John McCain Accuses Me Of "Trash Journalism" While He Engages In "Trash" Propaganda During The Petraeus Hearing

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Apparently some of the straight-talk released from The Real McCain yesterday got Rambo a bit peeved. So I'm glad I'm nowhere in his vicinity, because we know what happens to people when McCain gets a bit peeved at them.

He responded to the factual piece in my book about his calling his wife that four-letter c-word that wives so love to hear from their spouses, with this, according to today's New York Daily News:

McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker brands the book "trash journalism" and tells us, "The story is completely fabricated."

No surprise here. It's far from the first time the "maverick" has made himself into a liar, and today's opening statement to General Petaeus once again showed it won't be the last.

He brought out all the old favorites about those advocating for a "reckless and irresponsible withdrawal," (you know, only 70% of the country). The kind of withdrawal he advocated for in Beirut in 1983, and Somalia and Haiti in the 1990s. Hell, he must have had a lot of white flags in storage then, he was waving them so so darn often! I get into his complete foreign-policy flip-flop over his career in much greater detail in my book that he has seen fit to disparage without even reading (c'mon, it's not like he's George W., he can in fact read above a My Pet Goat reading level, I assume).

McCain then trotted out that old saw about Al Qaeda in Iraq, which is only a miniscule part of the fighting force against us there, and is only there because of people like him took us into this war using the time-tested technique of making stuff up.

He said once again he wanted to "succeed" in Iraq. Definition of success: I don't know, and neither does he, as he didn't give it yet again (once again, I discuss this in greater detail). Maybe it's when he can go back to that market and take a stroll their without the Guns of Navarone protecting him, right before he falsely told us that anyone could have taken the same playful jaunt through town (sans protection).

You get the picture. I have hit McCain with a bit of that old straight-talk. Instead of lying about me because of it, he should try it sometime. How about starting today when we are trying to find a solution to this disaster he helped create in Mesopotamia.

UPDATE: Thank you all so much for buying the book, and I am sorry for the self-promotion. But thanks to you guys, we went from #159,000 yesterday to #243 on Amazon. As you can see above, with the New York Daily News coverage, we are beginning to break into the MSM, because of these numbers.

For just $10 at Amazon, you can order this book and help get the truth out there about The Real McCain.

Comments

[paulfromportland]

Funny thing about serving one's country honorably and with distinction - There once was a young West Pointer, who excelled in battle serving his country honorably and with distinction. Had his career ended with the conclusion of the Civil War, he would have, indeed, been honorable.

However, he chose to go west and massacre women and children.

And, one day, the vainglorious fool took his small command down a ravine into the awaiting weapons and wrath of thousands of foes. Wonder if he was yelling "Stay the course, stay the course" to his star crossed troopers? Yeah, normalcy that day in June, was just that close as Agent 86 might have said, or rather, "Missed it by that much".

[iratior]

While we're on the subject of John McCain, does everybody know that the League of Conservation Voters gives him a rating of ZERO based on his votes in the 110th Congress? ZERO!

[ChimpmasterDJ]

The "Maverick" was deftly turned into the "Gelding" in the 2000 campaign. That he now slavishly brown-noses Cheney and Bush butt, is indicative of an extreme manifestation of Stockholm Syndrome.

Either that, or he's just senile.

[isi]

Getting the MSM to cover McCain honestly is next to impossible. They love him.
That is why Cliff Schecter's book is so important. He's right, if he can get the sales
up, then the press will have to cover some of these details. They will have to cover the real John McCain.


And, yes, these are details voters need to know in order to make an informed choice when voting for president.

[The 13 Colonies]

Did McCain stand up to Bush and Rove in 2000?..............tell the truth.

[Annette]

Not really.

[PalleKuling]

I am certainly no fan of McCain but I believe him to be correct in branding the book "trash journalism".

Also, the reason McCain wanted to pull troops out of Somalia and Lebanon was that they were not a big enough force to do any noticable difference. He likes his wars big... and long.

There is so much BS and trashy journalism out there already. Let's not add to it.

[RogerHWerner]

The three rules of sales: Marketing, marketing, marketing...no marketing efforts succeeds like the kind of free marketing you have received. Kind of like the Papacy black listing a naughty book...great for sales!

