“McCain was a fighter pilot, who dropped laser-guided missiles from 35,000 feet. He was long gone when they hit. What happened when they [the missiles] get to the ground? He doesn’t know. You have to care about the lives of people. McCain never gets into those issues.”

By his comments, Rockefeller not only demonstrated that he is a vituperative hack for Obama, he also reminds us once again why the country is reluctant to trust the Democratic Party on national security issues. Rockefeller's comments were straight out of the 1968 anti-war playbook and are consistent with the position of another Obama supporter, Jane Fonda. Does he want to remind voters why his party has consistently been viewed as soft on defense issues?

First those aspect of his comments that demonstrate an appalling ignorance of military history, military tactics and strategy. Accurate and effective Laser guided munitions were not perfected (had a high probability of hitting the designated target) for tactical use on the battlefield until the late 1980's. Secondly, McCain's role in his A-4 Avenger was often times to draw enemy fire away from B-52 or other bombers delivering ordnance on enemy targets. Many times this entailed taking out enemy radar or SAM missile sites, which raids would have been conducted at relatively low altitudes, not  from 35,000 feet.

How Rockefeller thought these comments would burnish Obama's non-existent national security credentials is anybody's guess…