Media flacks for McCain's false "flak" attack on Obama's spelling
Radio host Rush Limbaugh, Politico senior political writer Jonathan Martin, and other media figures uncritically repeated Sen. John. McCain's (R-AZ) attack on Sen. Barack Obama's (D-IL) spelling of "flack jacket" with a "c" in "flack," without noting -- as MSNBC congressional correspondent Mike Viqueira did -- that "flack" is an "alternative to the spelling of 'flak.' " Indeed, the phrase "flack jacket" with a "c" appears on dozens of military websites.
Obama, responding in part to McCain's criticism of his recent Iraq war vote, issued a May 25 press release arguing that "the course we are on in Iraq" is not "working." Obama said "a reflection of that [is] the fact that Senator McCain required a flack jacket" and other military protection when walking through a Baghdad market during a trip to Iraq in April. In a response the same day, McCain took issue with Obama's spelling: "By the way, Senator Obama, it's a 'flak' jacket, not a 'flack' jacket." In his report on McCain's attack, Viqueira cited Webster's New World Dictionary to prove that "flack" is an alternative to "flak."
The spelling of "flack jacket" with a "c" is also present on numerous military websites:
- A photo caption from the Department of Defense's webpage: "The Norwegian Army Telemark Company is hosting the Viking Run, an annual physical fitness test in the Norwegian Army. It consists of running 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) over rough terrain wearing a combat uniform, flack-jacket, long-barrel rifle, 2 full ammunition magazines, and a helmet totaling a minimum of 11 kilograms."
- A first person narrative, "The Most Decorated Ammunition Company in Vietnam," by retired Brig. Gen. Richard F. Allen, which appeared in the September-October 2000 edition of Army Logistician: "Laughing, he told me that at 0330 he had been awakened by the club officer, dressed in civilian clothes but wearing a steel helmet and a flack jacket and carrying a double-barreled shotgun. The club officer told him that the VC were attacking all over the place and that an attack on the officers' club could occur at any time."
- The official transcript of a September 2001 press conference with then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld:
RUMSFELD: What we're seeing here is all of the complicated gradations and dimensions of this problem and our task -- the task of people who value freedom and the ability to get up in the morning as you people did and walk out without having to wear a flack jacket or hide in your cellar or look up and down the street for fear someone's going to shoot you.
- A June 16, 2004, Army News Service article: "At about 16 pounds, IBA [Interceptor Body Armor] is lighter than the 25-pound Vietnam-era flack jacket it replaced and it offers better protection, [Brig. Gen. James] Moran said."
- An article by Capt. Andra Higgs in the February 2006 issue of Contact, an "authorized publication of the Air Force Reserve's 349th Air Mobility Wing, Travis Air Force Base, California:" "'I was planning to get out of the Air Force as soon as I got back,' said Sargeant [sic] [Wilsondo] Alteus, teary eyed while standing on the dusty base wearing a desert camouflage flack jacket and Kevlar helmet."
In a May 25 weblog post on Politico.com, Martin uncritically repeated McCain's attack on Obama's spelling and provided his interpretation of the criticism, but did not challenge McCain's assertion that "flack" was incorrect:
But, McCain being McCain, he can't help himself and goes the next step in the statement's kicker:
"By the way, Senator Obama, it's a 'flak' jacket, not a 'flack' jacket."
Which is to say, "there is only one of us in this argument who has ever worn the uniform." (my words)
On the May 25 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Limbaugh cited Martin's blog post, quoted the "flak" line of the McCain press release, and then emphasized McCain's point: "His spelling -- with a 'c' is how Obama spells it -- and that's wrong. There's no 'c' in 'flak.' "
Several other media outlets also uncritically repeated McCain's attack on Obama's spelling:
- The Hill staff writer Klaus Marre wrote: "The former Navy pilot and prisoner of war then took a shot at Obama for making a mistake in his statement. 'By the way, Senator Obama, it's a "flak" jacket, not a "flack" jacket,' McCain said."
- A link to The Hill article on The Drudge Report reported that "McCain ... [m]ocks Obama for not knowing how to spell 'flak jacket'...":
The Drudge Report later removed the link to The Hill from the top of the website and replaced it with a similar link to Martin's blog post: "McCain ... [m]ocks Obama for drug use, not knowing how to spell."
From the May 25 broadcast of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:
LIMBAUGH: And John McCain has just -- and not just McCain, but lot of Republican candidates. But McCain has come out and just slammed Obama.
