Watching the media react to Gen. Wesley Clark was a sight to be seen. The McCain camp basically just had to sit there and laugh at what was happening. Why bother issuing statements and whatnot when major news analysts like Andrea Mitchell can do their work for them? And this blog post about McCain being a Manchurian Candidate by who else–The Politico—didn’t help either.
Andrea furiously threw it in Clark’s face as if he wrote it himself. She also accused Clark of being part of a coordinated effort to attack McCain’s military record.
Andrea: Well, let me point out that some of the critics from the republican side have pointed out that there seems to be an organized campaign and whether or not you played into this that also on Sunday a liberal blogger…on Americablog wrote…
First of all there’s a factual issue because no one has proved that to my satisfaction that John McCain ever did any propaganda for the enemy…
He was an extraordinary man…
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Then she dishonestly brings up the MoveOn ad to link it to McCain’s military service. That’s just a flat out lie. Shame on you, Andrea. Clark rightfully shot back at Mitchell:
Mitchell: Now, I know that John McCain…
Clark: Andrea, that doesn’t say anything about his military career. That asks about John McCain’s judgment and I think that’s a very legitimate issue…
Andrea, Wesley Clark deserves a little respect, don’t you think? You can be sure John never asked Obama’s campaign if he should write that post. And Obama’s people never asked Webb, MoveOn, Clark or any of us to write or say anything either. The message has been sent, people. Do not mess with McCain. I’m sure John McCain thanks you very much, Andrea. A job well done. McCain’s Media strikes again. Here’s more on them and Clark….Let’s see her or the Villagers step up to defend Obama on anything. Won’t happen. Remember how they defended his 100 year in Iraq comment?
Josh Marshall put together a nice compilation on the talking head “Hyperventorama” and outrage against Clark for your enjoyment.
As Digby explains:
Paul Waldman discusses the fact that McCain has successfully exploited his POW status for years with the willing help of his fans in the media. They go so far as to pretend he “never mentions” it, even though it pretty much defines the man…
Here’s a perfect example of the phenomenon:
Brian Williams: You know what I thought was unsaid —they took their position Chris, we’re seeing the replay — they end up in this spot and the sun is coming is just from the side and there in the shadow is John McCain’s buckled, concave shoulder. It’s a part of his body the suit doesn’t fill out because of his war injuries. Again you wouldn’t spot it unless you knew to look for it. He doesn’t give the same full chested profile as the president standing next to him. Talk about a warrior.
Filed Under: McCain’s Media, Media Bias, Media Criticism, Wesley Clark
Tags: John McCain, Media Criticism, Wesley Clark
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First, let me say that I am not surprised.
PUKE - GAG - BARF.
I’m old enough to remember a time when news outlets tried to ensure there was no confusion between news reporting and their editorial / opinion pieces.
My. What a quaint idea.
And how quaint it is that just four short years ago the Purple Heart and a Silver Star awards were reduced to a band-aid at a political convention and used to deride one candidate in favor of an AWOL pretender…………..
Can you guys please lead the way in calling her Andrea Mitchell Greenspan. I think it would do a lot of good for the public to know that she is Alan Greenspans husband…..
General Clark is right. Being shot down by enemy fire does not qualify one for the Office of the President. F.D.R. was an invalid, and he led us out of the depression and through WWII. Woodrow Wilson led us through WWI. Was he a war hero? No. What about Lincoln. Was he? No.
Talking shit is all they know.
the have mores know how to take the have nots to the cleaners ie trickle down theory
they are desperate now
dont count them out the only people smarter than the have mores in america are the zionists in israel
she spoke on behalf of the public that don’t get it. clark did not attack mccain’s military service. mccain did not hold and/or make executive decisions in navy….this is not a free pass to the presidency. trying to compare with obama is not the argument. if you ask certain demographics/many americans questions about mccain…why they want to vote for him many will start with his prior military service and that may be all they say. this was a good strategy in my opinion and i totally respect mccain’s prior service from 40 yrs. ago.
obama knew how this would play out that’s why he obliquely denounced anyone who would question patriotism….yeah but obama doesn’t have any executive experience well then they’re even..maybe.
we all about his military service can be left one time during an introduction or talking about issues.
this is mccain’s #1 strength this was a strategy
i believe webb and clark are correct….i think obama agrees with them but he can’t say it the public can’t handle it
yes this is pretty sickening to watch the Swiftboat MSM doing this to General Clark. they are such sycophants for McCain he might as well pay them. anyway its always going to be like this. but hopefully Obama can get past this. the GOP doesnt deserve to keep the WH.
Mrs. Greenspan is a joke. Oh, wait! Didn’t she write a book “Speaking Truth To Power”? That PROVES she’s a journalist!
