# CNN Reporter: "I don't know what part of Neverland Senator McCain is talking about.." **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 28, 2007, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773 "2007-03-28T01:41:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![tagos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2007, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/101 "2007-03-29T15:22:07Z")
[QUOTE=Gangster Octopus] What’s getting overlooked is how stupid McCain’s statement is if it were true. I mean, whoo-hoo! there are some (not many, not most, not all…just some) neighborhoods in Bagdad it is safe to walk in. BLOCK PARTY!!! [/QUOTE] [A Juan Cole snippet that says it all.](http://www.juancole.com/) > [@](#): > > Guerrillas have been firing rockets at will into the Green Zone, the supposedly safe district of downtown Baghdad where the US embassy and Iraqi government offices are located. Reuters reports that on Wednesday they killed a US soldier in the Green Zone that way, and wounded another. On Tuesday they had killed a US contractor in the zone. Also on Tuesday, guerrillas had killed a US Marine in al-Anbar province. Folks, when guerrillas can kill a US soldier inside the Green Zone, Baghdad is just not safe. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2007, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/102 "2007-04-02T00:35:27Z")
Here’s [McCain “strolling” around Baghdad](http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/01/mccain-iraq-stroll/) with the accompanyment of “100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead”. And he’s wearing a bulletproof vest. He’d better hope the Dems force and Iraq withdrawl before election season, because if we’re still in Iraq that footage is going come back with a vengence in campaign commercials. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2007, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/103 "2007-04-02T00:39:18Z")
[QUOTE=Malodorous] Here’s [McCain “strolling” around Baghdad](http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/01/mccain-iraq-stroll/) with the accompanyment of “100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead”. And he’s wearing a bulletproof vest. He’d better hope the Dems force and Iraq withdrawl before election season, because if we’re still in Iraq that footage is going come back with a vengence in campaign commercials. [/QUOTE] Damn, McCain was right! You _can_ take a stroll down a Baghdad street in peace and safety - if a good chunk of the U.S. Army has your back, and your front, and both sides, and controls the airspace overhead. Nothin’ to it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gentle\_Robot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gentle\_Robot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gentle_Robot)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2007, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/104 "2007-04-02T01:00:35Z")
[QUOTE=Quiddity Glomfuster] People who report myth as fact annoy me. CNN isn’t ‘now’ deciding anything. If people would watch it rather than choosing to believe that it’s ‘another Fox’, they would have seen that, for quite a while, Blitzer, Cafferty, and a few others have been calling the Administration’s bluff at every opportunity. They also invite the righties on to parrot the Pubbie talking points, but it was a CNN panel that Novak walked off when he was called on his BS. [/QUOTE] I’ve watched it. It’s another Fox. Well that’s a bit harsh. It’s Fox Lite. A few months after Katrina, in a report highlighting it and other recent natural disasters, I watched Blitzer ask Pat Robertson if “God was angry.” I also cannot forget the nonsensical ‘terrorist threat at football stadiums’ internet meme being highlighted by CNN and given coverage on knowledge that the DHS told them ‘the threat has no credibility.’ Granted, CNN did not spend the 10 minutes Fox did, nor did they interview a person who referred to a flash cartoon site as a ‘jihadist chat room,’ but they did make a strong effort to rouse the culture of fear. ![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/GpkrIoafqqI/maxresdefault.jpg)https://www.youtube.com/embed/GpkrIoafqqI?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/105 "2007-04-03T02:18:29Z")
Holy crap. What a set McCain has on him. Just saw a clip of that press conference, where an Iraqi reporter asks McCain about his line about areas that are safe to walk in. “I just came from one now.” Smug prick. I can’t believe I used to think he was an exemplar of a politician with integrity. I know wishing death on folks is frowned upon, but I would sincerly like to see him dropped in the middle of that shithole without the benefit of all the government armour and meat-shields. That’s not _quite_ the same, is it? Who am I kidding? Of course it is. Dear John, you have officially used up all of your P.O.W. respect points. Get fragged. ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/106 "2007-04-03T02:34:28Z")
[QUOTE=Malodorous] Here’s [McCain “strolling” around Baghdad](http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/01/mccain-iraq-stroll/) with the accompanyment of “100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead”. And he’s wearing a bulletproof vest. [/QUOTE] What’s the problem? That’s how I always stroll around downtown Chicago. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/107 "2007-04-03T11:27:31Z")
[QUOTE=RTFirefly] Damn, McCain was right! You _can_ take a stroll down a Baghdad street in peace and safety - if a good chunk of the U.S. Army has your back, and your front, and both sides, and controls the airspace overhead. Nothin’ to it. 🙂 [/QUOTE] Besides, I read in my paper that this market was a particularily protected one. Following a bombing that caused many deaths (37 or 137, can’t remember) in the market some months ago, the area is fortified and all traffic is forbidden there. ---
**Author:** ![Elsie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b2d939/32.png) [@Elsie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elsie)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/108 "2007-04-03T11:30:00Z")
I notice on Youtube the smear campaign on Michael Ware has got off to a rickerty start. I’m sure it’ll pick up when “questions” about his tax returns “emerge”. Off on a tangent, but it’ll be interesting to see how the British MOD deal with Troop Commander Windsor’s deployment with the Blues and Royals between Basra and Iraq-Iran border. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/109 "2007-04-03T11:56:01Z")
