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

[StillAmused]

It's enough to make one wince, every time some talking head regurgitates the mindless narrative that McCain is busy "looking presidential" and "building his foreign policy credentials" while the Democrats are "fighting among themselves".

... and, here, I thought McCain has been making an embarrassing fool of himself, every time he opens his mouth (with or without JoeMentum there to correct him). Forgive the sacrilege, but McCain's finest hour expired when he was released from the Hanoi Hilton.

Here's another bulletin: generally speaking, the press hasn't gotten ANYTHING right since... oh, say, 2000... when it completely missed a breaking-and-entering at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

[sethrp]

Come now. Be fair. For a while, at least until the mid or late 90's, McCain at least distanced himself from the fringiest of the fringe of right-wing politics. The media meme of "maverick" wasn't based on air. But also to be fair it's clear that since 2001 McCain has been thoroughly in lockstep with the rightest of the right wingers.

"Forgive the sacrilege, but McCain's finest hour expired when he was released from the Hanoi Hilton."

Cheap. Very, very cheap. I wish the guy could distinguish between just and unjust wars, but he's made a career of service to the country. Can we liberal blogger commenteristas at least be the fairer half of our HuffPo-LittleGreenFootballs coin, and give McCain what little credit he is due?

[mitch4822]

Based on McCain's gaffes, is he now unfit to become president? Not one, but four times he made the same mistake and had to be corrected by his buddgy, Lieberman. Supposed it was Barack Obama ?

[Garvagh]

McCain revealed as clearly as possible his intent to convince the American public that Iran is a grave threat to US soldiers, even if he has to resort to fibbing. Is it possible McCain is unaware that Iran warned the US not to invade Iraq because this country would get bogged down in a civil war?

[soonerdem]

I would hate to think what Repubs would have had to say if this had been Obama's gaffe.They would have made it look like he was totaly misfit to be president.

[TonalCrow]

We need to pressure the media again and again (and again) to prevent them from spending all their effort promoting the GOP and its candidates. Please write letters to the editor, give feedback directly to media, and CC MediaMatters.org.

[DaveMacaray]

Harry: Get with the program, dude. Haven't you read the polls? 55% of Americans DON'T believe in evolution (we've got one of them in the White House); half the high school seniors think that the U.S. fought with Germany AGAINST the Russians in WWII, and 60% of the country still thinks that Saddam Hussein had something to do with 9-11. At best, we're a very distracted citizenry; at worst, we're criminally anti-intellectual.

[loucheish]

What ever happened to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable?"

[loucheish]

oops... that had been a much longer reply. The gist of it was: yes, we're a willfully ignorant society -- I just wish the media would 'afflict' us with heavier doses of the truth.

[Spider53]

Senator John McCain chose to follow a family tradition of military service. No human being merits criticism for such familial loyalty: the parent's profession or occupation usually generates respect or admiration from the children. However, for a person to change professions but remain locked into the value structure of the original vocation or refuse to extricate himself or herself from the parameters of that life's work that was devoted to terminating the existence of objects or human beings as war requires raises serious questions.

[JMEB]

McCain could admit that he feasts on fetuses for breakfast every morning, and no one would notice or care. Why? Because "our side" is embroiled with the Hillary/Obama battle.

I think we'll get the opportunity to focus on McCain once our nominee has been chosen (i.e. when, hopefully, Hillary bows out gracefully).

[Maifmart]

Unfortunately what is on our minds is what corporate media provides us with. Oh sure ratings matter if a show or talking head doesn"t produce ratings, they"re gone. They do their demographics, what kind of audience do they have, is it right for their sponsors, how do they increase the numbers for the target they want, etc.

The news media picks stories of interest to their sponsor's target and perhaps of public interest as determined by ratings, circulation, etc. that determines their advertising rates. Thus the cheaper it is to produce a story that results in ratings the better, making run-away brides and Paris Hilton irresistible, and stories their sponsors may not like are vetted to be more in the public interest, than contrary to their sponsors.

So when a newsman tells us the McCain gaff wasn't on our minds he probably means Spitzer's sexcapades were getting better ratings.

[research]

The War Proffiteering MSM is supportive of wars and war mongering candidates.

Duh.

[BinBaldwin]

There is no HARD Divide between Sunni and Shia terrorism and the argument that secular Muslims leaders do not mix with Jihadists is another myth. The clear proof is Syria ( SUNNI and Secular ) and its support of Hezzbollah ( SHIA).

[Garvagh]

While the Sunni are the majority in Syria, they do not control the government. Between 10% and 13%

[BinBaldwin]

NBC NEWS June 25,2005

Suleiman Abu Ghaith, once a spokesman for bin Laden, is believed to be living Iran. Gaith and other former al-Qaida leaders, fled to Iran after the U.S. military invaded Afghanistan in the fall of 2001.

[Justtellthetruth]

Al Qeada is DESPISED in Iran. DESPISED. They were Despised by Saddam as well.

They are, however, LOVED in pakistan, where OSB himself, along with his leadership and that of the Taliban are living, unthreatened by the likes of John McCain. When Obama suggested that he would go in after them with or with out the dictators permission, he was roundly chastised by McCain, Hillary, and the Bush administration. Shortly thereafter, it was revealed that the Bush administration had sent drones and special forces in to kill al qeada leaders, without Paksistani permission.