Via Firedoglake:
… Bush surrogates (several later involved in the Kerry swiftboating effort) skillfully turned McCain’s service record against him (thereby deflecting questions about Bush’s own service record.) They planted stories that the torture McCain suffered as a POW had brought about mental instability, including rumors that he had been programmed as a “Manchurian candidate” who “collaborated with the enemy.” No longer could McCain use the fact that he had endured torture as evidence of dedication to serving his country.
…In the 2000 South Carolina Presidential primary Bush surrogates circulated stories that McCain’s five years as a POW had made him “mentally unstable,” gave him a “loose screw,” that he “committed treason while a POW” and “came home and forgot us.”
IOKIYAR!
http://firedoglake.com/2008/06.....ry-record/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....30654.html
So a pilot that gets shot down is always more qualified than a pilot that doesn’t get shot down? Is this another one of those Lewis Carroll things?
i think someone like FRONTLINE should do a story on the
bush/mccain campaign of 2000
there are some gems….in their attacks
Remember when Government teat sucker McCain was on free medical for his entire life, only when questioned about it, he pulls out the POW card?
Another example
The sad thing is, I read articles like this and think “Well, duh.” There’s no outrage at all. I just expect the media to shill for him. And kudos for Wes Clark to sticking to his guns in all this.
Isn’t she married to Alan Greenspan? Enough said.
No. It would do the public no good to learn that she has male genitalia.
Mr. McCain certainly has some strong advocates in the corporate media.
donviti @ 4:
First thing to cross my mind while reading this.
yeah Karl Rover and his ilk attacked repeatedly McCain in 2000, and he was a REPUBLICAN. and the MSM, if they did their jobs, could find all this out and not make such a silly show of themselves by attacking Gen Clark. they are failing at their jobs. maybe they arent doing them.
Sure would like to know where all these “liberal” media types were when John Kerry got shredded by the GOP attack dogs. By the end, you would have thought Kerry was some drunken draft dodger who never went to Vietnam in the first place.
It’s all so unreal.
Bottom line: This country is beyond hope. I give up.
I don’t get the ruckus - Clark didn’t talk badly about McCain serving, he just said sitting in a box isn’t necessarily qualification for the top job in Washington. Doesn’t anyone understand English in this country?
holy moly. what a joke.
Support the troops! Don’t attack McCain’s service to his country! Oh, but fuck GENERAL Clark. His service isn’t the kind of service we approve of, not mention the fact that the treasonous sonavabitch doesn’t toe OUR company line.
Lurv,
FoxNoise
Yer Friendly Neighborhood Propaganda Machine
no the country isnt beyond hope but the press might be. the country is great. the press can shove it.
Does John McCain’s ex-wife think he is a hero? She stayed married to him throughout his ordeal only for him to divorce her for a rich(always been patriotic) one. Why doesn’t someone get an interview from her?
Andrea is a tool, much like Faux News, but more subtle. Her and her rich friends have never understood the middle class. But the public is wiseing up, These people(like Andrea) are discovering they are like bugs under glass.
I thought Andrea Mitchell was a bleeding heart liberal? She seems quite determined to twist what was said Sunday to Bob Sheiffer into something totally different than what was said. I watched the interview and what he said was that flying a fighter jet and getting shot down did not necessarily give the victim the judgement necessary to be president. It did not denegrate the heorism of the victim. The media is useless and they must be on the payroll of the RNC.
Imichael @ 24:
paid off……….silence is golden
Hmm,…
Obama, votes FOR the “updated” FISA bill, Grampy McBush is rubbing shoulders in Columbia promoting CAFTA as a plus for him, Columbian FARC “trick” the release of Ingrid Bettancourt.
And the villagers (Andrea Mitchell with the brightest torch and sharpest pitchfork) attack Wesley Clark for calling bullshit about McBush?
Still think your vote will make a difference in November?
Screw McCain and screw all his sycophant buddies in the spokes assholes in the main stream media. I am going to love to watch them unravel!
They are all 20th century dinosaurs on the way out…for good!!!!!!!!!!!!
when obama wins the election in nov
let’s hope the democrats wring all these
ass-wipe
journalistsreichwing-punditsnecks. the bush/cheney govt and these
fucking bastards are just what fascism is
in Amerika.
Was Mitchell this bent out of shape over the swiftboating of John Kerry? The corporate media LOVE John McSame. They really do.
Seems a lot like a tempest in a teapot. One hugh pile of steaming republican crap.
republican = insanity!
We all know that this sort of thing is going to happen- it happens every national election.
I just want to say that I really feel something different this time. I really believe that the existence of websites like this one is making it much harder for the “villagers” to spin their lies and to create the kind of negative narratives that have sunk Democratic candidates time and time again.
Is it enough? Time will tell, but we should all be thankful for the effort that you guys, and people like Atrios, Kos and so many others are doing.
