Print stories on McCain's Letterman appearance omitted his "wasted ... lives" comment, despite attention to Obama's
In his February 28 appearance on CBS' Late Show with David Letterman, during which he announced his intention to run for the Republican nomination for president in 2008, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) claimed that "Americans are very frustrated" with the situation in Iraq and that "they have every right to be." McCain then added: "We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure [in Iraq], which is American lives." The New York Times, The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times all published March 1 articles reporting McCain's announcement on the Late Show, with The New York Times and the Post directly quoting McCain from the program -- but none of these articles noted his claim that "we've wasted" American lives in Iraq. Yet when Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) made similar comments in Iowa on February 11, the Post and the Los Angeles Times reported the remarks the following day. The New York Times, meanwhile, devoted a February 13 article to Obama's subsequent apology and clarification.
As of 12:30 p.m. ET, both the Post and The New York Times had posted a separate AP report on McCain's comments. However, while, as of that time, the Post had several links to stories on McCain's Late Show announcement on its homepage, there were no homepage links to the AP story. Further, The New York Times homepage, as of that time, carried no links to any McCain stories and The Los Angeles Times website had yet to post any stories noting McCain's comments.
By contrast, in its March 1 article on McCain's announcement, the Associated Press reported his comment on American lives being "wasted" in Iraq while also noting that Obama had been criticized for making a similar statement:
Discussing the war with Letterman, McCain repeated his assertion that U.S. troops must remain in Iraq rather than withdrawing early even though the war has been mismanaged.
"Americans are very frustrated, and they have every right to be," McCain said. "We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives."
In February, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama described the lives of troops in Iraq as having been "wasted" but then apologized a day later for making what he called "a slip of the tongue" that he said was not meant to diminish their sacrifice.
O-Bama
Double standards. Will we hear an apology from McCain? Not likely. How can McCain consider "wasted" lives frustrating to Americans yet continue to support a futile Bush increase of troops (whose lives are also in danger of being "wasted")? It's a boondoggle boggler.
It's not so much if we'll hear an apology from McCain. The question is, Will there be a demand for such an apology as in the case of Obama?
Relax, Pick. The LA Times' "reporting" of Obama's remark consisted of a parenthetical (!) in the middle of the article on page A13.
Believe me. The LA Times absolutely LOVES Barack Obama. Never have I seen a major newspaper give such glowing adoration and love to a candidate. It's still a long way from the election. When the chips are down and the election is close, I'm willing to bet that the Times will be Obama all the way.
Oh, yeah. And the NY Times "article" to which MMFA refers was a miniscule 185 words. Usually tiny pieces like this are buried in the middle of the paper.
"Americans are very frustrated, and they have every right to be," McCain said. "We've wasted a lot of our most precious treasure, which is American lives."
He's since corrected himself...he meant to say "sacrificed."
'Wasted' better explains why Americans are frustrated.
So Obama opposed an invasion of Iraq from the beginning and he says lives are wasted and gets coverage for it, but McCain says lives are wasted while supporting the Iraq War from the beginning and supporting a troop surge but he doesn't get coverage for that? It should be the other way around. At least Obama was consistent. The media apparently still loves McCain.
THANK YOU.
njguy93@yahoo.com
(You don't need to sign your posts, ya know.)
I've signed them from day one. It is fun to do.
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njguy93@yahoo.com
I for one have always found it charming, NJGUY, keep on keeping on.
Thank You,
MickD
At the risk of annoying anyone who might have already seen my post in the Fox Noise-distorted-poll-thread, I'll repeat the post of quotes and link to the interview with the Pentagon whistleblower, Karen Kwiatkowski . This transcript explores the belief of this source that troops in Iraq are to remain permanently on bases constructed there and that any future president will be saddled with those military outposts for the foreseeable future. McCain must know there is no chance of a withdrawal from the area since the bases are permanent. What is his goal to spin the war?
And for all you worriers of a war with Iran, this article gives no consolation since Iran has been a target since the beginning, along with Syria. This is a depressing look at how undemocratic forces have been at work planning militaristic ventures without the consent of the governed or Congress.
Pentagon Whistle-Blower on the Coming War With Iran Truthdig.com
Tuesday 27 February 2007
Transcript:
excerpted quotes from Karen Kwiatkowski interview:
"I think the, one of the big reasons that Bush and Cheney think they can do Iran is that they believe, what they're hearing from the Air Force and the Navy"
"So we weren't allowed to put out anything except what Office of Special Plans was producing for us. And that was only partially based on intelligence, and partially based on a political agenda."
