Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby called ‘idiot’ by Sen. John McCain
Source: Washington Post
Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby called idiot by Sen. John McCain
By Dan Lamothe October 22 at 6:29 PM
Sen. John McCain has a long history of ripping President Obamas foreign policy as feckless, and has blamed it in recent months for the rise of the Islamic State that has terrorized Iraq and Syria. McCain just found a less likely target, however, blasting the Pentagon press secretary as an idiot for not taking his side when asked about McCains recent remarks that the U.S.-led military coalition is losing the fight against the militants.
The senators insult came last week on the conservative Tyler Cralle Show on 980 WAAV-AM radio in North Carolina, and received new attention Wednesday after Buzzfeed highlighted them. The Arizona senator, a former Navy pilot and prisoner of war, said the spin and lies coming from the White House are unbelievable, and then started in on Kirby.
This idiot Admiral Kirby was asked, I think yesterday, that said, John McCain says that we are losing, what do you say? The guy, you gotta run it, you gotta run it. Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah. Blah. I mean, its amazing.
Kirby, reached by telephone Wednesday evening, said he was aware of McCains comments, but declined to comment. He has sparred with reporters frequently during news conferences in recent weeks, urging them to take a nuanced look at the U.S. campaign in Iraq and Syria. But he also is generally well respected within the Pentagon press corps.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2014/10/22/pentagon-spokesman-rear-adm-john-kirby-called-idiot-by-sen-john-mccain/
Diclotican
(5,095 posts)Judi Lynn
I guess John McCain is the right person to talk about others that way - he have yet to impress me....
Diclotican
Uben
(7,719 posts)His intelligence factor has greatly decreased in the past few years. I have great respect for his service to our country, but when he says stupid things in anger, it gets lost.
TBF
(32,000 posts)but yes it is getting really obvious. I don't know why his family hasn't stepped in to help him. It's embarrassing.
Demit
(11,238 posts)Which, granted, isn't very often. He's a permanently angry, bitter man since November 2008. "That one" took the presidency that was rightfully his, you see. And now he's losing the media adulation that has been his consolation prize. Even the media knows he's past his mental sell-by date, and doesn't hang on his every word any longer. If he doesn't allow his wife to gently lead him off the stage soon, he'll be a real embarrassment no one will quite know what to do with.
Paladin
(28,243 posts)I think if McCain were still in control of himself, mentally and emotionally, he would have never made such a disparaging public comment about an admiral. Past time for him to go.
July
(4,750 posts)Let's not forget that he was sixth from the bottom in a class of 899. Most likely, if he had not been the son and grandson of admirals, he'd have been unceremoniously dumped from the Naval Academy.
He is desperately seeking relevance, and it's working for him in a country where only Democratic presidential contenders are considered has-beens. Even when he's inflicted Sarah Palin and her family of dingbats ( hey, is that the common point between McCain and Palin?) on the rest of us.
Never overestimate the intelligence of McCain. He wouldn't be annoying us today without the influence of his father and grandfather, along with the wealth of his wife and father-in-law.
winstars
(4,219 posts)niyad
(113,027 posts)oh, and let us not forget the fire aboard the forrestal.
winstars
(4,219 posts)The Admiral that his is dissing should just play some of the audio excerpts from the grifters brawl we all heard yesterday...
Grampy=complete asshole and sorry he is fucking senile too...
former9thward
(31,925 posts)Other than being on deck at the time with a bunch of others. Unless you know more than the Navy.
politicaljunkie41910
(3,335 posts)other redeeming quality. Besides being the Naval Academy chief boozer and party organizer, Not only did John McCain graduate 6th from the bottom of his class of 899, but he also took a coveted slot as a Naval Aviator traditionally reserved for those graduating in the top percentage of the class. He then proceeded to crash several jets. He later joked that he was sleeping during the training class on 'ejection from the jet' which is where his injuries occurred when his plan went down and he was taken prisoner. He then told his captors who his father and grandfather was in hopes of getting released than realized what a bad idea that would be if he were released because of who he was and decided to stick it out. He said himself that he thought he'd be there a few months at most, never thinking for a moment that he'd be a POW for years.
csziggy
(34,131 posts)That's probably why McCain hates him:
Rear Admiral John Kirby
Pentagon Press Secretary
Rear Adm. Kirby grew up in St. Petersburg, Fla. He is a 1985 graduate of the University of South Florida in Tampa, Fla., where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in History. He holds a Master of Science degree in International Relations from Troy State University and a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.
He was commissioned in September 1986 after completing Officer Candidate School at Newport, R.I.
Kirby qualified as a surface warfare officer aboard the guided-missile frigate USS Aubrey Fitch (FFG 34). As a public affairs officer, Kirby served at sea aboard the aircraft carrier USS Forrestal (CV 59) and on the staff of the Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet, embarked aboard the command and control ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20).
While ashore, Kirby completed tours as an instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy; public affairs officer with the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron (Blue Angels); editor-in-chief of the Navy's Flagship monthly magazine, All Hands; the staffs of the chief of naval personnel, U.S. Naval Forces Europe, chief of naval operations, and the special assistant for public affairs to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. His most recent assignment was serving as the deputy assistant Secretary of Defense for Media Operations.
