Media Matters: Claim that Clark attacked McCain's military service media-driven and "patently false"

[Adelante]

What Gen. Clark Actually Said

Media Falsely Claim Clark Attacked McCain's Service

Clark Praised McCain's Service, While Saying it Wasn't a "Qualification to be President"

Washington, DC -- Today Media Matters for America called on members of the media to set the record straight concerning the remarks of retired Gen. Wesley Clark on Sen. John McCain's military record -- a record Clark praised while also saying that it wasn't a "qualification to be president." Many in the media have falsely claimed that Gen. Clark attacked McCain's military service in comments made during the June 29 edition of CBS' Face the Nation.

Few have reported the entirety of what Clark actually said, including his praise of McCain's service, or that his comments actually repeated CBS Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer's own words in response to Schieffer's statement that unlike McCain, Obama has not "ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down."

"The media driven notion that Gen. Clark somehow attacked Sen. McCain's military service is patently false. In fact, the opposite is true -- he praised it. This controversy was created and fueled by a media unwilling to live up to the basic journalistic standard of accuracy and thoroughness," said Karl Frisch, a spokesman for Media Matters. "It is a fact that Gen. Clark praised Sen. McCain's military service while also saying that such service is not a 'qualification to be president.' The media have a duty not only to Gen. Clark but the public to correct the record."

-snip

http://mediamatters.org/items/200806300002?f=h_top

[Dinger]

1. Word (nt)

[BootinUp]

2. Any media jagoffs attacking Clark have revealed themselves

as wingnuts plain and simple.

[Major Hogwash]

3. What Clark said was what 300 million Americans have been thinking all along.

"How does getting shot down in a plane qualify one to be the President."

It doesn't.

And Clark was right, McCain was never in a command position during the war, so McCain is just a weenie.

[Tom Rinaldo]

4. God damned right

If the media gets away with this outrageous swiftboating they will have no fear of repeating this type of distortions from here until November. Now is the time to call them out for lying. Nip this right wing ass kissing behavior in the bud or live to lose and regret it.

[Adelante]

6. They are hard at it

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/mccain_surrogate_demeans_clark.php

[Supersedeas]

5. the Corp Media will continue to show their true Free Ride colors in the months to come