[Texas4Obama]

Okay..,,

Let's first bring our troops home then...... let's take Bush, Cheney, Rummy, Rice, McCain and the rest of that bunch and drop them all off in Baghdad with a tank, one old gun, and a non-bullet proof vest and let the Iraqis have them to deal with instead of the U.S. having to spent millions on war crimes trials.

[rmreddicks]

Let's do it.

[elbzee]

Hell of a good idea T4O! That right there just may repair a lot of international disdain they've created. Sick as it may be, the drop of and subsequent celebration with the war criminals should probably be tele-cast world wide. (I rarely condone violence, but with these prizes, nothing's too evil.)

[ihavenobias]

Thank you for writing this book Cliff. You can count on another $10 on the way from me, and much, much more in coming months I'm sure.

[RnR]

I really think the reason McCain gets a free ride from the press is that they're afraid of him going ballistic on camera (which they'd cut, but of course the offending questioner would probably be out of a job).

Mr. War Hero won't vote for an improved GI bill. A true republican in the mold of gwb, cheney, wolfowitz, feith, perle et. al.

[JimmyCrackcorn]

Ok Cliff - I bought one...I hope you make the NYT best seller list.

I also put a new entry on the urban dictionary for the word Trollop. God he's old.

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=trollop

[maria1253]

The plan to stay in IRAQ is already created. Ed Schultz mentioned this on his show today (Secret US plan for military future in Iraq)so I looked it up:
"A confidential draft agreement covering the future of US forces in Iraq, passed to the Guardian, shows that provision is being made for an open-ended military presence in the country."
Here is the link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/08/iraq.usa

Yes, it means 100 years of the occupation of IRAQ.

[bointreau]

"Trash journalism"??

The only trash journalism out there is the controlled reich wing news media and its refusal to pose real questions regarding Bush imperialism and McCain's support of his terrorism.

For months now we have heard how war must now be imposed on Iran because Ahmadinejad has created war on Iraq. In all this time imperialist Bush has not offered a shred of evidence to support his reidiculous claims. To make matters worse, the reichsters in the news media refuses to demand evidence to support that idiotic claim.

Ahmadinejad is no enemy of iraq. In fact, last month he shook hands with al-Maliki and was given the red carpet treatment.

How can people be so stupid as to believe Bush's propaganda???

When is Congress going to put a stop to Bush's imperialism???

[Obamamo]

Thank you! Very well put and you are absolutely right that the focus should be on the history of Iraq and Imperialism.
Here is an article written by Eric Margolis | Toronto Sun | August 4, 2002. It elucidate in a clear why we"re in Iraq.

http://www.why-war.com/news/2002/08/04/georgebu.html

[RnR]

Thank you for that

[Titonwan]

market and take a stroll their without the Guns of Navarone protectin Who proof reads your articles. There are 3 "theres" - they're, their and there. In that sentence it is supposed to be there. There!

[ChiMan1]

Who are you, again?

[maria1253]

I wish the American Could get some straight talk. I had to go overseas to get this:
Title: Secret US plan for military future in Iraq
Quote:
"A confidential draft agreement covering the future of US forces in Iraq, passed to the Guardian, shows that provision is being made for an open-ended military presence in the country."
Here is the link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/08/iraq.usa

[valleygent]

Exactly! McCain should run for president of Iraq, he loves the Iraqi people so much. He can be president while his buddy Bush could be ceremonial Emperor. They can golf and dodge bullets at the same time, all the while milking the United States of precious treasure by raising the price of Iraqi oil.
Sound familiar?

[leftbehind2000]

Oh great. First we bomb and kill these people, then we plague them with McCain's sorry ass to lead them.

Nice. Real nice.

[larry278]

The way to decide if journalism is trash is to see how closely a piece of journalism reflects your views. A piece of journalism which fails to completely reflect your views is trash. Hey, it works for W, McCain, countess reactionary fossils, neo-cons & Hillary, et al.

[Kane]

McCain is a pig for calling his wife such vile names. However, his pattern of offensive name-calling is not something that I lose sleep over. What does concern me is his pattern of voting against the very troops that he claims to support.

