McCain admits it was inappropriate to fundraise using Petraeus picture.
By on May 30th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
McCain admits it was inappropriate to fundraise using Petraeus picture.
On Memorial Day, Joint Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen published a letter to uniformed soldiers warning that “the U.S. military must remain apolitical at all times.” Just three days later, however, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) presidential campaign sent out a fundraising appeal featuring a picture of McCain with Gen. David Petraeus. McCain spokesman Brian Rogers told ABC News’s Jake Tapper that “the image of Petraeus is not at all contrary to the spirit of Mullen’s directive.” But in a press conference today, McCain himself admitted that it was inappropriate, saying “it won’t happen again.” Watch it:
Steve Benen has more on McCain’s “uninvited exploitation” of Petraeus here and here.
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How many different ways can this man screw up??
May 30th, 2008 at 2:45 pmOh gawd! Next thing you know, McCain will be crashing a fighter jet on the deck of an aircraft carrier after ejecting and parachuting down with a codpiece in his flight suit.
May 30th, 2008 at 2:46 pmHe’d use the codpiece as his parachute.
May 30th, 2008 at 2:46 pmHe’ll then declare, “Mission accomplished in another 100 years!”
May 30th, 2008 at 2:47 pmMcSame is the crazy uncle some families keep hidden from view. Why the good folks of AZ keep him employed is a mystery and a wonder. I mean, the guy doesn’t even show up to vote for goodness sakes! Is McCain from AZ? Why did he run for Senate from that state? Does the AZ heat make the voters numb?
May 30th, 2008 at 2:48 pmBut in a press conference today, McCain himself admitted that it was “inappropriate,” saying “it won’t happen again.”
Yet , there appears to be too many of these instances occurring regularly , and you keep claiming that Obama lacks “experience” and “sound judgement” ; feel stupid yet ?
You should………..
May 30th, 2008 at 2:48 pmraynman Says:
How many different ways can this man screw up??
May 30th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
______
Pffff - this is nothing. Just wait until he’s appointed President - then we’ll REALLY see his “senior moments.”
May 30th, 2008 at 2:49 pmFrom McCain exploiting the military to sell his campaign to the Pentagon using retired generals to sell the war, this wasn’t a mistake, this is just normal operating procedure.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
May 30th, 2008 at 2:50 pmOh gawd! Next thing you know, McCain will be crashing a fighter jet on the deck of an aircraft carrier after ejecting and parachuting down with a codpiece in his flight suit.
Man, it’s hard to type after you claw out your eyes!
May 30th, 2008 at 2:55 pmDamn I am sick of seeing his ugly mug on every other thread…Hey, TP how about lumping all crap in one thread every day?…Sure will be nice when they put this old turd in a nursing home and we don’t have to look at his face any more…Blessings
May 30th, 2008 at 2:58 pmWhy not use the troops as PR flacks and as backdrops for your message?
W DID IT, TOO!
May 30th, 2008 at 3:01 pmMcBush probably has an autographed picture of our self-promoting General Petreaus on his night stand: “Good luck and here’s to four more years. I’ll cover your back”
May 30th, 2008 at 3:01 pmWhen Obama becomes President he should give Betraus a swift dishonorable discharge. Strip him of his precious stars and relegate him to the scrap heap for going against the military’s long held rule of being apolitical. His endless shilling for this Administration in hopes of another star and for pushing their propoganda on the Hill is most definitely conduct unbecoming of an officer. That other asshat Michael Hayden should also be shown the door without much fanfair. He works for the CIA but likes to prance around in his uniform as though he’s ready to jump into the fray at the drop of a hat. Asskissing water carriers all. Where are the real men at the top of this military anyway? Oh yeah, Bush got rid of them all in preference to his gang of poncy boot lickers.
May 30th, 2008 at 3:02 pmNext they will distribute fundraising requests showing him tied up in a bamboo box
May 30th, 2008 at 3:03 pmJohn McCain has a few more questions to answer:
May 30th, 2008 at 3:09 pm1. When were these things printed?
2. Isn’t the content of this mailing further proof that the McCain campaign is unlawfully coordinating their efforts with Vets For Freedom?
Are the republicans REALLY going to allow this clown to run on their ticket? What a cake walk.
