The New York Times's Kate Phillips filed a dutiful story on offensive comments against John McCain by a Senate Democrat who recently endorsed Barack Obama in Wednesday's "West Virginia Senator Apologizes for McCain Comments."
Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia managed to smear both McCain and fighter pilots in general when he told his home state paper, The Charleston Gazette, on Monday that:
"McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues."
Phillips led off with Rockefeller's apology, not his offensive comments, then moved quickly on to his endorsement and praise of Obama.
Senator John D. Rockefeller IV personally apologized to Senator John McCain of Arizona on Tuesday after remarking in an interview that Mr. McCain's years as a Navy fighter pilot would not have given him an understanding of everyday issues faced by Americans.
In an interview in his home state, West Virginia, on Monday, Mr. Rockefeller, a Democrat, told The Charleston Gazette that Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, could not relate to the everyday concerns of people on issues like health care.
According to the article, Mr. Rockefeller said: "McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues."
On Tuesday, the McCain campaign demanded an apology, not just from Senator Rockefeller, but also from Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, because he has received the West Virginian's endorsement.
Beyond the obvious offensiveness, Phillips cited no one to question the dubious "facts" of Rockefeller's statement about laser-guided missiles. McCain, a Navy fighter pilot, was shot down and captured by the North Vietnamese on October 26, 1967. According to this site, laser-guided missiles were not introduced until 1968, by the Air Force, not the Navy.
Phillips also captured no outrage from retired military personnel who just might be offended by Rockefeller's cavalier assertion that they as a group don't "care about the lives of people" because they're dropping missiles from 35,000 feet and are "long gone before they hit."
Give the Times some credit for covering the story, however; a Nexis search found nothing at all from the Washington Post or Los Angeles Times in Wednesday's edition.
—Clay Waters is the director of Times Watch, an MRC project tracking the New York Times.
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Oh please...the NYTs and we
April 9, 2008 - 15:29 ET by bigtimerOh please...the NYTs and we are supposed to be surprised here...
Let's see...McCain apologizes all over the place insessantly, says he isn't going to get into the political name calling, mud-slinging ect....then waits for Obama to personally apologize...
What a joke.
I get the whole gist of all of this, commented yesterday about this news...it is just funny to me now....I also commented in depth about my opinion of the slug Rockefeller and all the things he has done to this country within and without, and zilch happens to him...like all good little leftists..
McCain can use the bully-pulpit via the msm his bestest friends for years to call for the apology...I haven't heard him...yet.
If anyone, especially McCain thinks the msm of any venue is going to take his side and make a big deal out of this for him... he and his strategists are dimmer than I thought.
Obama is the msm messiah....which he well knows...or he had better, his turn in the barrel is coming downt he road after August if not sooner...this silence regarding this issue is just the beginning...
Just my two cents.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill
Fighters? Eh, Not Exactly
April 9, 2008 - 15:35 ET by BeresfordYou say: "In addition, McCain was a fighter pilot, not a bomber."
McCain flew A-4 Skyhawks which were the Navy's primary light bombers early in the Vietnam war.
That doesn't make Rockefeller's comment any less bone headed...but let's not mistate the facts.
Thanks Beresford, I've removed the "bomber" reference
April 9, 2008 - 16:21 ET by Clay WatersClay Waters
Director of Times Watch
Stop whining
April 9, 2008 - 15:59 ET by KC MulvilleI'm surprised the story didn't start off with a complaint that the McCain campaign was demanding an apology. Let's just get past this as fast as we can, OK? No need to dwell on the anti-military insult that reveals the hard-left assumptions of the Obama campaign. The military are careless killers, yada yada.
Of course, had a Republican said something remotely similar, we'd be deluged with the flood of outrage stories, with injured victims speculating how many ways they were hurt by this insensitive remark. This is why we don't take their "outrage" seriously.
Frankly, KC, I'm surprised
April 9, 2008 - 17:12 ET by motherbeltFrankly, KC, I'm surprised that McCain actually asked for an apology. I think he's a whiny Republican Tom Daschle...someone who is constantly "saddened" and "disappointed."
