Monday Open Thread [6.23.14]

Hat tip to Kavips for this video. It speaks for itself. It shows that, at one point in his adult political career, when he was Secretary of Defense, he did ask the question that the Los Angeles Times says has kept President Obama out of Syria …. “and then what?”

“Last fall, as President Obama weighed airstrikes against Syria, deliberations followed a clear pattern: The president solicited scores of options, planners returned with possibilities, and, according to people involved, Obama would reply with the same question: And then what?”

“Over the last several days, with Obama mulling involvement in another Middle East conflict, this time in Iraq, that dynamic has held.”

Thank God this nation chose wisely in 2008. Had John McCain won that election, it is quite clear now that his presidency would have been a disastrous repeat, if not multiplication of Bush II. Steve Benen recently cataloged all the times McCain has been wrong… in the last two weeks alone … in response to McCain’s narcissistic and delusional assertion that he has long experience and is never wrong. Seriously, he said that.

Two weeks ago…McCain complained about the prisoner swap that freed an American POW despite having already endorsed the exact same plan. After getting caught, McCain falsely accused his critics of “lying.” He then suggested the detainees were “responsible for 9/11,” which didn’t make any sense.

Soon after, the senator told a national television audience, “We had literally no casualties there in Iraq during the last period after the surge was over.” That’s ridiculously untrue.

McCain then argued that militants holding prisoners don’t kill Americans, followed by the senator leaving policy briefings before they’re done so he can repeat false talking points for the cameras.

McCain then demanded that the suspected ringleader of the 2012 attack in Benghazi be brought to Guantanamo Bay, telling reporters, “It’s where we put terrorists when we apprehend them.” In reality, (a) that’s not even close to being true; (b) sending Abu Khattala to the detention facility probably wouldn’t be legal, and (c) McCain doesn’t seem to remember his own position, which is that the Guantanamo prison be closed.

Harry Enten notes that while Democrats will likely be hurt in the midterm elections by President Obama’s low approval rating, it might be canceled out by Congress’ catrosphically worse approval ratings. Obama is in the low to mid 40’s, according to which poll you look at. Congress, which Republicans are the public face of, is at 7.

First Read finds that the Tea Party is unshockingly way out of the mainstream when it comes to the issues:

“Take the supposedly politically charged issue of Common Core education standards… Tea Party Republicans oppose them by 53%-38% in our [NBC/Wall Street Journal] poll. By contrast, the country at large supports them by a pretty non-controversial 59%-31% margin, and non-Tea Party Republicans narrowly favor them, 49%-42%.

On immigration, the poll shows that 68% of Tea Party Republicans believe immigration hurts the United States, versus just 47% of non-Tea Party Republicans and 42% of all Americans who say that.

And on the environment, Tea Party Republicans disapprove — by a 74%-23% margin — of a proposal that would require companies to reduce greenhouse gases, even if it means higher energy costs for consumers. By contrast, 57% of Americans and 50% of non-Tea Party Republicans APPROVE of the proposal.”

“What’s more, 39% of Tea Party Republicans think that concerns about global warming [are] unwarranted, while just 13% of all Americans and 7% of non-Tea Party Republicans believe that.”

First Read is run by Chuck Todd, among others. So I address the next question to him: if they are so fucking out of step, then stop having them on your and other NBC programs. Thank you.

MISSISSIPPI–SENATE–REPUBLICAN RUNOFF–Chism Strategies: Chris McDaniel (R) 52, Sen. Thad Cochran (R) 44.

MAINE–GOVERNOR–University of New Hampshire: Mike Michaud (D) 40, Gov. Paul LePage (R) 36, Eliot Cutler (I) 15.

GEORGIA–SENATE–REPUBLICAN RUNOFF–Gravis Marketing: Jack Kingston (R) 49, David Perdue (R) 38.

NEW HAMPSHIRE–SENATE–Suffolk: Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D) 49, Scott Brown (R) 39.