McCaffrey Muffs MSM Talking Points on Troop Withdrawal

Today Show/NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

by Mark Finkelstein

June 26, 2006

There could be an NBC intern out of work by lunch-time. Somebody failed to get the DNC/MSM talking points to Barry McCaffrey. A guest on this morning's Today show, the retired general obstinately refused to go along with the party line in reacting to the news that a drawdown of US troops in Iraq is in the works. Didn't Barry at least watch Carl Levin over the weekend? The Dem senator from Michigan had made it clear that this was all about election-year politics.

Co-host Campbell Brown picked up right where Levin left off.

Brown: "Based on your assessment of the situation on the ground, do you think this plan is realistic?"

McCaffrey: "Yeah, sure. . . Realistic assumptions will probably occur."

No-o-o-o-o! Brown took another tack: "Put realistic aside and tell me whether you think it's a good idea, though."

McCaffrey: "Yeah, sure."

You could almost hear Campbell thinking "What is this guy, stuck on stupid? Alright general, we're gonna give you one last shot, and I swear if you don't come through, your next appearance will be for the 75th D-Day anniversary in 2019."

Brown: "Is it fair to say -- and maybe you are saying that politics is not playing a role [but] our NBC News and Wall Street Journal poll shows 50 percent of Americans saying it's time for troops to come home. [How much is that] having an effect? Are they part of the decision making process?"

Finally, Barry threw Cambpell a bone "I don't think there is any question. I think the administration has twenty-four months to make it look like it's working, meaning the Iraqis are taking the lead."

But just when it looked as if Barry was finally getting on track, he backslid:

"Certainly policy is an extension of political policy. I just don't think the mid-term elections will dominate it. The larger factors are Iraqi security forces and the ability of the Army and the Marine Corps to sustain this effort.

McCaffrey did take a parting shot at Donald Rumsfeld.

Brown "How much of a role is the Secretary of Defense, Rumsfeld, playing in all of this? Is this driven by General Casey and the White House?"

McCaffrey: "Well, I think his views are probably increasingly irrelevant. This won't be a question decided by anybody but the Ambassador and Casey on the ground. . . I don't think the Pentagon is playing a major role anymore."

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Today Show/NewsBusters ping.

[TexKat]

bookmark

[syriacus]

Thanks, governsleastgovernsbest!!

[governsleastgovernsbest]

My pleasure. It really was funny to watch Campbell try different approaches to get Barry to give the 'correct' answer!

[Lee'sGhost]

The thing that has chapped me about the demands for withdrawal was the knowledge that at SOME point there come a logical and appropriate time to withdraw, even if gradually. With the dims constantly pounding the drum it was inevitable that, whenever the natural time for withdrawal came, the dims would then say that the president is ONLY responding to public demand. I kept wishing the Bush people would point this out BEFORE the inevitable happened.

[Loyal Buckeye]

McCaffrey: ...This won't be a question decided by anybody but the Ambassador and Casey on the ground. . . I don't think the Pentagon is playing a major role anymore."

If the Dems and MSM hold true to form, Casey is the next to go in the barrel; they will be calling for his head soon.

[rightazrain]

"No-o-o-o-o! Brown took another tack: "Put realistic aside . . . ."

LOL

Thanks again as always!

[gridlock]

Here you go, GLGB. A little reminder of happier days...

[Suzy Quzy]

Idiot Campbell Brown is married to Dan Senor....mayne HE'S the idiot.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

LOL. Katie might be gone, but we have

to look forward to, and by all accounts she's just as liberal as Couric!

[gaspar]

Look, McCaffrey is about as relevant as the usual retired general. And he sure-as-Hell will not be mistaken for Julius Caesar. His comment that the Pentagon no longer matters is breath-taking given the fact that the two people that Bush turns to for advice in his cabinet are Rumsfeld and Rice.

[YaYa123]

I don't know which is more fun to read...your reports when I watched TODAY, or when I missed it.

Today I'll suffer through MSNBC, in the hope they will (as usual), replay the TODAY Show segment you cover, just to watch McCaffrey throw in his prerequisite Rumsfeld insult. Oh that McCaffrey! I think he's Andy Rooney-in-training pants.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Thanks, YaYa! It truly gave me a chuckle to see Campbell twist and turn to get Barry to finally come through with the 'right' answer.

[OldFriend]

No surprise that it is the generals on the ground in Iraq and the newly formed government there who will decide on the time of withdrawal.

Rumsfeld is there to facilitate their requirements.

[freedom4me]

"My pleasure. It really was funny to watch Campbell try different approaches to get Barry to give the 'correct' answer!"

I can't understand why Dan Senor married Campbell. Sounds like another Carville/Matalin match.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Campbell has actually shown a number of encouraging signs in recent Today appearances. This was some serious MSM backsliding, though.

[demkicker]

Don't get me wrong because I enjoy reading your Today Show thread everyday, but if the FR responses are any indication of Today's overall relevance, their audience is probably giving a big collective yawn to their political and war news as well.

[governsleastgovernsbest]

No offense taken. Interestingly, according to a report I read, Today's audience doesn't seem to have diminished, post-Katie.

[demkicker]

Old habits die hard, and I'd be willing to bet that many of those who happen to have the Today Show on and blaring in their houses are not glued to it, but are instead interested in other segments they air that aren't political.