"McCain being McCain can't help it." This is from The Politico. "He goes the next step in the statement's kicker. 'By the way, Senator Obama, it's a "flak jacket," not a "flack jacket." ' " His spelling, with a "c," is how Obama spells it, and that's wrong. There's no "c" in flak.
And then, a McCain aide said this about Obama after this vote. "Barack Obama wouldn't know the difference between an RPG and a bong." Now, I know those of you in Rio Linda [California] know what a bong is, but you might not know what an RPG is -- rocket propelled grenade. This is hot and heavy. Going into the Memorial Day weekend McCain's staffer says Obama wouldn't know the difference between an RPG and a bong? A bong is a -- you smoke illegal drugs with it.
From the 2 p.m. hour of the May 25 edition of MSNBC Live:
VIQUEIRA: It started with John McCain accusing Barack Obama of being in the pocket of MoveOn[.org] and other liberal organizations who had threatened to withhold their endorsement of any candidate who voted for this thing. Well, Barack Obama responded this morning. He says that Governor [Mitt] Romney [R-MA], who also criticized him, and Senator McCain "clearly believe the course we are on in Iraq is working. I do not."
And then he goes on to point out a sort of infamous incident where John McCain and a congressman, Mike Pence [R-IN], and other conservatives were visiting a market in Baghdad a couple of months ago. And Obama says, "If there was ever a reflection of that, it's the fact that Senator McCain required a flack jacket, 10 armored Humvees, two Apache helicopters,100 soldiers with rifles to stroll through that market."
And then responding to that -- let me put down this book here for a second. Responding to that --
ALEX WITT (host): We have props.
VIQUIERA: Whoa, OK. We have props. Responding to that was Senator John McCain, who sort of paints Obama as a dilettante without the service and experience combined that John McCain has. But then he says, "By the way, Senator Obama, it's a flak jacket" -- F-L-A-K -- "not a flack jacket," F-L-A-C-K, taunting Obama on the basis of the spelling in Obama's previous press release. Well, listen, I got the dead tree edition of Webster's New World Dictionary here, 3rd College Edition, actually. It says actually that "flack" -- F-L-C-K [sic] -- setting the record straight here -- is a noun, and it's alternative to the spelling of "flak" -- F-L-A-K. Alex, that was a long way around, but I finally got to the point there.
WITT: Are you like a type-A student? Were you a type-A student in college, Mike? Were you one of those -- just kind of like -- really obnoxious, having to get every single detail right?
McCain is a dik.
Viqueira is not your average media "hak".
Perhaps the fact that Bush can't speak English all that well you would think that the Repubs would want to keep any grammatical errors that the Dems do from being mentioned.......
You know, since W has lowered the bar so frickin low the only option for the Repubs is to get even dumber (not real hard for them actually) while taking as much of the country with them while making Dems look articulate, clean, and smart.....
or was that tried already....hmmm
I can already predict what most of you are going to do with this thread. Lets see if I can get close.
"The fat, drug addicted Limbaugh should know all too well what a bong is. He's probably got four stashed away at his house."
Does that about cover it?
you've covered your strawman argument.
so... John Mccain is a, mood swinging, scum sucking, falwell/robertson butt kissing grammar nazi....
I'd vote for him!!!
(NOT)
It's not a strawman argument. You guys personally attack Rush on every thread that is about him.
Your strawman is the characterization of us mocking him. maybe you should have waited instead of putting your foot in your mouth...
Foot in..... apply directly to your mouth.
Foot in..... apply directly to your mouth.
Foot in..... in stores now.
Rush personally attacks anyone with a D as a party affiliation. What is your point? Or do you have one?
Rush attacks the liberal ideology and mostly sticks to the issues. He rarely ever uses personal attacks. When he does it's usually just satire that's done for laughs. He never says anything hatefully about anybody. You guys personally attack Limbaugh on every thread that is about him, because you can't refute anything he actually says. You have to make it personal every time.
Actually we just use satire as much as the next guy... oxycontin pills comments that you are all worked about are just that... jokes and satire. You live by the sword and die by the sword in this life. Rush surely can dish it out. Personal attacks... So are you saying Rush never attacked anyone personally? How about Micheal J. Fox or Donovan Mcnabb? Hmm? Your so full of it Whino. Aww, don't cry I'm just using satire with your name.
This is the bottom line: YOUR just mad because your boyfriend McCain got caught in his pettiness and someone had the "audacity" to correct him. So you use an ad-hominem argument against the posters here instead of addressing the topic at hand. Get over yourself.