This twisted non-sense cooked up by the MSM is an example of why I do not subscribe to the LAT any longer, (they fired the liberal columnists years ago), and the reason I believe that Keith Olbermann is the only one worth watching. I do watch PBS and Bill Moyer as well. The rest of them are reichwing pundits and they could all qualify to work on FAUX.
i wonder what Karl rove has said about this situation. considering what he did to McCain in 2000. id be curious to hear his comments, if any. and laugh at their hypocrisy.
Just another corporate social climbing cocksucker who simply laid down with her legs opened wide, enabling our Homicidal Maniac in Chief and his crime partners to murder and pillage in the middle east. Now after all this death, treasure loss and destruction, this disingenuous ugly bitch wants to ask the fucking “tough questions”. Andrea…you failed horribly at your job during the most time….too late to clean up your shit.
Ruthless People @ 31:
I’d like to know if she was bent out of shape when Bush swiftboated McCain!
andrea mitchell is a harpy, ’nuff said.
Gen. Clark nailed this. Took her out at the knees 3 times. Good job.
This is exactly why I have not had a television in my home since 1992. I will not allow people whose salaries are paid by oil companies, military contractors, and medical companies, control what I feed my brain.
Sorry…#36 I meant to say “most important time”.
dada @ 37:
Of course not. The corporate media shills are scared to death we are going to take out country back.
I can’t believe it. We elected a draft dodger, when a qualified veteran was running but I would just like to say this - There are a lot of military pilots in prison now for various offences, are they qualified to be POTUS? There are veterans who are murderers - are they qualified to be POTUS? I saw McSame on the news a few minutes ago and he was acting shocked about Clark’s comments, but every other word out of his mouth is POW or navy pilot. I knew a former fighter pilot from the Korean War who was an agricultural pilot and he spent one year out of every three in prison for tax evasion, so sorry military service does not qualify anyone for anything but the GI Bill.
Come on Andrea, are you really this dumb? You can ask about the comment but try to be a professional and not add your spin, its not your job.
I am more and more convinced that a ‘big theme’ of this election is the passing from the TV Era to the Web Era and the imbecilic lopsided sleaze we see is the desperate thrashing of a dying thing tottering. And they are in a rage with the subtext being ‘we’re still significant… dammit.’
The inhabitants of TV audience land are shrinking in tandem with an astonishing expansion of the population of Web World. C&L has become a village voice archetype while FDL is a valid replacement for the Times and WAPO. MyDD is a master at real statistical data from polling and other spheres to give high resolution to all the state contests.
There is practically no reason to pay ANY attention to these grotesquely overpaid courtier loons as more useful, signal rich information can be had from Reuters, the BBC,various institutes such Center for American Progress and so on.
Useful energy data is at the Oil Drum and Juan Cole keeps us informed about the Middle East. Digby and Thers tower over the superannuated opinion peddlers enroute to rest homes such as Broder.
Why would anyone really need to listen to these lapdogs yip?
This is why I am increasingly convinced that the huge threat facing the GOP bullhorn is that it may already have been bypassed and mortally compromised by a medium it doesn’t get.
By the way, I see Obama is cleverly using Google Analytics to have his campaign link ad consistantly show up in say, a Yahoo/AP news feed story on McCain, but the reverse doesn’t happen and this suggests low levels of web savviness among the shills.
The vast underground of unreachable polling constituents due to land line decline also skews everything and leaves campaign planners for the GOP flying blind to a constituency that mainly loathes it.
Nobody’s proven it to Andrea’s satisfaction, eh? Maybe she should have actually read McCain’s book ‘Faith of My Fathers’, wherein he admits to having made the tape, in print:
“In the anguished days right after my confession,” McCain said in his autobiography Faith of My Fathers, “I had dreaded just such a discovery by my father.”
“I only recently learned that the tape I dreamed I heard playing over the loudspeaker in my cell had been real; it had been broadcast outside the prison and had come to the attention of my father,” McCain said. “If I had known at the time my father had heard about my confession, I would have been distressed beyond imagination, and might not have recovered from the experience as quickly as I did.”
Now, to be fair, he was definitely being tortured. That certainly doesn’t excuse a partisan hack like Mitchell from spending 3 minutes of Google searching……I would imagine she could have found the same thing in a Lexis/Nexis search, or in a dozen other ways.
Obama will not win in Nov. if the newspeople have anything to do with it. Rachel Maddow is subbing for Olbermann tonight and doing a good job of trying to set the record straight on a few things about McCain and Obama. I really hate to say this but I am seriously wondering about the POW years. I think he and others doth protest too too much, and all the records of that period of time are sealed Forever.
SassySandy @ 47:
Don’t be afraid to say it. They certainly weren’t afraid when they smeared a Democratic war hero.
I agree: Dre’s full name sho