John McCain has disowned his comments about how safe the streets of Baghdad are. From a CBS News press release [via TPM]:
Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) says he misspoke in comments he made about security in Baghdad and acknowledged that heavily armed troops and helicopter gunships accompanied him when he visited a market there. McCain tells this to Scott Pelley in his first interview since the visit for a 60 MINUTES report. [Before the trip] the senator said security had improved in Iraq. Upon his return, he also told a news conference he had just come back from a neighborhood one could walk around in freely. The remarks made headlines and he now regrets saying them.Then comes the funny part:
“Of course I am going to misspeak and I’ve done it on numerous occasions and I probably will do it in the future,” says McCain. “I regret that when I divert attention to something I said from my message, but you know, that’s just life,” he tells Pelley, adding, “I’m happy, frankly, with the way I operate, otherwise it would be a lot less fun.”I love the way McCain tries to pretend his remarks were more of his characteristic straight talk. That John McCain -- his handlers want to rein him in, but he can't help caling it like he sees it! Otherwise it would be a lot less fun! But of course, his comments about security in Iraq weren't straight talk, they were self-serving bullshit.
