Since when does McCain care about civility?
By Steve Benen Sunday Nov 18, 2007 7:50pm
Last week, after a classless supporter asked John McCain, “How do we beat the bitch?” the senator responded, “That’s an excellent question.” Within 48 hours of the exchange, McCain’s campaign was raising money (effectively) based on the “bitch” controversy.
This week, however, McCain wants to be Mr. Civility again.
"I think people want a respectful debate and a respectful discussion. And if they don’t, then obviously, I’m not the person to be their candidate,” McCain told reporters in response to questions about criticism of Clinton by Republican rivals Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney.
“Legitimate policy differences, those should be debated and discussed,” McCain said. “But I don’t think you should take shots at people….”
Right. Last week, McCain wants to raise campaign funds off a “beat the bitch” question, but this week he will only tolerate “respectful debate and a respectful discussion.”
A quick stroll down memory lane clearly shows otherwise. I get the sense most of the most of the media has forgotten how classless McCain really is.
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Desperate to be President and will do anything or say anything that will make that happen...
[Deleted. Off topic and blogwhoring-Sitemonitor]
MSNBC's Abrams ripping Guiliani! Ha!!
Poor John seems to get more confused with each passing year!
McCain had licked the earlobes of Bush for too long and now his senility and lusts for power has driven him to say and do anything that Bush would do.
Very pathetic.
US media whores getting the story wrong will be the death of America , , ,
Nice....
"Beat the Bitch" is akin to the following:
What if all the women who supported Hilary started a campaign saying:
hmmmmm... actually that has a nice ring to it !!!!!
Has the stamp of a rovian dirty trick on it. Absolutely calculated to generate publicity.
Is McCain's mother a bitch? That is an excellent question.
How many votes might McCain have cemented had he reacted to the "bitch" comment with a modicum of civility? Had he upbraided the offending partisan, in gentle rebuke?
He didn't, because that's not who he is. He doesn't have it in him. He lacks a fundamental decency.
I despise the GOP (and, more often than not, hold congressional democrats in no uncertain contempt). But I remember the instantaneous reaction of Libby Dole when her husband, during his concession speech, commended Bill Clinton upon his re-election. The crowd erupted in a furious, bitter reaction to the senator's decent words. Libby was appalled, shook her head, and, if memory serves, mouthed the words, "No, no".
Perverted though her politics may be, she possesses that fundamental decency that McCain lacks. Because McCain is, at heart, a rude, bullying punk.
Who is the woman who asked that question/used that language? How can we contact her?
LongTooth @ 10:
And according to Dee Dee Myers, President Clinton's former spokesperson, so is Hillary. From a report on a Ms. Myers interview years ago with ABC and PBS:
One vivid example cited by Myers was the internal administration debate over how to handle Whitewater. Myers, George Stephanopoulos and several others in the meeting favored turning all documents from the Clintons' controversial land deal over to the Washington Post.
But when Mrs. Clinton entered the room and demanded to know what was going on, everybody "clammed up."
"Mrs. Clinton wanted to know what was going on and she looked at George," reports Myers. "And George began to make the argument that we'd all been making and nobody backed him up. Nobody backed him up. Everyone just sat there and let George take the beating, you know.
"And Mrs. Clinton got really angry," said Myers. "She attacked George, which everyone knew was coming, which is why I guess nobody was willing to ride in there to the rescue. ... Here were 12 people in the room who all basically agreed and only one of them was willing to stand up and tell her what she had asked. And that took a lot of courage."
Myers told ABC that when anyone tried to disagree with Mrs. Clinton, her temper could be vicious and more deliberately hurtful than even her husband's notorious purple rages.
"Anybody that stood up and tried to say this was a bad idea was, you know, smashed down and belittled, very personally," the Clinton loyalist revealed. "And I mean where I said the president didn't really attack people personally, Mrs. Clinton sometimes did."
The one-time Clinton spokeswoman said that White House staffers lived in fear of the first lady because her attacks sometimes wouldn't end when her temper tantrums subsided.
"Not only would she sort of humiliate you in front of your colleagues or whoever happened to be around," Myers said, "Hillary tended to kind of campaign against people behind their back, and that was certainly my experience."
