And on a HUGE issue at that, too! This ad MUST run all the way to November, and I mean that literally, since this best sums up McCain’s whole act. And the more the RNC and others complain about this ad, the more news networks will show it over and over again for free.

  • Can’t dur chimpfurher declare us all ENEMY COMBATANTS, lock us up forever, torture us, and not allow anyone to know we have been abducted?

    Not the ones who dare the “unpatriotic audacity” of shooting back….

  • You have to forgive the GOP. After all these years of Bush Administration lying, they seem to have gotten the impression that telling the truth is somehow illegal.

  • Ms Joanne:

    “… written in BBQ sauce …”

    Priceless. I’m totally stealing that one.

  • The DNC isn’t going to back down on this

    Lets hope not … but it hardly matters, as NBC & CNN will pull this double-quick, ostensibly to avoid legal issues, but in practice at the command of their manager-owners, who are hanging out for more tax cuts of course.

  • Liked the ad. Also want to see the ad of McInsane singing: “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb,bomb Iran” to the Beach Boys tune with pictures of him hugging Bush and being around Cheney, Rumsfeld and Gonzales. This obviously continues the theme of his insane support of these fascist war criminals.

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