OK, what I really don't understand is how a slip of this significance does not get traction in the media. As far as I'm concerned, this one is really big. It ought to be the headline on every newspaper and lead story on every TV news segment.
Or maybe I do understand.
A statement that is brutally honest about the economy and voting patterns of rural Americans gets to be called "bitter-gate". The statement was not a "slip of the tongue". It was the same position Obama has always held, just badly phrased.
In contrast, on the 2nd of May, McCain's gaffe of the day probably "slipped" off of his tongue. Freud indicated over a hundred years ago that such slips reveal what the unconscious attempts to hide from the world.
So what does McCain get as a result? Not even a slap on the wrist, and possibly less than a few minutes of coverage mostly on cable news channels.
So what did the ex-military, supporter extraordinaire of the Haliburton war, defender of the the GWB-Cheney train-wreck, and Republican nominee for the 3rd Bush term say that qualifies for all the brouhaha that it hasn't received yet?
"My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East"
Say what?
The guy is actually repeating out loud the taboo that no politician with ties to the administration has ever uttered and all have vehemently denied when insinuated by opponents. If anyone dared to utter the word "oil", they were relegated to insanity or the "vast left-wing media conspiracy".
We went to war because of our need for oil.
Hear it by yourself:
When I first saw this on youtube, it had a view count in the 4000's range, a full two days after the event, and after a very brief mention of it on CNN and, of course, Olbermann on Countdown:
Keith's piece was only viewed 768 times when I wrote this diary.
Notice that McCain later explained the comment away initially as referring to the liberation of Kuwait in 1991 (obviously related to oil, but under the guise of liberating an unfairly occupied country). However, he denied it later and just fudged the issue.
Rachel Maddow nailed it. The true "Mission Accomplished" moment was when the American Oil companies landed the deals to access Iraqi Oil, and the headline appeared in the business section. Dick Cheney must have choked while sipping his Champaign, courtesy of the Oil industry, when he heard McCain say this.
Sorry, if I seem furious. But I have been physically sick-to-my-stomach because of the cowardice displayed by the media on this.
This must be included in Obama's stump speeches. McCain said this in public while campaigning. If this is not fair game, I do not know what is. I think it could really be a game-changer.
A widely televised ad? Perhaps a Move-On web ad? Or Howard Dean taking a media tour to excoriate McCain on this?
Please, do not let this one slip into oblivion!
Peace.