----"Rush... rarely ever uses personal attacks ... he never says anything hatefully about anybody."----
Oh no, no. Perish the thought.
Limbaugh asking his audience, "Did you know the [Clinton] White House has a dog?", and then holding up a photo of Chelsea Clinton----that wasn't a personal attack at all whatsoever, no.
Exactly, making fun of Chelsea Clinton the way Rush used to was so classy of Rush. Rush is disgusting and if that is a Personal attack toward that fat drug addicted windbag so be it.
According to rinohunter's trollish logic, personal attacks used to provoke the listener to attack a political opponent is OK. Only in the twisted fantasy world of right-wing talk radio...
You are like a chatty Kathy doll. Limbuagh tells YOU what to think and say and you regurgitate it. It is an outright LIE that Limbaugh never says anything hateful about people. He calls women he doesnt like feminazis. He called Chelsea Clinton the white House dog when she was thirteen and didnt HAVE a public ideology. He also gets taken apart regularly here and elsewhere its a fantasy that we cant refute what he says on the few occasions he says anything substantial. Got his energizer parrots though. The Limborg have their talking points ready. Of course they are completely devoid of reality like your little ditty above but you are primed and ready to say what he has programmed you dittobots to say in his defense. As for convincing anyone with a brain in their heads good luck with that.
Rhino is just tugging everyone's wire, or he's one of rush's pill happy pals.
Rino, it pains me to remind you that Rush makes a living out of attacking others--in the comfort and safety of his studio, minus any opposing viewpoints. We attack him because virtually everything he says is an insult to the intellect. You ought to stop being the man's apologist.
How 'bout i personally attack you? Just what is a Rino anyway? Do you have a fear of the letter "H"?
I can already predict
Actually, what I was going to note is that it that McCain's aide certainly is clear on what a bong is. :-)
It makes fun of all the liberal bloggers on this website.
Attacking someone's spelling is childish.
Why would we expect anything less than childish, immature behavior from those on the right? It's their stock in trade!
Still, ZINGER!
ZINGER!
Well, yeah, it would have been - if it hadn't been wrong. Which is the point of the post.
It was a non-story when McCain "corrected" his spelling and an even bigger non-story that MMFA's talking about it.
Can we get any pettier on both ends? Thank god we have MMFA keeping an eye on this.
It's just so TRIVIAL!
Are you taking on Tommy's role of saying this is a nothing story, so we should simply ignore it?
As Tommy has been told countless times, we don't take our walking orders from the rightwing trolls on this site, and neither does Media Matters!
So I'm a troll now? Back to name calling are we?
Talk about whatever you like but only a koolaid driinker on either side would think this story has any merit.
Name calling is all that guy does.
This is a story though.
Back to name calling?
When did I stop calling people accurate names, like troll or numbskull? You have to stop calling people to account for their stupidity in order to go back to doing it. I never stopped.
A troll to you is anyone who goes against the liberal ideology. If you don't like what someone says, then you call them a troll. In reality you're probably closer to being a troll than any of the conservatives on this web site, because all you do is come here and use personal attacks rather than debate the issues.
First off, a troll can be many things, but not what you described. That's not a troll.
Secondly, EHull has gone onto countless threads, and not added anything credible or relevant. EHull goes onto countless threads and says that there's nothing to talk about, and that Media Matters is making a mountain out of a molehill.
Lastly, I do a lot more than make personal attacks. The fact that you try to minimize my contribution (actually more like you deny that I contribute anything to this site) reinforces what I already knew - that you are incredibly ignorant and incredibly biased.
EHull - almost all comments about how there's nothing to see, all the time. Here's his comments like that just from yesterday's threads.
About the Edwards stuff, another non-story. Hannity(who's a true partisan and not to be taken seriously) didn't really draw the dots the way MMFA suggests. More spin. But does it really matter? Does anyone really think that Edwards has a chance? It's like picking on Ron Paul. Doesn't mean much but it might get you some airtime.
- ehull / Saturday May 26, 2007 03:07:03 AM EST
It was a non-story when McCain "corrected" his spelling and an even bigger non-story that MMFA's talking about it. Can we get any pettier on both ends? Thank god we have MMFA keeping an eye on this. It's just so TRIVIAL!
- ehull / Saturday May 26, 2007 01:30:01 AM EST
All this crap about, "if you've never served how dare you support this(or any war)war" is absurd.
