MSM Loves Them Some McCain

On Hardball the other day (which I’m watching only very little until Chris Mathews gets back since I simply cannot tolerate this Barnicle guy) Andrea Mitchell and Politico's Roger Simon were discussing McCain’s recent campaign ads. Last week Mitchell was one of the few traditional journalists who were critical of the blatant dishonesty contained in those ads, critical of John McCain for condoning them. This week, not so much.

Thanks to George Zornick on Media Matters' Altercation by Eric Alterman,

ANDREA MITCHELL: By the way, I have maybe a counterintuitive view that John McCain also doesn't like this kind of politics, went along with his new, tougher political advisers.
...
ROGER SIMON: For a guy who's supposed to have such a famous temper, McCain really doesn't like attacking. I think Andrea is exactly right about that. Which is why I think he is often uncomfortable with his own campaign.

Uncomfortable with his own campaign? Who the hell is in charge of his campaign? Isn’t it supposed to be him?

This is the same John McCain who has numerous times exploded into rages on the floor of the Senate, cursing out opponents with bad language that included scatological and crude sexual references in a screaming fit. But he’s uncomfortable with campaign attack ads. And the personal attacks that he is making in live interviews, followed by the infamous deaths-head grin, are somehow the result of him, what, being tortured into compliance by his staff?

Mitchell is the same person who said of Hillary Clinton that if she couldn’t manage her own campaign she would be a poor choice for president, now she’s saying that McCain is a good choice because he’s a clean cut and decent man who is uncomfortable with the dirty tactics that his campaign is using and is being misled by them into letting them do it anyway.

Zornick ends with, and I suggest you read the whole thing,

Even Andrea Mitchell -- who earned justified applause for being one of the few MSM types to call out McCain's troop-visit ad as plainly false -- turns around and says without any evidence whatsoever that McCain could have been "misled" about the false claims his own ads were making -- and that, trust me, he'd be really, really offended if that's true.

I would point out that at the end of both of the campaign ads in question is the following quote, a statement that places the responsibility squarely on one single pair of shoulders,

“My name is John McCain and I approve this message.”

And another fine line,
In the next item of the same post is a reference to a TomDispatch article. This is another must read, and an excerpt to invoke your interest,

“We see a vast machinery built for our protection reengineered into a device for our exploitation. We behold the majestic workings of the free market itself, boring ever deeper into the tissues of the state. Ultimately, we gaze upon one of the true marvels of history: democracy buried beneath an avalanche of money."

You really should go to TomDispatch and read the whole thing.