John McCain To Reporter: 'That's One Of The Dumbest Questions I've Ever Heard'

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Asked whether the national security threat posed by the David Petraeus scandal potentially exceeds that of the attack on the U.S. consulate in Libya, Sen. John McCain issued quite a straightforward response: 'That's one of the dumbest questions I've ever heard.'

The reporter asked whether 'there is potentially a greater national security threat in the apparently thousands of pages of classified documents ending up on the personal computer of a Tampa socialite' who is said to be the whistleblower in the Petraeus scandal, with links to an FBI agent who was later barred from the investigation. He also noted that the agent 'stepped out of the chain of command' and went to a House Republican leader about the matter. All that put together, he asked: Is that potentially a greater national security threat than the attack in Benghazi?

'Well, I say with great respect: That's one of the dumbest questions I've ever heard,' McCain replied (with a facial expression that conveyed exactly that sentiment). 'Okay? There's four dead Americans.'

Ask the reporter interjected, McCain asked him, 'I'm answering your question. Do you want me to answer your question or do you want to interrupt? Which do you want?'

'There are four dead Americans. Their lives of other Americans were put in jeopardy,' McCain continued. 'This is a matter of four dead Americans. I think that the other issue raised is very serious, and I think it deserves a thorough and complete investigation ' but it does not rise to the level of an attack on American consulate that took four American lives.'

'It's certainly a national security issue,' he added, 'but it doesn't rise to the level of four dead Americans.'

Watch below, via Fox News:

• So I guess Nicole Wallace spent more time with his running mate.

• Speaking of'.

  Who is running our country? We've got a CIA Director sharing security info with his mistress using an unsecure gmail account. We've got the delusional Susan Rice blaming the death of an ambassador on a Youtube video. We've got Iran firing on one of our drones a week before the election. We've got the White House either ignorant of or covering up all of this. Who is minding the store? Everywhere we look we see the rank incompetence or corruption of the people who are supposedly running our country and our major institutions. Let's hope that responsible reporters at Obama's press conference today ask the right questions Americans deserve answers to.

  Here's my question for the president: As our nation's chief executive you claim to be unaware of the most important and tragic situations we're facing; so, as a former chief executive, I'd like to know how long it takes for your staff to tell you things like: 'Sir, your CIA Director is under investigation'?

  - Sarah Palin