I feel a little weird writing this, as I like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Mark Levin immensely (especially Levin), but I think I can see (or hear) what’s coming, and since I’ll be out of pocket for the rest of the day, I thought it best to comment on it now.
Unless I miss my guess, the hours of noon to 8PM will be filled with invective hurled against John McCain for his insistence that Mitt Romney supported timetables for an Iraq withdrawal. I haven’t heard Rush yet, but Sean Hannity all but called McCain a liar last night on TV, and Mark Levin explicitly insists McCain lied.
The trouble is, Romney really did support a timetable for withdrawal.
I’ve noted this before, twice, but here again is Romney’s statement from last April (ABC, emphasis added):
When asked by ABC News’ Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America” if he believes there should be a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, Romney replied, “Well, there’s no question that the president and Prime Minister al Maliki have to have a series of timetables and milestones that they speak about, but those shouldn’t be for public pronouncement.”
The fact that Romney would not support a public timetable (you’ll hear Romney’s pledge to veto a timetable by Congress over and over again – keep that little detail in mind), doesn’t mean he opposed any timetable.
Additionally, let’s not forget how well secrets are kept in Washington. Does anyone really think Bush and al-Maliki have ever discussed a timetable? It would have made the New York Times in days. Romney should have known this – and I suspect he did, and was trying to hedge his bets.
The point is, John McCain was right; Mitt Romney did support a withdrawal timetable, no matter how loud his new friends in talk radio deny it.
Re: “The fact that Romney would support a public timetable ”
Don’t you mean: “………would NOT support……”?
Right you are, Terry. It has now been fixed. Thanks much.
When does criticizing McCain become invective? What crosses the line?
JAB,
My only standard is that the criticism be correct. If I think it’s incorrect, I say so, as I have.
I don’t think any “line” has been crossed here. Rush, Sean, and Mark have their views and their megaphones; I just think they made a mistake.
Oh, now I get it. I used the word “invective.”
It’s been that kind of day, JAB.
That said, I don’t consider invective to be particularly bad. Righteous invective can be quite useful, IMHO. Again, my problem with Rush, Sean, and Mark is that they are wrong.
[...] for withdrawing American troops from Iraq. What did Romney say? Well, for what will now be the fifth time, I give you Romney’s answer below (ABC, emphasis added): When asked by ABC News’ [...]