Leahy's WaPo “Temper” Piece on John McCain

Where to begin? Hmmm, well first off Ol' Hugh is back to saying something intelligent every once and again . . . here's a quote...

“McCain ought to send a thank-you to Michael Leahy. There's nothing like a wave of agenda journalism attacks on the GOP nominee to rally conservatives to him.”

-Hugh Hewitt

I'll be darned . . .Hugh's right.

It is quite disheartening that the Washington Post, which is a supposed to be a respectable news organization, would print an article like Leahy's, being that it is nothing more than gossip, out-right lies and half-truths. One would expect this from the DailyKos, MoveOn or some other such horrid source, but from the Washington Post? This echoes the stupidity and amateurish journalistic garbage we saw over at the NYT not to long ago. Personally I find this one to be worse. A blatant smear attack from an agenda driven dolt and an equally ideological organization.


I find this especially disturbing because I happen to know John McCain. Now I certainly do not have my own chair with brass name-plate at the round table. It is not as if I've gone fishing with the man. However, I have spent time with John McCain. I have spent time with his family and friends. I have talked at length to the aforementioned on occasion. The respect and admiration that John McCain Garners from those around him is inspiring. Often we see stories about 'spending time with a candidate' etc etc and what the aura is like, what the candidate makes you feel. John McCain is one of the few politicians I have ever met that you get an equally inspiring feeling from spending time with his friends and family. You can not meet with, nor speak with John, his friends, his supporters nor his family without coming away with a sense of hope and duty for our great country. On the No Surrender Tour, McCain fondly referred to me as the 'sly fox' and the crazy-Irish man. (for those that know me or read my blog he is obviously quite perceptive, lol). I have been with the campaign in times of great struggle and times of glorious victory. I was there when the 'attack' on Patraeus happened and that horrible picture in the paper was printed. John was genuinely upset about that, as were most of us. I was swearing up a storm. I could barely keep composure when talking to media about it, John handled that with absolute honor and made many folks , even those that were not his supporters, realize just how low and horrid an attack it was. He did so without degrading, dishonoring or 'flipping out' on anyone. John McCain's 'temper' is the last thing I would worry about.

If anything, I wish he'd let his temper get the better of him a lil more often. But, that is what folks like me are for after-all...lol. McCain handles confrontation and those around him with great determination, honor and an ability to communicate directly and openly with them that reminds me of Ronald Reagan.

Michael Leahy's sorry lil' hit piece is full of exaggeration, half-truths and unsubstantiated manure. Again, the fact the WaPo printed it is quite moronic, but there is more. Not only was this printed . . .it was printed as though the Holy Word. Gospel! Subsequently taken for Gospel by the far left. So now when they are not on their prayer-rugs begging salvation from the great Obama they are singing this new hymn. It is sickening. Not only was it printed and treated in such a manner, it was done so in most underhanded ways. The campaign was not afforded the opportunity to provide an informed response nor disprove some of the asinine accusations. Which by the way they could have easily done in minutes.

Just read this quote from an Email Mark Salter sent regarding this smear piece. . .

"When he asked me about Karen Johnson, who says McCain tried to block her from getting a job, I asked for details: what job; who did he call, when did it happen, etc. He said he couldn't give them to me because he had promised his source he wouldn't share those kind of details with McCain in advance of publication. Source didn't ask for her identity to be protected and didn't put the details off the record.

They all appeared in the story. I explained to Leahy that this was a very unusual form of confidentiality, that an incident that was given to him on the record could not be shared with the subject of the story so that we could provide an informed response. There is only one reason that a source would act for that kind of selectively targeted and temporary confidentiality, to deny us the ability to disprove the story, which we could have done in ten minutes. It's like telling someone he's been accused of pedophilia, asking for a response, but declining to identify the incident in question. Mr. Leahy was unpersuaded.

In sum, this is one of the more shoddy examples of journalism I've ever encountered. But for the infamous NYT story, I'd say it was the worst smear job on McCain I'd ever seen."

As usual Mark is right on target.

We expect 'attacks' during a campaign. Hell we even expect underhanded childish attacks. We expect to be challenged on the issues, on character on practically everything you can think of. We expect emotions to run high, we expect personal views to sometimes come to the fore-front no matter our profession. We , though by now we should, do not expect people to be so beholden to a liberal agenda and their candidate they have raised to deity status that they will out-right lie, deny their accusers any form of defense or rebuttal and take advantage of their positions and organizations known for reporting the 'news' to further their Godless causes.

