Sadly, these "McCain moments" are happening with increasing frequency. Here's Howard Kurtz writing in today's Washington Post:
[McCain] has been making a series of verbal slips -- invariably described as "gaffes" -- that are starting to ricochet from liberal blogs to the mainstream media. And fairly or not, some critics are suggesting the 71-year-old Republican candidate is showing his age.McCain referred to the "Iraq-Pakistan border" in a "Good Morning America" interview; since there is no such border, he must have meant Afghanistan-Pakistan. He has twice referred to Czechoslovakia, a country that ceased to exist in 1993; mixed up Sunnis and Shiites; and identified Vladimir Putin as president of Germany.
As Dan Abrams of MSNBC said Monday, "gaffe after gaffe after gaffe come from John McCain, and they are forgotten. . . . There is no way Barack Obama would be able to get away with something like this."
So why isn't it a huge issue that John McCain is completely clueless about foreign policy, his SUPPOSED area of "strength" (forget about the economy, that's all mental, psychological, etc., plus McCain himself admitted he doesn't know jack about economics...or the Internets...or much of anything, apparently)? It's simple: the mindless, "lamestream media" narrative for years has been that John McCain is "strong" on national security and foreign policy. Ergo, John McCain MUST be "strong" on national security and foreign policy, because the media's always right. Right?
Uh, wrong. To the contrary, McCain appears to have no clue about much of anything, foreign or domestic, and that gives him fits unless his buddy "Holy Joe" Lieberman is standing nearby to whisper in his hearing aid ear and correct him. Or, unless the "liberal media" is busy covering up for him, for instance by leaving the damaging parts of what he said on the cutting room floor, as CBS News just did.
Anyway, what's so bad about not knowing that the "Sunni awakening" in Iraq began in September 2006, several months before George W. Bush announced "the surge" in January 2007? (Note: See here for Col. Sean MacFarland's account of how it all went down. Also note that there's not ONE MENTION by Col. MacFarland of "the surge" as a factor in the "Sunni awakening") Here is what's so bad about McCain's gaffe "fundamental misunderstanding of Iraq":
This is not controversial history. It is history that anyone trying out for Commander in Chief must understand when there are 150,000 American troops stationed in Iraq. It is an absolutely essential element to the story of the past two years. YOU CANNOT GET THIS WRONG. Moreover, what is most disturbing is that according to McCain's inaccurate version of history, military force came first and solved all of our problems. If that is the lesson he takes from the Anbar Awakening, I am afraid it is the lesson he will apply to every other crisis he faces including, for example, Iran.This is just incredibly disturbing. I have no choice but to conclude that John McCain has simply no idea what is actually happened and happening in Iraq.
Is that what we need in our next president, yet ANOTHER George W. Bush who's completely clueless about the world, the Middle East, Iraq, Iran, Sunnis, Shi'ites, etc., etc.? I mean, how'd that work for all of us the past 8 years? Yeah, not too appealing. How about a fresh start with someone who actually has the capacity to learn, grow, process new information, analyze it, and make the right decisions? Or, would that be too much to ask in a president of the United States of America?
John McCain said this today in Rochester, New Hampshire:This is a clear choice that the American people have. I had the courage and the judgment to say I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me that Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.
This is the ninth presidential campaign I've covered. I can't remember a more scurrilous statement by a major party candidate. It smacks of desperation. It renews questions about whether McCain has the right temperament for the presidency. How sad.
He doesn't understand geography. He doesn't understand history. He doesn't understand geopolitics. He doesn't understand economics.
McCain's dumb as a sack o hammers, and to him, every problem looks like a nail. He has one mode and one mode only: identify an enemy and use unrelenting military force to destroy it.
That's his solution to every problem and it makes him blind to reality. This is why he is weak on the economy, because he doesn't understand the ebb and flow of economic activity or the fact that sometimes you need to reevaluate the fundamentals. It's why he has consistently made the wrong judgments on military and foreign affairs. His only diplomacy is "destroy the bad guys". McCain is doomed to fail and weak on Afghanistan, for precisely the same reasons that plagued Bush - his willful ignorance, arrogance, and rage.