In Pittsburgh, McCain tells "a rather moving story" about himself that turns out to be wrong

[FourScore]

From Jake Tapper:

Asked what first comes to his mind when he thinks of Pittsburgh, McCain chuckled, "the Steelers. I was a mediocre high school athlete but I loved and adored the sports but the Steelers really made a huge impression on me particularly in my early years."

And then McCain told a rather moving story about his time as a P.O.W. "When I was first interrogated and really had to give some information because of the pressures, physical pressures on me, I named the starting lineup, defensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers as my squadron mates."

"Did you really?" asked the reporter.

"Yes," McCain said.

"In your POW camp?" asked the reporter.

"Yes," McCain said.

"Could you do it today?" asked the reporter.

"No, unfortunately," McCain said.

Here's one reason he likely couldn't do it today -- the Steelers aren't the team whose defensive line McCain named for his Vietnamese tormentors. The Green Bay Packers are. At least according to every previous time McCain has told this story. And the McCain campaign just told ABC News that the senator made a mistake -- it was, indeed, the Packers.

Hmm. Does anyone else find this incident in Pittsburgh disturbing? Before anyone rushes to defend McCain's heroism, this isn't about McCain the P.O.W. This is about McCain the candidate in 2008. McCain has every right to tell the story of his P.O.W. experience on the campaign trail. But, it's another thing when he changes the story to adapt to the particular battleground state where he's telling the story.

http://www.americablog.com/

[asdjrocky]

1. He's old. He forgets.

Now you kids get off of my lawn.

[patrice]

2. "Opportunist" that's what I heard someone call Obama the other day.

Probably the only words that come to that person's mind about McCain are "maverick" and "hero".

Just about everything about McCain SCREAMS Opportunist.

[panader0]

3. All I can say is thank god it wasn't the Denver Broncos

[babylonsister]

4. Yes, it's very "disturbing" to me. It's assinine that this guy is even a candidate. nt

[NattPang]

12. I agree with you.

and he never gets called on it.
Just like Bush.

[Ilsa]

5. The coot isn't getting enough Omega complex to ward off dementia.

My dad is 82 and says McCain is too old. My dad remembers his life story better than McLiar.

[AtomicKitten]

6. The MSM will be fine with framing this as Grandpa telling tall tells.

He's old, doncha know?

[Kdillard]

7. kick

He has absolutely no shame.

[jasmine621]

8. There is no way this senile bafoon can win in November.

If he does, we are a nation of fools. I still believe that the GOP will not field McCain as their candidate come November. I don't know how, I don't know when. If the GOP is serious about taking the WH this time they will have to do it without McCain. Wesley Clark was more correct than folks want to admit. The best the GOP can do is to come out of their convention with a really good VP nominee and then ask McCain to step aside.

[Barack_America]

9. Sadly, the media will not cover this, though they had a field day with Sniper-gate, etc.

This incident proves either that McCain is a Class A panderbear (not a maverick) or that he is senile.

Seems relevant, no?

[eleny]

10. He tailored the story to fit the location

In doing so he showed Pittsburgh what he really thought of them. I wonder if they got the message?

[last_texas_dem]

11. Funny

Remember how the media trashed Kerry for saying "Lambert" Field instead of "Lambeau" Field to a Wisconsin crowd. That slip of the tongue meant credibility issues per the whore media, but this blatant pandering (or indication of senility?) on McCain's part will likely fly right under the radar.

[mtnester]

13. Not dementia, not Alzheimers

it was a political lie...told for effect to the audience he was playing to.

Remember....Joe Wilson said these fuckers (Republicans) lie all the time, about everything, even SMALL things, as practice. He is spot on right about that.

He will tell this again with the Dolphins front line, when he needs to impress Florida. His campaign will then go "Whoops...sorry...it was a boo boo" and the process will begin again.

[vaberella]

14. Lordy, if he becomes President by some freak chance or Florida, I will relocate to another country.

I love America but I can't take McCain.

K&R

:kick:

[Awsi Dooger]

15. It wasn't merely switching Pittsburgh for Green Bay

In the accounts I've read, McCain's previous accounts said he used the Packer OFFENSIVE line, not defensive line. That makes every bit of sense, since the Lombardi power sweep was famous in the '60s, the offensive line of Forrest Gregg and Jerry Kramer, etc. the strength of the team.

McCain conveniently not only changed teams, but he flopped it to the Steelers' dominant unit in their glory mid to late '70s, the defensive line of Mean Joe Greene, Dwight White, etc.

By the time Pittsburgh won its first Super Bowl in January 1975, McCain had long since been released. The Steelers were a pathetic team when his POW years began in '67, with none of the great defensive linemen already in place. They weren't known for a d-line prior to that. They were known as lovable losers under Art Rooney, for decades. I seriously doubt McCain was able to follow the NFL as POW. He wouldn't even have known of those Steeler linemen before his release in '73. They first gained a bit of prominence during the '72 season, defeating Oakland in the Immaculate Reception game before the Dolphins dismissed the Steelers in the AFC title game at Pittsburgh.

This is an incredible adaptation. He's at least 7 years off, since the Packers final title was the '67 season and they plummeted immediately. There were entire pro football eras between the Packers and Steelers, like the Namath Jets and the 17-0 Dolphins. It's almost the equivalent of confusing presidential cycles 8 years apart.

A Democrat would never get a pass on this. Can you imagine Gore's media fate with a similar alteration?

[samsingh]

16. everything about mccain is disturbing.

[NatBurner]

17. typical

let's see if it gets snipergate treatment

[VolcanoJen]

18. Just read this over at Balloon Juice... that's a whopper!

I'm no McCain expert, but even I know the rather charming Green Bay Packers story he's been telling for decades now.

Wow. I'm sure our Awesome Liberal Media will be all over this obvious pandering to a Pennsylvania crowd, right? Uh-huh. :eyes: