Yesterday in Pittsburgh, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., professed his love for the Steelers to KDKA-TV.Asked what's the first thing that comes to his mind when he thinks of Pittsburgh, McCain, chuckled, "the Steelers. I was a mediocre high school athlete but I loved and adored the sports but the Steelers really made a huge impression on me particularly in my early years."
And then McCain told a rather moving story about his time as a P.O.W. "When I was first interrogated and really had to give some information because of the pressures, physical pressures on me, I named the starting lineup, defensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers as my squadron mates."
"Did you really?" asked the reporter.
"Yes," McCain said.
"In your POW camp?" asked the reporter.
"Yes," McCain said.
"Could you do it today?" asked the reporter.
"No, unfortunately," McCain said.
Here's one reason he likely couldn't do it today -- the Steelers aren't the team whose defensive line McCain named for his Vietnamese tormentors. The Green Bay Packers are. At least according to every previous time McCain has told this story.
The rest on the flip
Here is the link to the rest of Tapper's piece, which is worth a read to understand just how well-documented McCain's use of the Packers is in connection with this story:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/polit...
Now, it is not like McCain forgot about this. This is obviously an instance of local pandering, like when Warren Zevon would sing "Ah-oooh, werewolves of Georgetown" whenever he played the Bayou.
But is McCain so out of touch that he did not think this would be discovered? It used to be that presidential candidates could get away with crap like this on local stations, where even if a beat reporter busted you on it there were no percentages in him or her calling you on it (the campaign would simply cut off their access, and they would have to be replaced).
But that is not in this day and age, when 15 minutes after you utter something, there is literally an army of thousands researching any inconsistencies. And as a result, even FCM (Friggin' Corporate Media) outfits like ABC will publish the scoop if they get it. They know a blog would have it soon anyway.
This is but another example of how blogs are a force for good in the world of political reporting.
Personally, I really don't care about insignificant nonsense like this. At worst, it shows how ignorant McCain is about what the current political landscape is like with respect to blogs and reporting.
That said, this is the kind of story the moron media loves when it is about a Democrat. It will be interesting to see how they handle it with respect to their pal, John McCain.
As it was, today, for the first time in a long time, I watched some cable news. Campbell Brown's shown on CNN is much more tolerable than any of Wolf Blitzer/Chris Matthews/Lou Dobbs. And they spent the first 10 minutes absolutely destroying McCain and his awful day -- the birth control/Viagra minute of pain AND Phil Gramm's whole-leg-in-mouth moment.
Ed Rollins for the R's, David Gergen ("unbiased", but clearly a McCain guy), and some Democrat all absolutely trashed his campaign.
This is all on the candidate. McCain is just not ready. Obama was tested and tried by Hillary for 6 plus grueling months, it's no contest.
This is all only going to get worse. Obama has his flaws, but his overall message and positions are remarkably consistent from Feb '07 'til now. McCain? Good luck selling more war, more Bushian economics, and basically more of the same.
McCain has been making a major blunder or two virtually every day. Watch for McCain's "handlers" now to restrict to an absolute minimum his unscripted access to the press and to screen even more carefully the attendees at his Potemkin "town hall" meetings. The handlers will work hard to coach McCain to stay "on message" at those hideously unspontaneous events, and the more they coach, the more flat and wooden his delivery will become. It will be a painful process to watch, even (perhaps especially) for Republicans.
It was surprising--and a little heartening--that even CNN lifted the veil on McCain's bumbling yesterday. The press had covered up McCain's frequent stumbles for so long, it was beginning to appear as though the corporatist fix was in regarding MSM coverage of the McCain campaign.
Maybe even the looting class is beginning to have second thoughts about putting a visibly confused, obviously declining dodderer in the White House.
The point was that because the media liked him so much, and like his accessibility, they never called him on crap like this over the years. As a result, he thinks it is ok to say anything, and consequently lacks the kind of discipline most successful politicians at this level learn to think before speaking.
Even when you are on alert, of course, these gaffes happen, if only because words are imprecise and sometimes even if you don't give fodder to the media, they will just make it up, like the whole Wes Clark debacle of last week.
But looking at the sheer number of these gaffes in the last couple of days, I think there might be something to these comments from TPM. McCain might simply not be ready for prime time.
Read this story about McCain's divorce from his first wife, and prepare to be amazed at his callousness.