John McCain's Top 10 Out-of-Touch Moments
By Jon Perr Tuesday May 06, 2008 10:00pm
In another sign of the media's sheepish acceptance of the Barack Obama "elitist" story line, the New York Times on Tuesday described the Illinois Senator as "tagged as elitist." But just as disturbing as the Republicans' apparent success in establishing the "out of touch" narrative as a fixture in campaign coverage is John McCain's seeming inoculation from it.
After all, John McCain isn't merely fabulously well off, courtesy of his wife Cindy's $100 million beer distribution fortune. At almost every turn, the Republican presidential nominee has shown almost a total ignorance of – or yawning disinterest in – the real lives of American voters. From the growing financial hardships of the economic slowdown and the foreclosure crisis to the disintegrating American health care system and the dangers U.S. troops face on the streets on Baghdad, it is John McCain who is truly "out of touch." Yet voters and pundits alike agree that the supposed maverick is treated with kid gloves by the press, an elitist masquerading as a man of the people.
Here, then, are John McCain's Top 10 "Out-of-Touch" Moments:
1. Economic downturn is "psychological." Having on multiple occasions admitted his limited understanding of the economy, Senator McCain instead turned armchair psychologist to diagnose the U.S economic slowdown. In April, McCain told Fox News' Neil Cavuto that "a lot of our problems today, as you know, are psychological." Apparently, four months of job losses, oil at $120 a barrel, record gas prices at the pump, 47 million uninsured and a devastating home foreclosure crisis are merely figments of Americans' imaginations.
2. "Great progress economically" during the Bush years. If Americans' financial woes are all in their heads, John McCain's assessment of George W. Bush's economic leadership is pure hallucination. Asked by Bloomberg's Peter Cook on April 17 if Americans would say they are better off today "than before George Bush took office more than seven years ago," McCain replied:
"I think if you look at the overall record and millions of jobs have been created, et cetera, et cetera, you could make an argument that there's been great progress economically over that period of time."
Mugged by reality, McCain's firm response to the classic Ronald Reagan question ("are you better off now?") lasted exactly 24 hours. The next day on April 18, the so-called maverick acknowledged Americans are "hurting badly" and concluded, "Americans are not better off than they were eight years ago."
3. eBay is the answer for poverty and recession. During his so-called "Forgotten Places" tour last month, John McCain offered the people of the economically devastated regions in Martin County, Kentucky and Youngstown, Ohio a path out of financial desperation: eBay. "Today, for example," McCain said, "1.3 million people in the world make a living off eBay, most of those are in the United State of America." If that sounds like something McCain's national campaign co-chair and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman might say, it's because she did. In March, she told Lesley Stahl on 60 Minutes, "We have about - around the world, about 1.3 million people make most, if not all, of their living selling on eBay." (It should come as no surprise that President Bush, too, extolled the virtues of Americans' economic futures as sellers on eBay.)
4. "Tear down" New Orleans? McCain kicked off his tour in New Orleans, where he lambasted George W. Bush's handling of the Katrina disaster. (As it turns out, McCain's criticism was choreographed with the White House as part of a coordinated effort to create the facade of distance between McCain and President Bush.) There, McCain would not commit to the future of the city's devastated 9th ward:
"That's why we need to go back to have a conversation about what to do about it. Rebuild it? Tear it down? Ya know, whatever it is."
Just three days later, McCain claimed selective amnesia about his New Orleans comments, saying, "I don’t remember ever saying it." Perhaps John McCain remembers celebrating his 69th birthday with President Bush on August 29, 2005, just as Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore.
5. Irresponsible, undeserving homeowners. In his widely panned March 25th address on the economy, John McCain essentially blamed American homeowners teetering on the brink of foreclosure for their plight, insisting "any assistance must be temporary and must not reward people who were irresponsible at the expense of those who weren't." Facing a backlash, McCain just two weeks later on April 11 rolled out new proposals, claiming his "priority number one is to keep well meaning, deserving home owners who are facing foreclosure in their homes." As the New York Times concluded:
In both tone and substance, Mr. McCain's remarks were something of a departure from a speech the senator delivered last month in California in which he warned that "it is not the duty of government to bail out and reward those who act irresponsibly, whether they are big banks or small borrowers."
6. Work a second job, skip a vacation. In that same March 25, 2008 speech, the Republican nominee made it clear that selling Barbie dolls or Hummel figurines on eBay isn't John McCain's only prescription for Americans facing economic difficulties. The other? Just work harder. McCain encouraged Americans to emulate the 51 million homeowners "doing what is necessary -- working a second job, skipping a vacation, and managing their budgets -- to make their payments on time."
7. "Protect the privacy" of Cindy McCain's tax returns. Asking cash-strapped, over-worked Americans to labor harder is easy to say for John McCain. After all, his beer heiress second wife Cindy has a fortune estimated at $100 million, more than enough to provide the candidate with private jets and still fund the McCain's 8 homes and the charitable contributions funneled to the elite private schools attended by their children.
