This is disgusting.
The mainstream media and Democrats will do anything to try to get their candidate into the White House.
Today in the Washington Post former Clinton official Jamie Rubin wrote a dishonest hit piece about Senator McCain:
Despite his reputation in the media as a charming maverick, McCain has shown that he is also happy to use Nixon-style dirty campaign tactics…
McCain, meanwhile, is guilty of hypocrisy. I am a supporter of Hillary Clinton and believe that she was right to say, about McCain’s statement on Hamas, “I don’t think that anybody should take that seriously.” Unfortunately, the Republicans know that some people will. That’s why they say such things.
But given his own position on Hamas, McCain is the last politician who should be attacking Obama. Two years ago, just after Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections, I interviewed McCain for the British network Sky News’s “World News Tonight” program. Here is the crucial part of our exchange:
I asked: “Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?”
McCain answered: “They’re the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it’s a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.”
Later today The whole interview was released and it showed that Rubin was cherry-picking clips from the discussion to twist John McCain’s words.
Here is the whole segment of the interview between Rubin and John McCain (1 minute 13 seconds) including the part that was omitted by Rubin and the WaPo:
Here’s the transcript:
Jamie Rubin: “Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have been in the past, in working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is in now charge?”
Sen. John McCain: “They’re the government and sooner or later we‘re going to have to deal with them in one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas is because of their dedication to violence and the things they not only espouse but practice, so, but it’s a new reality in the Middle East. And I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and a decent future then they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.”
Rubin: “So should the United States be dealing with that new reality through normal diplomatic contacts to get the job done for the United States?”
Sen. McCain: “I think the United States should take a step back, see what they do when they form their government, see what their policies are, and see the ways that we can engage with them, and if there aren’t any, there may be a hiatus. But I think part of the relationship is going to be dictated by how Hamas acts, not how the United States acts.”
Obviously, this is completely different than what Jamie Rubin reported today in the Washington Post.
Also… Senator McCain also held an interview with CNN that same day in Davos, where McCain stated this on Hamas:
John McCain Says Hamas Must Renounce Its Commitment To The Extinction Of The State Of Israel.
CNN’S BETTY NGUYEN: ” All right, let’s shift over to the global front. The Bush administration is reviewing all aspects of U.S. aid to the Palestinians now that Hamas has won the elections. And I do have to quote you here. A State Department spokesman did say this: ‘To be very clear’ – and I’m quoting now – ‘we do not provide money to terrorist organizations.’ What does this do to the U.S. relationship with the Palestinians?”
MCCAIN: “Well, hopefully, that Hamas now that they are going to govern, will be motivated to renounce this commitment to the extinction of the state of Israel. Then we can do business again, we can resume aid, we can resume the peace process.”
This was from CNN’s “Saturday Morning News,” on 1/28/06.
** Here is Fred Hiatt’s e-mail address at the Washington Post.
I urge you all to ask Fred (politely) to retract this dishonest hit piece:
UPDATE: Good for Lou Dobbs for smacking down political hack Jamie Rubin tonight for his dishonest report on McCain.
The Weekly Standard Blog has the transcript.
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