TRANSCRIPT: David Corn did a nice job of defending Gen. Clark on CNN on July 6!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on July 7, 2008 - 12:45pm.
Rapid Response
Hello Everyone:
As much as I have respected Howard Kurtz in the past, I definitely think that he totally dropped the ball yesterday on his show CNN Reliable Sources when it came to his comments about Gen. Clark!
In my opinion, Kurtz was unfortunately drinking from the unjustified anti-Clark media Kool-Aid when he opened up his program by saying "McCain gets strafed by Wes Clark over his Vietnam service" and when he said referring to Gen. Clark "I would have bet a sizeable sum of money that of all the possible attacks against John McCain, the Democrats would not have gone after his Vietnam War record, which, of course, includes his capture and torture in Hanoi. Well, I was wrong."
Right below is the relevant part of this CNN Reliable Sources transcript from Sunday, July 6 with these quotes from Howard Kurtz along with the entire panel dialogue about Gen. Clark.
Fortunately, panel guest David Corn gave this excellent response to Howard Kurtz and to the rest of the panel (Amy Holmes and Chris Cillizza) defending Gen. Clark, explaining why his comments were taken out of context, and putting his comments back in their proper context:
DAVID CORN, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, MOTHER JONES: "Well, it made national news because national media loves nothing better than a cat fight. And the McCain camp saw an opportunity to make it a cat fight. Over and over again this week, the headline was that Wesley Clark attacks John McCain's military record in Vietnam.
I've read this, I don't think it's an attack on his military record. In the same comments he said he was a hero to me. You don't call someone a hero if you're attacking them. But he was making the argument, whether true or not, and this is what we can evaluate, whether his military service and what happened to him as a POW has any bearing on whether he should be president or not. Now people can argue that point, but it wasn't a criticism of what he did in Vietnam the way the Swift Boat people criticized and actually called Kerry a fraud for what he did. So I think the media has actually misportrayed this in a pretty fundamental way."
Chris Cillizza instead of dealing with the accuracy and legitimacy of David Corn's comments about Gen. Clark gave what I consider to be an irrelevant analysis that had absolutely nothing to do with the merits of Corn's argument which Howard Kurtz also seemed to go along with:
CHRIS CILLIZZA, "THE WASHINGTON POST": "Look, this -- any media story is like a fire, in my opinion. You give it more oxygen, the fire grows. What Obama's campaign would have liked Wesley Clark to do is go on a nice, long July 4th vacation.
KURTZ: Right.
CILLIZZA: And he kept going out there.
KURTZ: Exactly.
CILLIZZA: He kept going back through it. He kept re-litigating it. Now that gives oxygen..."
After this exchange, Howard Kurtz did not deal with or respond to David Corn's argument defending Gen. Clark which he should have done but rather he totally changed the subject by asking this question:
KURTZ: "All right. Let me turn the question to this: What is it about Vietnam -- we've been through this with Dan Quayle, with Bill Clinton, with George Bush in whether he went AWOL, with John Kerry and Swift Boat -- that seems to push the buttons of baby boomer journalists?"
Here are my two conclusions about this post:
1) David Corn's answer defending Gen. Clark from the baseless and unjustified attacks that he received last week is an excellent one which I highly recommend keeping on file to bring up in discussions with people who are drinking from the same anti-Clark media Kool-Aid which BOTH Republicans (such as John Kasich) and Democrats (such as Lanny Davis) are drinking from right now:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/15991
FOX NEWS VIDEO: John Kasich and Lanny Davis misrepresented & trashed Gen. Clark!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on July 3, 2008 - 12:23am.
2) No journalist is perfect no matter how good that they have been in the past and no matter how much respect that you may have for them. Any journalist can make a mistake just like how I definitely think that Howard Kurtz did yesterday which means that you have to always fact check everything that you hear no matter who it is coming from. No journalist regardless of who they may be are above being scrutinized and questioned for what they say!
For the record, I have been openly critical of Howard Kurtz in the past when I thought that he got it wrong for his suggesting that a Presidential primary candidate should poll at 5% or better in order to be able to get into the debates and when he opened up a Washington Post article he wrote by saying that "Hillary Clinton is inevitable" (this was before Gen. Clark endorsed Hillary back on September 15, 2007):
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/12178
Howard Kurtz suggests a Presidential candidate poll at 5% to get in the debates!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on May 22, 2007 - 3:57pm.