Title of Article is Misleading
April 9, 2008 - 16:15 ET by 911isbusyFor those that just read bylines deciding whether or not to read the article, a title like "West Virginia Senator Apologizes for McCain Comments" might be misinterpreted to mean that someone had to apologize for something McCain said. I'm sure it wasn't intentional though.
Those who have not swords can still die upon them.
I thought the exact same
April 9, 2008 - 17:15 ET by amberI thought the exact same thing.
Thinnly vieled "baby killer" comment as far as I'm concerned
April 9, 2008 - 16:23 ET by YahooWatcherHe was long gone when they hit. What happened when they get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues.
I don't see any difference between Rockhead's comment and your run-of-the-mill hippie protestor type carrying a Baby-Killer sign.
I profoundly respect and
April 9, 2008 - 16:24 ET by motherbeltI profoundly respect and appreciate his dedication to our country, and I regret my very poor choice of words.” -Warner
So, Sen. Warner, you're not sorry about your accusation, just about the "very poor choice of words" that you used to express it?
I would love to hear what Sen. Warner really meant to say, but I'm certain no one will ever ask him.
Let's see...what he really wanted to say was that McCain is hit-and-run kind of guy who doesn't care about the affect of his actions on other people. What analogy could he have used that would have been a better "choice of words" and would it matter?
And The Beat Goes On...
April 9, 2008 - 16:40 ET by geoff.galeWhen I first heard Senator Rockefeller's comment I was torn between interpreting what he said as a broad proclamation that killing during war was immoral, and interpreting what he said as a condemnation of the impersonality of modern warfare.
If what he meant was that killing during the course of any war is to be condemned, then I think he should be made to explain this bonehead remark to his constituents who have military or police service that might include having killed someone. I'd treasure the opportunity to hear him explain his position to all of those in West Virginia who have killed in the course of service to their country or to their state
If, on the other hand, he meant that modern warfare is evil because it leads to impersonal killing, then perhaps he's actually advocating a return to more personal killing during warfare. You know, the old model of hand-to-hand combat with broadswords, lances and axes, just as in the old days. I guess I could support that position.
Seriously, I just don't understand McCain's camp on this one. They got an apology out of Jay; it's overly ambitious to expect that Obama's going to come out from behind his protective armour to apologise for this.
I'm not sure I like all this 'civilised' campaigning - I liked it better when politicians stood toe-to-toe, like a couple of battered, sweaty boxers, beating each other senseless until one had the moxie to knock the other one down. I get the sense that all this politeness prevents us from seeing who's really got the backbone to be the leader of the free world.
"All that is necessary for the trimuph of evil is that good men do nothing."
- Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)
www.conservativeboot...
I'm not sure I like all
April 9, 2008 - 16:51 ET by bigtimerI'm not sure I like all this 'civilised' campaigning - I liked it better when politicians stood toe-to-toe, like a couple of battered, sweaty boxers, beating each other senseless until one had the moxie to knock the other one down. I get the sense that all this politeness prevents us from seeing who's really got the backbone to be the leader of the free world.
Exactly geoff...they don't call it blood sport for nothing...and if McCain thinks for one minute in his well-modulated moderate tone he uses on the air-waves and all the apologizing is going to make him gain votes or have the msm aid him... he is a simpler RINO than I thought.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill
I agree...without a little
April 9, 2008 - 17:09 ET by motherbeltI agree...without a little "contact" so to speak, and when any criticism is considered "the politics of personal destruction" and beyond the pale, campaigns are nothing more than competitions in who can promise the most (goodies) for the most (people).
I do not know if this was
April 9, 2008 - 18:00 ET by Roger the ShrubberI do not know if this was covered already, but McCain was shot down in 1967, while laser-guided bombs were not used until 1968.
Just another little tidbit of information.
Mystery
April 9, 2008 - 22:12 ET by JohanIt's a mystery why the comments of liberals like Rockefeller make people think Democrats are unpatriotic.