Context context context

( NYT: Democrats criticize McCain on Iraq strategy. )

You can see the video where McCain describes when the troops come home as "not too important" here.

But as I've always said, it's all about context. What's the actual exchange?

TODAY: If it's working, Senator, do you now have a better estimate of when American forces can come home from Iraq?

MCCAIN: No, but that's not too important. What's important is the casualties in Iraq. Americans are in South Korea, Americans are in Japan, American troops are in Germany — that's all fine. American casualties and the ability to withdraw... we will be able to withdraw. General Petraeus is going to tell us in July when he thinks we are. But the key to is that we don't want any more Americans in harm's way. And that way they will be safe, and serve our country, and come home with honor, and victory. Not in defeat, which is what Senator Obama's proposal would have done.

Right now what he's saying is actually correct: it's not so much the fact that Americans are in Iraq that's the real problem... after all, as he points out, American troops are all over the world. It's that they are dying.

The very presence of American troops in Iraq is a problem, though, in terms of resources, in terms of military necessity, in terms of wastage, but at the end of the day, the human response wouldn't be as strong if they were not in danger. So he's right. It's not as important. What might be a bit off his his insistence on withdrawal with honor... which may lead to those casualties he says he's trying to avoid.

I'm no fan of the Republicans, as is obvious, but I don't think it's really fair to jump on McCain in this particular instance: there've been greater misstatements and more egregious positions he's taken. The new G.I. Bill, for instance...

None of us are getting younger, but most of them stay that way

For those attending Comic-Con this year in San Diego and are interested in seeing two teams battle it out over items of information that no one in their right minds would ever, ever remember... but we do:

This year's Pro/Fan Trivia Match at the San Diego Comic-Con International will be taking place on the Sunday, July 27, between 2.30pm and 4pm at Room 4 of the Convention Center.

For years, there was a team trivia match challenge at Comic-Con, but after three years of being on championship teams, fans Jim Drew and Tom Galloway were banned from ever participating again. Len Wein then suggested a pro/fan trivia challenge: eventually the original trivia challenge ended, but the Black Ink Irregulars vs. The Purple Pros match continues to today.

Rules are simple: Two teams of four people (one captain and three team members) each. The first question asked is a Toss-Up, that goes to the person who buzzes in first. If they get it right, the team gets 10 points. If someone buzzes in before the question is finished and gets it wrong, there's a 5 point penalty. If the Toss-Up is answered correctly, the winning team gets first crack at the Bonus Question, worth 20 points. If they can't answer, the chance goes to the other team. Questions continue until time or questions are exhausted.

The permanent captains of the Pro and Fan teams, respectively, are Len Wein and Tom Galloway. You can find a history of the various matches and the winners each year here.

I took part in the match last year, of which the theme was "The Multiverse". The BIIs beat the PPs 230-130 - I have to say though, that was probably largely due to the fact that Mark Waid didn't show up as he was supposed to.

This year we were hoping to do a Legion of Super-Heroes theme, since this is the Legion's 50th Anniversary, but naturally Len balked because if Mark didn't show up again, they'd be toast. So the compromise is "Young Heroes", that is, college age or younger, which means Legion, Titans, original X-Men, Silver Age Spidey, Robin, etc.

See you guys there. I'll be wearing my flight ring.