Senator John McCain thinks the 2012 GOP nominating contest is "the nastiest I've ever seen." He later continued, "It's gone way too long, and it's gotten way, way too personal."
Senator McCain, a staunch advocate of campaign finance reform, called the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision that gave birth to Super PAC's "one of the worst" decisions the court has made. He cautioned, "There will be scandals, David. There will be scandals, and then maybe we'll reform again."
Plus after a turbulent few weeks in the war in Afghanistan, we looked at the outlook of the conflict there.
Senator McCain's message was one of longevity, saying "We have succeeded on the ground," but added, "All we hear about is plans withdrawal, plans for withdrawal, how quick the withdrawal will be. How about a commitment to victory?"
This morning, Senator McCain also broke the record for number of guest appearances on MEET THE PRESS, which was previously held by Bob Dole. Senator McCain reflected on his 64 appearances , saying "I've been frankly privileged to be on this program as many times as I have, because it's my opportunity to talk to the American people. And I'm grateful."
Plus, in a special roundtable discussion, I was joined by Afghanistan War veteran Wes Moore; author of the bestselling book “Where Men Win Glory” about the death of Pat Tillman, Jon Krakauer; Founder and Executive Director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America Paul Rieckhoff; the Washington Post’s Bob Woodward; and the New York Times’ Helene Cooper.
Paul Rieckhoff warned Americans to not let the recent shooting of Afghan civilians tarnish their impression of our troops. "We all, as Americans, have to take a deep breath to make sure that we don't let this man represent so many who have to so much for this country."
The roundtable also discussed the harsh reality that so many American troops are facing. The group discussed issues like multiple deployments, brain injuries and Post Traumatic Stress disorder and the effect they have on the morale and life of the troops.
Finally, I spoke with George Clooney about the crisis in Sudan and what influence he can have as an actor and an activist.
"There's no Super PAC has given me money... there is no outside influence for me," Clooney said. "I can actually have an opinion, and it may not fit what the UN wants, and it may not fit what other people want, and I can tell you 'this is what I think is right,' and stand by it."
You can watch our entire program on our website.
We'll be back next week. It it's Sunday, it's Meet the Press.
Leave a Comment:
As a Democrat, John McCains truths are not always exactly the same as mine, but he shows the courage to speak his truths, and I really admire him for that. His leadership is appreciated, and can help us out of gridlock.
I'm a native Arizonan...u give this man to much air time...didn't watch your program this morning....had enough of McCain...
i enjoy hearing mccain again. the difference between the 2008 mccain and the one that i am accustomed to hearing from makes me wonder how much of the political foolishness is because we have decided to allow our ideologies to rule us rather than serve us.
I have a great deal of respect for McCain even though I don't always side with his views. This is another example of a time when I don't subscribe to his viewpoint.
He asks us: How about a commitment to victory? What exactly are the Americans going to win? The longer we stay there the more lives we will lose. And for what? It won't be very long after we have left, regardless of when, before the middle east looks very much the same as it did before we ever went to war about 10 years ago. The only difference will be how much money we spent and how many lives we lost.
Yes we did kill some of the highest ranking people that would like nothing better than to kill all Americans. But long after the deaths of those high ranking people others will have stepped into their positions to continue their effort to threaten the worlds safety and that of every American.
I disagree with Senator McCain. It is not ok to have our troops permanently in countries. The expense is enormous and not necessary. As long as the poppy trade continues in Afghanistan, we lose.
John McCain thinks we can win in Afghanistan. We haven't been able to do it in over ten years. This is delusional nonsense from a war-hawk looking to please the industrial military establishment which makes lots of money manufacturing the war-toys.
In five years during WWII the allies lost all of Europe and most of the Pacific Region before taking it all back. The reason for that colossal achievement; we were fighting against real countries with real armies and real capitals. We took Rome then Berlin and finally Tokyo. Tokyo was a little different as the Japanese surrendered because we were in the process of completely melting it.
Afghanistan is not a real country but a mountainous geographic area controlled by a collection of independent tribes with tribal leaders. We did mange to take control of a region that contained Kabul. We helped install an unstable man heading a totally corrupt puppet government whose only function is to steal everything the screwballs from the United States dropped there to fight the Taliban.
The Taliban are nomadic tribal group that operates all over the mountainous regions known collectively as Afghanistan. For ten years we have chased these nomads all over the place. We managed to spend billions doing it. These nomads just scooted over the boarder into a real country, Pakistan.
Our armies could not march into Talibanya. There is no capital called Talibanya because there is no country called Taliban. To be fare there is no real country of Afghanistan and the sooner this fact is recognized by the US military and the American people the sooner it can be left to the various tribal chieftans to sort out their difference and lay claim to a piece of the rock so to speak.
When our military leaves, the nomads will return to whatever regions they previously occupied. It is a fact we must accept. Russia also learned this lesson the hard way.
This Afghanistan WAR is to be"WISHED"rather than"HOPED"that patriotic gratification in the TRIUMPH of the united states may prevail over dissappointment at the failure of PREDICTIONS.Disastrous course of the WAR corresponded to its guilty ORIGIN.Fortune is not chained wheels of the virtuous and UNOFFENDING AFGHAN.The political difficulties which must"SOONER"or"LATER"be dealt with may be conveniently ADJOURNED@
I'm leaving this in the wrong place - I know but I'm so tired of hearing David Gregory refer to Mitt Romney as "a weak candidate" or "the weak front runner." This is partly a media construct and he states it as such a matter of fact. I don't even think the media understands the bias in their very questions and comments. Let's compare the CV of Mr. Romney against Mr. Obama. Romney may not be Mr. Glitz but, man it's time to get serious here.
Can we "win" the war in Afghanistan? Yes we can but it's necessary to realize that it does not follow the pattern of WWII or Vietnam. Does the military have a model to follow that will lead to a "win". Yes - certainly the officers who have studied American military history know the model - they may even discuss it in private.
1. Encourage fighting between the various Taliban groups.
2. Introduce diseases that the Afghans lack natural resistance for - but which Americans, Europeans, and urbanized Afghans have received vaccination.
3. Destroy the food base of the Taliban - spray the land with herbicides or short life plant viruses and promote diseases fatal to food animals.
4. With the help of paid Afghan scouts systematically drive the Taliban survivors to isolated inhospitable areas.
5. In return for the surrender of all weapons, provide the survivors with regular food supplies - making them totally dependent on the occupying army and the Bureau of Taliban Affairs.
6. Remove all male children and send them to Europe for an education and an introduction to Christianity.
7. Re-populate the "cleared" land with various foreign refugees looking for a new homeland who will build an industrialize nation, exploit the countries natural resources and help provide the required security for the TAPI (Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India) pipeline.
Every American military officer knows this model and can attest to its effectiveness.
Quite a few Native Americans also know this model and can attest to its effectiveness.
My question is - do you still want to "win"?
Number 6, better yet, remove females and educate to use birth control so the Afghanies do not have extra children to fight wars. Educated women have less children and/or they will kill themselves off. Problem solved.