It does seem to be a coordinated campaign, judging from Axelrod's comments on Morning Joe this morning:

On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Obama strategist Axelrod said Clark is not demeaning McCain’s military service, and “people are not interested in what happened 40 years ago, they’re interested in what happens now.” Added that even McCain does not claim his Vietnam service is his whole qualification to be President.

Ok, now this shows that the mcbush camp wants to keep this discussion alive as much as possible, because all webb said was that politics should not involve the military and vice versa. There is no there, there. Mcbush is really flailing on this one to try to keep it alive. Also, if I was mcbush, I wouldn't want to be attacking webb on military matters. Bad move.

And Obama just said in his press conference:

On CNN, Obama Just Said Re: Clark That Gen Clark didn't have the intent of the SBVT and he rejects that analogy. He also believes that Sen McCain deserves the utmost honor and respect for his service. Obama denies that his statement yesterday was in response to Gen Clark--it was in a draft of the speech he wrote two months ago.

Thank you Sen McCain. By all means, please help to keep this story going.

Oh boy. I really, really, really hope that Webb goes on the evening talk shows to rebut the McCain camp's claim. I love it when Webb busts open a can o' verbal whupass.

Mmmm...is it me or does it seem like McCain's coming a bit "unhinged" here? Can I say hysterical? Does that offend?

I love this. I'd like to see McCain becoming more and more enraged over this issue. Blow it way out of proportion. Get really, really red in the face. Start yelling.

I don't know why you'd want to highlight Webb's comments by issuing this release. If you bring him into the argument front and center, he's just going to hammer McCain on the GI Bill again.

I'm confused why people are so worried about the coordination angle. I mean, of course these guys are coordinating with each other. Why make a big deal denying it?

What's funny is that McCain is so prickly on the subject. If he'd just shut up about it, he'd pretty much win the Commander in Chief portion of the contest.

If it was Team Obama's intent to tease a "Niagara Falls" moment from McCain--where the mere mention of a certain subject sends him and his team off the rails--I think they found it.

Slowly, I turned...step by step, inch by inch...

Help me out, people. I'm having problems keeping track of the McCain campaign messages today.

First it was, what, exactly? Oh, I remember. "Wesley Clark sucked as a general. The fact that our candidate got nowhere near the equivalent rank of general, nor served nearly as long in the military in no way disqualifies our candidate from making really stupid-ass statements about the Obama campaign. And Wesley Clark sucked as a general."

Now, it's "Jim Webb, Wesley Clark and Barack Obama are all ganging up on me, John McCain, and that shows that these damn Democrats aren't behaving the way they used to. What year is this again? What country am I in? Why am I here? And did I mention that those meanies are ganging up on me?"

Geez John. I thought the Republicans could take a punch. Guess not.

Maybe this is a coordinated attempt by the McCain team to disqualify VP candidates they particularly fear. They want the military angle all to themselves. Let's see if next Jack Reed somehow offends poor Johnny.

McCain spokesperson Brian Rogers sends us this:

Is a spokesperson something like a "surrogate"? I thought "surrogates" talking for the candidates were a "bad thing" and "cowardly" according to the McBush camp. Let McBush speak for himself and do it calmly so as not to burst a blood vessel.

McCain is absolutely whiney on all this. Jeezum crow! Waaaaah!

Read the comments here:

http://caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/30/mccains-military-credentials-overrated/

I know that this is anecdotal, but it seems many people are just as sick of hearing about McCain's war stories as I am.

Some choice comments:

"As for McCain’s military experience showing his strength of character, how come the media is not reporting the fact that he dumped his wife after returning from war and went for a millionairess 20 years his former ?

Sure, family values and great character. Give me a break."

- Axel

"Jack, John McCain definitely served his country well, but being a POW does not qualify him to be Commander in Chief. I would say that surviving torture must have created post traumatic stress, And that’s definitely something we would not want our president to have."

- Al Scaroina, Humble, TX

The wheels are coming off McCains campaign earlier than I had hoped. As the Poster Boy for PTSD, its only a matter of time until he flames out in public.

One correction: he was at Annapolis, not West Point.

John McCain: "I tried to run a tight ship, but they fought me at every turn!" (He then reaches into his pocket and pulls out a few ball bearings, which he then rolls between his fingers....)

Anytime we have Gen. Wes Clark and Sen. Jim Webb along with John McCain in a conversation about military experience, McCain comes in a distant third.

McCain does not want this to continue. Really.

(But I do.)

I think McCain is still miffed about the missing strawberries.

Please post on this straight talk from Mavericky:

In an interview with reporters on the back of his campaign bus, the “Straight Talk Express” Monday afternoon, McCain said that even in retrospect he would still have voted to authorize the war, as he did in 2002.

