Giant Gaffe: McCain Confuses National Guard and Army -- and Palin's Son

If you don't already do it, you really should be checking out the Anchorage Daily News site regularly, for local Palin news, editorials and op-eds, and its excellent Alaska Politics blog (special bonus Ted Stevens coverage there). Today, for example, the paper hits Palin hard in an editorial for abdicating to the McCain campaign on Troopergate.

And here's a brand-new gem on a stunning, overlooked McCain gaffe from David Hulen at the Alaska Politics blog:

Candidates spend a lot of time talking, and they all misspeak sometimes. But did anyone else notice this, from Wednesday's much-covered McCain-Palin Town Hall event in Grand Rapids, Mich., where Palin answered questions from people in the audience? McCain said this near the end of the clip below, as he's talking up Palin's foreign policy/national security credentials:

"I also know, if I might remind you, that she is commander of the Alaska National Guard. In fact, you may know that on Sept. 11 a large contingent of the Alaska Guard deployed to Iraq and her son happened to be one of them. So I think she understands our national security challenges..."

The ceremony Palin attended at Fort Wainwright last week didn't involve the Alaska National Guard. Palin's son is in the Army, and his unit - 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division - deployed to Iraq.

More coverage on the media and the campaign here.

Greg Mitchell is editor of Editor & Publisher and author of the new book on Iraq and the media, "So Wrong for So Long."

Comments

[MikaS]

It's really getting difficult to watch McCain's psyche unravel in such a public way. Thank God that McCain/Palin won't get to the White House but I wouldn't wish a publicized nervous breakdown on anyone.

[huffy2001]

Non-issue. Making hay out of this type of gaffe will bite us in the ass. Candidates misspeak from time to time. We need to give them the benefit of the doubt. Obama's 57 states is a perfect example. Everyone knows he meant 47, but he was tired. McCain knows the difference between the SEC and the FEC. He knows the difference between the NG and the Army. Let's get back on message: for 22 years he has been supporting the very same policies that have put this country in the tank. Now he wants you to believe he's a reformer. He's nothing more than an angry old man who has wanted to be president all his life and now sees that dream fading. And he's on the wrong side of all the issues.

[phal4875]

You are probably correct in that assessment. Each one of the McCain gaffes is not earthshaking in itself. The pattern of brain cramps, however, becomes worrisome in a potential president of this country. Anyone, of course, could say the economy is doing well and really mean the American worker is productive and the economy is awful.

Facts are becoming irrelevant to McCain because emphasizing reality will not win the election for him. You are exactly right in your conclusion that he is old, angry, and trying to reach that brass ring. He has been in the shadows of his daddy and grandfather his whole life. Neither one ever became president.

[CalGoldenBear]

There is a quantitative difference between "misspeaking" and misreprese­ntation/ly­ing/ignora­nce.

If you say it ONCE, such as Sen. Obama's "57 states" reference, that's misspeaking.

But if you REPEATEDLY make the same statement, depending on what the statement is, it reflects the speaker's ignorance (as most people don't know the difference between the Army and National Guard in state or federal service), misrepresentation or outright lying (Gov. Palin's repeated claims about the "Bridge to Nowhere").

And BTW, it's debatable whether Sen. Obama "misspoke" about visiting "57 states " He was born and raised until the age of 6 in Hawaii, the 50th state, and returned to Hawaii, attending the "elite" Punahou School from the age of 10 until he graduated as a member of the Class of 1979 at the age of 17. (His birthday is in August, I believe). So he KNOWS darn well that there are only 50 U.S. states. But for younger folks (teens and twenty-somethings), apparently "57 states" refers to something in pop culture that older people and the MSM didn't and don't get. (I tried Googling "57 states" once and mostly turned up hundreds of references to Sen. Obama's statement, but not what I was looking for).

Obama/Biden '08 Yes, we can!

[santamonica39]

what are you talking about? Because Obama spent time in Hawaii that his 57 states comment was not a mis-speak? That doesn't even make sense.

[SurrealPumpkin]

There are territories as well as states coveered in the US Constitution. I've always thought that was what he was referring to: Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa, DC and a bunch of islands in the Pacific that no one lives on. http://www.macmeekin.com/Library/terr+commonw2.htm

[CompetenceMatters]

I agree completely. Let's not stoop to their level. I'm more curious as to why he is on stage singing her "qualifications' and not the other way around? The Palin administra­tion...

[MikeGuy]

Less a gaffe, more symptomatic of the pathological liar that he has become, evidenced by his willingness to say whatever will get him the desired response at the time.

[Gib]

Even when making simple, short speeches he's always glancing down at his notes. Without them he has to rely on his memory, and dredge up the right sentence that he's been coached with. Sometimes things get mixed up.

[tel8034]

WILL SOMEONE STICK A POSTED ON McCAIN SO THAT HE CAN FIND HIS OWN HEAD.

This man is so lost ..........­..........­.... Seems as if he has a SENIOR MOMENT everytime he opens his mouth ..........­..........­...

