The liberal group MoveOn.org is launching an ad against Republican John McCain and his joke about bombing Iran, arguing that the nation “can’t afford another reckless president.”
Watch McCain’s Bomb Iran video.
The group plans to spend about $100,000 to air a commercial on network and some cable television stations in Iowa and New Hampshire, states that hold early contests in the presidential nomination process, spokesman Alex Howe said Friday.
McCain, campaigning Wednesday in South Carolina, answered a question about military action against Iran with the chorus of the surf-rocker classic “Barbara Ann.”
“That old, eh, that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran,” he said. “Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, anyway, ah …”
His audience laughed, but MoveOn.org called the comment dangerous.
“America has lived through six years of a reckless foreign policy,” an announcer says in the ad. “We’re stuck in Iraq. More than 3,000 Americans are dead. And thousands more wounded.
“Now comes John McCain with his answer to what we should do about Iran. John McCain? We can’t afford another reckless president.”
The group ran ads in the same states in January, criticizing the Arizona senator’s support for sending more troops to Iraq.
source: cnn.com
Republican 2008 presidential race hopeful John McCain crooned the words “Bomb Iran” to a Beach Boys’ tune in joking response to a question about any possible U.S. attack over Tehran’s suspected nuclear weapons program.“That old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran … bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb,” the Vietnam War veteran warbled softly to the band’s “Barbara Ann” when he was asked when the United States would send an “airmail message” to Iran.
Campaign spokesman Matt David said the question was asked somewhat in jest and that the Arizona senator was adding some levity to the discussion.
The United States and others have accused Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies. While U.S. officials have refused to take the military option off the table, they have said there were no plans to attack Iran and they would pursue a diplomatic solution.
McCain also gave a serious answer focusing on Iran’s nuclear ambitions and desire to destroy Israel.
“It bothers me a great deal that they (Iran) might have a nuclear weapon or a missile, but it bothers me also to have a nuclear weapon knowing their relationship with various terrorist organizations, that they would give it to a terrorist organization,” McCain said.
McCain’s run for the White House, his second, has experienced some difficulties. He was third among Republicans in raising money during the first quarter, $12.5 million, and has been spending it as a faster clip than many candidates.
Several of the 2008 candidates have already put out statements regarding today’s 5-4 Supreme Court decision upholding a nationwide ban on what opponents of the procedure call partial-birth abortion. Notice the differences between comments by Senator John McCain, a Republican who has said he opposes abortion except in cases of rape or incest, and Rudolph W. Giuliani, a Republican who has said he is personally anti-abortion but believes women should have the right to receive one. Mitt Romney, a Republican who has sought to persuade social conservatives that his abortion stance is genuine, also released a statement, as did some Democrats.
Read their views about abortion here.
U.S. Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) offered an amendment to the emergency supplemental bill that would help fund the war in Iraq by cutting off the enormous and irresponsible tax breaks for the richest one percent of Americans.
Watch the political video of Senator Biden as he explains how we can work to get a politcal solution to end the cycle of violence in Iraq. Joe Biden on Iraq war. According to Biden, the first five years of the Administration’s latest cuts, set to begin this year, will cost the U.S. Government $27 billion and will grow to more than $150 billion over the next ten years. Additionally, these breaks apply only to those with the highest incomes; over 97 percent of the billions in tax breaks will go to the wealthiest one percent of Americans.
“The President’s record of tax cuts during a time of war is a record of utter disregard for our nation’s financial future,” said Biden. “It is a record of indifference to the price our children and grandchildren will pay to redeem our debt when it comes due. It is time for us to call a halt to this irresponsibility. It is time for us to pay for the choices we make. It is time to pay our bills.
“Last year alone, millionaires collected an average tax cut of $103,000 from the breaks enacted since 2001. With the new breaks set to begin this year, more than 99 percent of Americans will get nothing, zero, zip, zilch — it will all go to the top one percent. This is the cherry on top of the whipped cream for the most blessed among us.
“My amendment says: No more of these giveaways until we can pay our bills, meet our responsibilities, face up to our own duties. If we miss the chance to take this small step back toward fiscal sanity, if we mock the sacrifice of our troops with gold-plated giveaways to those from whom nothing is asked and to whom so much has already been given, shame on us.”