- ehull / Saturday May 26, 2007 03:46:04 AM EST
That's exactly right Tommy. Talk about MISINFORMATION!
MMFA does a whopper here.
- ehull / Friday May 25, 2007 06:40:48 PM EST
Reasonable people can disagree about whether they are right but to compare the two votes is invalid.
- ehull / Friday May 25, 2007 06:50:31 PM EST
Sounds like an opinion to me and an opinion that's not very intersting, and certainly not relevant, to anything of importance.
- ehull / Friday May 25, 2007 03:19:45 PM EST
It sounds like he had some pretty good points to me. The fact that you simply personally attacked him and didn't try to refute what he actually said proves that he made a good point. And no, you don't add anything to this site other than personal attacks and an occasional left wing talking point. You couldn't even go an entire post without personally attacking me.
"that you are incredibly ignorant and incredibly biased"
You even attack your fellow liberals like Dorris. Anybody who doesn't toe the far left line 100% of the time is someone who you feel that you have to personally attack. Even some of the liberals on this site are fed up with your endless personal attacks and lack of anything substantive to say.
Hey, now, wait a minute.
You are incredibly ignorant and biased.
I said that EHull was a troll for making repeated posts that there was nothing to look at. He doesn't decide for Media Matters what to cover, and there were good reasons for Media Matters to cover the things that they did!
Too bad for your side that your point was totally demolished! Your denial of that fact doesn't change the fact, you know!
I said EHull goes on to countless threads, and then I provided proof of exactly what I said he did! You can't refute what I said and so you desperately try to change the subject! That's lame, but all too common here.
George has attitude and a forceful style and he ain't afraid let anybody know that they're being a dipstick. Get over it, Rino.
You don't get to come here and control the terms of the discussion by defining what is or isn't acceptable behavior. Y'all can stay on topic and go point for point too, but ya don't. Ya whine about not being treated right. But where is YOUR self discipline? Thought Repubs were a cut above. Whatever.
Well it may have been a "non-story" at ONE point, but when the Right-Wing Noise Machine decided to press forward with it, it became a story. AND, since one of MediaMatters stated tasks is the CORRECTING of conservative misinformation, this falls well within the site's purview, regardless of what you might think. MediaMatters doesn't need *you* to choose what they report. (If you want that, go back to FoxNews, so that you can decide what they report.)
Right.....like everything that MMFA is reporting is not self serving also. Learn to think for yourself and NOT be drug by your nose by any Media Machine :-)
You might not want to use the word "drug" (especially in the illiterate manner you did) in a thread that features refutations of comments by Rush Limbaugh.
You seem to have a real comprehension problem. It was petty and WRONG when he corrected Obamas spelling. It MIGHT have been a story about McCain that while being condescending he actually showed how little HE knew but no the press treated his INCORRECT correction as if IT were the story and this little post is about how the story played out.
McCain is a jerk. he can not argue on the topic so he resorts to childish, petty personal attacks. How the msm loves this liar is unbelieveable to me.
Wow Doris calling McCain a jerk is not a "personal attack". You do not know how to stop do you?
No, Dorris made an assessment of the facts in this case and came to the conclusion that he was a jerk. Simple. You view that as a "personal attack" then you can go right ahead, but based on that opinion, I would have to come to the conclusion that your an idiot. How's that for a personal attack?
That is fine, you are not the one who says you never make personal attacks. Doris the Imus hater says she does not engage in them. Call me an idiot if you like, just shows your maturity level.
OK, if you insist. You're an idiot.
So because Doris doesn't like Imus, she is personally attacking him. Or is it because she called him a jerk based on his most recent actions and past history? I think you are the one who is being immature is you who misconstrues personal dislike of someone based on their actions and history as a personal attack, surely everyone has a right to like/dislike what he/she wants, it only becomes personal and petty when its not based on anything.
The problem is people like you and Doris and Julie and that idiot Evilrepublicansnow act so pious. Its ok for liberals to engage in hate but if someone dares to condem Hillary or call her "satan" like Imus did in a joking way, you and MMFA and the liberal hate machine go out in full force. It is clear as day to me.
Repube talking point, plain as day. However, you have no basis in fact for any of your assertions. Please provide a link for me that proves that any MMFA article (Not the comments section, but the article itself) engages in hate attacks directed at the person it covers.
