McCain Gaffe -- It Wasn't on Our Minds

On Sunday's Face The Nation, Doyle McManus, Washington bureau chief of the L.A. Times (yes, Mr. Zell, they still have a Washington bureau, why do you ask?), gave an invaluable insight into the way stories do, or don't, become "news". Asked about the supposed John McCain gaffe, in which the Senator conflated Iran's interests in Iraq (Shiite) with Al-Qaeda (Sunni), McManus explained that it didn't become a major news story this week because "Iraq wasn't what was on voters' minds."

Forget the fact that the supposed gaffe had been spoken by McCain more than once (including on Hugh Hewitt's radio show), or that McCain had even had to be corrected by Joe Lieberman when he described Purim as sort of like the Jewish Halloween (really). Voters decide, by what's on our minds, what stories make the news. Never knew you had that much power, did you?

Thank goodness the polls, by which Mr. McManus divines what's on our minds, always get it right.

Comments

[Uselessboy]

Journalists assess what's on our minds by the pattern of articles that journalists write for publication.

They assess what's news by reading the press releases of government.

Is there some confusion about this?

[Chuckwheat]

Many of us are capable of shifting from one thought to another without passing out from oxygen deprivation. I think the public would be extremely interested in knowing that the Republican candidate is woefully ignorant and/or senile.
Lieberman working Angry McAnyeurism like a sock puppet won't save him forever.

[cafemocha]

It is not just the plentiful senior moments he gets passes on. This weekend it was sickening to watch CNN's Candy Crowley auditioning for McCon's White House press secretary as she explained what McCon really meant with the "hundred years in Iraq" flub. Nauseating.
...The media equate picking on McCon with picking on patriotic war heroes, and they're afraid of a backlash if he gets piled on. Yet there are so many things about his mentors, character, and past that remain undisturbe­d.... let's see how well McCon rates as a healer of this nation's racial wounds, how about digging into his past for this angle? Can anyone spell g...?

[Beolarry]

The media wants us to know the Surge is a great success. We learn, later, that it's such a terrific success that General Petraeus wants to keep it going until 2020.

[Infostream]

First, let me say your piece on McCain on your radio show this morning was one of the funniest and sharpest you've ever done (but does it qualify as elder abuse?) You should stop being so modest and have your brilliant multi-voice impersonations stream here on HuffPo. Second, the thing that really should be news is that McCain is desperately trying to find a way to claim that Iran is the big destabilizing 'evil-doer' in Iraq, when just last month the president of Iran was greeted by "our" Iraq government with praise for his help in making things better! When our politicians visit Iraq they have to be surrounded by 300 bodyguards and can't leave the safest 2 blocks of the green zone, Ahmadinejad visits and he's walking around like the man of the people - how many people who watch the MSM know that?

OK I did the math, you can hear Harry's show here right now:
http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/ls
or on his site after Noon Monday:
http://www.harryshearer.com/news/le_show/

[davidly]

Every time I watch or listen to the news, or read a newspaper, or even read a news website, they always coincidently highlight that which is on my mind. It's amazing really. God bless stuff.

[TheMisfortuneTeller]

Does anyone know how to file a lawsuit against John McCain for running for President of America when his mother gave birth to him in some other country? Just asking, because my reading of the Constitution says that sort of thing cannot happen. Anyone out there know a competent Republican "strict constructionist" lawyer or judge who will rule on our law "as written" and not as some privileged, senile reactionary demands that we "interpret" for his own personal benefit? Just asking ...

[davidly]

According to Article 12 of the US Constitution, VP Cheney isn't even allowed to hold the office.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1OfwZEuMjVQ

[sd4peace]

McCain was born on a Militiary base (unfortunately) which counts as US territory. :(

[Heartlight3]

What is on voters minds is what the press chooses to put there. If they had played an endless loop of John McCain demonstrating his "senior moment" rather than Pastor Wright ranting, we would all be talking about that instead. We are being totally manipulated by media propaganda and we pretend that it is not happening.

[joshu]

It is a pity there are so few well read people in our midst.