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/12876
HILLARY POLLS: Another Political Dynasty & "Most Visible Presidential Candidate"
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on August 2, 2007 - 3:49pm.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/06/19/BL2007061900465.html
The Hillary Conundrum
By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 19, 2007; 7:50 AM
"Hillary Clinton is inevitable..."
I have been very proud of Howard Kurtz in the past for being one of very few journalists who were doing their best to remain objective in their reporting and in trying to keep the media honest when it came to blatant anti-Hillary and pro-Obama media bias during the Democratic primary BUT I think that he totally got it wrong about Gen. Clark yesterday by drinking from the unjustified anti-Clark media Kool-Aid!
I was really glad that David Corn was on that panel to set the record straight about Gen. Clark when Howard Kurtz and the rest of his panel were obviously not getting it about the context of his comments!
Mitch Dworkin
http://www.securingamerica.com/
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/10756
StopIranWar.com: "War is not the answer"
Submitted by Wes Clark on February 21, 2007 - 11:40am.
http://www.securingamerica.com/ccn/node/7191
Listen to Gen. Wes Clark fight for Dems on Sean Hannity's radio program: An excellent example for all of us to follow and what we all need to be doing to help fight back against extreme right wing Neocon smear propaganda!
--------------------
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0807/06/rs.01.html
CNN RELIABLE SOURCES
Koppel in China; Bill Clinton and the Media; Election Tactics
Aired July 6, 2008 - 10:00 ET
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HOWARD KURTZ, HOST (voice over): "Waging war. McCain gets strafed by Wes Clark over his Vietnam service. Obama still battling rumors about his patriotism and his religion.
Are the media referees blowing the whistle on unfair tactics?
And a single phone call feeds the media's fixation with Bill Clinton...
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KURTZ: I would have bet a sizeable sum of money that of all the possible attacks against John McCain, the Democrats would not have gone after his Vietnam War record, which, of course, includes his capture and torture in Hanoi. Well, I was wrong.
And I was reasonably certain that by now the media would set the record straight on these scurrilous rumors that Barack Obama is a secret Muslim, or in the latest crazy iteration, a gay Muslim. But plenty of people are telling reporters they still believe it.
Which leads me to this question: Do journalists have the will and the ability to police unfair attacks and deep-six the garbage?
The latest round began this week when retired General Wes Clark appeared on "Face the Nation" and opened rhetorical fire on McCain's war record.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEN. WESLEY CLARK, U.S. ARMY (RET.): He hasn't been there and ordered the bombs to fall. He hasn't seen what it's like when diplomats come in and say, I don't know if whether we're going to be able to get this point through or not.
BOB SCHIEFFER, HOST, "FACE THE NATION": I have to say, Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down. I mean...
CLARK: Well, I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.
SCHIEFFER: Really?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ: That was all it took for the pundits to make yet another presidential campaign about a war that ended more than three decades ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: A respected military leader dissing, some might say swift-boating, John McCain's military record.
JUAN WILLIAMS, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: Of course they intended for Wesley Clark and these other folks to say -- and they intended for Barack Obama then to say, hey, I had nothing to do with it.
TARA WALL, "WASHINGTON TIMES": General Clark owes Senator McCain an apology. And for, at the very least, using poor choice of words.
KARL ROVE, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: That was an outrageous comment by General Clark, who knows better than this. Shame on him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ: So what is the media's role when these bullets start flying?
Joining us now, David Corn, Washington bureau chief for "Mother Jones" magazine; Chris Cillizza, who blogs at washingtonpost.com; and Amy Holmes, CNN political analyst and contributor.
So, Wes Clark shoots from the lip, he has actually said this before. And it dominates the news for days, even after Barack Obama disavows it. Why did this become such a big story?
CHRIS CILLIZZA, "THE WASHINGTON POST": You know, because I think the media, and to a certain extent, political operatives, are always fighting the last campaign. And in the last campaign the defining image was the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth ad, this idea that the reason John Kerry was nominated, that he had this strong military record, that he was not -- he was someone who could say, we need to change course in Iraq with credibility, was attacked at the core of that campaign, was shaken by these attacks.
So I think it reminds people, though I think people who say that it's the same thing are probably exaggerating quite a bit. But it reminds people of that storyline. And again, we're always re-litigating what happened in the last campaign.
KURTZ: Now, Wes Clark then proceeded to go on a bunch of other television shows, and to say that he wasn't back off of his comments, but it wasn't a big deal. Let's take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBIN ROBERTS, CO-HOST, "GOOD MORNING AMERICA": General Clark, do you feel like that you owe Senator McCain an apology?