Please answer me this, how is it that little old me and the rest of the so called "liberal" posters here expressing our opinions, usage of satire and humor (you know like Rush does <sarcasm>soooo well</sarcasm>), likes and dislikes about a person(s) who is the topic of an MMFA article equate to the liberal "hate machine"? Its all in your head man, you need to get over yourself.
This is the bottom line and the topic of this article: Your hero McCain was called out on his childish, petty, and false attack on Obama's spelling of Flack/Flak to try and divert attention away from the real issue that Obama alluded too, which was McCain having to wear a vest and be surrounded by 100's of US troops and support vehicles into what was supposed to be a "safe" market in the green zone. This is a clear cut case. When I read the article and saw the clip that MMFA played where Alex Witt mocked someone for correcting the record in regards to McCain's attack Obama, I posted a comment calling McCain a grammar nazi amongst other things. I still stick to that based on what I read and saw. Is that hate speech to you? Am I part of the vast left wing hate machine? Or am I expressing my opinion based on the facts?
Still waiting peg..........................................................
Unlike you I actually have a life and do things with my children during the day. What do you want me to say or react? You are boring and off topic.
Lol, NOW you say I'M off topic.... I can see right through you. Anyways, Thanks!! You see, I'm always up for a good debate no matter the time of day.. Hey I don't have any kids and work full time... why its only MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND!! Put the kids to bed and have a some fun!!
(Chugs more beer)<----------------
Peg knocked out. Great job. Peg is a lowlife.
In other words.....Uncle.
Liberal hate machine took dowm Imus? Are you for real?
LIBERAL hate machine? What a joke when the LHM comes even CLOSE to the Conservative Hate Machine, that is when they suggest you beat liberals with baseball bats, call you guys traitors regularly, say we should poison a Supreme Court Justice or any of the myriad examples of the rightwing hate that is endemic in our country get back to us. Classi projection by someone who is just lucky it isnt physically painful to be a hypocrite. Certainly it proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that no level of irony can be fatal of your next of kin would be planning your funeral, a victime of ironic overdose.
The problem is not the spelling. The spelling is a distraction from the core issue. John McCsin had to wear body armor in what was supposed to be asafe market. Remmember this is the market that a representative compared to flea markets in his home state. The focus on spelling distracts from the core issue. McCain did played a game with his discriptions of Iraq, and was called on the inaccuracies.
Exactly, McCain has been the leading Senate cheerleader for this war criminal administration.
He's also been the leading Senate cheerleader for amnesty for illegals, campaign finance reform, and an end to coercive interrogation. You guys should like McCain. He agrees with you on many issues.
Mind-reading again hugh Whino?
Where are your facts to call the Bush Administration War Criminals? Or is this another of your liberal smears like the smear toward Imus ?
If the Nuremberg laws were applied Bush and Cheney would be HUNG. WE were behind the Nuremberg trial so by OUR OWN definition starting a war of aggression is not only a WAR CRIME but the SUPREME war crime because as the tribunal stated it had the elements of all other war crimes within it. Many if not most of the Nazis we hung were executed for THIS WAR CRIME. Now those are the standards WE applied to others and its pretty hard to even CLAIM Bush isnt guilty of EXACTLY that crime.
This is all very clear. To think for 1 second Iraq was, is or ever will be a good idea is to say Vietnam was a good idea. Watching right wingers try to defend the police operation over there and the reasons for the thing in the first place is truly sad. Watching these lockstep rightwingers try to defend bush is pathetic. These extreem and twisted excuses will haunt the republicans for decades and the right knows it. They can't admit they were wrong. Bush's ego will kill more Americans (kids). This insane (doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results IS the definition of insanity) petty little man bush is so over his head and so egomaniacal he will never admit he was wrong. Of course Iraq was about oil and revenge (for his father). Baby bushes main goal was acheived (initially) and watching him land on the aircraft carrier and the resultant speach was embarassing. It made me cringe and nausious. I consider myself outside looking in. I have no dog in this hunt so to speak. bush has defined Kakistocracy with his administratin. The masses where so upset with Clinton having sex in the White House they would have elected a chimp instead of Gore ( I am not totally convinced they didn't). The right IS wrong and rationalizations, obsfucations, lies, slander, character assasination and distortions are the daily fare for the right wing talking heads. It is like trying to convince me the earth is flat because the horizon would, at first glance, seem to suggest it be so. I think the Dems would be better off to start playing by one of the republicans rules. Example: hannity says dems are anti American troops because they didn't give bush a funding bill he could sign. TOTAL BS. THE REPUBLICANS DO THIS ALL THE TIME WHILE THE dems , FOR THE MOST PART, DON'T PLAY THAT GAME. It is like the republicans can get together and spew forth consitently this garbage. Like b.o. tonite saying Rosie hates America. I say probably because of the Grand Canyon or is it Yosimite. Reality test: Progress is a good thing unless a republican says you are a progressive. Ataching a negative connotation to something that is a good thing seems to be a staple of the right wingers and I am sick of it. In so many ways the republicans act like the nazis during ww2. Distort science, get rid of certain books, stiffle free speach, sesorship, control the airways, take away human rights for the good of the "fatherland", create your own propaganda channel and indoctrinate by repetitionof the beforementioned right wing tactics. Create a sudotheocracy. Lets get prayer back into politics and schools. These people MUST be stopped until they die off and the masses of the next generation accept reality.
