Person of the Day: God of War McCain

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In last night’s “debate” both McCain and Giuliani beat the drums for attacking Iran. Is this the GOP’s answer to the devastating failure in Iraq? After 4 years of soul-sucking stupidity is more war the best idea they’ve got? Or is it that it’s only this kind of rhetoric that will keep the base awake? (PS: Someone tell Rudy that with the hostage crisis in 1980 Iran was playing Reagan rather than the other way around.)

McCain:

Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism. We all know that. Iran continues their efforts to build nuclear weapons. Iran is now exporting lethal IEDs and jihadists and suicide bombers into Iraq killing American soldiers. The Iranians encouraged Hezbollah to attack Israel from Lebanon recently. Iran poses one of the greatest threats to the world—the security of the world and in the Middle East.

Giuliani:

The use of military force against Iran would be very dangerous. It would be very provocative. The only thing worse would be Iran being a nuclear power. It’s the worst nightmare of the Cold War, isn’t it, the nuclear weapons in hands of an irrational person, an irrational force. Ahmadinejad is clearly irrational. He has to understand it’s not an option. He cannot have nuclear weapons. And he has to look at an American president, and he has to see Ronald Reagan. Remember, they looked in Ronald Reagan’s eyes, and in two minutes they released the hostages.

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

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