E-mail tipster Mike Huggins pointed out to NewsBusters that as of 4:30 p.m. EDT today, he found but one media mention of Obama backer Sen. Jay Rockefeller's (D-W.V.) smear of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) among the seven major online news sources he checked. Rockefeller's comment, which he now regrets, is also arguably a smear of U.S. military fighter pilots past and present.
From an April 8 AP wire story (emphasis mine):
"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 (the missiles) get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues," Rockefeller said.
Sounds kind of like Bill Maher, doesn't it?
Huggins noted that while he searched the Web sites for the Washington Post, L.A. Times, New York Times, CNN, MSNBC, ABCNews.com, and CBSNews.com, he found but one story on the incident and that on ABC's Web site.
I conducted my own search of Google News at 5:40 p.m. EDT and found the AP story on CBSNews.com cited above as well as a CNN story about the Obama campaign and Rockefeller apologizing for the controversial remark:
John McCain’s campaign said an apology from Barack Obama’s team for comments from West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, who supports the Illinois senator’s presidential bid, were not enough, calling for a response from the candidate himself.
“It was a spokesperson. Just as with the situation with liberal attack artist Ed Schultz, Obama refused to reject the statements personally. It’s a trend that undermines Barack Obama’s credibility when he makes calls for a ‘new’ more ‘accountable’ debate,” said McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds.
The Obama campaign and Rockefeller both apologized Tuesday afternoon for his comments about the presumptive Republican nominee’s war record in a West Virginia paper.
ABCNews.com's coverage consisted of a Political Punch blog entry by Jake Tapper, headlined blandly, "Surrogate Watch, Part 676":
Following Obama-backing Sen. Jay Rockefeller's impugning of Sen. John McCain's sensitivity because he killed Vietnamese from a distance -- "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 [the missiles] get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues"
[end excerpt]
Hardly a media firestorm in the making, although Rockefeller's swipe was disrespectful not only of McCain, but of thousands of past and present U.S. military fighter pilots.
—Ken Shepherd is Managing Editor of NewsBusters
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Wow Ken, Prester just
April 8, 2008 - 18:20 ET by bigtimerWow Ken, Prester just posted about this elsewhere..and it is the first I've heard of any of this...leave it to the msm...on the other hand, McCain wants an apology from Obama himself....well he has the msm bully-pulpit if he wants it...he should be using it....otherwise it will remain silent...which McCain knows full well...or he should by now what with his relationship with the msm all these years...
My thoughts on Rockefeller are not nice, so I will leave that be for now...I detest that man, he is one huge enemy in this country as far as I am concerned...nobody or nothing ever touches him when he gets caught doing things to hurt us here behind the scenes in the Senate or overseas...of course he uses some of his staffers to do the dirty work for him, like a good little leftist.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill
Senator Jay Rockefeller's
April 8, 2008 - 18:37 ET by BDSenator Jay Rockefeller's (D-W.V.) comments indicate just how little current members of that party currently associate with the military.
1.) McCain was a pilot long before precision Guided munitions. When he was flying, pilots literally had to aim their aircraft at the target on the ground and fly towards it until the dumb bomb munitions was released. the closer you got to the target, the better odds of hitting and destroying it. Thus, damn few bombs dropped from 35,000 feet.
2.) Rockefeller is using his comments to attempt to smear McCain as "Enjoying the relitivity of REMF'dom". (For the unitiatiated REMF = "Rear Echelon M***** F***** ")
It is a sliding scale based on your location and positon.
But one must ask, by what right in this hierarchy of REMFdom does Rockefeller, a former member of the Peace Corps, consider McCain a REMF??????
Obviously the Hanoi Hilton
April 8, 2008 - 20:41 ET by NL207Obviously the Hanoi Hilton was to far away from the action to be considered anything but the domain of REMF.
Personally, I'd find it amusing to see that treasonous prick, Jay Rockefeller, imprisoned under such conditions for about the same length of time as McCain was. I've been convinced that Rockefeller has been a leaker for years. His position in the Senate is such that he could have leaked much of the "secret" material the NY Times has published since 9-11. He is one of the few individuals that represents a common thread in the collective pattern of disclosures the Times has engineered.
I maintain the same belief
April 9, 2008 - 11:10 ET by BDI maintain the same belief regarding Rockefeller and "Leaking."
I was wondering about laser guided bombs...
April 8, 2008 - 18:36 ET by D. S. Hubein Vietnam, and discovered they didn't begin use until 1968. McCain was shot down and imprisoned in October of 1967. So, not only did Rockefeller smear McCain's character, he wasn't even factually accurate.