Sorry for spelling errors and caps. If we ever become a theocracy, next will be exucutions on the new fox noos channel for heresy. Then in 2092 the Mayflower 2 will be looking at he Engish Channel. I paln on being on that boat I will be 143 years old.
There are numerous references to "flack jacket" in the Marines website too.
That's Great! Way to go guys, you've really nailed it this time.
What a JOKE!
Who cares if Obama used the alternate spelling and who cares if McCain doesn't like it?
It's so unimportant.
You're the joke for saying this is unimportant.
So unimportant that you had to comment on it, that is!
We're smarter than you apparently give us credit for. We know that the more you try to claim it's unimportant, the more important it really is!!!
yea. You got me again.
You must be a poker player. Your reads are uncanny.
Doyle brunson? Is that you?
Another troll comment saying that this is unimportant.
That's your broken record message. The more you say it, the more we know it's not true. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. It does take a numbskull to think it's not obvious to any thinking person that is what you are doing.
You aren't fooling anyone but yourself, and that's another sign that you're a numbskull.
McCain should have been careful about this little nitpicky attitude. He's just given the Obama camp carte blanche to scour EVERY press release his people issue for the slightest error in spelling.
As has been said, Senator McCain, "Payback is hell".
What's more telling, of course, is the fact that McCain completely failed to take on Obama's main point. I suppose when one can't defend one's own actions, it's best to attack a completely irrelevant spelling error. (Oh, and Senator McCain, please explain to YOUR President--the word is pronounced "nu-cle-ar" not "nu-cu-lar". Hey, that's every bit as relevant to this as anything else.)
I'll also own up to my own having critiqued other people's spelling errors, but I'm not generally doing so out of spite. (If spite is my motive, it's going to be pretty obvious.) Some people genuinely don't realize their error (although some errors are just so tragic in scope--"there" for "their"--that it gets tedious to correct those) and may be in too much of a hurry to bother with spellcheck programs. But for McCain to nitpick something that's not even officially AN error (as evidenced by the Department of Defense's own use of "flack") while failing to acknowledge Obama's main point (that the policy in Iraq isn't working as evidenced by McCain's wardrobe during his little Baghdad excursion) is something that would be expected of 4th graders (McCain = Cartman, Obama = Stan).
Even after Mike Viquiera of NBC explained "flack" and "flak" can be used in the same way from the NEW Webster's dictionary, Carl Cameron of FOX NEWS was still making fun of Obama supposedly misspelling the word in a press release.
Sigh... With this B.S. showing up this early in the process, I can't wait to see what's in store. I envision a national touring clown car entering ring two. Out of one side emerge a pile of corporate shills and the other, a grinning collection political ladder climbers clutching for the brass ring. Which group is which? Take your pick. I can't tell the difference.
OK. What caused THAT mess?
It is being reported that John McCain himself used the term "flack jacket" in a speech in 2004.
What a dumbass.
Who is the "dumbass"?