“I think there's no question,” said the Republican's likely presidential nominee. “I owe too much to these young people who are serving there to let political considerations interfere with what I know is right.

“I believe the American people, over time, will side with me, but if they don't I'll accept that,” he said. “I'd much rather lose a political campaign than lose a war.”

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/113-07012008-1556942.html

Ok, I am not buying the coordination thing. However, if this was a test for vp for clark and webb, webb won hands down. Webb's comments did not cause a bruhaha and occupy the news cycle during an important speech by obama, like clark's did. Also, clark's comments in general were kind of condescending to grunts and lower level officers. He was basically saying you had to be a general to be considered for president. I don't know if that's such a good idea.

In the vp stakes, webb 1, clark 0.

It's letters like that from Rogers and the hyperbole -filled attacks from the McCain camp on this issue that are precisely what Webb was talking about.

Next time you get a note from the McCain camp, it will read as follows:

DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO KEEP MILITARY STORY ALIVE

DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO KEEP MILITARY STORY ALIVE

DESPERATE ATTEMPT TO KEEP MILITARY STORY ALIVE

Obama can't control his surrogates?

Um, is that a bad thing? Every time one of McCain's surrogates says something stupid and/or racist, McCain proudly announces that he can't control his surrogates.

Tena - I posted a message for you a little ways upthread. I'm sending you an email.

The next shoe drops, over at Kos a retired Lt Gen chimes in;

"So I too honor John McCain. And, like General Clark, I acknowledge his sacrifice for his country. But being a prisoner of the Vietnamese and serving on the Senate Armed Services Committee does not automatically qualify one for the position of Commander-in-Chief -- understanding risks, gauging your opponents and being held accountable does. We must end this glib obeisance to sacrifice and ask deeper questions: is a man who sings "bomb, bomb, bomb ... bomb, bomb Iran" a man who understands risks? Is a man who says that we must keep our troops in Iraq until we achieve an ill-defined "victory" really know how to gauge America's opponents. If we want to hold people accountable, then let's stand behind my friend Wes Clark -- and hold John McCain accountable for what he's said."

"Oh, and one more thing: today President Bush signed the GI Bill --which Senator Barack Obama has unstintingly supported . The bill will spend $63 billion over ten years for increased college aid for military service members and veterans who served after September 11, 2001. Good judgment?"

"John McCain opposed it."

Lt. General Robert G. Gard Jr. (USA, Ret.) is the steering committee chairman of Vets for Obama.

I will say it again. Do we really want another hot-head fighter pilot to be the Commander-In-Chief?

I am loving this. McCain has accused two fighting Democrats of things they didn't say during taped interviews. He is really, really steamed because he says the two fighting Democrats have attacked his military service which the tapes clearly reveal they didn't say. He whines that Obama is coordinating the fighting Democrats comments.

This dolt wants to be CIC. What would he do if he were confronted with a really serious situation, pee in his pants, or just stomp up and down.

The strategy is obvious on the McCain side. Stymie or discredit anybody who has military service street cred sufficient to stand up to McCain.

That's a quicksand pit, and you can easily see how the Obama campaign would want to steer clear of it totally.

I suspect McCain's campaign is trying to distract from the other part of that interview, where Olbermann asks Webb if Bush is falsely claiming credit for himself and McCain for the GI Bill, and Webb is good-natured about it, but confirms it straight up without any hedging.

Weapons of mass distraction...

greg--please ask McFuddle's campaign about his taking credit for the new GI Bill...Bush singled him out for praise..now this is real issue of credibilty and intregity.

Holy hell McCain is losing he goddamn mind isn't he? I think he is going to blow, he seems desperate to keep this off of the issues, and attack Obama for anything and everything. Obama better hope the straight talk express doesn't run out of cream cheese or Obama will be accused of stealing all of McCain's cream cheese...and of course the media will jump all over that, just like every other bullshit attack McCain throws at Obama.

Clark and the Democrats are being FAR too defensive about all of this.

When I saw Clark on MSNBC last night, his words were the right ones, but his tone was much too conciliatory. He should be out there giving McCain hell for what he's doing.

Clark, in particular, was seriously wounded in Vietnam, and successfully served as NATO supreme commander in the Kosovo conflict against Serbia. He did point all of that out, but he did it too diplomatically. He ought to be standing up and saying that if McCain wants to get into a military record contest, then "bring it on."

Same for James Webb, who served heroically in Vietnam himself. Clark and Webb ought to quit apologizing for themselves. They should organize a rally with Democrats who served in WW2, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and shove it right back in the faces of the Republicans.

