What did Wesley Clark really say yesterday? You wouldn't know it from today's news coverage. Then there's CBS' Bob Schieffer, who seems to be auditioning for VP.
More from Media Matters:
What Gen. Clark Actually Said
Media Falsely Claim Clark Attacked McCain’s Service
Clark Praised McCain’s Service, While Saying it Wasn’t a “Qualification to be President”
Washington, DC -- Today Media Matters for America called on members of the media to set the record straight concerning the remarks of retired Gen. Wesley Clark on Sen. John McCain’s military record -- a record Clark praised while also saying that it wasn’t a “qualification to be president.” Many in the media have falsely claimed that Gen. Clark attacked McCain’s military service in comments made during the June 29 edition of CBS’ Face the Nation.
Few have reported the entirety of what Clark actually said, including his praise of McCain’s service, or that his comments actually repeated CBS Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer’s own words in response to Schieffer’s statement that unlike McCain, Obama has not “ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down.”
“The media driven notion that Gen. Clark somehow attacked Sen. McCain’s military service is patently false. In fact, the opposite is true -- he praised it. This controversy was created and fueled by a media unwilling to live up to the basic journalistic standard of accuracy and thoroughness,” said Karl Frisch, a spokesman for Media Matters. “It is a fact that Gen. Clark praised Sen. McCain’s military service while also saying that such service is not a ‘qualification to be president.’ The media have a duty not only to Gen. Clark but the public to correct the record.”
What did Clark actually say?
Many in the media have cropped Clark’s June 29 Face the Nation interview to the short soundbite: “I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.” Those cropping the interview make two serious errors. First, they ignore that Clark was repeating Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer’s words in response to Schieffer’s statement that, unlike McCain, Obama has not “ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down.” Second, they ignore that shortly before that part of Clark’s exchange with Schieffer, Clark praised McCain’s service: “I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands of millions of others in the Armed Forces as a prisoner of war. He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he has traveled all over the world.” Clark continued: “But he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in Air -- in the Navy that he commanded, it wasn't a wartime squadron. He hasn't been there and ordered the bombs to fall. He hasn't seen what it's like when diplomats come in and say, ‘I don't know whether we're going to be able to get this point through or not. Do you want to take the risk? What about your reputation? How do we handle it publicly?’ He hasn't made those calls, Bob.”
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