CLARK: Well, Robin, I want to say first that Senator Obama had nothing to do with this.
Well, you know, I think if you had seen the whole question and the whole interview in context, I think there is no issue with this.
It's also a little bit about the nature of American politics today that a comment like this could be taken out of context the way it was and create such a hullabaloo.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KURTZ: Except that he keeps repeating it.
Is this a game, Amy Holmes, where the media seize on a surrogate's comment and pretend or act as if the campaign had orchestrated it?
AMY HOLMES, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, that's a really good question. And "The Washington Post" had an editorial, "The Silly Surrogate Season," saying why are we attacking these people? Because they are surrogates. And I think the press has a responsibility to get down to the matter, how much did Wesley Clark coordinate with the Obama campaign?
Is this a high road/low road strategy to attack John McCain? And Wesley Clark did say after that Sunday appearance -- and with all due respect, it made national news because it was on national television. This is Wesley Clark, you know, a very respected general...
KURTZ: Right.
HOLMES: ... telling, trying to use his credibility to attack John McCain. But the press has a responsibility to get down to how closely was Obama and Clark coordinating?
KURTZ: Sure, it made national news. But it went on to day three and four and five. And by the way, the Obama campaign did say to me, among others, that they certainly did not tell General Clark to say that.
DAVID CORN, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, MOTHER JONES: Well, it made national news because national media loves nothing better than a cat fight. And the McCain camp saw an opportunity to make it a cat fight. Over and over again this week, the headline was that Wesley Clark attacks John McCain's military record in Vietnam.
I've read this, I don't think it's an attack on his military record. In the same comments he said he was a hero to me. You don't call someone a hero if you're attacking them. But he was making the argument, whether true or not, and this is what we can evaluate, whether his military service and what happened to him as a POW has any bearing on whether he should be president or not. Now people can argue that point, but it wasn't a criticism of what he did in Vietnam the way the Swift Boat people criticized and actually called Kerry a fraud for what he did. So I think the media has actually misportrayed this in a pretty fundamental way.
CILLIZZA: I just -- I always feel like I should be the defender of the media here. And I will do so. I will play my role valiantly.
HOLMES: It's a lonely role.
CILLIZZA: Look, this -- any media story is like a fire, in my opinion. You give it more oxygen, the fire grows. What Obama's campaign would have liked Wesley Clark to do is go on a nice, long July 4th vacation.
KURTZ: Right.
CILLIZZA: And he kept going out there.
KURTZ: Exactly.
CILLIZZA: He kept going back through it. He kept re-litigating it. Now that gives oxygen...
KURTZ: All right. Let me turn the question to this: What is it about Vietnam -- we've been through this with Dan Quayle, with Bill Clinton, with George Bush in whether he went AWOL, with John Kerry and Swift Boat -- that seems to push the buttons of baby boomer journalists?
HOLMES: Because this is the baby boomer war. And this is a whole generation of people and politicians...
KURTZ: And it was 35 years ago..."
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0807/06/cnr.04.html
CNN NEWSROOM
A Storm Brewing in the Tropics; 62,000 Jobs Lost Last Month; Ralph Nader and Bob Barr for President; Bob Barr Could Be Third-Party Spoiler for McCain; Bush, McCain May Not Appear Together at GOP Convention; Katrina Relief Goods Never Reach the Victims
Aired July 6, 2008 - 22:00 ET
RICK SANCHEZ, CNN ANCHOR: "I got about 300 e-mails this week from angry Democrats who were saying that I should not have asked the question or made the suggestion last week that Wesley Clark was in any way swift boating John McCain. It was a question during a segment. But that blew up so much. Why did that become such a sensitive issue this week? Not just here but everywhere.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Well, because, look, perception is reality. Whether Wesley Clark really was out and impugning John McCain's service, you know, for being shot down, you know, his military service, and whether he had the military qualifications because he was a POW, to be a commander-in-chief, perception is reality. And Wesley Clark probably went a little bit too far in saying that, Rick.
You know, in the end, Wesley Clark even acknowledged that he really had taken the Obama campaign off message at least for a little while. But he won't back down from the statement.
And we even saw it today. John Kerry, who is a very close friend of John McCain, come out and say that John McCain does not have the judgment to be commander-in-chief. That's the same exact words we heard from Wesley Clark. I suspect we'll continue to hear it in the next four months.
SANCHEZ: That's interesting because the point you're making is, you can be right and still be off message, which politically can make you wrong. Think about that.
Mark Preston, "Preston on Politics." Thanks, man, for joining us. Appreciate it.