The Democrats
April 8, 2008 - 20:25 ET by pbthinkerThere's little doubt, in my mind, that Rockefeller is responsible for some of the intelligence leaks the media got and this just reenforces that opinion. If only Rockefeller were the odd man out, in the Democratic Party. The problem is, he is representative of the thought of this party, as a whole. I'm still trying to figure out the voters, in West Virginia, between Rockefeller and Byrd?????
Democrats: Stuck on Stupid since 2000.
pb... There's little
April 8, 2008 - 20:33 ET by bigtimerpb...
There's little doubt, in my mind, that Rockefeller is responsible for some of the intelligence leaks the media got and this just reenforces that opinion.
Exactly...and that was what I was referring to in my mind when I said his staffers took the blame on this and another leak too above in my post...I just can't remember what it was at the moment but it was about gettting onto the repub. computers and releasing info to the press, then turning around and blaming the repubs...of course they stayed silent instead of fighting back...plus his little visit to Syria...on and on it goes with this slime ball.
"Never murder your opponent when he is committing suicide." ~ W. Churchill
The voters in West Virginia
April 8, 2008 - 20:34 ET by NL207The voters in West Virginia are on the Dem Plantation. The union coal miner mentality is pervasive there. In the view of such people, all mioners are "victims" of fat cat mine bosses. Class warfare is the Dem card in W. Virginia just like the race card is their trump in the inner city.
What happened when they
April 8, 2008 - 18:54 ET by MidAmericaWhat happened when they [the missiles] get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues"
It's not the job of the military to 'care'. They receive and obey orders.
Well said, MA... they do
April 8, 2008 - 20:44 ET by motherbeltWell said, MA... they do not have that luxury.
There is a reason that every soldier, sailor and airman swears an oath to follow orders. What would happen if every order was argued over by those receiving them? Or if everyone was allowed to ignore those he/she disagreed with?
Without rigid
April 8, 2008 - 21:16 ET by MidAmericaWithout rigid discipline the military would just be a bunch of people who like to dress alike. But when your job involves this you better have cooperative obediance.
Suicide
April 8, 2008 - 21:28 ET by ScrapironThe democrats are slowly comitting suicide but I wish they would leave me out of their plans to get everyone in America killed. Bad thing is they have willing pardners waiting in the wings to do just that. Islam and a Nuclear weapon is Bye Bye America.
Old, Retired and glad of it.
Rockefeller's comment was
April 9, 2008 - 02:47 ET by CooltomRockefeller's comment was insulting and yet makes no sense...
From Wikipedia:
leading to the development of the Paveway series, which was used operationally in Vietnam starting in 1968...
It was determined that 48 percent of Paveways dropped during 1972–73 around Hanoi and Haiphong achieved direct hits, compared with only 5.5 percent of unguided bombs dropped on the same area a few years earlier.
Laser-guided munitions are more accurate and thus incur fewer civilian casualties. So if you care about collaterial damage then smart bombs are more humanitarian. Rockefeller was trying to imply that McCain was heartless but yet dropped laser-guided ordnance -- his total lack of military acumen makes him look like a ninny.
I also might point out that the evil U.S. military are pretty much the only force that tries to minimize civilian deaths -- most others design and use weapons to maximize them.
He also confused missiles with bombs
April 9, 2008 - 03:41 ET by JWFYou don't drop missiles on targets, you shoot missiles AT targets. Missiles have their own guidance systems and thrust engines to get to a target.
It is also completely safe for a Democrat to impugn former military since they no longer have former military (Kerry) running for President.
A minor correction
April 9, 2008 - 03:54 ET by NosterrexThis probably makes little difference, but McCain was not a fighter pilot. There are fighter aircraft and attack or assault aircraft. A F-4 is a figher (thus the F prefix) and the A-4 is an attack aircraft (thus the A prefix). One is for air superiority the other basically drops bombs. McCain flew an A-4. There were no smart bombs in the 1960's. We had dumb bombs but smart pilots. Rockefeller shows not only poor character, but he shows his ignorance.
I didn't think that there
April 9, 2008 - 09:48 ET by ricklailI didn't think that there was laser anything in Nam.
If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes.-Lewis Grizzard
What a Hypocrite!
April 9, 2008 - 04:39 ET by Del Dolemonte"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 (the missiles) get to the ground? He doesn't know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues," Rockefeller said."
Gee, Rocky, you supported a President who started his own War of Choice in Kosovo (without UN approval, no less) in which 99% of the fighting was carried out by dropping bombs out of airplanes.
I guess it's OK when the person who's Commander in Chief is a friend of yours...
Excellent point. And I seem
April 9, 2008 - 09:46 ET by Ken ShepherdExcellent point. And I seem to recall some errant missiles in that non-UN authorized war that were errant and killed civilians.