Is this a sign of ALZHEIMERS or is it just a matter of STUPIDITY AND INCOMPETENCE?

[Mojane]

Or perhaps just blind ambition. Literally blind. And dumb luck that he's gotten this far.

[keikomocha]

It's mind numbing the amount of lies and gaffes coming out of McCain's mouth! BUT, I was just reading a blog on MSNBC.com and was shocked and felt very sad at the overt and subtle racist comments being made against Obama! I guess I need to read more than just the Huffington Post. or not.......­..

[Indie2008]

I'm beginning to think that "facts" are just not of paramount concern to anyone who is still supporting John McCain.

[Gib]

On the whole, I think posters to Huffpo place a lot of importance on facts and truth. Reading the blogs and posters' comments here makes it seem inconceivable that McCain/Palin should be elected. It's easy to forget how unrepresentative a group this is. I believe many, maybe most voters make their decision viscerally, not rationally. Obama is "other" to a large fraction of the electorate.

[wallygator]

My friends,
I realize now that I will be unable to perform my duties as President,fellow Republicans,if you cannot bring yourself to vote in the best interest of our great country then please,I beg of you,please ,vote for Bob Barr on November 4th.Thank you and goodnight.
Imaginary quotes from Wally's World

[JamesInDenver]

If having a son or daughter deployed to Iraq, is a qualification for the White House, then there are currently several hundred thousand job-applicants that should be considered. I bet more than a few are better qualified than Palin.

[OlderBudWeiser]

Palin's son was deployed in the ARMY, not the National Guard. A notable gaffe! Click on the blue word "gem" and it takes you to the ADN and the video. McCain is seriously mixed up or....?

[speechteach]

At least 2 big gaffes in that statement of McCain's. Not only did he get the military branch wrong, he said her son was deployed after 9-11. He would have been about 12 years old. That one is beyond comprehension.

[Colmore]

Palin's son had a choice - prison or military. He was caught vandalizing school property, and the judge gave him that choice. He is not the big hero they make him out to be, just a delinquent. Palin's Christian parenting skills must leave a lot to be desired. She should have spent less time promoting herself, and more time raising the kids she brought into the world.

[Mag44]

AMEN to that. She needs to go back to Alaska and clean her own house.

[faithfully]

the reality is that she has spread herself too thin.

[Donk]

Excellent point. Seems that none of the current occupants have any loved ones in harm's way either; They even shirked their own duty during their misspent youth.

[RobinSeattle]

You know Greg, McCain is just showing the same impulsive and privileged behavior he did at the Naval Academy. Just like he wouldn't read flight manuals for multimillion dollar aircraft (crashed five of them), he is obviously not really studying the talking points that his handlers are providing him and the result is that he is garbling them something awful.

If anything, a guy who doesn't have the patience to memorize a few talking points is displaying the same lack of intellectual curiosity that Bush has exhibited and that helped to take our country into the tank.

And if I was charged with devising those talking points for McCain, I would just resign because everything I would be doing would be futile. McCain is too much of a solipsist to listen to anything anyone has to say even when it could cost him an election.

[CalGoldenBear]

Sen. McCain is not a maverick, he's a rebel.

His rebellion against "the rules" dates back to at least his days at the U.S. Naval Academy when he would repeatedly and literally "jump the wall" to go out drinking. Leaving the grounds without permission was and is a serious violation of the rules governing midshipmen.

Even more egregious, he would take some of his classmates along.

It's one thing to put your future career at risk, but it's inexcusable to risk the future careers of others, who are supposedly your "friends." With friends like McCain, who needs enemies?

Obama/Biden '08 Yes, we can!

[mayrose]

That's not a rebel-that's an "I don't have to follow the rules because I'm priviledge­d."
Totally different mentality, and totally bushlike -Fratboys together.

[cuchulain]

Was it really a gaffe? Or was it a clever way to create a link in people's minds between Palin, her "command" of the National Guard, her son's sacrifice, Iraq, and her CIC credentials? Sort of a milder form of those bogus links between Al Queda and Hussein that actually worked pretty well . . . Are we so sure he didn't do this on purpose?

Given some recent studies, it's not important at all to tell the truth, when it comes to reinforcing political narratives. McCain can tell lie after lie, and rev up his base, and there's not much we can do about it. In fact, some recent studies say that when we counter lies with the truth, we actually make conservatives dig in even more. They tend to believe in lies even more after they've been presented with fact checkers that counter those lies.

It still is essential to counter those lies. We have to counter them. But we shouldn't kid ourselves about the effect on conservatives. We need to counter lies for the sake of independents and our own progressive base. For the most part, righties are lost causes.

[GetInformed]

Have to say this was my first reaction too. This seems like a small-scale effort to plant subliminal connections in the listeners' minds between Palin, Iraq, and leadership. No downside, because if anyone were to notice, it would be cited as a meaningless minor gaffe, something we should easily overlook, as some posters (with all good intentions) have suggested.

