McCain says he misspoke in saying U.S. lives ‘wasted’
WASHINGTON (CNN) — Republican Sen. John McCain on Thursday became the second presidential contender to back away from saying the war in Iraq had “wasted” the lives of U.S. troops. During a Wednesday night appearance on CBS’ “Late Show with David Letterman,” McCain announced that he would enter the 2008 race but said a formal announcement would come in April. He also said the nation had paid a “grievous price” for mistakes made in the first years of the nearly four-year-old war in Iraq. Americans “are very frustrated,” he said, “and they have every right to be. We’ve wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives, over there.”
You know, just once it would be nice to hear a politician speak their mind and then refuse to back off once the panderers and fear mongers begin to beat the drums. Just once, I’d like to hear an elected official tell the trolls and the “Swift Boaters” that they can go fornicate themselves. It’s a good thing I’m not holding my breath, because it’s going to be a LONG wait.
I can’t help but wonder why politicians who question the war in Iraq can’t stick to their guns when those trying to beat the drums of partisanship make things a bit hot. John McCain was right in the first place when he said that the lives of our sons and daughters are being wasted in Iraq…because they are. Now he’s saying that he should have used the word “sacrificed” instead of “wasted”, but what, really is the difference? Whether a soldier’s life is “wasted” or “sacrificed”, they’re still just as dead, and their death is still just as senseless.
It would be nice to think that the lives being expended so casually in Iraq are actually accomplishing something, but the really is that our sons and daughters are pawns. Their lives are being used as some sort of cheap geopolitical bargaining chips, and their deaths are merely a cost of doing business. If that isn’t wasteful and senseless, then I don’t know what is.
Would that John McCain actually had the balls to say something AND MEAN IT, instead of backing off when the heat gets turned up. Being President doesn’t mean being all things to all people and tailoring your message to whatever audience you happening to be speaking to.
WE DESERVE BETTER. And we certainly deserve better than John McCain.
