Much has been made about Clark’s comments about McCain (which I blogged here).

It is absolutely vital, dear reader, that you are aware that at NO time did Gen. Wesley Clark denigrate, dismiss, or otherwise criticize McCain’s service as a pilot and later as a POW.

Never.
Not once.

Clark was making the very salient point that McCain’s service and time as a POW does not ipso facto make him a good candidate for the Presidency. Nor does it lend any credence to McCain’s claims of extensive foreign policy experience (of which he actually has very little.)

The media circus that has ensued (and the pearl-clutching going on in the wingnut-o-sphere) is based on an absurdly narrow interpretation of Clark’s words. In fact, here are Clark’s actual words, as said on Face the Nation yesterday:

I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in the armed forces, as a prisoner of war. He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee. And he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn’t held executive responsibility.

Absolutely every word of that is true.

And when Bob Scheiffer incredulously followed up with

I have to say that Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences either nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down

(Yes, also true.) Clark replied with

Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plan and getting shot down is a qualification to be president.

Video after the jump.

I’m absolutely amazed that any rational speaker of the English language can watch that exchange and infer that Clark was insulting McCain’s service.

It simply didn’t happen.

By jumping all over the words “getting shot down,” everyone is conveniently ignoring the whole of the discussion, including the context that was provided weeks ago when Clark spoke to the Huffington Post and later on MSNBC. In the blogosphere, we call that kind of temporary, bogus outrage “fauxtrage.” The wingnuts are the undefeated masters of fauxtrage.

First of all, as a point of information, those were Scheiffer’s words (watch the video!). Second, Clark had already established his respect for McCain’s service as a pilot and POW in previous comments. In the context of these remarks, and the others I’ve referenced, he was making the point that military service, even having been a POW, does not necessarily make for a good candidate for President of the United States. And the ridiculous assertion that Obama has never done those thing either only solidifies the point.

However, the other point Clark was making is that McCain is clearly running on his service record, with arguably little else to bolster his foreign policy credentials. Yet, to this day, no one has made a credible argument as to why McCain’s service as a POW should count as foreign policy expertise.

1. McCain was a fighter pilot and a POW.
2. ???
3. McCain is a foreign policy badass and should be President.

Please fill in #2, dear reader, if you are able.