I am sick and f***ing tired of the Republican Party's habit of claiming the flag and patriotism. But I am even sicker and more f***ing tired of the Democratic Party's habit of letting them get away with it.

If McCain can't stand the heat, he oughta get outta Vietnam!!!!
for more, see
http://koulflo.wordpress.com/

What a freakin cry baby this Audie Murphy wanna-be is!

Webb is coordinating his attacks of McCain? So what. He's a Democrat and dedicated to the defeat of McCain and the end of the Iraq occupation. What else would you expect them to do, coordinate the campaign with McCain?

Frankly, McFlip shows signs of paranoia. I hope this isn't one of the things he has developed along the way, along with his bad temper and bad memory. Gosh, could the guy be even WORSE than the last President?

This will end badly for McCain.

Clark, and then Webb, put the idea out there that being a POW is not a qualification for the Presidency nor being Commander-in-Chief. Well, duh.

Instead of shrugging it off the McCain campaign went ballistic and made a bit deal out of it giving the story legs. Stupid. What people will remember is that war service, even heroic war service, does not equal the needed judgment or temperament for the top job. This toothpaste can not be put back in the tube.

All the mischaracterization by the media that Clark "denigrated" McCain's service just proves this.

Yes, PTSD is setting in. One eye bulges and the other wanders. Let him get it out of his system so he doesn't go off if he accidentally has the election stolen for him and he has the nuclear suitcase nearby.

What a pussy John McCain is turning out to be. I don't think I've ever seen a Presidential nominee with a glass jaw like McCain's.

'Wah! People are criticizing me! Stop it, Jim, you're hurting me! Wesley, that noogie *really* hurts!'

Nobody even attacked his service in the military. They just said that being shot down didn't provide any experience that is germane to being President. Hell, George H. W. Bush got shot down in WW2 and he certainly never went around claiming that the experience qualified him to be President. They were both heroes in the risks they took for their country, but in neither case did the experience do much for their respective abilities to balance a budget, fix the energy crisis or push a legislative agenda through Congress.

Yeah, I think that the message we should all be switching to as the media and the McCain campaign keep pounding away at this is 'why is John McCain such a pussy?'

Where is Frank Zappa when we need him? He had a brilliant way of skewering a bullshit artist and of calling out crap for what it was - crap. I think he was so successful at this, IMHO, because he was part of no establishment.

The Hyperventorama clip shows a lot of Village idiots completely and deliberately misunderstanding what Clark said. Hell, they weren't just hyperventilating, they were creaming their panties.

I want someone tough and who won't take this shit from anyone. I thank Clark for not backing down. I swear if one more prominent Democrat (cf. Durbin Murtha, et al) gets up and apologizes for telling the truth...I don't know what I'll do.

As a Vietnam vet, from what I read (if I have read all comments in context), Clark — and now Webb — are not impugning or besmirching McCain’s war service, or diminishing his brave time as a POW;

Clark is simply saying that McCain has not served in the military in an executive capacity, directing men, etc., a la Eisenhower, a la Colin Powell…and as someone who has, Clark is qualified to make that distinction. The McCain camp, the media and others, are blowing things up…

Webb is simply stating that we should take military service out of the political debate, because politicians go on about their service, like wrapping themselves in the flag, claiming the military support them, when the military vote and opinion is highly diverse, and also claiming to disagree with a pro-war stance is unpatriotic and against the military.

Is it such a leap of gray matter or a deviation from love of country to say (or admit) that McCain’s military experience is not executive, not a generalship for example, and does not qualify him in that area.

If this small feat of the mind is intellectually demanding, we need smarter newsmen. If it is heart rending to our patriotism, let us found love of country on a surer ground than blind affection that believes loving criticism is motivated only by evil intent. And let us be a smarter public who won’t buy commentary and journalism worthy only of recycling.

Hasn’t recent experience (and even basic social studies classes) taught us that to criticize the president or our military men is not impugning the flag or country, just as critically discerning weak aspects of McCain’s experience does not discount or impugn his bravery and the merit he displayed; and that it isn’t a means to impugn the flag, the military, our war dead, etc., etc.

We need more knowledgeable, brave and critical eyes all around us – in the press, the public and the military. If we had them in 2002 and 2003, the military might not have gone along with attacking Saddam and Iraq for Bin Laden’s evil deeds…for more about the need for military competence instead of “general” malfeasance, see my blog at http://www.wrathofmcgrath.com

As I noted yesterday the Republican Right are going to distort, spin and misrepresent anything Democrats or progressives say about McCain's national security cred as "demeaning his service" or "attacking veterans" --regardless of the words they use.

