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« Americans Say Yes, But Obama Says No | Main | Guitars and Cars » July 1, 2008Why Obama's Campaign Attacked John McCain's Military ServiceWesley Clark's disparaging remarks regarding John McCain's military service were no accidental slip of the tongue. Clark described McCain's heroic service as merely "riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down" and said that doesn't qualify McCain to be President. Clark's remarks came shortly after the release of new polling from Gallup showing that far more Americans express greater confidence in McCain than in Obama to handle the responsibilities of commander in chief and send troops into combat. Clark's not the first Obama surrogate to smear McCain's military record - it's also been done recently by West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, Obama advisor Rand Beers, and Obama supporter Ed Schultz (the latter called McCain a "warmonger" as he was warming up the crowd at an Obama campaign event, and Obama did not renounce the smear.) The Washington Examiner explains what "riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down" really meant for McCain... The mission during which McCain's aircraft was shot down was a twenty-plane attack against the Yen Phu thermal power plant in central Hanoi. The power plant had almost always been off-limits to U.S. raids. As McCain neared the target, warning systems in McCain's A-4E Skyhawk told him he was in danger from enemy fire. He held his dive until he released his bombs at about 3,500 feet. As he started to pull up, his aircraft's wing was blown off by an anti-aircraft missile.I guess, though, when you're a 46-year-old first-term U.S. Senator of little professional accomplishment you have to smear an American hero before too many Americans decide to trust the hero with their lives for the next four to eight years. Posted in Campaign Season
Comments
Clark described McCain's heroic service as merely "riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down" Well, that is a lie. Bob Scheifer said that "Obama hasn't flown a fighter plane and been shot down," and Wesley Clark replied that it wasn't a qualification to be President. Do you think being shot down in a fighter plane is a prerequisite for Presidential service, and if yes, what part of the job do you think it affects? Posted by: Sean Braisted at July 1, 2008 4:42 PMI quoted Clark accurately, Sean. His exact words were: "I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president" That's how he summarizes McCain's service: "riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down." Posted by: Bill Hobbs at July 1, 2008 7:29 PMBill, He repeated back what the new anchor said to him...that is how Bob Scheifer summarized John McCain's war service, or at least, that is the specific aspect he referenced. Posted by: Sean Braisted at July 2, 2008 8:20 AMWell, that's not all Clark did, Sean. He's continued to defend and repeat the thoughts in other media. Posted by: Bill Hobbs at July 2, 2008 10:15 AMHe repeated his belief that flying a plane does not make someone more or less qualified to be President, and I have yet to hear someone explain how he is wrong about that. Posted by: Sean Braisted at July 2, 2008 11:54 AMIt's not flying a plane, or even getting shot down, it's what McCain did for the next five and a half years that shows the man's incredible character. I'll let Blackfive explain: You would think it would be simple, but I forget that the concepts of Duty, Honor & Country are dirty words to the left/press. None who have served, well none with more than 4 months in the motor pool, wonder what John McCain proved to us. We know that a man who would refuse to be released ahead of others and allow the enemy a propaganda victory definitely understands and stays true to those three pillars. The clowns on the left toss out the straw man that he learned nothing about foreign policy there. Well I disagree, he learned at least one thing. Our enemies are evil, ruthless bastards and they do not play by the same rules. Barack Obama believes America is evil and ruthless and needs the cleansing only he can lightwork. Let's compare the two: John McCain was so loyal to the men he was imprisoned with he endured torture on their behalf. Barack Obama associates with those who can help his career, and throws them right under the bus when they become inconvenient to his aspirations. That single issue of character matters more than all the others combined. You can trust John McCain. You can trust Barack Obama to use you as a stepping stone. The banty Clark fails to understand this in any way as he is a man of much more ambition than character himself. Let us not forgot this man's judgment was bad enough he ordered a British General to attack Russian troops who were on their first mission as our purported allies. Clark's unwarranted ego almost caused WWIII. Yet his voice sounds right off key with the rest of Obama''s clueless chorus. Obama is a feather blowing in the political breeze. McCain is a rock. Vote Maverick. The Obama campaign has seen the polls - the public polls and, no doubt, their own polls - which show that the American people are much more inclined to trust McCain with commander-in-chief decisions and military/war issues than they are to trust Obama, a lightweight with zero foreign policy experience. Er, well, there was that one speech he gave in 2002. That's something. They have to do what they can to undermine the public's trust in and high regard for the hero McCain. Hence, they trot out Sens. Rockefeller and Harkin, and surrogates Wesley Clark and Rand Beers, to swing the hatchet. Posted by: Bill Hobbs at July 2, 2008 1:46 PMI don't disagree with Clark's exact words that being a pilot does not qualify one for the Presidency, but the forest lost in these word-parsing trees is that the same people who claimed that Kerry's service should not be overlooked are now claiming that it is irrelevant. Fine, that's politics (the old-fashioned kind, by the way, not the "new kind") The worst hypocrite, though, is Senator Webb, the latest to join the chorus, who asked McCain to "please" keep "the military out of politics." Irony, of course, since Webb's entire Senate campaign was half about extolling his own military experience and half about demeaning Allen's. Posted by: MS at July 2, 2008 9:45 PMPost a comment
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