The part of the speech with "flack" is a direct quote of what someone else said, their error, in writing:
Secretary Roche wrote to Acting Assistant Secretary Wynne as follows: “Ever since [Acting Assistant Secretary Wynne’s predecessor] Pete [Aldridge] left, the bureaucrats who opposed the 767 lease have come out of the woodwork to try to kill it—yet, once again, Mike, I won’t sign a letter that makes the case that we shouldn’t lease the planes. Ken Krieg’s memo attached is a cheap shot, and I’m sure has already been delivered to the enemies of the lease on the Hill. It is a process foul. And Ken needs to be made aware of that BY YOU! I can’t control the corporate staff on acquisition issues. Mike, this is their way of asserting dominance over you. I know this sounds wild, but animals are animals. Pete had beaten them down. Now, they’re taking you on. I’m sorry. Expecting professional behavior from them is something I gave up on a while back. Among other things, they are about to embarrass SecDef, who having approved the lease, will now have to explain why his staff is destroying the case for it. I’ll do whatever I can to help you, Mike, but [it’s] your job to get the corporate staff under control. If not now, then they will overrun you whenever you “don’t behave” according to their desires. This is a game they have played for years. [They] and OMB are trying to set the Air Force up to be destroyed by Sen McCain WITH OSD AND OMB ARGUMENTS. As you might imagine, I won’t give them the chance, but I will make it clear who is responsible to Don [Rumsfeld]. I refuse to wear my flack jacket backwards!”
Two other thoughts:
1. I am happy to see that MMFA thinks Merriam Webster is an expert source for English language issues. I will remember that the next time someone here complains about "Democrat", an attirbutive nown, used as an adjective.
2. Dan Quayle was handed a card with the tasty spud spelled "potatoe" and incorrectly told a student that "potato" was an incorrect spelling. There was a big fuss about that at the time.
My own "dumbass" moment:
What I wrote as "attirbutive nown" should have been "attributive noun". I wish this site had spell checking.
Why should MMFA bother? You repubes love correcting other people's spelling.
(Sigh, The nerve of these grammar nazis I tell you.)
Weak Dude, Weak Missourihomeo or whatever you chose to call yourself.
First of all, BOTH spellings can be used interchangeably. That is the bottom line, no one spelling is incorrect or wrong like you said at the beginning of your post. That is the heart of the matter.
1) Did you happen to look up the meaning and usage of the word "democratic"?
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/democratic
Try doing your homework next time.
2) And what party affiliation is Dan Quayle again? Ohh... so you don't see the pattern here do you?
"..Merriam-Webster as the standard"
Merriam-Webster is not the ONLY dictionary that defines flack/flak as variants of each other... SO exactly what dictionary DOESNT say that they are variants of each other? Please, stick with internationally accepted and well established dictionaries....
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/Democrat
Merriam Webster doesn't say that it's okay to call it the Democrat party. They call it the Democratic Party.
If someone handed me a card with the word Potato spelled Potatoe, and a kid spelled it Potato, I wouldn't tell them that they spelled it wrong. I'd know that the card had the spelling wrong! It's a simple word!
the next time someone here complains about "Democrat" used as an adjective
If you'd been paying attention, you would know that the complaint is not about the use of the word "Democrat" but the phrase "Democrat Party" when the actual name is Democratic Party. Among polite people (a concept of which, I admit, Bush's people may be unaware), a persistent failure to learn someone's (or some group's) correct name is taken as a deliberate slap.
Dan Quayle was handed a card
At the time, I wondered which was sadder: That it was misspelled on the cue card or that Dan Quayle needed a cue card to spell "potato."
Except it ISNT a mistake as both dictionaries BESIDES Miriam Webster AND common usage show
http://www.answers.com/topic/flak
flak also flack (flăk) http://www.thefreedictionary.com/flak
flak also flack(flk)
http://www.wordwebonline.com/en/FLACK
Noun: flack flak
http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=1861611944
flak [ flak ] or flack [ flak ]
So how many dictionaries do you NEED before you can admit that its pretty well established either is a correct alternate spelling?
What is the point here? Who cares how he spelled the word . . . especially since they've very aptly shown that it can be spelled either way. I just don't see how this pertains in any way to Obama's politics or beliefs. It's clear he is not uneducated, so what point does it serve to bring up the spelling of the word "flack/flak"?
The important thing to note, as has been done a couple of times earlier, is that McCain focused, incorrectly, on an inessential, and ignored Obama's actual argument. This is a typical right wing tactic, taken to an absurdly small level.
It is, of course, effective. As long as we're talking inconsequentials, they don't have to answer substantive questions. And if they can embarrass and distract their opponents this way, they're a step ahead. They need that step.
What is the point here? Who cares how he spelled the word . . .
The larger point is that McCain, with his snappy--and snappish--comeback, not only is attempting to diss Obama for his lack of military savvy (and subtly driving home the talking point that Dems are know-nothings on defense), he also does a nice job of evading the substance of Obama's response. Of course, as MMFA has shown, McCain's original charge that Obama's "no" vote was a vote against the troops was severely disingenuous in that McCain had voted against a different war funding bill the week before, and aside from one guy pointing out his spelling disinformation, St John The Maverick gets a giant pass from the media as usual.
