Friday, May 16, 2008

JOHN MCCAIN

New Video of McCain, Either Right Before or Right After the Rubin Interview (UPDATED)

Wow. Exact same place, either a little before or a little after John McCain does his interview with Gossip Buddy Jamie Rubin, McCain did an interview with CNN:

Wearing the same winter coat and scarf as in previously circulated video, Sen. McCain tells CNN:

“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. It’s very, very important though that they renounce this commitment.”

Which is more likely, that McCain suddenly decided to endorse direct, unconditional negotiations with Hamas, but only in front of Madeline Albright's Gossip Buddy Jamie Rubin? Or that Rubin offered his readers only a clipped quotation in his Post op-ed?

Bad form, Gossip Buddy. Mrs. Amanpour has better standards than this.

UPDATE: We were right. The interview excerpt was conveniently truncated.

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.”

The McCain camp is distributing an e-mail that says JAMIE RUBIN LIED and is screaming bloody murder. The networks, the AP, and numerous sources took Rubin at his word and did not seek out the complete interview transcript. It will be interesting if Rubin offers any excuses for this, and now many media folks recognize they trusted a bad source.

05/16 01:19 PMShare