Yet another gaffe - if it were Hillary or Obama, this would be pundit heaven. Too bad the MSM will dutifully ignore Grandpa McHothead's latest goof. Salon, Olbermann and the rest of blogosphere can only do so much to even out this disparity...

But sometimes he gives answers to questions that make no sense. In many cases it is because he hates wearing his hearing aid and wings the answer based on what he thinks he heard.

On the other hand, he isn't running for president.

I would not do that unless General Petraeus said that he felt that the situation called for that.

There's nothing wrong with this statement from a command chain perspective, it doesn’t delegate the decision to General Petraeus. All it does is take into consideration the situation as seen by the military commander on the ground. That is normal.

Why would the commander in chief move troops around when the field commander feels the situation is not warranted? It’s not the President’s job to micro manage.

Forcing commanders into situation that they disapprove of is what Bush Jr. did, and it had disastrous results.

When Salon posts that someone this statement violates Chain of Command, it shows that the writer really doesn’t know how chain of command works.

I just wanted to post a quick note to say how much I like Steve Benen's commentary. He's smart, incisive and wonderfully sardonic. And his timeliness is impressive. He's especially refreshing to read after having spent the past several months reading Alex Koppelman, who has, frankly, been a terrible letdown after Tim Grieve's departure. Keep Steve!

There's no such thing as a Flack Jacket, it's like saying irregardless. It's confusing terms, but has been done so often that the incorrect and meaningless term has become understood, but is laughable.

Flak stands for Fliegerabwehrkanone, there is no flack.

That's why he's now acceptable by the GOP powers to be on the top of the ticket!

This way our country can continue to be run like an oligarchy with people we've never heard of, and who could never be elected, telling the President what they want him to believe and do.

Informed thinking is not a good qualification for a figurehead.

Can explain it to him as she spoon feeds him baby food for luch and wipes his mouth with his bib.

Why do you think they can't keep it up at least long enough to get McCain elected?

John McCain might be charming and funny, but he's getting old and is stuck in the past. I'm not surprised that he got confused over the complexities of sectarian conflict in the Middle East, but he should have known Petraeus's responsibilities. My guess is that all the campaigning is taking a toll on him.

What's worse is that McCain has tied himself to the policies of the Bush administration. He's practically licking the boots of the religious right and he sounds more and more like an old version of Dubya on matters like Iraq, the mortgage crisis, torture, health care, etc.

Remember back on 9/11/01, when Bush was in the elementary school classroom reading "My Pet Goat"? John McCain has become Bush's pet goat--hell, he even looks the part.

We're not going to move into the future and solve our immense national problems by staying in the past or looking backwards. The '08 campaign is likely going to be John McCain's Farewell Tour. John will give us some great one-liners like Johnny Carson, but don't expect much from him. He's worn out.

@Xanthro: Petreus is the commanding General of the multinational force in Irag. So no, decisions to send troops from Iraq to Afghanistan would not be his too make, because he has no responsibility over Afganistan. I would imagine he would have input into any decisions to divert troops from Iraq, but as far as sending them to Afghanistan goes, that's not his call.

Is that he may not know what he is talking about, but he isn't an elitist. He's the kind of guy you'd want to have over for a beer....Wait a minute, that sounds like some other President we know.

For an average person to make this mistake would be no big deal: After all, Bush has largely bypassed the Secretary of Defense, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the CentComm Commander and gone straight to Iraq Multi-National Force leader Petraeus.

Why would the average person know that it's not Petraeus' call?

But McCain, who bills himself as Mr. Foreign Policy (and seems almost proud of his domestic issue ignorance) ought to know better. He can't afford to make foreign policy gaffes because all he claims to offer is foreign policy.

For what it's worth, I don't think McCain's gaffe came from ignorance. It's just that politicians get so use to saying "Petraeus" that they've starting taking his name in vain: "Oh, whatever St. Petraeus says is best."

I swear, it's only a matter of time before they start deferring to Petraeus on the mortage crisis, the weakened dollar and health care reform.

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Xanthro, it is a chain of command issue insofar as the chain of command represents areas of expertise. Petraeus is the Iraq Multi-National Force leader. You wouldn't want to move troops from Iraq to Afghanistan without his input but you wouldn't move troops from Iraq to Afghanistan because "he felt that the situation called for that." What does Petraeus know about Afghanistan? Afghanistan isn't under his command nor is it his area of expertise.

I also just wanted to echo what henrihawkins said about Steve Benen. He covers a more interesting range of topics than Alex Koppelman and in a much more interesting way. I was sad to see the Blog Report closed down, so I hope Salon keeps Steve around.

What about the dozens of military leaders who have been ignored, resigned or were fired?

Maybe he defers to Petraeus on everything.

Who do you like on American Idol?

I have my preferences, but first I'd like to see how Gen. Petraeus voted.

Coke or Pepsi?

I'll just have whatever he's having.

God knows, he wouldn't be the first.