Hey McCain, got some whine to go with that cheesy dairy case photo op?

John McCain issued another disingenuous attack (lie) yesterday against Barack Obama while Obama was out of the country on a visit to Europe and the Middle East rebuilding our global alliances. This time the assault came in the form of a poorly done TV commercial, rife with distortions and intended to mislead the public. The Obama camp hit back with a response.

The McCain ad claims Barack Obama never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan.

The truth is that Afghanistan is Sen. Kerry's subcommittee, not Obama's, and there have been hearings. Not that McCain would know, he's been AWOL from the Senate for months.

McCain Missed Every Armed Services Committee Hearing In The Last Two Years That Discussed Afghanistan. A review of the Senate Armed Services Committee hearings as listed on the committee Web site for the past two years reveals that McCain’s committee has held six hearings that included the word “Afghanistan” in the title or Central Command — which overseas U.S. troops in Afghanistan. McCain missed them all.

...

Kerry Said That Oversight Of Afghanistan Falls Under His Subcommittee And Not Obama's; Said Top Topics Like NATO Are Left To The Foreign Relations Committee. “Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., an Obama supporter and member of the Foreign Relations Committee, pointed out in a teleconference with reporters Monday that oversight for Afghanistan falls under the jurisdiction of his subcommittee — Near East and South and Central Asian Affairs. He said he had conducted hearings on policy in Afghanistan. He also said top topics such as NATO are left to the Foreign Relations Committee.”

He was just there, and McCain bitched about it the whole time. Next.

The McCain ad says Obama voted against funding our troops.

Annenberg Fact Check: Saying Obama Voted Against Troop Funding Is "Oversimplified To The Point Of Being Seriously Misleading, Which Is Exactly The Problem With McCain’s Ad." "As recently as April 2007, Obama voted in favor of funding U.S. troops again, but this time Democrats added a non-binding call to withdraw them from Iraq. McCain (who was absent for the vote) urged the president to veto that funding measure, because of the withdrawal language. President Bush did veto it, and McCain applauded Bush's veto. Based on those facts, it would be literally true to say that 'McCain urged a veto of funding for our troops.' But that would be oversimplified to the point of being seriously misleading, which is exactly the problem with McCain’s ad."

AP Fact Check: The McCain Ad’s Charge That Obama Voted Against Troop Funding Is "Misleading." "The ad’s most inflammatory charge — that Obama voted against troop funding in Iraq and Afghanistan — is misleading. The Illinois senator consistently voted to fund the troops once elected to the Senate, a point Democratic rival Hillary Rodham Clinton made during the primaries when questioning whether his anti-war rhetoric was reflected in his actions."

I'm still waiting to hear why McCain campaigned against the GI bill. If he thinks some crappy ad's going to hide his miserable Senate record, he's not giving the voters much credit. Why didn't McCain co-sponsor a single piece of legislation proposed by Sen. Obama to support our active duty military and veterans? He doesn't think we should do any of this?

S.117 : A bill to amend titles 10 and 38, United States Code, to improve benefits and services for members of the Armed Forces, veterans of the Global War on Terrorism, and other veterans, to require reports on the effects of the Global War on Terrorism, and for other purposes. Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/4/2007)

S.692 : A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a Hospital Quality Report Card Initiative to report on health care quality in Veterans Affairs hospitals.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 2/27/2007)

S.713
Title: A bill to ensure dignity in care for members of the Armed Forces recovering from injuries.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 2/28/2007)

S.1084
Title: A bill to provide housing assistance for very low-income veterans.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/10/2007)

S.1271
Title: A bill to provide for a comprehensive national research effort on the physical and mental health and other readjustment needs of the members of the Armed Forces and veterans who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom and their families.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/2/2007)

S.1817 : A bill to ensure proper administration of the discharge of members of the Armed Forces for personality disorder, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 7/19/2007)

S.2330: Title: A bill to authorize a pilot program within the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development with the goal of preventing at-risk veterans and veteran families from falling into homelessness, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 11/8/2007)

S.AMDT.664 to H.R.1591 To appropriate an additional $58,000,000 for Defense Health Program for additional mental health and related personnel, an additional $10,000,000 for operation and maintenance for each of the military departments for improved physical disability evaluations of members of the Armed Forces, and an additional $15,000,000 for Defense Health Program for women's mental health services.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/27/2007)

S.AMDT.3078 to H.R.1585 Relating to administrative separations of members of the Armed Forces for personality disorder.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 9/27/2007)

S.AMDT.4330 to S.CON.RES.70 To provide an additional $5 million to the military departments' respective Boards for Correction of Military Records to expedite review of cases in which service members with combat-related psychological injuries (such as PTSD) or closed head injuries (such as TBIs) were administered discharges for personality disorders or other discharges resulting in a loss of benefits or care and seek a correction of records or upgraded discharge.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/13/2008)

The McCain ad says Obama made time to go to the gym, but cancelled a visit with wounded troops.