McCain is too old and not in control of his temper or faculties (thus the confabs about al qeada, which even LIEBERMAN had to correct him on. He's going senile.

[Larry Kegel]

It just shows that McCain doesn't know as much as he thinks about whats going on... Now he has proven that Hillary knows more in both the economy & whats going in with the war... When she says she i the only one ready right away to be President... She is right...

[Incredulous]

Iraq wasn't on our minds? Who does McManus think he's kidding! We're in the middle of an election cycle where Iraq is discussed every day. Just because Iraq isn't the MSM's lated obsessive compulsion, it doesn't mean that we're not thinking about Iraq. How arrogant! And f.y.i., we all know about John McCain's "gaffes" too, even if they're given a pass by the MSM. The MSM isn't the only news kid on the block. And thank God!!! Because if they were, we'd all think that news meant sex scandals and fiery preachers and extreme weather, and whatever other tabloid trash they could sell to us as news. It's time that Americans took a good hard look at their media. Cable networks took news and gave it the Entertainment Tonight treatment. Now it's all candy-coated dross. And worse, we're force-fed this crap, under the guise of "news". And worse still, it's all thrown out there as a red herring. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain, robbing the treasury and besmirching your good name. No, instead focus on the latest pop star's fall from grace or that politician with his dick out, or look at all that snow! In winter! Go figure!

The answer to the bigger question, of why John McCain continues to get a pass by the MSM, seems obvious, and I'm a bit surprised not to see more written about this. Does anyone really believe that John McCain misspoke? He repeated his assertion many times, not just once. He's a senior senator with decades of government and military experience. Are we really expected to believe that he all of sudden forgot? That he had a Reagan moment? That he's a doddering old man? Because I'm not buying that. I don't support John McCain, but I do believe that he still has his faculties, and I think he knows exactly what he's doing. It's called propaganda. He continues to equate Iran and Al-Qaeda, and by repeating it, in exactly the same way George Bush before him equated Iraq and Al-Qaeda, he's laying the ground work for future war. Repeat it, sew a seed, keep repeating it, and soon there'll be enough support for him to invade Iran, or bomb bomb bomb, bomb Iran at the very least. And the MSM is complicit in this. They allow him to disseminate his propaganda, unchecked. Just like they did with Bush in the lead up to Iraq. Expect an editorial by Judy Miller or Bill Kristol sometime soon, espousing the reasons why America needs to battle Iran. Because history is repeating here, in ways that can't be ignored. The MSM isn't some altruistic entity whose purpose is to get information to the people. It's a corporation that functions as the propaganda arm of the government. The government deregulated their industry, and in return, they do the government "favors". I illustrate my point with the crazy story about the release of the latest Bin Laden tape. Apparently Bin Laden is still railing against that Danish cartoon, 2 years after the fact. How convenient that on the 5th anniversary of the failed Iraq invasion, a tape magically appears from Bin Laden, giving talking heads across America the opportunity to utter "Iraq invasion" and "Bin Laden" in the same breath, over and over and over. Kind of like John McCain and his Iran/Al-Qaeda "gaffe"; over and over and over.

[karrezza]

Fuckin A, Incredulous .. finally someone who gets it... I always figured its all sowing the seeds of doubt, I blogged that a long time ago... they did it with 9/11 - Iraq, enough times repeated... and are now doing it with Iran!!

[Ironfox]

Edward Bernays: the tricks of totalitarian manipulation of public opinion; simplification of the issues, repetition of empty phrases, demonization of foreigners, and falsification of history. Works all the time, every time, everywhere.

[CTma4pax]

Back in June, on Bob Schieffer's show, Lieberman himself spouted about AlQaeda-Iraqi-Iranian connections similar to those made by McCain. Citing similar assessments by a General Luke, Lieberman described Iraq as the "main front" in our war with the 9/11 attackers, and noted the presence there of foreign Al Qaeda fighters who were 90% responsible for the suicide bombings that kill Americans, and then quickly added that the people killing Americans are trained and equipped by Iran. One would think McCain's handlers must have found Lieberman a bit out of line for publicly correcting McCain for his similar statements, thereby making the candidate look the fool. Hopefully, McCain has had enough and will put Lieberman away in some far corner where he can only communicate with those belonging to his "Lieberman Party"

[Robert Wechsler]

Not that I enjoy defending Lieberman, but anyone who's been in Israel during Purim knows that, at least there, it's exactly like Halloween.

[FOXYLADY]

SPEAKING OF LIEBERMAN, DOES ANYONE REMEMBER OR HAS SEEN THE TV PROGRAM WHERE, TWICE IN ONE DAY, LIEBERMAN HAD TO "CORRECT MCCAIN"? MCCAIN COULDN'T EVER GET THE DIFFERENT NAMES OF FACTIONS IN IRAQ STRAIGHT....HOW THE HELL CAN THAT OLD MAN BE PRESIDENT, A 24 HR. DAY JOB?????

[JulieSA]

Can you please stop shouting?

[Jeff1958]

Halloween and Purim have costumes in common. Nothing else. Lieberman should have told McCain to read the Book of Esther in the Old Testament to get a clue. And I thought neo-cons were well-versed in the Bible.