The McCain campaign apparently thinks you don't have a very long memory -- or much regard for the truth. It has just released what it's billing as a new ad attacking Obama on Iran -- even though the McCain camp already put out the same ad back in August, only to see it widely exposed as deeply dishonest.

Here's the "new" spot:

The narrator in this spot, which is timed to a now-denied report in Haaretz claiming that the French president doesn't like Obama's Iran policies, says: "Obama says Iran is a 'tiny' country. 'Doesn't pose a serious threat.' Terrorism? Destroying Israel? Those aren't serious threats?"

But as we and others noted in August when this new ad was released the last time, by juxtaposing a truncated Obama quote with the words "terrorism" and "destroying Israel," the ad badly distorts Obama's actual words, as well as his position on Iran in general.

The full Obama quote that this ad butchers was delivered by Obama on May 18, 2008, and you can read it right here. Obama said: "Iran, Cuba, Venezuela -- these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us."

So obviously, Obama didn't say that Iran doesn't pose any serious threat, as McCain's ad pretends. Rather, he clearly said that Iran doesn't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us.

What's more, Obama didn't simply say Iran was "tiny," as the ad suggests, in an effort to con you into believing that Obama sees Iran as no threat at all. Rather, he said it was tiny compared to the Soviet Union.

These serious distortions are also at odds with Obama's actual positions on Iran. Obama has repeatedly said Iran is a threat to Israel, and has also clearly said that Iran is a threat in the broader sense that its "support for terrorism" has "increased." You can read those real-world Obama quotes right here.

The new McCain ad released this morning attacking Obama on Iran rips Obama's words out of context so egregiously that it amounts to a distortion at best and an outright smear at worst.

The ad's narrator says: "Obama says Iran is a 'tiny' country. 'Doesn't pose a serious threat.' Terrorism? Destroying Israel? Those aren't serious threats?"

The quote where Obama supposedly said that Iran "doesn't pose a serious threat" was delivered by him on May 18, 2008, according to the date flashed by the ad itself.

But in juxtaposing that truncated quote with "terrorism" and "destroying Israel," the ad badly distorts what Obama actually said that day, and more broadly, also distorts Obama's position on Iran.

Here is the full May 18th Obama quote, as supplied by the McCain press release itself:

"Strong countries and strong Presidents talk to their adversaries. That's what Kennedy did with Khrushchev. That's what Reagan did with Gorbachev. That's what Nixon did with Mao. I mean think about it. Iran, Cuba, Venezuela -- these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying we're going to wipe you off the planet."

Very clearly, Obama didn't say that Iran doesn't pose any serious threat. Rather, he clearly said that Iran doesn't pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us.

What's more, Obama didn't simply say Iran was "tiny," as the ad suggests, in a clear effort to hoodwink viewers into thinking that Obama sees Iran as no threat at all. Rather, he said it was tiny compared to the Soviet Union.

These serious distortions are also at odds with Obama's actual positions on Iran. Obama has said that Iran is a threat to Israel.

For instance, on June 4, during a speech to AIPAC, Obama said: "There is no greater threat to Israel -- or to the peace and stability of the region -- than Iran."

Obama has also clearly said that Iran is a threat in the sense that it's liked to terrorism, despite the ad's suggestion that Obama doesn't see terror as a threat.

During his June 4th AIPAC speech, Obama said of Iran: "Its support for terrorism and threats toward Israel have increased."

Nothing like a bracing dose of lies to get your day off to a good start, huh?

This news broke late yesterday, but people seem to have missed the domestic political implications of this: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad plans to attend the United Nations General Assembly in September.

In case you didn't notice, that will come right in the thick of the presidential campaign. And in a sign of what's likely to come during his visit, the McCain campaign is already hitting Obama over it this morning.

In an interview with Iranian state television, Ahmadinejad said that he will speak at the U.N. meeting about "ruling the world based on justice," adding that "any American government should understand that they should stop bullying and try to have interaction with Iran."

Talk like this -- and his expected kind and conciliatory words about Israel (not) -- is likely to set off a furious skirmish between McCain and Obama over their differences on Iran, right when the presidential race is at its hottest.

Indeed, this morning, the McCain campaign is quickly moving to use the scheduled visit to disparage Obama's support for negotiating with hostile foreign leaders. McCain campaign Internet guru Patrick Hynes emails over this:

Perhaps he and Senator Obama can finally have that heart to heart.

Get ready for a lot more like this.

With the news today that Iran's Revolutionary Guards test-fired nine medium and long-range missiles, the campaign battle shifted today over to what to do about Iran. And just moments ago, the McCain campaign misleadingly attacked Obama for allegedly opposing the designation of the Guards as a terrorist organization.

On a conference call with reporters just now, McCain senior foreign policy adviser Kori Schake hit Obama, saying he "opposed calling them a terrorist organization." The basis for the charge? Obama's opposition to the Kyl-Lieberman amendment.

The McCain camp repeatedly labeled Obama as "consistently weak on Iran."

But Obama has in fact supported labeling the guards a terrorist org, and explicitly said at the time of the Kyl-Lieberman vote that he opposed it for other reasons.

Read more »

Wow. The Associated Press' fluffing of John McCain is getting almost cartoonish at this point.

Yesterday the AP actually ran a story about a poll the news org did of pet owners, finding that they favor McCain over the "petless" Obama. Now check out how the AP head and subhed read on their reporting today on McCain's "joke" about killing Iranians:

And here's AP's lede...

Cindy McCain's jab to her husband's back came a second too late Tuesday to keep him from making a wisecrack about the health impact of Iran's main import from the United States: cigarettes.

Right, the news here is that McCain and his wife bantered playfully -- and that McCain made a "wisecrack" about cigarettes.

Um, AP, the joke was about killing Iranians. Asked about increased exports to Iran, mainly from cigarettes, McCain said: "Maybe that's a way of killing them." The joking about killing was the news here.

Separately, it turns out that the AP's poll findings yesterday that pet-owners prefer Mccain are not only absurd, but thoroughly bogus, too. Pollster.com's Mark Blumenthal has the must-read take-down.

Worse and worse.

This story first broke last night, and the big media have yet to really pick up on it, but this really deserves more attention:

Sen. John McCain hasn't had good luck joking about Iran. But he tried it again Tuesday.

Responding to a question about a survey that shows increased exports to Iran, mainly from cigarettes, McCain said, "Maybe thats a way of killing them."

He quickly caught himself, saying "I meant that as a joke" as his wife, Cindy, poked him in the back.

That's not very presidential, now is it. It'll be interesting to see what kind of coverage and commentary this generates, if any.

Video soon.

Late Update: Vid...

John Edwards and Barack Obama are right out the gate with statements critical of the sanctions against Iran the State Department announced today — with Edwards using the announcement to go after Hillary, and her vote for the Kyl-Lieberman Amendment.

"Senator Clinton's actions undermine the American people's opposition to war with Iran," Edwards said in his statement. "Today's advancement of the Bush strategy on Iran shows how much we need strong opposition on this issue. I learned my lesson the hard way in 2002, but it appears that others still have some learning to do."

The rest of Edwards' statement and Obama's reaction after the jump.

Read more »