McCain Can't Keep His Enemies Straight?

Did McCain get his enemies mixed up again? Or was it a subtle pivot?

What he told reporters in regards to James Rubin's column in the Washington Post about McCain's earlier position regarding Hamas (note: Iran is not mentioned in the op-ed):

I don't know how [Obama] would react to what was an obvious distortion article that appeared in, on the op-ed page of the Washington Post today. I hope he would condemn it. But look, the point is that, the larger picture is that Senator Obama wants to sit down and negotiate with a leader of a country that's dedicated to the extinction of Israel. That just in the last few days called Israel a stinking corpse. That is a state sponsor of terror. There are explosive devices that they're sending into Iraq that are killing young Americans. I would never do that. And I think it is a mark of the inexperience that Senator Obama displays. And I think Americans will make a judgment accordingly.

Um... that wasn't Hamas. According to AP, that was Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad:

Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken," Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.

I guess Lieberman wasn't around this time to whisper clarifications in his ear. Obviously, McCain can argue he was talking about Ahmadinejad, since Obama does want to meet with Iran...but how did he get to Iran without even mentioning the country by name? Is "the larger picture" his code word? Sounds to me like he's just trying to paint a broad brush stroke across the region without educating the public on the subtleties between each group.

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Comments

[peterg76]

What Iran actually said was 'regime change'. I suppose that's just as bad.

[Sciguy]

Nah, they're all Arabs, so there's no difference, right? OK, they're all furriners (foreigners), so they're all the same anyway, si? Well, they're all DARK, like Obama, so there's still no difference, eh?

We have met the enemy, and he is - well, he doesn't look like us. So he's a terrorist. That must be it.

[Chillinout]

The iranians are not Arabs, they are Persians.

[Sciguy]

True. The North Koreans aren't Asians, either. But they do look different from the standard white American - so standard white Americans tend to regard them as different - and therefore probably terrorists.

[charon]

Yes, McCain is obviously very seriously confused on many, maybe all, issues. Of course, a majority of Americans voted for a man (Reagan) in the early stages of Alzheimer's, so maybe they don't give a damn. Republican presidents since Reagan have just been front men for larger pro-corporate, anti-democratic national security regimes anyway.

[MPeter]

McCain is experiencing symptoms of early Dementia. His memory is failing as evidenced by the mixing of events and the mangling of facts. He often mumbles inaudibly, get of with angry outbursts and songs of Bomb...bomb, Iran bomb...bomb...bomb. He needs to be placed in a medical facility and treated. He does not belong on the campaign trail.

[ThirdSection]

You should have been around 28 years ago to make that argument about Reagan!