The traditional media types are in a frenzy today. They are SHOCKED, JUST SHOCKED, that anyway could challenge John McCain. All the usual suspects are weighing in. Chris Cillizza, of course, parrots the conventional wisdom. Talking head Monica Novotny at MSNBC just blatantly mischaracterized what Wes Clark said. Marc Ambinder is unequivocal:
Ret. Gen. Wes Clark’s remark was a provocation; an insult.An insult, right.
The McCain campaign is insulting the intelligence of the American people by hauling out one of the original Swift Boaters. That's the real insult. And, it's an insult to think that McCain's military service somehow makes him qualified to be president. It doesn't.
But, the McCain campaign can't possibly insult the intelligence of the traditional media. That crew falls for this B.S. every time. As MissLaura points out at DailyKos:
McCain's favored strategy is to link not just national security and foreign policy issues to his military record, but all issues on which he is challenged. Remember that this is a man who linked healthcare to his POW experience not too long ago. Many things can be said about McCain's military service. That it automatically qualifies him for the presidency is not one.Just watch how the traditional media falls for it -- again.
Now, in these kinds of stories about patriotism, Cillizza, Novotny and Ambinder, like most of their colleagues, will repeatedly fail to mention that McCain didn't love his country til he was deprived of her company. Again, McCain's exact words:
I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company.McCain wasn't a kid when he was deprived of his country. He was deprived of his country at the age of 31, when he became a prisoner of war. Until then, in his own words, McCain really didn't love this country. During the time McCain didn't love his country, he was educated at the United States Naval Academy. During that time he didn't really love America, he served in the U.S. Navy. But, McCain told the world that he didn't love his country during those times. What does that say about McCain's character?
Ask any member of Congress -- or any other congressional or presidential candidate -- how old they were when they started to love their country. I bet you'd be hard pressed to find one who says they waited til they were 31.
Now, if John Kerry or Barack Obama ever said a phrase like that about not loving their country, the traditional media would never ever ever let it go -- no matter what the circumstances. The Republicans wouldn't let them forget it -- and that person would immediately be deemed unworthy to be president. But, today, we're seeing the media types all line up to defend McCain -- as if his own words and actions can never be challenged -- and that, of course, is the whole intent of the McCain campaign. The McCain campaign knows how to play the media for the fools that they are. They know they're dealing with the same media folks who endlessly regurgitated the false attacks against John Kerry from the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. Only in their warped world was it acceptable to challenge Kerry's service, but unacceptable to intimate that McCain's service has nothing to do with whether he'd be a good president.
The punditry obviously all read David Broder's edict last week: No one can challenge John McCain because, we, the traditional media, know him and he's our friend. The pundits and political reporters who helped bring you the second Bush term by accepting the Karl Rove spin are at it again -- working to give you a third Bush term.
