FUJM!
Well there is actually a big difference. John McCain is a Senator, and holds no current military position. McChrystal is a general. If you are in the military, you aren’t exactly as free to say what you want, especially about a senior officer. McCain say the dumbest things imaginable, and it amounts to nothing. Not the same for someone in the military, whether a private or a general.
Discretion in front of the press was his point.
If McCain’s comments were broadcast outside of that barroom, you better believe he would be reprimanded. The further and wider the broadcast, the more he would have been reprimanded.
It’s never ok to trash your superior while you wear the uniform, but the bigger and wider the audience, the more you will be held accountable. And the higher your rank, the more you will be held accountable.
A couple of privates complaining outloud to each other about their seargent while cleaning the latrines will be told to shut up and get back to work.
The seargent moaning about his captain in the bar will be called in and asked if he remembers the military code.
The general who consistantly complains about his superiors in front of an imbedded reporter for an entertainment magazine will be removed from his position.
It’s that simple.
Was McCain a 4-star commander? Did he do it in front of a reporter?