You can put the marmalade on McCain now, he is truly toast. One gets the impression that he is getting a little desperate, his campaign has no traction and he can say or do nothing to change his fate. Time for him to quit the campaign and go back to being a Senator with a conscience. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2007, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/110 "2007-04-03T12:19:29Z")
[QUOTE=Elsie] I notice on Youtube the smear campaign on Michael Ware has got off to a rickerty start. I’m sure it’ll pick up when “questions” about his tax returns “emerge”. [/QUOTE] Indeed. Here’s a link to the story and the video you’re probably talking about. > **[Michael Ware Denies Heckling McCain: "When I Raised My Hand To Ask A...](https://crooksandliars.com/2007/04/02/michael-ware-denies-heckling-mccain)** > > UPDATE: \[media id=827\] \[media id=828\] Here's his American Morning segment...I wonder if Drudge will name his source? OK, you guys name him for ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/111 "2007-04-04T01:01:31Z")
[McCain’s slipping in both the polls and fundraising.](http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9323368) > [@](#): > > Former New York Mayor Rudy Guiliani looks strong early in the race, with impressive fund-raising numbers. That’s in contrast to Arizona Sen. John McCain, who has shown a weakness in fund-raising and has lost momentum in the polls. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/112 "2007-04-04T07:02:07Z")
The Times today had interviews with some of the vendors at that market, who noted that they chased the Iraqis out before the Americans came in. They close early now since it isn’t safe to go home after dark. In other words, they agree McCain is full of shit. Maybe this will be McCain’s tank moment. ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/113 "2007-04-04T07:14:44Z")
[QUOTE=Gentle Robot] A few months after Katrina, in a report highlighting it and other recent natural disasters, I watched Blitzer ask Pat Robertson if “God was angry.” [/quote] And you don’t think Wolfie was baiting Robertson? > [@](#): > > I also cannot forget the nonsensical ‘terrorist threat at football stadiums’ internet meme being highlighted by CNN and given coverage on knowledge that the DHS told them ‘the threat has no credibility.’ Granted, CNN did not spend the 10 minutes Fox did, nor did they interview a person who referred to a flash cartoon site as a ‘jihadist chat room,’ but they did make a strong effort to rouse the culture of fear. Take a couple of deep breaths. I doubt there’s a news station that hasn’t succumbed at least once to the ‘drive up the ratings with Scary Stuff’ temptation (or order from On High). If you’re going to dismiss a whole network and all its correspondents and anchors based on that, well… ---
**Author:** ![Elsie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b2d939/32.png) [@Elsie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elsie)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/114 "2007-04-04T08:05:32Z")
Scrabble tip, folks: ‘jihad’ can really get you out of a tight spot - tuck it away in Dictionary Corner. ---
**Author:** ![threeorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@threeorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/threeorange)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/115 "2007-04-04T10:31:48Z")
FWIW, McCain lost his credibility with me seven years ago when he referred to Louis Farrakhan-an anti-choice, anti-feminist homophobe who is distrustful of the social safety net-as being “on the left”. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/116 "2007-04-04T13:17:35Z")
I just can’t believe how politically tone deaf McCain must be to have done this. All he had to do was get on with some sympathetic interviewer and say that he misspoke, that he overstated the case, and that what he meant to say was that everyday life goes on in the streets of Baghdad, etc, etc. Both he and Newt Gingrich (whose “Oh, I wasn’t talking about _Spanish_ when I said that bilingual education was teaching children the language of the ghetto” was pure comedy gold) need to learn the first rule of holes–when you’re in a hole, stop digging. ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Norder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4af34b/32.png) [@Dan\_Norder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dan_Norder)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/117 "2007-04-04T14:22:40Z")
[QUOTE=Jackmannii] The fact that CNN and other media don’t have the balls to make strong editorial statements doesn’t let them off the hook for this lapse. Viewers deserve an apology and Ware should be told that if he can’t control himself on air, he can find work elsewhere. [/QUOTE] Do you have the word “tool” stamped on your forehead? If not someone correct this oversight pronto. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/118 "2007-04-04T19:55:01Z")
[McCain Market Vist Emboldens Enemy](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1604931.ece): > [@](#): > > The latest massacre of Iraqi children came as 21 Shia market workers were ambushed, bound and shot dead north of the capital. The victims came from the Baghdad market visited the previous day by John McCain, the US presidential candidate, who said that an American security plan in the capital was starting to show signs of progress. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/119 "2007-04-04T20:04:49Z")
It’s really more like “inspires” than “emboldens.” > [@](#): > > [Several merchants said Monday that the Americans’ visit might have only made the market a more inviting target for insurgents. > > “Every time the government announces anything — that the electricity is good or the water supply is good — the insurgents come to attack it immediately,” said Abu Samer, 49, who would give only his nickname out of concern for his safety.]([McCain Wrong on Iraq Security, Merchants Say - The New York Times](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/03/world/middleeast/03mccain.html)) ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2007, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773/120 "2007-04-04T22:40:59Z")
[QUOTE=Dan Norder] Do you have the word “tool” stamped on your forehead? If not someone correct this oversight pronto. [/QUOTE] Yup. Of course, it’s been nine days and the thread still stays on the top page of the Pit. I wonder how many of the polite, subtle corrections that reporters have been offering had that kind of lasting impact. Oh, right. None. Bad reporter! -Joe [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cnn-reporter-i-dont-know-what-part-of-neverland-senator-mccain-is-talking-about/397773.md?page=7)