General Wesley Clark has received a lot of flack today for what he said about John McCain’s military experience yesterday during an interview with Bob Schieffer. Andrew Sullivan is disgusted, as is Barack Obama, who made a point about it during his patriotism speech today. Yet, what’s really bad about what Clark said is not what he said, but how he said it.
It’s got to be heartbreaking for President Bush and John McCain to be on the wrong side of the GI Bill debate. Interestingly, their position exemplifies what Democrats have failed to recognize in the nearly 2 years since taking over Congress: responsibility brings with it the requirement to do unpleasant things. Mark Kleiman says that McCain’s position and his annoyance at Barack Obama’s posturing make him look like a grumpy, less-than-presidential old man. Not true. Grammar aside, McCain’s statement about Senator Webb’s bill was right on the money.
Recently recovered e-mails have given many people - especially Democrats - the impression that the chief mental health official of the Veterans Affairs Department, Dr. Ira Katz, tried to ‘conceal the number of suicides by veterans. An e-mail message from Katz disclosed this week as part of a lawsuit that went to trial in San Francisco starts with “Shh!” and claims 12,000 veterans a year attempt suicide while under department treatment.’ (more…)
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