The media has given the Republicans the moral highground when they’ve done nothing to deserve it. What the GOP has done to this country — by supporting President George W. Bush every step of the way as he’s wreaked havoc on the Constitution and the sovereignty of a foreign nation — is a crime. Sen. John McCain, while not singularly at fault in enabling Bush’s assault on our country’s international credibility, has aided the President in his quest to wage endless war and has pledged to maintain the core of Bush’s failed policies.

As the Republican nominee, McCain is now the head of a party with a “win at all costs” mentality that just last election cycle degraded the service of a distinguished Vietnam veteran to prop up an incumbent president who had dodged the draft. McCain, who had once called the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth “dishonest and dishonorable,” today featured one of the ad’s members, Colonel Bud Day, as a surrogate on a conference call to respond to “attacks” made by retired General Wesley Clark.

There’s been a disturbing double-standard in the way that the media has treated McCain and Sen. Barack Obama, respectively. The media has defended McCain on the issue of his service in a way they have never defended Obama on attacks based on his race, religion, or patriotism.

Before judging Clark’s comments, it’s necessary to put them in context:

Bob Schieffer: Well you, you went so far as to say that you thought John McCain was, quote, and these are your words, “untested and untried,” And I must say I, I had to read that twice, because you’re talking about somebody who was a prisoner of war. He was a squadron commander of the largest squadron in the Navy. He’s been on the Senate Armed Services Committee for lo these many years. How can you say that John McCain is untested and untried? General?
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Because in the matters of national security policy making, it’s a matter of understanding risk. It’s a matter of gauging your opponents, and it’s a matter of being held accountable. John McCain’s never done any of that in his official positions. I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in Armed Forces as a prisoner of war. He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn’t held executive responsibility. That large squadron in Air- in the Navy that he commanded, it wasn’t a wartime squadron. 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 whether we’re going to be able to get this point through or not. Do you want to take the risk? What about your reputation? How do we handle it-’

Now, see if you can spot the loaded set-up:

Bob Schieffer: 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-
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be President.
Bob Schieffer: Really?!
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: But Barack is not, he is not running on the fact that he has made these national security pronouncements. He’s running on his other strengths. He’s running on the strengths of character, on the strengths of his communication skills, on the strengths of his judgment. And those are qualities that we seek in our national leadership.

Our friends in the media are no stranger to loaded questions. That’s why they quickly caught onto McCain’s suggestion that a question was loaded when he referenced that old wife-beating joke:

McCain: I appreciate his support. As you know, the lieutenant governor is our chairman.
Q: Why snub the governor?
McCain: I didn’t mean to snub him. I’ve known the lieutenant governor for 15 years and we’ve been good friends….I didn’t intend to snub him. There are other states where the governor is not the chairman.
Q: Maybe it’s the governor’s approval rating and you are running from him like you are from the president?
McCain: (Chuckling) And I stopped beating my wife just a couple of weeks ago . . .

Here’s how the media would have preferred Clark respond to Schieffer’s set-up:

Bob Schieffer: 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.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: And I stopped beating my wife just a couple of weeks ago . . .

By acknowledging the loaded set-up, Clark would have absolved himself of all guilt. Instead, the media misconstrued his comments and painted them out to be a burden on Obama, since Clark was acting as his surrogate.

The MSM, who know very well that Clark was set up, have feigned disgust at Clark’s comments while feigning ignorance at personal attacks directed towards Obama by Republicans. When prominent McCain supporter Grover Norquist likened Obama to “John Kerry with a tan,” the media never responded. Following the comment, Think Progress asked, “Will those who attacked Obama for “race-baiting” now acknowledge the validity of his concerns?” The answer: no.

So here’s the new joke: Members of the media know what a loaded question is, but they couldn’t spot it if they were paid exorbitantly to sit in front of a camera all day and provide you with honest analysis. Like usual, the joke’s on you.

From my post at The New Argument