"She was not happy with me, but she never confronted me. She would go call [then-White House chief of staff] Leon [Panetta] in and yell at him and then he'd have to call me in and say, 'Mrs. Clinton is really upset about X. You said Y, and she disagrees with that, and you know, she wants you to fix it,' or whatever."
Myers is the first Clinton loyalist to go public with charges that Mrs. Clinton would brutalize White House aides with her rages.
Previous accounts of Clinton's notorious temper were generally dismissed by mainstream reporters as the grumblings of disgruntled former employees.
Nearly two years ago, Hillary biographer Barbara Olson reported that White House counsel Abner Mikva was so incensed over Mrs. Clinton's conduct that he resigned after one profanity-laced upbraiding by the first lady.
I am embarrased to say the "bitch" author was some supposed "lady" from SC. Either trailer park or yankee move-in unfamiliar with good manners. I can understand McCain's desire to cut off the cheap shots now that he's thrown some red meat to his asshole supporters. I am, however, biding my time. I think with Senator Corncob mouldering and cross-dressing Ghoulie a bit too much for the psalm-singing hypocites here, St John may yet reemerge as the leader. Let's see, which will be more fun to pork the Repukkkes here with? We have so much material left from the smearing of McCain in 2000 by the Bush crowd. Maybe we'll start with "McCain, show us your dark-skin baby." Or maybe "St. John, we've heard you're crazy." I just can't wait for it to be McCain's turn.
Hell, who cares. The guy is dead in the water.
McCain traded in the "Straight Talk Express" for the "Forked Tongue Local" a long time ago. He's become an on-again off-again man of integrity, who pimps for Bush when he thinks it will help him and claims the moral high ground when he thinks that will work. He's just another phony-for-sale now.
For my part, I hope we don't get the chance to find out what kind of campaign any Republican will run against Senator Clinton, because I hope the Democrats are not stupid
enough to nominate her for president. I've voted for women for many different offices. Right now my state has two female senators. I've voted for both of them more than once, although my second vote for Cantwell was cast while I held my nose -- her vote for the Iraq war and her justification for that vote stunk. I'd love to vote for a woman for president, but it has to be a woman I'd like to have as a president. And that's not Ms. Clinton. If it's Clinton vs McCain (or any of the Republicans), I may just move to Europe.
“Not only would she sort of humiliate you in front of your colleagues or whoever happened to be around,” Myers said, “Hillary tended to kind of campaign against people behind their back, and that was certainly my experience".
Amused: I will not, under any circumstance, cast my ballot for Hillary Clinton. Her private temper and temperament may well be as vile as Myers would have it (though it's escaped my notice, insofar as her public persona is concerned). My decision, however, has nothing to do with all that.
And as for the "campaigning behind the back" allegation, I'm at sea. That type of behavior is foreign to my nature. That said, I assume every national politician to be that sort of individual. For good and ill, it's the nature of those beasts.
But any person who would put up with that type of face-to-face abuse is someone who deserves all the insult they receive. Of course everyone puts up with a certain amount of BS in their everyday lives. But only shit-eaters make it a steady diet.
LongTooth @ 16:
Agree with you on both points.
Your endless, needle-in-a-haystack style looking for anti-McCain material has convinced me that you are nothing but the leftist version of the idiotically partisan right-wing blogs.It's funny that Mc Cain's detractors can't find anything against him except for his out of character turnabout on Jerry Falwell. That's what they can find out in this honorable man's decades of honest service to the nation. McCain gets mad at times justifiably for ex at the anti-immigrant demagogue Cornyn ( of course you didn't point that part out in your link ). You just misinform your minions here like the right-wing blogs do. For ex if you want the context of the ' bitch ' story read it in the NYT. They'll report. This blog will inform selectively. This man is definitely doing something right that he is hated by extremists on both sides whether it is immigration or the Iraq War. I'll come out in public soon and take you extremists (both on the left and the right) down in a ' civil ' debate. I had expected you people to behave much better than the right-wingers. But no you have to take a page out of their playbook.
Oh and just to let you and the majority of your half-informed commenters know - the very subject of that ' bitch ' remark Hillary Clinton actually thinks highly of McCain and her opinion hasn't changed since this story broke.
"Hillary Clinton actually thinks highly of McCain and her opinion hasn’t changed since this story broke".
If true, my half-informed opinion would be that Hillary lacks a healthy self respect.