Technically, of course, McCain is correct. "Flak", or more correctly FLAK, is an acronym for "fliegenabwehrkannonen", or "anti-aircraft cannon". It originated in Germany in WWII. The "flak" itself is a reference to shrapnel from the exploding shells of said cannon, used to disable aircraft and their crews. Since WWII, the added "c" was commonly and inappropriately inserted, and has fallen into general usage. That said, I really don't see this as all that big a deal.
Actually, he is NOT correct. Look up the word flack/flak in any dictionary and you will see that they are interchangeable. It wasn't a big deal until people like you and McCain resorted to the petty correcting of someones spelling. A bunch of grammar nazis, the lot of you, HARRrrr...
So you're saying McCain would be correct if we were all speaking German? The Administration is trying very hard to take us back to the Germany of 1933, so why shouldn't they promote the use of the German language as well?
Who gives a crap how it's spelled, try and take a stroll in that Baghdad market without one. I hear it's like walking through a rural town in Indiana.
I think we are all missing the REAL issue here...technically it is a flak (flack) VEST...jackets have sleeves!
not really(last sentence), honestly this issue should be dead, the repubes have thrown every strawman they could and have been thoroughly pimp slapped for their pettiness and elitism.
Thank you Media Matters for putting into context how ridiculous right wingers are in their "criticism" of their political opponents. Men and women are being killed in our name and that disingenuos panderer John McCain thinks it's necesarry to mock a man's spelling. And to top it off, as his right wing pals inthe media prop it up to show just how cool the "straight shooter" is, they didn't even realize they had the spelling wrong to. Conservative misinformation is trumped by conservative stupidity. And look at all the trolls, the people who just like to change the subject or refuse to recognize what the subject is with their little stra man arguments. It's like being on the playground back in elementary school again. Hay Rino, go gore yourself.
Let's ask McCain if he will go back to the "safe" market again without his flak/flack jacket, air support and coterie of 100 armed soldiers in the near future.
That was Obama's point, and because McCain couldn't refute it, he tried to deflect it, by making an illiterate attempt at spell-checking.
Once again the neocons are splitting hares -- as in "rabbiting (running) from the truth." Pun clearly intended.
If Al Gore's weight, Sen. Clinton's pantsuits, and Sen. Obama's accepted usage of alternative acronym spelling is the best that they have, then the '08 elections are going to be a "massacree" (Thank you, Arlo).
Let's never let up on showing the the world the fundamental party difference -- Republicans complain. Progressives do.
r
From Wikipedia:
RPG is a transliteration of РПГ, the Russian abbreviation of Reaktivniy Protivotankniy Granatomyot (реактивный противотанковый гранатомёт), "rocket anti-tank launcher". The English name "hand held anti-tank grenade launcher" is a backronym from RPG (РПГ), and does not follow the correct naming conventions used by English-speaking militaries to describe these weapons.[verification needed] American and British soldiers consistently call these weapons 'RPG's'; only journalists call them 'rocket-propelled grenades.'
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_propelled_grenade
I wonder if McCain knows that this is actually not a grenade launcher at all, but rather a rocket launcher with an explosive warhead.
Thank goodness for MEDIAMATTERS everyone knows the mainstream media for the most part is just corporate propagandist and when you here the statement liberal press by Republics it is always just the opposite of what thy say.
- Easy to refute wingnuts
"So you're saying McCain would be correct if we were all speaking German? The Administration is trying very hard to take us back to the Germany of 1933, so why shouldn't they promote the use of the German language as well?"
Uh, no. What I'm saying is that since there are people who speak German, and since FLAK is a German term, it's correct. Lighten up, Francis. I think the whole issue is petty and stupid, so don't start throwing Right-wing motives on me. I'm on your side.
Ultimately the point is that it was petty for McCain to "correct" Obamas spelling when ultimately either form is commonly used. How many people know the German background of the word? I'm sure YOU had to do some research yourself. Besides, who the hell cares what the background of the word is, the point, as documented by MMFA, is that the spelling "flack" is quite common, there is no getting around that.
Another thing, McCain DOESN'T speak German.
"I think the whole issue is petty and stupid..."
We do too, J. McCain was petty and stupid for doing it, thats kinda like you know... THE POINT.
"I'm on your side"
And what side is that?