Media Bias and Double Standards

I've noticed some things happening in the last few weeks that are a little bit off. There have been gaffes and very evident truths that the media seems unwilling to report on fully, or even at all.

In regards to gaffes, I'm speaking of course about John McCain, who said not once, not twice, not even three times, but FOUR TIMES that al-Qaeda is being brought into Iran to train up and then being shipped back to Iraq to kill Americans and Iraqis.

There are a few minor problems with this statement, especially because McCain is positioning himself as the be-all and end-all candidate on foreign policy and national security credentials. This shows a fundamental lack of understanding about not only the Iraq problem, but in a larger sense, the entire cultural divide between Western and Islamic societies and countries.

The two different branches of Islam, Sunni (al-Qaeda) and Shia (Iran) see each other as heretics, almost on a level with the US, and hate each other just as much, or maybe even a little more, than the invader.

So to say that Sunni Muslim extremists are going into a Shia-dominant country to train is beyond ridiculous. How can McCain make such an error, especially after multiple corrections by his good buddy Joe Lieberman and his own staff? McCain made the mistake once in an interview before leaving for Iraq and was corrected. He then said it again while making a speech in Iraq, and was then corrected (embarrassingly) right in the middle of everything by Lieberman. He apologized right away and said he had misspoke. But then over the next two days he said the same words again, that al-Qaeda was going into Iran to train and it was a threat to US security.

I am a 24 year old Canadian with a bit of college under by belt, no military or government experience, and I know this full well. I was shocked listening to his speech to hear it, and to think that I had a better understanding than one of the Presidential candidates on international relations. Wow....certainly doesn't inspire too much confidence in the man's game, now does it?

When McCain doesn't understand (or even take the time to listen to) the simplest of cultural divides and the delicacy in which they must be handled, he's showing full-out that he's not the most experienced candidate, or the most well positioned to help America rebuild its image around the world. Never mind everything he has said about 'not understanding' the economy, or the fact that his entire campaign is being infused with money and run by corporations and lobbyists.

John McCain simply doesn't get it.

I feel like we've already been introduced to a war-mongering, poll-ignoring moron....Oh, right...

Third Bush term? Sure sounds like it....

Can anyone imagine if Obama or even Clinton were to drop such a line even once? Jeez, probably couldn't turn the dial without hearing a nut job like Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity blitzing them for a lack of understanding about foreign policy and general incompetence.

Where are these calls for McCain...?

I think I hear crickets........