And, Lookie, what sources of information do you recommend that will lend themselves to a greater grasp of political realities?
these children in the media like Chris Matthews carry the Mccainian water from dawn til dusk. "like Martin Luther"-Matthews on combover Mccain
To be fair, the media has never been aware that McCain is classless. He's the straight-talking Maverick with the winning personality. It's only since he's fallen out a favor a bit with his own party that this meme has been abandoned. If he keeps it up with the 'bitch' stuff though...why the media may have a few praises left for the old man yet.
Besides, he's still a Republican. What'd you expect our media to do? Call him out? Criticize him? Let's not get ridiculous here. There are lines, after all.
quincy Says:
Who is the woman who asked that question/used that language? How can we contact her?
--------------------------
Yeah. If this was a Dem related issue she'd be outed for sure.
Plus, JMc is a potty mouth too.
Where's the MSM outrage?
The reason he wants to be civil is for self preservation reasons, obviously. If Clinton wins the nomination, she will be the easiest to attack and find dirt on in the Presidential race. For McCain or whichever other criminal the Repubs put in.
How do we beat the "John"?
Here in Arizona I am constantly amazed at the public's ignorance about the ass-hattery of this idiotic man. Nobody can ever name a damn thing he's done for this state, except for that notorious bit of aiding-and-abetting he did for Charles Keating. Yet the maverick label just seems to stick. He's not a maverick; he's a gelding and a nutjob. Anyone who would grovel at George Bush's feet the way McCain has, after the world-class ass-fucking that the lawless Bush organization has given him over the years, well, that person is just fucking crazy. Then to go kiss the ring of that douchebag Jerry Falwell, or Pat Robertson, or whatever lunatic gasbag it was, well, John McCain deserves what he gets. Which is scorn and ridicule. If the voters in Arizona had half a brain, which they don't, they would recall this clown and exile him to Yuma.
Reworded for civility: The question still remains, how do we defeat the bitch?
If anyone has a doubt about what I said in comment # 18 just read this predictable fool's rant in # 26.
If it would have been a racial slur the media would be all over it,people would been up in arms and the victim would score points. But calling a woman that you don't like or oppose for whatever ever reason a "bitch" should be utterly unexectable especially to a man that wants to lead any nation. What is sad is that it was a woman that thew up this insult, I could say that this person was stupid and ignorant but, who knows she could be an accomplised person. I guess if it is acceptatable for McCain really tells me something that SEXISM IS ALIVE AND THRIVING IN THE U.S
I'm not surprised he got caught being a hypocrite. The man has been getting caught for decades.
This is the guy I think of when I hear the term "stuffed shirt". What a sold soul. Again, I almost feel sorry for the guy, but I can't bring myself to feel sorry for somebody who clutches this f*cked up war so close to his heart. He's an idiot....just a different kind of idiot.
We also seemed to have forgotten McCain cracking childish and utterly mean spirited "jokes" about the Clinton's daughter. This would have sunk the career of any other senator, not enjoying the perminant love affair with the press.....
I've heard that McCain has a genuine cruel streak in him. Bush does as well. It doesn't wear well on the "leader" of the free world.
Even, or perhaps, especially, when they are widely recognized as being obtuse as Bush is. But it does seem to be typical characteristic of most repiglicans.
*
"I get the sense most of the most of the media has forgotten how classless McCain really is."
I get the sense that most people forget that Johny McPuffycheeks is the senior repug Sen. of Arizona. This is a state where people think that smooth rocks and a piece of string can be a substitute for a neck tie. This is the state where people regularly EAT rattlesnake. This is the state where people who can't afford to retire in Florida go. This is a state where the sun burned red necks would stake me naked out in the desert for this post. Honestly, what kind of class do you expect him to have?
Lieutenant Commander McCain was a man of honor and distinction. He served his country in a manner that only few of our finest can claim. Sen. McCain also served his country with distinction until he sold his soul to darth and chimpy in 2004. Since then he has been nothing more than a husk of a man. Willing to say and do anything to fulfill his stolen dream of becoming president; Johny McPuffycheeks is now a caricature of everything Lt. Cmd. McCain despised and fought against. Kind of sad.
I dont think he can beat the Bitch!!!!!!!!
From Bohemian Rhapsody, "Any way the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me..."
JustSickOfIt @ 34:
Maybe. I keep thinking of that quote that says, paraphrased, any man can display persistence and be mistaken for having character in the face of adversity. But to discover someone's true character simply give him power . . . or in McCain's case, the taste of it.
John McCain is the man he's always been. He's just never gotten a chance to really show us what kind of cruel bastard he is until now.
You will not find 'McCain' if you search under 'class'.
Try 'crass'. That's what Google will suggest if you search 'McCain/class'
so it was discourteous to HC...and McCain is desperate. So what? Any defense of the war-mongering hypocrite Hillary is sickening. Why don't we assume that Hillary can get past a random "bitch" comment and discuss the real issues.
McCain is proof that chronic lying makes one mentally ill.
Fuck the bastard.
Lookie @ 18:
Iraq.
doug @ 39:
You're completely missing the point of boundaries that should never be crossed once you get to the point of running for the EXECUTIVE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
That boundary is swiftly, and without reservation condemning anyone who calls another sitting member of the UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT a derogatory name.
Would you call bush a bitch? No. He's male. Would you call him a bastard? Yes, but no...because you might be renditioned right the hell out of the country...blacklisted (see dixie chicks and the bridge club) and those didn't even involve name calling.
Why the double standard? IT'S BECAUSE HILLARY CLINTON HAS A VAG. It does not get any clearer than that...I dont' want to hear any "b-bbb-but I'm not a misogynist" BS!
The "progressive" masquerading as such better wake up and soon...you're uninformed on the ways of politics, and if you try to kid yourself that she wouldn't be much better than a republican (at least the current batch) you deserve another 8 years of shit!
What do you expect from a man with an illegitimate black daughter?
mccain had my respect at one point...the moment he sold out to the christian fundies aka nutjobs, pssssht! No freaking way.
He's too old anyways...way too old.
Ann C @ 44:
Wow Ann, I wasn't aware of that?
Either way...whomever the fellow Dems nominate...will get my vote. There is no one on the Dem list that I think could possible screw up the country any worse than it already is.
I may not like them all, but they're the best shot we've got.
I may not like them all, but I've never called them derogatory names. That's what being a P R O G R E S S I V E is all about.
Given his pliance he's demonstrated, maybe McCain did betrayed his country while tortured as a prisoner of the Vietnamese. He certainly acts like a programmed traitor.
Call him what he is: The McCainian Candidate.
When that asshole asked, "How do we beat the bitch?" McCain should have immediately countered with, "Your question -- or rather the way you asked it -- is a good example of everything that is wrong with politics today."
McCain could have taken the high road and demanded others do the same. Waiting a week to say something to that effect doesn't count.
Any Democrat is better than a Republican in '08.
Guess he should not have bastardized the Beach Boys with his baleful diddy- Bomb, Bomb, Bomb- Bomb Bomb Iran!
It finally caught up to him. What a loser!
And the hypocrisy of the republican party continues. This "has been" could not tell that one idiot to go Cheney herself since these were all republicans. Now he is talking about civilty. Screw this idiot!
Crazy Grandpa hasn't dropped out yet? He's barely beating Huckabee. Huckabee!
Josh @ 43:
Josh--I certainly understand that you have a valid point. Powerful women are much more apt to be criticized for their strong qualities than men.
But you also proved my point....
Hilary apologists love to focus on the small offenses while sticking their heads in the sand over her Neo-con voting record. Someone was impolite (McCain) by not denouncing a misogynist remark. Boo fucking hoo for pro-death penalty, pro-war, pro-corporation Hilary Clinton. For me, it's about the forest, not the tiny, bitchy trees.
quincy @ 11:
She's a meaningless wench who plans to get walked over by men and society for the rest of her life. Pity her . . . she's the opposite of a bitch.
Frankly if my choice is between a Democratic Bitch and a Republican Pussy (can't decide what my stand on anything is) like Romney, I know where my vote is going.
McCain is so lousy he wouldn't even make a good Giuliani.
He does make a bad Senator, however.
This is the same John McCain who turned on his good buddy John Kerry when Kerry tried to crack a joke and left a word out. McCain stated that Kerry was deliberately insulting the troops and owed them an apology, when he knew darn well otherwise. Only a scum bag would take such a cheap shot!
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