Rear Adm. Kirby served as the U.S. Navy's chief of information, serving as the principal spokesman for the Department of the Navy and providing strategic communication counsel to the Secretary of the Navy and the Chief of Naval Operations. As CHINFO, he led the Navy's public affairs community consisting of more than 2,700 active and reserve officer, enlisted and civilian communication professionals.
Currently, Kirby is the Pentagon Press Secretary, serving as the chief spokesman for the Department of Defense.
Kirby has been awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Meritorious Service Medal (four awards), Joint Service Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (four awards), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, as well as various campaign and service awards.
http://www.navy.mil/navydata/bios/navybio.asp?bioID=691
Idiot McCain could not have done one of the things that John Kirby has - with or without the assistance of McCain's father and grandfather!
underpants
(182,585 posts)No surprise. Republicans loves them some military for three reasons:
1. Contractor donations for overpayments
2. Money poured into the South's economy ( in case the Spanish attack )
3. Wrap themselves in the flag. The "Patriotic" party.
Turbineguy
(37,285 posts)is to let the other guy have the last word.
Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts)Adsos Letter
(19,459 posts)The Admiral handled it with the class McCain lacks
tanyev
(42,514 posts)TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)Johnny Mac always seems torn up with bitterness and jealousy.
Cha
(296,775 posts)I like his style.. heard McCain's comment but too much class to retort on the rambling's of an "idiot".. my take away.
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)Let McSenile keep the classless asshole trophy, he earned it.
Ikonoklast
(23,973 posts)McCain was lucky he learned how to dress himself correctly.
Cha
(296,775 posts)Cha
(296,775 posts)there others that rank with that?
Response to Cha (Reply #7)
Adsos Letter This message was self-deleted by its author.
SCVDem
(5,103 posts)Short straw gets him!
Dawson Leery
(19,348 posts)because he went off course to bomb a light bulb factory.
Remember that.
former9thward
(31,925 posts)Were they cowards too? How many bombing runs have you done with people trying to shoot you down and kill you?
niyad
(113,027 posts)(please point out, with reliable, legitimate sources, ONE OTHER pilot had all these "mishaps", and was NOT booted out of the service.)
McCain's mishaps in the cockpit
Three early crashes drew Navy scrutiny. A review of his record reveals a cocky flier, prone to test the limits.
October 06, 2008|Ralph Vartabedian and Richard A. Serrano | Times Staff Writers
John McCain was training in his AD-6 Skyraider on an overcast Texas morning in 1960 when he slammed into Corpus Christi Bay and sheared the skin off his plane's wings.
McCain recounted the accident decades later in his autobiography. "The engine quit while I was practicing landings," he wrote. But an investigation board at the Naval Aviation Safety Center found no evidence of engine failure.
The 23-year-old junior lieutenant wasn't paying attention and erred in using "a power setting too low to maintain level flight in a turn," investigators concluded.
The crash was one of three early in McCain's aviation career in which his flying skills and judgment were faulted or questioned by Navy officials.
In his most serious lapse, McCain was "clowning" around in a Skyraider over southern Spain about December 1961 and flew into electrical wires, causing a blackout, according to McCain's own account as well as those of naval officers and enlistees aboard the carrier Intrepid. In another incident, in 1965, McCain crashed a T-2 trainer jet in Virginia.
After McCain was sent to Vietnam, his plane was destroyed in an explosion on the deck of an aircraft carrier in 1967. Three months later, he was shot down during a bombing mission over Hanoi and taken prisoner. He was not faulted in either of those cases and was later lauded for his heroism as a prisoner of war.
. . .
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/oct/06/nation/na-aviator6
former9thward
(31,925 posts)He has answered none and neither have you. He had nothing to do with the Forrestal fire and I don't call anyone who was shot down over Vietnam "cowards".
niyad
(113,027 posts)sorely need the laughs.
former9thward
(31,925 posts)I don't have access to Navy personnel records. Do you? Now, do you agree with the poster that people shot down over Vietnam were cowards? Do you agree with the poster that McCain had something to do with the Forrestal fire?
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)at self-promotion and grabbing media air time, I'll give that to him.
douggg
(239 posts)This word coming from McCain who said Palin was qualified to be President.
truebluegreen
(9,033 posts)SoapBox
(18,791 posts)Idiot.
beac
(9,992 posts)of his old, senile heartbeats away from the Oval Office. John McCain is SCUM and I'm sure his daddy and granddaddy are rolling in their graves to see what a miserable sack of shit he is. Not that he wasn't one when they were alive, because he was. Come to think of it, his father should have insisted his son be drummed out of the Naval Academy when it became clear he was nothing but useless, entitled, talentless, cowardly scum. So the whole McCain family has a lot to answer for.
muntrv
(14,505 posts)YOHABLO
(7,358 posts)Voice for Peace
(13,141 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)George II
(67,782 posts)The man is totally demented.
GeorgeGist
(25,311 posts)with laughter.
orpupilofnature57
(15,472 posts)tiptonic
(765 posts)he was know as a bad pilot, near bottom of his class, even with daddies help. then his actions as a pow. he should pass judgement on others?