1115.org

John McCain on the Iraq War, (4/7/08):

“We are no longer staring into the abyss of defeat, and we can now look ahead to the genuine prospect of success.”

How can a statement like this pass through the media filter unchallenged? Setting aside the fact that McCain is just flat-out wrong, he’s just as much a part of the Friedman Unit brigade as Tom Friedman himself. McCain is, of course, entitled to his analysis of the Iraq War, as well as his views on any other subject. One could even make the case that, because he’s Saint John McCain (R-Punditville), he is allowed to contradict himself whenever he finds it convenient.

Pundit crushes notwithstanding, news reporters have the responsibility to note that McCain has always supported the war, and assured us that we would be successful. While he has on occasion criticized the Bush Administration’s handling of the war, it’s not like he’s been donning Birkenstocks and marching down Market St. carrying a sign that reads “The war is lost.” By allowing McCain to pretend that he was on the side of sanity and reality when he has been anything but, the media is helping him move not the goalposts, but the whole field. It’s worse than a flip-flop, it’s a complete distortion of history. The media is supposed to defend against such ruses, not aid them. I miss Orwell.