The fact is that Obama did visit troops. The video of Obama shooting hoops in the ad is with the troops. He also visited wounded troops while he was in Iraq. He just didn't turn it into a photo op.

Obama Has Been Clear: He Did Not Want Visit to Wounded Soldiers To Be Perceived as Political, Which The Pentagon Had Ruled It Would Be, And Never Planned To Bring Media. "We had scheduled to go, we had no problem at all in leaving, we always leave press and staff off — that is why we left it off the schedule. We were treating it in the same way we treat a visit to Walter Reed which I was able to do a few weeks ago without any fanfare whatsoever. I was going to be accompanied by one of my advisors, a former military officer." Continued Obama, "And we got notice that he would be treated as a campaign person, and it would therefore be perceived as political because he had endorsed my candidacy but he wasn’t on the Senate staff. That triggered then a concern that maybe our visit was going to be perceived as political. And the last thing that I want to do is have injured soldiers and the staff at these wonderful institutions having to sort through whether this is political or not or get caught in the crossfire between campaigns." "So rather than go forward and potentially get caught up in what might have been considered a political controversy of some sort," Obama said, "what we decided was that we not make a visit and instead I would call some of the troops that were there. So that essentially would be the extent of the story."

Obama Visited Wounded Troops at Walter Reed Last Month. The AP wrote, "Barack Obama stopped by Walter Reed Army Medical Center Saturday to visit wounded war veterans, a group that he has said endures substandard care under the Bush administration. The presumed Democratic nominee, who was in Washington to speak to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials, slipped into the facility shortly after 9 a.m. without stopping to speak to the small group of reporters who follow him. The visit wasn’t on his public schedule."

Obama Visited Wounded Troops In Baghdad’s Green Zone. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said, "On Monday, Sen. Obama stopped into a combat support hospital in the green zone of Baghdad, some of you may have seen the show on HBO called Baghdad ER, that was this hospital."

If John McCain thinks he can bamboozle his way into the White House, he's got another thing coming. There were two other Senators with Obama on his trip, both Vietnam veterans. Is McCain claiming that Jack Reed and Chuck Hagel ignored the troops, too? The Obama camp and Sen. Reed responded to McCain's lies.

"John McCain is an honorable man who is running an increasingly dishonorable campaign. Senator McCain knows full well that Senator Obama strongly supports and honors our troops, which is what makes this attack so disingenuous. Senator Obama was honored to meet with our men and women in uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan this week and has visited wounded soldiers at Walter Reed numerous times. This politicization of our soldiers is exactly what Senator Obama sought to avoid, and it’s not worthy of Senator McCain or the 'civil' campaign he claimed he would run," - Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.

"I was with Senator Obama last week as we met privately with troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Senator Obama listened to their concerns and expressed his gratitude for their service without press or fanfare. He cares for our troops deeply and has worked hard to give them not only the resources they need, but also honor their service with a clearly defined mission and by providing them with the support they have earned when they come home. And just as Senator McCain's support of President Bush's veto of funding for our troops doesn't mean he does not support them, neither does Senator Obama's insistence that we not give George Bush a blank check."
-Sen Jack Reed

McCain can whine all he wants about how the world loves Obama. He can bitch and moan about the media coverage, despite the fact that the media has been glossing over McCain's every screw-up (read up on McCain adviser "Enron Phil" Gramm). The fact is that people like Obama because he's a great candidate who will make an excellent President. And the media is covering Obama because he's meeting with heads of state, not standing in front of the Fudge Haus griping.

What should the media cover? A joint press conference with a Presidential nominee and the leaders of foreign nations or dinner in the rathskeller with Lindsey Graham?

Sorry your fromage and schnitzel tour didn't grab the attention of the media, Senator McCain. Really, though, can you blame them?

Oh, look. Obama's home. Even video of him getting in his car is more interesting than McCain's nasty attacks.