[MariaHopeful]

No way this would be a close election if the traditional media was doing its job. Had they been doing their job everyone would know by now that John McCain is a doddering old man. That he has no clue. That he is no Foreign Affairs expert. He doesn't know where Spain is, he doesn't know that Czechoslovakia no longer exists, that Pakistan and Iraq do not a border share. He doesn't know about the dynamics between Persians and Arabs, the Sunnis and Shiites and others. That being able to see into Russia doesn't mean that you are an expert on Russian affairs.
Young people who are headed to the polls do not know what "Keating 5" means. His biography has been so re-scripted and edited that we do not know who McCain was before he was shot down and who he was and what he did after he came home. The affairs, his leaving a crippled wife, his marrying a young heiress even before the ink dried on his divorce papers (if not before).

Obama would be out of the race by now if he made one tenth of the gaffes that this old man makes. It is simply astounding to me that people think he is more fit to be POTUS than Obama. The cool, calm, unruffled, knowledgeable, intellectual, elegant, handsome and technologically savvy Obama. If this old man were to beat Obama come November, this would say more about this country than about either men.

[BGDiNLV]

And that is a sad reality. Like I said before,I would leave the states for a few years.Thes­e two in office is too scary for me. If this thing is decided on RACE, then American's deserve exactly what they get.

[Roll451]

Obama does make some mistakes that are not reported on extensively. The problem is that this gaffe by itself is meaningless until you look at how frequently McCain makes mistakes. The media has reported on some of the more significant mistakes, but don't expect them to pick up on stuff like this. If Obama is willing to make the charge that, in general, McCain can't keep his facts straight, the media may pay more attention.

[recruitgal]

Best post of the day.

[Indie2008]

He has gotten a pass from most of the mainstream media. His gaffes would not have been overlooked coming from other candidates. Does anyone remember Trent Lott or Dan Quayle? Even George Bush was skewered for not being able to name some heads of state.

[recruitgal]

It might also have something to so with this:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26803840/

[Cheryllou]

It's sad to see some people can't get over their own racism to vote for someone of a different color, even though he came from a white woman. I wonder if these "people" who won't vote for O because of race, comes in daily contact with blacks or minorities. Examples, cooks, housekeepers, babysitters, lawyers, doctors, dentists, police officers, etc. or are they in a community where they don't see someone of a different race.
It's telling when the country is in this sad state of affairs and the person who is trying to help these same people turns their back on him simply because of his skin color. Very sad indeed.

[pfc1369]

If the Democrats can't defeat this ticket -- the absolute worst in history, including all things Bush -- they should hang it up forever, and allow a new political party to form.

[Chicago1968]

I wish it wern't true but the American people can only blame themseves if Bush3 wins.
We truly are brainless sheep.

[DebbieinPhx]

Did anyone see Bill Maher last night? His panel went at this question really hard, and it was interesting to listen to. They play is Friday show all week on HBO, if you get a chance you should watch it, besides being really funny, it makes some very salient points.

[DebbieinPhx]

Greg Mitchell, It's a good piece, so thank you for that. But while it's fun to catch this bozo at all these gaffes, how many of them are actually covered by the MSM? And remember, it's the MSM that the so called "LOW INFORMATION VOTERS" watch. (i.e. the stupid people, the I-read-tha­t-somewher­e-on-a-bum­per-sticke­r-so-it-mu­st-be-true people).

Sure, Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann had this on their shows on Wednesday nite, but did anyone else get it? The MSM missed the story about McCain's insulting the entire country of Spain on Thursday, and NO ONE... I am not kidding NO ONE in the Mainstream Media picked this up until Friday afternoon. (CNN was the only one of them that finally caught on, although to be fair, their reporting of it was very good)

But seriously, this story hit Spain and it's European neighbors like a tidal wave of shock and dismay! It was the lead story all over Europe!!!! McCain - the lunatic running for the Presidency of the United States- Declares Spain is not An Ally!!!!!!!!! All of Europe is reeling and the citizens of Spain are LIVID. (rightfully so, I might add). How was THAT not news????

I am so, so, so, so sick of this BS from the MSM! I blogged on every single MSM sight on Friday and relayed this story... and then I asked them why the heck they can't just do their FREAKING jobs?

[lwaxanatroi]

McCain was a flyboy. He has contempt for both the army and the national guard.

[DebbieinPhx]

Nah that rivally is only skin deep. My father was Naval Academy (he seems old to me, but is in fact younger than McCain) and while he enjoyed the Army Navy rivalry as much as anyone, when it comes right down to it, he honors the service of anyone who served.

So as an excuse that dog don't hunt

[Colmore]

He was not good at flying, he crashed almost as many times as he landed!!

[Rallaa]

I am at a lost over the Reb ticket. I think the more they let the two of them talk, the better it gets. I remember when they were crying about not getting enough media time. I say, let them have it. Cover their campaign from sun-up do sun-down. Then we can REALLY see McCain for what he is...out of touch and not fit.