Democratic leaders and some sorely misguided Liberals have a serious problem understanding the terrorist threat that faces us here and abroad. We have all watched a Democratic party that impugns and dishonors the integrity of men like Senator McCain and General Petraeus.
Democrats have been sending increasingly disturbing signals of weakness, doubt, division and fear. Their tactics are deplorable and their only aim is power for themselves not protection for the American People. Our country is at War in mores ways then one. The Democrats and other fanatics are attempting a hostile take-over of our very way of life. They force feed us their propaganda , their defeatist ideals and their policies, and then tell us it is what all Americans want. They print it in our papers as Gospel. Televise it as honest news reporting. It is a disgrace.

Americans are looking for real Leadership, not just partisan victories that will leave the nation
polarized, unprotected and still in a war that our soldiers are not allowed to win or leave. Not phony leaders built upon sound-bites and slogans passed around through their biased media friends, looney websites and blogospheres. I believe there can be no 'maybe' in our collective voice to defend our country and our allies. We don't have time for a Presidency that is beholden to a group of elite fanatics which is fought for and won on hate and smear tactics.

We can Not afford to wait until 2012 to try and get it right again. These are dangerous difficult times. This is quite possibly the most important battle for the Office of President we have seen in our lifetimes. There is very clearly only one man in this battle tested, proved and suited to be victorious. The current administrations inability to function properly throughout this
engagement in Iraq, has sprung the citizens' doubts about its legitimacy. There is only one man in this battle that has from the start and to this day unwaveringly stated quite clearly both his criticism and the course of action needed for victory. Here we stand years later realizing this man was right all along.

History teaches us many things. Hindsight is always 20/20. In the summer of 1954 a young man began his first year at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. In March of 1973 - That same young man and nearly 600 fellow POWs were released from the horrors of the Hanoi Hilton in Vietnam, ending the longest wartime incarceration in U.S. history. In September of 2005 The Eisenhower Institute awarded that same man the Eisenhower Leadership Prize;
recognizing an individual whose lifetime accomplishments perfectly reflected Dwight D. Eisenhower's legacy of integrity and leadership! That man is our first and best line of defense in these battles our nation faces. Once again that man is touring around this country to rally public support before entering in yet another battle on our behalf . . . That man is Senator John McCain

I was wondering if you all could post on this and even e-mail the reporter to explain how weak this story was and how it is clearly and agenda-driven hit piece. His e-mail is: mleahy@washpost.com

Slainte'

Mad


Take a moment and read what others are saying about this non-sense. . .

RED STATE: Is there really a story here, much less a front page story? And if not, what does it tell us about the Washington Post? … Friends, that's what we have. Another navel gazing story by a media that loves Barack Obama. http://www.redstate.com/stories/archived/wapo_a_question_of_newsiness

HUGH HEWITT: Perhaps the ongoing meltdown in the Democratic Party has demoralized the partisans inside the Post, or perhaps it is a just a very slow news cycle for reporters assigned to cover John McCain. … But Michael Leahy's page 1 "McCain: A Question of Temperament" is going to be an exhibit in the museum of media bias and agenda journalism for a long time. http://hughhewitt.townhall.com/blog/g/031cb841-bd33-481d-8320-396887533412

MATT LEWIS: [T]his story -- about John McCain's temper -- ran on the front page of today's Washington Post. … The WaPost ran Senator Obama’s "bitter" remarks on page A4 -- and that was actually relevant news.) http://www.townhall.com/blog/g/e9610aa6-e7f0-4b9b-8a51-e7ccd08f0708

NRO’S THE CORNER: McCain aide Mark Salter wrote in, and I thought his account provided ample reasons for doubting the Washington Post's story. http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OWFmYTNmYTQ5OTcyY2QyN2ZmZDg1YzNlZWU3ODk3MjI=

NEWSBUSTERS: While Democrats often complain that Travel Office firings or cattle-futures bonanzas or old church sermons or old illegal drug use aren't relevant issues to a presidential campaign, The Washington Post splashed across its Sunday front page today a 1992 squabble on Vietnam policy between Sen. John McCain and Sen. Charles Grassley to illustrate how some feel McCain's "volcanic temper" is "disqualifying" for the presidency … The issue particularly persists for media outlets that don't want the ongoing Democratic primary fight to hurt Democrats too much. http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2008/04/20/digging-mccain-1992-shouting-shoving-no-punches

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