PRESTON: Thanks, Rick...
SANCHEZ: One last thing, something I've noticed the last couple of months. More and more people have been watching this Sunday night show and more and more people have been blogging about us as well. Some good, some not so good.
I created a huge firestorm last week when I suggested that some people may see Wesley Clark's comments as the swiftboating of John McCain. Angry Democrats had plenty to say, like this blog, quote, "CNN says Wesley Clark tried to swiftboat John McCain today." That story took off like wildfire...
There you have it. Taking heat from all sides. Listen, we appreciate your comments. Glad you're plugged in. Read your e-mails, your blogs, your letters. I've read every single one of them and will continue to do so. Thanks for being with us. I'm Rick Sanchez. Good night, everybody."
It is nice that Rick Sanchez says he reads all of the e mails that he gets.
Here is the CNN link where you can e mail Rick Sanchez with your comments and feedback:
http://edition.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form4.html?98
CONTACT US/CNN TV
Rick Sanchez
Here is the link where you can e mail other CNN anchors such as Howard Kurtz with your comments and feedback:
http://edition.cnn.com/feedback/cnntv/
CONTACT US/CNN TV
COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS ABOUT THE ANCHORS AND REPORTERS
My parents have subscribed to Mother Jones for decades... at least, I assume it's decades (somehow, looooong ago, my mom talked me into writing my AP history term paper on Mother Jones, and I'm guessing that she got the idea from the magazine).
Whether it's been around for decades or just many, many years, it's a good magazine. I'm very happy to see this! Thanks!!
Good for McGovern for defending Gen. Clark:
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/07/george_mcgovern.html
George McGovern Says McCain's War Experience Not a Qualification for the White House
Posted by smilligan July 8, 2008 08:28 PM
By Susan Milligan
Globe staff
WASHINGTON -- He was a fighter pilot in World War II, bombing targets in Europe to stop Hitler. But former Senator and 1972 Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern says that didn't qualify him to run the country -- and the same goes for GOP presumptive nominee John McCain.
``I don't have any regrets about that,'' the antiwar Democratic stalwart said in a brief interview yesterday on Capitol Hill. ``While bombing is a terrible thing, we smashed Hitler's oil refineries all over Europe.''
``But I don't recall ever saying that experience as a bomber pilot equipped me to be very strong on how to run a war, how to command the armed forces,'' said McGovern, who will turn 86 on July 18.
Retired General Wesley Clark, a onetime candidate for president himself, raised ire when he said recently that McCain's experience in Vietnam -- while laudable -- did not qualify him to be commander-in-chief. While noting that he honored McCain's service -- including his years as a prisoner-of-war -- Clark said late last month that McCain has not held ``executive responsibility,'' and added, ``I don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.''
The remarks on CBS's ``Face the Nation'' were immediately derided by McCain's supporters. But McGovern said Clark had it right.
``I think General Clark was misunderstood,'' McGovern said Tuesday evening as he visited the House chamber where he once served. ``He wasn't belittling [McCain] at all.''
McGovern, who remains a fervent anti-hunger activist, was in town to present an award to Representative Jim McGovern [no relation to the former senator] for the Worcester Democrat's own contributions to fighting hunger. The younger McGovern last year lived a week on $3 worth of food a day -- approximately the amount allowed to individuals receiving food stamps -- to underscore the struggle hungry Americans face daily.
Former South Dakota Senator McGovern -- forced to drop his first vice presidential choice, former Missouri Senator Thomas Eagleton, from the 1972 ticket after it was disclosed that Eagleton had received shock treatment therapy -- said his advice to Democratic presumptive nominee Barack Obama is to ``first, do no harm'' when selecting a running-mate.
``Don't pick someone that can hurt you,'' McGovern said, adding that the current trend toward excruciating background checks of vice presidential hopefuls is a good move.
Before then [when Eagleton was picked], there wasn't much of any vetting going on,'' McGovern recalled. Former Alabama Senator John Sparkman, the 1952 Democratic vice presidential nominee, was asked just one question before he was invited to join the ticket with Adlai Stevenson, McGovern said. ``He was just asked, `will you take it?' '' McGovern said. ``That's the way it was then.''
Perhaps the best comment on the sorry state of the media and political discourse in particular is the answer of Mark Preston, the CNN Political Editor, in response to Rick Sanchez' question about the flak caused by the Wes Clark interview. "Well, because, look, perception is reality. Whether Wesley Clark really was out and impugning John McCain's service, you know, for being shot down, you know, his military service, and whether he had the military qualifications because he was a POW, to be a commander-in-chief, perception is reality. And Wesley Clark probably went a little bit too far in saying that."