FYI. Iran offered and materially helped the US in our war in afghanistan against al-qaeda. although the bushies conveniently chose to forget that when they decided to make the mid-east into a parking lot.

and mr. shearer... how dumb do you guys really think we are... to suggest that the people wanted to hear 30 seconds cycles of a 36 year preaching career without context.

If you felt that we were so curious why not play the whole thing and include whole quotes like

"like God damn America, as long as she thinks she is GOd" or "God damn America as long as she is killing innocent people"

or " violence begets violence. hate begets hate. terrorism begets terrorism"

Why not, mister listener of the polls?

[Uselessboy]

Well maybe if we made college free as the civilized nations do, there'd be enough people with enough education and jobs giving them the spare time needed to evade our nation's dominant information systems to put in the study time required in America to discover what the h is really going on in the world.

"Well read." Yeah, like THAT'S the problem.

[WoodyCPM]

The lies, the spin, the manipulation just roll on. No matter how often or how much the media are exposed for their propaganda, they just keep rolling right along pumping out distortion after distortion, lie after lie. And afterall, why shouldn't they? What is anyone going to do about it? People keep tuning in, which is the point.

[beb]

I guess you're saying that McCain is suffering dementia and the media seems to be covering it up. Wow, what do we do to make sure everybody knows about this? Should we call the tv stations?

[earlyearlyearly]

Damnit Harry
You should know that on the week of the fifth anniversary of this collossalSNAFU the last thing on Americans minds is IRAQ!
Cash your check, Doyle.

[MizJ]

Sometimes you read this stuff that the Repubs spew, or it comes out of Fox News, or whatever artichoke they send out to defend their crapola, and you begin to wonder, “is it me?” Then you see Dagwood dancing on the steps of the WH while the press giggles and applauds and Darth Vader responds to a question regarding the necessity of starting this mess with and answer of “so?” and you begin to think that maybe it is you because they seem to be okay with it. Meanwhile you are shrieking and reaching for something to throw, your blood pressure is rising to new heights, and Dana Perino is doing a daily verbal tapdance as if she were rehearsing a number on Dancing With the Stars! Then McCain goes off to Iraq and gets his facts all wrong and the media suggests that it is just McCain being McCain. And then you know that it really is you because otherwise they all would be stark raving mad and how can anyone account for their being in charge. I need to lay down somewhere. I now have my answer. It's me.

[Davwbaird]

Me as well. So I got meds for it, started them last. The shrink thought they would help.

[sd4peace]

"Reality is the curse of the sane!"

[ChibiOne]

I've wrestled with reality for 28 years; and, I'm happy to say, I finally won out over it.

[TRex86]

Funny post. Better to laugh than go insane. Keep it up. (It's "lie down" BTW).

[PioneerKing]

Get over it you were duped by campaign talking points and the media hype on Sen. McCain. If Sen. McCain had not been a prisoner of war he would have been vetted better and anyone with a few hours to spare could easily Google, Lexis-Nexis and search congressio­nal/senate records on Sen. McCain and discern that the senator is a lightweight.
Go do your job!! Do some real reporting and investigative journalisim. You will find much on Sen. McCain that is not in line with the rhetoric.

[cryhavoc]

This time around could we have someone in charge who knows the ABC's, can pronounce nuclear and knows what the hell is going on? Gaffes are for others - not the POTUS. I've sensed too many grownups who must have been "left behind" as children now inhabiting DC. Please, can we get back to basics and let what his name and his ilk go back to clearing brush and peppering quails and all the country gent skills they are far more adept at and seem born to master? Intelligence this time around, please.

[JulieSA]

I'm not sure why McCain backed off on his statement. I guess he didn't want to imply that Iran is helping large numbers of AQ fighters.

However, people need to get past this simplistic notion that Shia and Sunni terrorists never work together or have common interests. This is completely false. For example, Hezbollah has trained AQ in the past, and bin Laden was meeting with Imad Mugniyeh before 9/11, according to HuffPo blogger Larry Johnson. Iran backs Hamas. Iran has been harboring one of bin Laden's sons, and so on. This is common knowledge, or should be. A lot of this stuff is laid out in docs like the 9/11 report and the Senate Select intelligence report, and on PBS shows, etc.