"Most of the money we gave to Halliburton was for construction and completion of these bases. We have probably, of the 150,000, 160,000 troops we have in Iraq probably 110,000 of those folks are associated with one of those four mega bases. Safely ensconced behind acres and acres of concrete. To operate there indefinitely, no matter what happens in Baghdad .."
"And we don't even have status of forcive agreements with any legitimate government in Iraq to support those bases. They are illegal bases, okay. But yes, they're gonna stay, absolutely, they're gonna stay."
"And this guy [Jerry Bremer's predecessor (Jay Garner?)] gave an interview in Government Exec Magazine, February 2004, he said “we will be in Iraq, and the American people need to get with this program, we will be in Iraq like we were in the Philippines for anywhere from 20 to 30 more years. That's the time frame that we're looking at. And that is the life span of the bases that we've constructed there."
"They are American bases. We've got our flag there. And this is kind of the way they used to do things, I guess back in the Middle Ages. Maybe the Dark Ages. A king decided he wanted to go do something, he went and did it. And this is George Bush. We call him an elected president. I mean, he's operating much as kings have operated in the past."
"The problem is, it's immoral, it's illegal, it engenders hatred for Americans, contempt for Americans. It makes every American in the world a target for terrorism. It's just plain wrong, it's unconstitutional."
"We were so contracted out, we hired people that are beyond the law, that are not accountable to rules of war. And that's how we function. So the whole military system, the idea of a defensive force, forget it, that's done with."
"...our own country is at risk, but not from terror, not from buildings being knocked down, that's not what our country is at risk from, it's at risk from our politics, from our abandonment of the Constitution, our devaluing of the Bill of Rights. We've lost our freedom. Osama probably couldn't have dreamed that George Bush would help him out so much. I don't think even that was his intention, I don't think Osama could care less about our freedom, Osama's issues have to do with Islam and the Holy land, Saudi Arabia, his issues are much more narrow than anything that he's so called achieved. And I think George Bush has achieved this in a very weak and debased Congress has achieved this for this country"
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/030107K.shtml
Yup, the real enemies of freedom are here at home.
Re McCain's use of "wasted" -
IOKIYAR.
Where's the screeching outrage from Malkin?
Folks, I think we should settle down on this one. (Ugh, I sound like Tommy.)Many print deadlines make it difficult to get "news" from the Late Show into the morning editions. The TV folks picked this story up pretty heavily and I would expect print to follow tomorrow.
Okay, I'm willing to give props to Johnny for his Viet service (and horrid prison time) but does that make him untouchable? We all have our vulnerable moments but to take Obama to task for his statements and give white-haired Johnny a pass seems not only unfair but makes the media look petty (and that's not even partisan).
Where is the fake republic party outrage!?!?!
I don't have a problem w/ either one of them saying it.
Their lives are being wasted. why is that so hard to comprehend?
Why is that offensive to anyone? Is the truth that hard to swallow?
Their lives are not being lost in an effort to make America safer, as the President and his administration would lead you to believe.
The point is that when McCain says it, he's just being a Straight-Talking Maverick. When Barry Hussein Obama says it, he's hating on the troops.
McCain says there are only two democracies in the Middle East, Turkey and Israel. Letterman doesn't challenge him and MMFA ignores the misstatement. He omitted Lebanon and Palestine. Whether you like it or not, both countries have democracies, it is just that the US government doesn't like the parties that get elected.
There's actually lots of democracies in the region. Even most of the monarchies have elected consultative councils. Our ally Jordan is being the most regressive, King Abdullah dissolved the Jordanian parliament and rules by decree, last I heard.
But they will only mention the "white" Israelis and the "NATO ally" Turkey in their utterances, mainly because they're just ignorant racists who haven't a clue what goes on in the real world.
Contrary to MMFA's claims, The Washington Post did have an article about McCain's wasted lives quote, the day after the statement was done:
It's here.
The New York Times also published on March 1st an AP article in its website saying "found himself on the defensive for saying during the appearance that U.S. lives had been ''wasted'' in Iraq."
I think sometimes the media buys too much into partisan stereotypes: Republicans for the war, Democrats against. Our media is too wedded to the establishment military-industrial-political complex to appreciate the true diversity of political discourse. When a maverick like McCain speaks out on an issue that doesn't fit the "stereotype," the media edits his claim to make it conform more to the G.O.P line. Similarly, they make every effort to include a "wasted lives" claim by Obama.