Several things to note. Only a political editor, a politician, or a right-wink hack could possible interpret Wes Clark's interview as "impugning John McCain's service." For Clark to say that military service, particularly at the tactical level, is not a qualification for president is a truism. Why Preston, Sanchez, and others have to wonder what Clark really meant speaks volumes about what a truthteller has to face when being interviewed on national television. Finally, Preston is clear that truth is irrelevant, but instead perception is the reality we all must live with in the political world. However the media, the pundits, and the Republicans want to spin a patently true statement is all that matters.
Behind all this nonsense is the fact that John McCain has, through the years, been able to convince the public, the media, and the politicians that he cannot be questioned. The Democrats, unfortunately, have fallen in line.
short list and she wrongly accused him of "criticizing McCain's service" on Tuesday, July 8:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0807/08/sitroom.03.html
THE SITUATION ROOM
Obama, McCain Reach Out to Latino Voters; Obamas Go Hollywood; Outrage Over Lavish G8 Meals
Aired July 8, 2008 - 18:00 ET
SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: "Wolf Blitzer's off today. I'm Suzanne Malveaux. And you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.
Right now, let's check in on the great vice presidential search. Both Barack Obama and John McCain working behind the scenes on their short lists. And there is new evidence that Obama's list may be getting even shorter.
CNN's Jessica Yellin is here.
And some Democrats are saying, no thanks.
JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Suzanne.
Virginia Senator Jim Webb, a betting pool favorite to be on Obama's short list, took himself out of the running. He says he's staying in the Senate. Add to that swing state Governor Ted Strickland of Ohio, who declared he doesn't want it, and General Wes Clark, who may have ended his chances by criticizing McCain's service. Well, the list of possible V.P.s seems to be narrowing..."
I am really sick and tired of these kind of biased so-called media pundits and journalists who have unfairly trashed Gen. Clark in the past and who wrongly keep on trashing him right now like how Jessica Yellin and people like her in the media have done:
http://securingamerica.com/ccn/node/15872
The biased media that did a hit job on Hillary also did a hit job on Gen. Clark!
Submitted by Mitch Dworkin on June 24, 2008 - 2:38am.
Gen. Clark of "questioning McCain's military service" which he definitely did NOT do:
BASH: "Now, surrogate slipups have plagued both campaigns. Obama recently rebuked retired General Wesley Clark, his supporter, for questioning McCain's military service..."
Here is the entire context of what CNN reporter Dana Bash said yesterday when she wrongly compared Gen. Clark to Phil Gramm:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0807/10/sitroom.01.html
THE SITUATION ROOM
'A Nation of Whiners': McCain Adviser on 'Mental Recession'; Obama's Problem With Women; What Voters Want in a VP candidate
Aired July 10, 2008 - 16:00 ET
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: First this hour, an embarrassing distraction for John McCain as he tries to convince voters he has their economic interests at heart. His top economic adviser and very close friend, former U.S. Senator Phil Gramm of Texas, veered off course big-time today. Among other things, Gramm suggested that recession isn't reality right now, it's a mental condition.
Let's go right to CNN's Dana Bash. She's covering the McCain campaign for us.
Dana, how is the campaign handling all of this?
DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, when McCain was asked today whether Phil Gramm, a long-time friend and adviser, would have a place in his administration, he responded, tongue firmly in cheek, that he would consider him for ambassador to Belarus if people the people of Minsk would have him. But jokes aside, McCain advisers knew immediately Gramm did not help their new effort at message control.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BASH (voice over): In hard-hit Michigan, this is the McCain mantra on the economy...
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: People are hurting. People are hurting very badly.
BASH: A carefully-measured message that's part "feel your pain," part realist, but all optimist.
MCCAIN: But they need to have trust and hope and confidence in the future.
BASH: Given that, quotes in "The Washington Times" from Phil Gramm, one of John McCain's top economic advisers, were a big oops.
"We've become a nation of whiners. You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness." Gramm also said, "You've heard of mental depression. This is mental recession."
McCain couldn't distance himself fast enough from his friend.
MCCAIN: Phil Gramm does not speak for me. I speak for me. So I strongly disagree.
BASH: He struggled to steer his economic message back on course.
MCCAIN: I don't agree with Senator Gramm. I believe that the person here in Michigan that just lost his job isn't suffering from a mental recession. I believe the mother here in Michigan and around America who's trying to get enough money to educate their children isn't whining.
