What Wesley Clark Said

If ever there was an "I Know What I Think, Don't Confuse Me with the Facts!" moment, it is the current brouhaha on idiot TV channels about what Wesley Clark said concerning John McCain's military service. Talking Points Memo has a wonderful collage:



My favorite was Laura Ingraham almost holding her hands over her ears to keep from hearing any point of view that wasn't her own. It's amazing. Why on earth would anyone want to hear her opinions about anything? They're purposely uninformed.

TPM also offers the tape of what Clark really said:



and quoting Josh Marshall:

As you can see, Schieffer says 'getting shot down' as one of McCain's qualifications and Clark says he doesn't think that's a qualification for being president.

Now, do I think this analysis of what was actually said is going to change the popular impression of what happened at this point? Not really. The conventional wisdom has already congealed. But as long as we're on the durable and ascertainable ground of what was actually said, I don't think there's really any question. Clark's point was unassailable. And to say he was attacking McCain's service -- as opposed to saying it didn't necessarily make him the better candidate for president -- is clearly not the case.

To call this "Swiftboating" is to misunderstand what "Swiftboating" was all about. "Swiftboating" was telling lies about someone's service. Most generously, it was accusing someone, who had apparently served with honor and bravery, of telling lies about his service. Of course, on idiot TV we can't expect anybody to have a memory that goes back four whole years.

It's not a bad idea to remember that Wesley Clark was carried out of Vietnam on a stretcher, too.

And finally, I would like to once again quote my brother Mike, who I went to for a military perspective on McCain's record a couple of weeks ago -- before this all started:

If what [Huffington Post columnist] Klein says about his marginal record (he crashed a damn lot of aircraft) is true, it would have taken more than his dad and granddad's stars to get him promoted to admiral (ask Randy "Duke" Cunningham) and believe it or not, being a POW is not considered by the Navy to be "career enhancing". It might boost your rank by one grade (gratitude of a thankful nation, etc.) but making flag rank would be bulldozing, not pushing, the envelope.

So John McCain served bravely and with honor, and I honor his service. So does Wesley Clark.

Addendum: Despite idiot TV's valiant efforts on behalf of Senator McCain, for some reason real people don't seem to give a rat's behind. Current polling shows Obama leading in Florida. Florida is a must-win state for McCain, and I don't remember anyone seriously suggesting it would be contested. I guess I should thank Talking Points Memo for all the stuff I stole from them today.