Even if Democrats said nothing, Republicans would fabricate more Swift Boat-style smears from whole cloth.

The best and only strategy is to go on offense.

Respected military heroes like Gen. Clark, Sen. Webb, Sen. Inouye, Rep. Sestak, Bob Kerry, etc. need to maintain a steady, highly visible critique of McCain without ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever backing down.

Remember: part of the reason The Right is whining so loudly is they fear scrutiny of McCain by combat veterans and military leaders with far superior records of service. If the scrutiny from this particular group continues, voters will infer that McCain is not the most qualified candidate on national security.

All Dems and their surrogates should start pushing this line:

"Well, I think we're starting to see the famous McCain temper here. He's really getting heated up."

The narrative either becomes "McCain is a hothead" or he has to back down and quit being so vitriolic. Either way, we win.

McCain is so screwed. For the next several months he is going to be on the receiving end of everything dems and some reps can dish out. He is the public face of the republican party so he is in the crosshairs to take the heat for all the crap that Bush has done. He has to have figured this out before now. Or if not, then he doesn't belong in the oval office anyway. Not to mention an additional helping of crap for the general dismal performance of the congress.

I was just thinking of the toll this will take on him. I hope he survives. I mean that he actually lives through it in terms of his health. It is going to be brutal. Common sense tells us that any normal person would look at what lies ahead, with no chance of winning and just walk away.

Kilroy was here.

I wonder if this is the reason that the McCain campaign and its media surrogates are turning Clark's completely reasonable comments into some kind of an attack. Perhaps by creating the perception that McCain's record is unassailable and not open to review or judgement, they hope that the kinds of questions raised at your link won't be asked. Personally, I have always had profound respect and admiration for John McCain's courage and conduct as a POW. But his abandonment of his principles in order to gain the nomination and the office of the Presidency make him completely unacceptable for the office.

Phooey! My comment was supposed to be a response to Dave Bowman's clip that raises questions about McCain and the Forrestal tragedy. Sorry.

Well,...I don't hear the McCain camp arguing any of Clark's points that McCain exactly has not made wartime decisions. That video was a great display of journalist fanaticism,....the only thing that is disparaging is the quality of journalism that is happening in the US,....these people on TV are like little kids on the playground fighting for their turn to show off their ego. When will the journal opinion tools ever be held accountable for all the BS they invent?

If you think flying a fighter makes someone good Presidential material, remember that Randy Cunningham was a Top Gun Ace.

In every report they should say "attack John McCain's sealed Military record" rather then "Military Record". Do we know if Wes Clark would have the clearance and has ever viewed McCain's full military records? ANYONE WHO HAS NOT READ HIS MCCAIN'S MILITARY RECORD is totally unqualified to factually comment on it. This is absolutely absurd.

We live in some crazy right-wing Soviet Union where we have no right to view McCain's military service record and evaluations, but have to take his word that it is a qualification. Put your _____ on the block and release your military records McCain.

It is obvious there is some sort of coordinated effort here. The same weekend of the Clark interview, Huff Post, Americablog, and Politico all ran similar attacks, as did MoveOn.org, and coincedentally the next day Obama has a big speech prepared on the subject that he admits was written BEFORE the Sunday talk show. Obama's camp is trying desperatelt to take military service off the table because he has none. (Or any experience of any kind that would lead any sane person to think he is qualified)

You have no idea how much I'm looking forward to that meltdown. I hope it happens on national TV, at a debate with Obama, hopefully. Can you imagine the headlines? Actually the headlines the next day in most MSM would probably be pretty mild. "McCain gets peeved." "Obama overreacts." The MSM give McCain pretty much of a walk. But I can imagine viewers looking askance at each other and saying, "WTF?"

I think that, given that McCain is whining about his military record being "denigrated", he should be called upon to have those records unsealed and released. Unless, of course ther's something in them he doesn't want the public to know about.

I think that Democrats everywhere need to sieze this opportunity to show their toughness and strip off the Republican's facade on national security just because the GOP claims to support the military (read: defense contractors). I used to respect McCain for his independence from the party line, but his lust for the White House has turned him into a pandering parrot of GOP talking points. It's nauseating.

If McCain doesn't want people to "criticize" his record, he should open it up to scrutiny.

At the risk of being too reductive, Lovelynina, in a word what happened to the media is "corporatism". The Fourth Estate was subsumed by deregulation in terms of monopolies and the abandonment of the so called "Fairness Doctrine", which allowed the formation of blatant propaganda networks, but the general attrition of traditional journalistic skills can be laid at the feet of corporate ownership. When a network is under an umbrella that is military/industrial, promoting war is big on the agenda.