Gaffes Vs. Campaign Ending Exposures of Ignorance.

[gcomeau]

The other day McCain commented, rather humorously, on the situation on the "Iraq/Pakistan border". Ha ha. That should have been Afghanistan, not Iraq. A little embarrassing slip up, but nothing of real serious import. Why? Because nobody acually thinks McCain doesn't know where Iraq and Pakistan are. He transposed a place name, it happens.

A bit before that he referred to Czechoslovakia in the present tense. Not for the first time. Hee hee. that country doesn;t exist anymore, it's the Czech Republic and Slovakia now. Another embarrassing slip. Perhaps slightly more serious than the other simply due to it's repetition but again, nobody is taking it seriously. It's just a gaffe, the nation is relatively confident McCain is aware of the existence of the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The guy misspoke, we have a chuckle and a few jokes at his expense about it, and we all move on to more important things.

Yesterday this happened:

Couric: Senator McCain, Sen. Obama says, while the increased number of U.S. troops contributed to increased security in Iraq, he also credits the Sunni awakening and the Shiite government going after militias. And says that there might have been improved security even without the surge. What's your response to that?

McCain: I don't know how you respond to something that is such a false depiction of what actually happened. Colonel McFarlane (phonetic) was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it began the Anbar awakening. I mean, that's just a matter of history. Thanks to General Petraeus, our leadership, and the sacrifice of brave young Americans. I mean, to deny that their sacrifice didn't make possible the success of the surge in Iraq, I think, does a great disservice to young men and women who are serving and have sacrificed.

They were out there. They were protecting these sheiks. We had the Anbar awakening. We now have a government that's effective. We have a legal system that's working, although poorly. And we have progress on all fronts, including an incredible measure of security for the people of Iraq. There will still be attacks. Al Qaeda's not defeated. But the progress has been immense. And to not recognize that, and why it happened, and how it happened, I think is really quite a commentary.

Couric: A commentary on what?

McCain: That Sen. Obama does not understand the challenges we face. And … not understand the need for the surge. And the fact that he did not understand that, and still denies that it has succeeded, I think the American people will make their judgment...

That Is Not A Gaffe

There was no misspeaking. He said exactly what he very clearly intended to say and he was just flat out WRONG. And he wasn't wrong about something trivial like what day the Prime Minister of Canada's birthday is.... he was wrong about the fundamental, basic recent history of the most important developments in Iraq and how it led to the current situation on the ground there. An error he is basing his criticism of Obama's Iraq policy on, which is the primary line of attack of his entire campaign. And he wasn't "wrong" in a "his interpretation of the situation is questionable" sense of the word. He was WRONG, about basic indisputable FACTS.

That is a demonstration of ignorance. Dangerous ignorance. Ignorance of a subject which McCain has based his bid for the presidency on. Letting the media present this to the populace as a "gaffe" on a par with an episode of campaign comic relief is unacceptable. This was not a gaffe, this was a revelation. And we should all be out there hammering every newspaper editor and television news director with the demand to present this as it is and deal with the hugely important implications of it properly. This should put a nail in the coffin of McCain's aspiration to become the president, but it won't if it is permitted to be spun as some amusing little slip of the tongue.

[Rainbowreflect]

1. K&R

[IndependentDem]

2. K & R --- this should be HUGE! instead it will be swept under the rug. n/t

[ErinBerin84]

3. k & R

While it's fun to make fun of McCain's gaffes like the "Iraq/Pakistan border"., they're more along the lines of the ones Obama sometimes makes- Israel remains a friend to Israel, I think he made one today about being on the wrong committee, etc (though McCain DEFINITELY seems to make more of these types of gaffes).

But McCain knew what he was doing here...he wants to conflate all progress on the ground to be due to The Surge! And the fact that CBS did cut and paste editing is just beyond sketchy.

[Cha]

4. Very well stated, gcomeau!

Was katie left scratching her head?

[Rocky2007]

5. Yep~~~~~

K & R :bounce: :kick:

[Labors of Hercules]

6. Military leaders need to stand up and express their misgivings about McCain.

This is not political, it is a matter of National Security.

[gcomeau]

7. No way to give an opinion on a presidential candidate without it being political unfortunately. -nt