Course only the far-left fringe dared accuse Clinton of "war crimes" in that conflict, a conflict which sowed the seeds of Kosovar independence, an issue that chafes the Russians but hasn't cropped up until well into Bush's watch.
Actually,
April 9, 2008 - 09:54 ET by sarcasmoLibertarians like me bitched endlessly, and we were ignored by a biased news media.
JMR
The tax & spend drug war looks racist in the real world.
Meaningless apologies.
April 9, 2008 - 06:09 ET by Ruths husband BenMeaningless apologies. This is the way dirty tricks are played these days. You get some yahoo to make an ugly remark and then apologize for it. You come away clean and the ugliness is out there for folks with sloped skulls to chew on.
“There’s nobody (white) on my staff who would still be working for me if they made a comment like that about anybody of any (other) ethnic group.” -Obama (talking about Imus)
(parentheticals added for clarity)
Sheesh -- good job this
April 9, 2008 - 07:12 ET by Jack BauerSheesh -- good job this ARROGANT buffoon inherited his daddy's billions, else he'd be flipping burgers for a living.
As other have pointed out, he can't even get his terminology right.
"fighter pilot," NO, McCain wasn't.
"dropping" missiles? What a dumbass.
And here's a question I would love somebody in the MSM to ask the multi-billionaire patricain brahmin Rockefeller...
But there's NO CHANCE that'll happen.
Here's the thing though -- the Democrat establishment is now so far to the left that they think they really can mainstream their in-house anti-military rhetoric.
They cannot help themselves. And while polls show the prosecution of the Iraq conflict is now unpopular with a majority the electorate, Democrats still don't get that the military and their achievements are very popular.
Hence there will be one of these bursts of truth every so often, as Democrats let slip what they REALLY think about the military and those who serve.
And have to apologize for speaking THEIR truth. And that helps McCain with CONSERVATIVES, thus increasing the likelihood he wins in November.
Embarrassed, but not surprised
April 9, 2008 - 12:10 ET by the_red_stateWV resident weighing in here. While McCain was a POW being tortured (yes, real torture...not like the Sunday School picnics we throw for Al-Qaeda at Gitmo which the left likes to call torture) in North Vietnam, Rockefailure was busy infiltrating our state setting up his political career. He has been a scourge on our state for over 40 years now. He was a disaster as Governor and has been an abject failure as Senator. All he has done for us is bring in the Toyota plant. Like Byrd, he is Senator for Life in this state. Earlier poster got it right...Dems here play the class warfare card to keep folks on the farm & dependent. Jay has said some really stupid things in the past...but this is more stupid than I'm used to from him. His apology means nothing to me.
What we have learned of the inaccuracies
April 9, 2008 - 12:23 ET by JWF"McCain was a fighter(1)(2) pilot, who dropped(3) laser-guided(4) missiles(5) from 35,000 feet(6). He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they (the missiles) get to the ground?(7) He doesn't know.(8) You have to care about the lives of people.(9) McCain never gets into those issues,(10)"
1. Sen. McCain was an Attack pilot not a Fighter pilot.
2. Fighter pilots do not attack ground targets, only Attack and Bomber pilots attack ground targets.
3. Missiles are shot or fired, not dropped.
4. There were no laser-guided munitions when Sen. McCain was flying.
5. The only ground target missiles on an A-4 (Sen. McCain's plane) was a Walleye, which was technically a guided bomb.
6. Walleyes and 1000 lb. bombs available for ground targets required much lower altitude. Both had to glide to the target. The Walleye had some guidance, bomb used gravity once the sideways inertia from the plane is lost.
7. They go boom. duh.
8. Missiles and Bombs go boom. I believe they teach you that in pilot school on day 2.
9. The point of having a military is to kill bad people. If every military member had to stop and "care" about everyone they were targeting, we would quickly have to replace all the dead military people with new military people who would then have to stop and "care" and be killed and replaced. See where this is going?
10. I believe Sen. McCain has written an autobiography where he most probably did cover the "issue"
it's always about "feelings"
April 9, 2008 - 14:10 ET by wizardjrBeing an engineer is probably why I don't get all this "feelings" stuff. I work with facts, and other people who work with facts. You can't emote a piece of production machinery into existence. I guess that's why I don't get why military people are supposed to "feel" something when they do their job - blow stuff up and kill people. They just get on with it. Apparently, that makes John McCain (and all the rest of us vets) bad people and unworthy of office because we don't gaze at our navel before doing our military duty. Crap. Pure, unadulterated crap. Coming from an East Coast Limosine Liberal. How surprising - not.