You've pointed out another area where the real issue is missed by a neocon sympathetic press.

With Fallon's "retirement" another independent voice in the military is being silenced. Other general officers are being intimidated by such tactics.

We know that Bush has dug America a deep hole in economics, world opinion, Iraq and domestic spying. But the damage he's done to the ranks of general officers could be even more devastating in years to come.

Presidents depend on the military expertise of their Generals. If the Generals left standing after the Bush presidency are all reality-challenged, fight until the last man standing types we may never get out of the mid-east.

...but this little exchange is pretty interesting:

Acton, Mass.: Mr Kurtz, you have written about McCain's "gaffe of saying Iran was training al-Qaeda operatives, which the senator corrected a moment later." But McCain previously made that statement at least three times on his trip without correction. It is clear that this represents a severe policy misconception on McCain's part, not just a one-time "gaffe." So why are you (and the media in general) playing this as just a slip of the tongue?

Howard Kurtz: I was just recounting what happened. The fact that McCain has made this "mistake" before suggests that either that he believes Iran is actually training al-Qaeda operatives or is not being very careful about sticking to established facts.

How does that last statement square with last Thursday's "A blunder, to be sure, but can the Democratic candidates really argue that they know more about foreign policy?"

Maybe Sheri Annis could explain it, but I can't.

Make that "get way with."

Good thing McCain can get always away with being either ignorant or sloppy since he's "the expert."

The McCain campaign is getting pretty sick and tired of you people dumping on people like Instapunk, who is just trying to have a frank conversation about those Katrina people. John McCain knows about the fear of that secret society of Afro-Negros first hand. Why, when John McCain was having problems with campaign contributions, and didn't have as much money in the Medea Bank, one of his campaign managers accosted a member of the secret society in a mens room in Florida. He was so scared he offered to give the large black person a blow job for $20 dollars. That's the sort of quick thinking you can expect from a McCain administration: In the face of deadly threats and abject fear, he thought only of his loyalty to John McCain, and even tried to raise a bit of hard cash for the Medea Bank!

McCain in '08 - Because the future is in...is...bomb bomb..uh

Not to my inquiry, but still:

Acton, Mass.: Mr Kurtz, you have written about McCain's "gaffe of saying Iran was training al-Qaeda operatives, which the senator corrected a moment later." But McCain previously made that statement at least three times on his trip without correction. It is clear that this represents a severe policy misconception on McCain's part, not just a one-time "gaffe." So why are you (and the media in general) playing this as just a slip of the tongue?

Howard Kurtz: I was just recounting what happened. The fact that McCain has made this "mistake" before suggests that either that he believes Iran is actually training al-Qaeda operatives or is not being very careful about sticking to established facts.

Yeah. He's either ignorant or sloppy. No biggie. He's only running for President.

Acton, Mass.: Mr Kurtz, you have written about McCain's "gaffe of saying Iran was training al-Qaeda operatives, which the senator corrected a moment later." But McCain previously made that statement at least three times on his trip without correction. It is clear that this represents a severe policy misconception on McCain's part, not just a one-time "gaffe." So why are you (and the media in general) playing this as just a slip of the tongue?

Howard Kurtz: I was just recounting what happened. The fact that McCain has made this "mistake" before suggests that either that he believes Iran is actually training al-Qaeda operatives or is not being very careful about sticking to established facts.

Wow. He actually responded to the question:

Acton, Mass.: Mr Kurtz, you have written about McCain's "gaffe of saying Iran was training al-Qaeda operatives, which the senator corrected a moment later." But McCain previously made that statement at least three times on his trip without correction. It is clear that this represents a severe policy misconception on McCain's part, not just a one-time "gaffe." So why are you (and the media in general) playing this as just a slip of the tongue?

Howard Kurtz: I was just recounting what happened. The fact that McCain has made this "mistake" before suggests that either that he believes Iran is actually training al-Qaeda operatives or is not being very careful about sticking to established facts.

I had assumed from the start that Howie would blow off this issue, so I wasn't polite in the version of the question I submitted:

Hey, Howie, do you even read the stuff you post? In your March 20 column, you blast A.J. Rossmiller for jumping on the McCain false Iran/Al Queda link. You state this is something “the senator corrected a moment later”, yet the very passage you then quote from Rossmiller shows that McCain spread this falsehood at least three times. At least one of those repetitions of the lie was the previous day on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show. How on earth can you say McCain corrected it a moment later? I think a correction to your article is only the beginning of a long road back to credibility for you on this one.

As for your question “can the Democratic candidates really argue that they know more about foreign policy?”, the simple reply is yes. McCain was wrong about the Iraq invasion: he was for it and Obama came out against it before the invasion. Both Obama and Clinton want to end the occupation in Iraq while McCain is okay staying a hundred years. McCain was wrong in supporting the surge. He was for it and Obama and Clinton were against it. It has failed miserably to achieve the political reconciliation that was the stated goal . McCain’s experience in foreign policy is a constant display of failed judgement.