BASH: Democrats had already pounced.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It's not just a figment of your imagination.
BASH: Minutes earlier, Barack Obama shoved a dig about Phil Gramm's comments into his speech.
OBAMA: ... that America already has one Dr. Phil. We don't need another one when it comes to the economy.
BASH: Now, surrogate slipups have plagued both campaigns. Obama recently rebuked retired General Wesley Clark, his supporter, for questioning McCain's military service.
PHIL GRAMM (R), FMR. U.S. SENATOR: And John McCain has character.
BASH: The problem for McCain is that he relies on Gramm, a Ph.D. in economics, for policy advice, and as a character witness for voters worried that McCain doesn't get the economy.
MCCAIN: And the reason why I have the support of people like Jack Kemp and Phil Gramm is because of their confidence in my proven record of handling the economy.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: Dana, I know you had a chance to speak with Senator Gramm today. What did he say about this flare-up?
BASH: That's right. I did speak to the former senator by phone this afternoon. He actually called me before he got on a plane saying he wanted to clarify his comments.
First, Wolf, he told me he didn't mean to say Americans were whining about the economy, but rather many of the country's leaders are. Here's what he told me.
He told me, "The whiners are the leaders. Hell, the American people are victims. But it didn't quite come out that way in the story."
Now, Gramm, when I spoke to him, though, Wolf, he did stand by his comments about a mental recession. Here's what he told me about that. He said, "We keep getting the steady drum beat of bad news. It's become a mental recession. We don't have measured negative growth. That's a fact, that's not a commentary."
Now, Gramm also insisted he was speaking for himself only, not on behalf of John McCain or his campaign, and he called the hoopla around his remarks part of the game where he says people are taken out of context -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Dana's watching this story for us. We'll have more coming up.
Dana, thanks...
weekend when he made these comments on his show THIS WEEK IN POLITICS in the transcript below.
I wish that there would have been a David Corn on this panel to defend Gen. Clark from this baseless accusation:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0807/06/twip.01.html
THIS WEEK IN POLITICS
Patriot Games: Campaign Trail Dust; Changes in Attitude: Aiming for the Middle of the Road; 'Bipartisan Bashing': Politicians at Their Worst; The Age Divide: Will Young Voters Decide 2008?
Aired July 6, 2008 - 14:00 ET
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM FOREMAN, HOST (voice over): "On this Fourth of July weekend, the fireworks started early over a Web site that compared Barack Obama to Adolf Hitler, over comments putting down John McCain's war record (he was referring to Gen. Clark when he said this), and over who is more patriotic. Is this anything to argue about with the economy crackling and burning like the grand finale to the American dream?...
(END VIDEOTAPE)...
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (voice over): Fireworks were lighting up the nation's capital and the campaign trail.
SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R-AZ), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I'm proud of my record of service.
FOREMAN: John McCain's time as a prisoner of war in Vietnam is a key point in his bid to become commander in chief, but retired General Wesley Clark, a Barack Obama supporter and also a Vietnam vet, lit the after-burners with this comment...
GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), OBAMA SUPPORTER: Well, don't think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.
FOREMAN: McCain supporters called it an attack on his patriotism, and he fired back.
MCCAIN: The important thing is, if that's the kind of campaign that Senator Obama and his surrogates and his supporters want to gage, I understand that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: John Kerry cannot be trusted.
FOREMAN: Many Democrats are still seething over those Swift Boat ads that torpedoed John Kerry's campaign, so Obama quickly said this is nothing like that.
SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D-IL), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Senator McCain deserves the most -- the utmost honor and respect for his service to our country.
FOREMAN: And by week's end, General Clark was saying he never meant to insult the senator's military record.
CLARK: I have never said anything dissing that.
FOREMAN: Obama himself had been criticized for months, often in unsigned Internet e-mails, taking heat over his patriotism over flag pins, over comments by his wife. So in Harry Truman's hometown, Independence, Missouri, he hit back.
OBAMA: I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign. And I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine.
FOREMAN: But as the politicians keep the patriotic pot boiling, the economic bad news keeps bubbling over, with gas prices still soaring, families cutting back summer vacation plans, mortgages still teetering and no sign that either candidate has yet convinced the public he can put out the fire.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN: Joining us to discuss a week where politics took no holiday are Karen Tumulty, national political correspondent for "TIME" magazine, and CNN Congressional Correspondent Jessica Yellin..."