Not only has McCain refused to support the 21st Century GI Bill, which the Veterans of Foreign Wars endorsed last June, he has consistently voted against increasing funding for the Veterans" Administration, which oversees all medical care for veterans:

" Voted AGAINST an amendment providing $20 billion to the VA"s medical facilities. [5/4/06]

" Voted AGAINST providing $430 million to the VA for outpatient care "and treatment for veterans," one of only 13 senators to do so. [4/26/06]

" Voted AGAINST increasing VA funding by $1.5 billion by closing corporate loopholes. [3/14/06]

" Voted AGAINST increasing VA funding by $1.8 billion by ending "abusive tax loopholes." [3/10/04]

" Voted AGAINST a $650 million increase in veterans" medical care funding. [8/1/01]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/07/mccain-against-va-funding/

[hawkeye58]

I came into the middle of McPain's VFW speech yesterday, and heard him talking about economic and unemployment problems. I assumed he was talking about America, but no, he was talking about how America should help Iraq with their unemployment and their economy.

[Rescisco]

Senator McCain's mind is closed on the subject of Iraq. His disposition generally leads him to have contempt for facts he finds useless or inconvenient. As a presumptative president with "military" and/or "national security" expertise, he is a completely manufactured product. There is a difference between being an expert and being a closed minded old fool who has nothing but contempt for the complexities of reality. One must respect his past service, but one must also protect the nation against such a simple and irrational mind.

[winoohno]

I agree completely. There is not talking/discussing/negotiating/exploring/considering/analyzing when it comes to Iraq: either you are an neo-con ideologue who wants only a continuation of the status quo, or you want to get our troops out of Iraq immediately.

Here are the problems with both views:

NEOCON VIEW: there is no exit strategy, there is no definition of success, there is no admission of earlier failures, there is no creativity in trying to solve the problems on the ground, there is a blind allegiance to the military-industrial complex etc.

OPPOSING VIEW: if we pull out right now it might adversely affect progress gained over past 5 years and might facilitate the country falling into a long and bloody civil war.

As you can see, there are problems on both sides, but what I detest is someone having a view and not being open to discussing the matter as a whole. That is the downfall of Bush and McCain -- they refuse to budge even though they are dead wrong.

[cla62]

Congrats on the book Shecter! #243 out of 243 books. You're really kickin some tale. With the quality propaganda you put out for you're blind flock to follow it's no wonder you're working for such a quality organization!! Maybe someday you can win the Nobel like the guy who invented the internet. HaHaHa

[Annette]

Actually just checked on Amazon 119 out of over a million. It is doing OK.

You think McCain is a desirable president? The man lies, repeatedly.
He has a history of corruption. He doesn't like inconvienient facts. He has a temper almost under control, but not really. He has no family values, which I thought was so important to you kool aid drinkers. He has no grasp of facts but rather sees the world as he thinks it should be. He is an elderly incarnation of Bushie.

[bigdaddyvike]

wino,
There is another view (albeit somewhat attached to the neocon version- WHO'S GONNA GET THE OIL?! We're never going to leave. The non-permanent permanent bases there attest to it. Iran is dooming themselves and creating their own neocon trap that they're falling into. Chickenhawks (including Petraeus) are lining up to the silent call for war.

[julieeiluj]

John McCain is like the babbling old guy on a bus that everyone hears, but no one really listens to.

[hopelessobama]

funny, i don't remember democrats complaining about the 'purple faced' rages of bill clinton. he actually tackled people to the ground and punched them. but he had that (D) next to his name so its all good!!!

[sdrawkcab]

If memory serves, after Bill took Dick Morris to the mat, in a uncharacteristic, Roger Clinton style share-my-pain outburst, Morris ran home and told his wife, and sought no puntitive action, leaving us all to assume that Morris, fully in character, provoked his own takedown.

McCain, on the other hand, you must admit, has a long history of GOP-on-GOP aggression. Now that Morris has turned to the dark-side, he would be wise to take note of McCain's temper (polls show that running to O'Reilly is unlikely to serve his best interest).

Full disclosure, I enjoy watching old man McCain, a closet liberal, kick some right-wing-chicken-hawk ass. That's their true nature -- even Guilliani, in drag, would put the smack-down the typical republican.

[ceu]

That's who that referred to? Dick Morris? Hmmm....hard to get upset about Dick Morris getting punched...

[ceu]

Tackled people to the ground and punched them? The Secret Service didn't stop it? And MSM didn't cover it? Where did you get this info?? Link, please, for those of us who missed the story!

[hopelessobama]

you are an embarassment to the human race. anyone who tries to make money by lying about a war hero doesnt deserve to be in this country. you are slime, so you fit right in here a huffpost.

[batgirlevi]

Next time you pick a war hero, try one who can at least pilot a plane.

[Podewumun]

McCain piloted five.

S