May 30th, 2008 at 3:10 pmMcSame has already crapped on the very campaign reform bill he championed. It is unreasonable to expect him to follow any rules; after all, he is a maverick (whatever the fu(k that means).
May 30th, 2008 at 3:12 pmI’m no longer a Mike Gravel supporter.
but the fight for a national initiative process has just begun
the workers struggle of the 21st century
I did a piece on McCain’s misquote a minute ago too
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPRdVUSHQIA
May 30th, 2008 at 3:15 pmAnd the reich-wing MSM will roll over and beg for McBush’s acceptance.
May 30th, 2008 at 3:15 pmJebus. McSlut’s a greater wh*re than the Catholic Church could ever hope to be…
May 30th, 2008 at 3:18 pmI think a little bit of common sense should be used in this “military is apolitical” rule.
If a military figure is shown in a manner that would suggest he/she is endorsing the candidate (as interpreted by a reasonable person), this is clearly wrong. However, a photo of a candidate reviewing troops should be acceptable, as no reasonable person would interpret that to mean everyone in the platoon endorses that candidate. Ditto for a photo of a candidate visiting Army wounded, or a candidate who is photographed at any ceremony with a uniformed color guard. It’s possible to get really silly with this.
That said — I believe the picture of McCain and Petraeus goes beyond the “reasonable interpretation” litmus test. It depicts an enthusiastic Petraeus shaking the hand of McCain, juxtaposed with the words “Show Your Support”. (I was unable to read any of the accompanying text due to the low resolution of the graphic.) This is a marketing ploy to conflate.
At least McCain admitted it was inappropriate. Hopefully, he will confine his images of military personnel to those that don’t suggest endorsement of any kind.
May 30th, 2008 at 3:34 pmPetreaus is an ass-kissing, brown-nosing, prostate-laving careerist who seems to like the taste of presidential shit.
May 30th, 2008 at 3:51 pmWhere’s that picture of him with Ho Chi Minh?
May 30th, 2008 at 3:53 pmBoy, ol’ Johnny McPander is a far greater wh*re than the Catholic Church could ever hope to be…
May 30th, 2008 at 4:10 pmBombin’Johnnie’s gonna construct himself as the living (albeit barely) embodiment of the spirits of Ronald Reagan and John Wayne, running as Ron McWayne.
If he runs against Obama, he’ll be the Lone Ranger to Obama’s Tonto; if he runs against Hillary, it’ll be Shane vs the widda Jones.
May 30th, 2008 at 4:11 pmJohn McCain is a blundering idiot. No matter how you cut it.
JJ
May 30th, 2008 at 4:13 pmUltimate Anonymity
Someone buy him a ticket to the old folks home. I’m not denigrating the elderly since I fit in that category myself, but this character is waaaay over the hill. My husband has dementia, I can recognize the signs.
May 30th, 2008 at 4:24 pmGrampy McSame says- My friends back in the day Petraeus and I would take pictures of ourselves and send them to the troops, the troops loved them, Petraeus and me would lather each other up with crisco, just like a couple of freedom fries, some of the troops would pin them up by their beds to reassure themselves of their manly man stuff, but some one told me that our G-strings were inappropriate, I don’t see why, mine was leopard and Petraeus’ was tiger stripes, must of been some of the PETA troops..I love pork chops in my pants.
Grampy, that’s not a pretty picture.
May 30th, 2008 at 4:57 pmIf McCain is the expert on the military why didn’t he know not to use a picture of him with Petreaus in campaign literature?
May 30th, 2008 at 5:28 pmI’m all for Obama, and I think it’s worth mentioning what happened.
While his aides might have tried to justify it, McCain effectively admitted his mistake and said it would not happen again.
We should accept McCain’s statement and move on.
May 30th, 2008 at 8:53 pmleftzone Says:
Oh gawd! Next thing you know, McCain will be crashing a fighter jet on the deck of an aircraft carrier after ejecting and parachuting down with a codpiece in his flight suit.
Man, it’s hard to type after you claw out your eyes!
Sorry, I know how you feel. If you notice, I couldn’t even finish my post until after I retched.
May 30th, 2008 at 10:23 pm