John McCain:

“It’s not a timetable; it’s victory. It’s victory, which I have always predicted.. I know from experience, you set a day for surrender — which is basically what you do when you say you are withdrawing — and you will pay a much a heavier price later on.”

Translation:

Mission Accomplished in 2013. It's only a timetable when Dems say it. When I say it, it's victory. I predicted victory... so it's victory. If a Dem does it though, it's surrender. The difference is that I'm leaving a small number of troops while they plan to pull out a lot of them. That's why I am the American president Americans have been waiting for in America.... America!"

And Victory Defined by the man himself:

The Iraq War has been won. Iraq is a functioning democracy, although still suffering from the lingering effects of decades of tyranny and centuries of sectarian tension. Violence still occurs, but it is spasmodic and much reduced. Civil war has been prevented; militias disbanded; the Iraqi Security Force is professional and competent; al Qaeda in Iraq has been defeated; and the Government of Iraq is capable of imposing its authority in every province of Iraq and defending the integrity of its borders. The United States maintains a military presence there, but a much smaller one, and it does not play a direct combat role.

Why is it that the obvious senility of this remark gets a free pass without so much as a whimper from the MSM? This has to be one of the biggest changes of position that McCain has had since the start of his campaign. He is in "lala land"

McCain is slowly distancing himself from the Republican brand he wooed so feverishly during the primary season. Unfortunately a distracted electorate is letting him slowly creep away from the toxic pile that is conservative ideology over the last decade to position himself as his own man.

It remains to be seen the MSM, progressives and the public in general will let him get away with this.