Because MSNBC is the old news organization with any journalistic integrity, and that isn't totally in McCain's pocket? Granted even MSNBC sucks sometimes, after all they still have Joe Scarborough, but during this election they've consistently done a MUCH better job of reporting facts than any other outfit.

Clearly, a career politician....

http://www.eucom.mil/english/CommandStaff/gration.htm

Where does the Pentagon draw the line?

Andrea Mitchell? You've got to be kidding me!!!

Mornin Joe should of have her on at the top of the hour at 6am. He sent almost 2 hours going on and on about Obama and the troops knowing FULL well Andrea Mitchell had the scoop.

Andrea Mitchell corrects the record! That is news all by itself. I am impressed. Way to go Andrea!!!

TPM, don't praise MSNBC.

They may shuffle corrections off into the dark corners of their site, but they still let Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan repeat these falsehoods all morning. And currently, Contessa 'North Carolineta' Brewer is playing the ad on loop and wondering if it 'might hurt Obama.'

Why isn't the Obama campaign and surrogates out there pushing the message that McCain lied? If there's one thing that seems to be the case, it's that the Media won't generally report anything unless there's some campaign operatives pushing the story.

It's pretty pathetic, but Obama's campaign needs to push back themselves. They can't expect the press to do it for them.

Are they doing this? I'm not going to sit around watching Cable news to find out. That's what you guys are for!

The reason that the wing nuts are claiming a "liberal bias" is because, as Stephen Colbert drolly pointed out, "reality has a decidedly liberal bias".

The facts on the ground are more and more aligning themselves with Obama's policies. It's amazing to watch.

McCain's campaign is shrinking by the week. At this rate, Obama's biggest challenger in the fall will be Bob Barr.

on msnbc just now richard wolff called the ad false ... what the hell going on are these people and news channel are being unbiased and reporting the news correctly wow..... i stll need a ko special comment

"This is rather relevant info, to put it mildly, and it's unclear why it's missing from most of the other reporting about this ad."

Is really that unclear? Of course not.

I've been watching the Scar go after Obama all morning on this non issue and playing and re-playing the McCain ad as well as his comments in the Stephanopolous interview ("There would have been a 'seismic' reaction if someone told me I couldn't visit troops" -- paraphrasing). No one on the show corrected any of the falsehoods mentioned here, and no one -- no even the Obama spokesman (Gibbs) -- pointed out that McCain himself deferred repeatedly to military rules about campaining on military bases. I wish someone would point out this hypocrisy. It's striking, and is really bigger news than Obama not making the visit in the first place.

Hold on to your hats. They may be correcting this story now, but if Obama starts to open up a lead again, they'll loosen up their journalistic integrity and start letting more BS slip through.

It is all about keeping the race close so they will keep their ratings up.

Capitalistic journalism at its best.

Couldn't someone just point out that it is likely a violation of privacy laws (for hospitals) to allow the public, including reporters and photographers to wander around a hospital?

The McCain ad is slick: there is no photographic evidence of McCain doing this, and none of Obama, it has nothing to do with politics or using veterans, it is purely a privacy issue.

This is why campaign staff should be barred as well, they are not government employees. Most likely Obama himself could not enter a private hospital without permission from those he wanted to visit.

At least MSNBC shows that it's still possible to think outside of the Fox.

Good on Andrea Mitchell, and good on TPM for catching it. A lot is riding on finding and telling the truth this time around.

She was so nasty to him because she wasn't asking all the questions, someone even said she should get over herself, cause it wasn't about HER.

Maybe they got complaints, lots of complaints?

I would like to see the Obama campaign ask the "journalists" if they have investigated McCain's claims. Did you ask any one other than our campaign any of these questions? Did Barack Obama visit the troops without photographers during his trip? Did the Pentagon wait until the 11th hour to tell the Obama campaign that they were not permitted to visit the troops without staff? Did the Obama campaign ask permission to bring press photographers along?
The press has abdicated its responsibility as a factfinder by simply asking for a response from the opposing camp. It would rather publish a blatant lie and ask for a denial than to do the job they were once famous for performing. A denial from the victim has less power to persuade then one that emanates from a supposedly neutral source.
The Republican Party, with the assistance of Fox news, has done an excellent job of "working the refs" that the MSM is afraid to call a lie a lie. Maybe our only recourse is to ask questions of the journalists about whether or not they actually did their job.

I admit that I get nervous about these attacks, too, because they're unfair, the press is lazy, and I don't want Swiftboat '08. BUT -- the rest of the country doesn't want it, either. These ads make McCain look small, and since he's running on his reputation, that's good for Obama.

I wish the press would fact check this bullshit, though. It's okay to tell the audience that McCain is a liar. That's not bias. That's doing your job.

The Simpsons season 18 "Treehouse of Horrors" had a segement on Kang and Kodos invading Earth and claiming they would be "treated as liberators", weapons of mass disintegration etc. Probably one of the most overtly political Simpsons episodes ever.

http://www.lardlad.com/assets/episodes/season18.shtml

Yeah, McCain should act his age not his IQ.