But asking John McCain to release his wife's tax return is another matter. His campaign claims, "Cindy McCain will not release her tax returns to protect the privacy of her four children; details of their wealth are included in her filing." Of course, in 2004, then RNC chairman and current Bush counselor Ed Gillespie insisted that the content of Theresa Heinz Kerry's tax filings was "a legitimate question." By a whopping 64% to 22% margin, Americans believe that John McCain should make public his wife's tax information.
8. Opposed to SCHIP expansion, McCain speaks at children's hospital. Last October, John McCain joined George W. Bush in opposing the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), calling Bush's veto a "right call by the president." Of course, that didn't stop McCain from rolling out his health care proposals last week at Miami Children's Hospital, a Florida medical institution which last fall publicly supported the S-CHIP expansion he opposed. In a further irony, while McCain decried "new mandates and government regulation," 9 year-old Jake Bernard who was spotlighted at the event received treatment for his cleft palate thanks to a statute passed by the state of Florida. So much for McCain's pledge to "work to eliminate the worries over the availability and cost of health care."
9. Baghdad safer than some American neighborhoods. John McCain's isn't merely out of touch when it comes to Americans' real lives at home. He is consistently nonchalant about the dangers – and casualties – U.S. troops face in Iraq.
Wearing a bulletproof vest and guarded by "100 American soldiers, with three Blackhawk helicopters, and two Apache gunships overhead," McCain on April Fool's Day 2007 briefly toured a Baghdad market to demonstrate that the American people were "not getting the full picture."
McCain recently claimed that there "are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods, today." In a press conference after his Baghdad tour, McCain told a reporter that his visit to the market today was proof that you could indeed "walk freely" in some areas of Baghdad.
In March 2008, Senator McCain returned to a tried and untrue Republican talking point: Iraq is no more dangerous than most major American cities. McCain announced, "There's problems in America with safe neighborhoods as we well know." In this case, at least, even McCain realized his statement was nonsensical on its face and sounded the retreat. "I'm not making that comparison, because it's much more deadly in Iraq obviously," he said, adding, "But it's kind of the same theory." Apparently, McCain's theory applies whether the United States maintains a permanent military presence in Iraq for 100, 1000 or even a million years.
10. "I'm not running on the Bush presidency." On April 1, 2008, John McCain offered Americans another April Fool's joke, proclaiming "I'm not running on the Bush presidency." McCain might want to check his campaign's position papers. After all, in his eternal quest for the Republican nomination, McCain has adopted virtually the entire Bush agenda, often reversing long held positions and compromising supposed core principles. From Iraq, tax cuts for the wealthy, broken promises on the deficit to opposition to SCHIP, tax credits for health care, overturning Roe v. Wade and a right-wing Supreme Court, John McCain represents a third Bush term. It's no wonder Mr. Straight Talk said in February:
"I would be proud to have President Bush campaign with me and support me in any way that he feels is appropriate. And I would appreciate it."
So would we.
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That McPapen is serious at all as a candidate says far more about the average American than the pages and pages of scholarship do. And I like scholarship like that.
Only ten? There are certainly many more out-of-touch moments than 10. Ten times that amount at the least. He is more out of touch with every sentence he utters.
Oh, the TOP ten. Never mind. Carry on.
One has to wonder how many of these moments you had to go through to get it down to 10.
I don't know if I could manage that much mind numbing stupidity. I'd have been banging my head on my desk to the point of massive concussion.
The American electorate seem vastly amused at these shortfalls, but people from the rest of the world ask "Is this the best out of 300 million people that the Republican party can nominate for themselves? After the Bush fiasco, you'd think they would be more careful, so clearly they deserve to have their country implode".
"an elitist masquerading as a man of the people" humm, that reminds me of someone else, let's see, don't tell me.....
After the first debate between McCain and Obama the Republicans will be trying to figure out how to put together another convention and select another candidate before the election.
MsJoanne @ 3:
Well get ready for 6 more months of this crap.And if,indeed, the fix is on as many believe; it looks like at least another four years of this until the Revolution.
yesyesyes @ 5:
Bill Kristol? George Will?
Certainly not Rush Limbaugh!
his no. 1 out-of-touch moment was when he got his dumb @$$ shot down on a bombing run.
no. 2 was the keating scandal, no. 3 was going to bed with his lobbyists, no. 4 was calling his wife a c*nt, no. 5 was thinking no one would notice the foul stench of his soiled diapers.
sully18 @ 7:
We will be lucky if it's only 6 more months. Bush has so many executive orders in place that he could easily crown himself King George the Despot of America far too easily.
Add House Directive 51 on top of that and repeat after me: We. Are. Screwed.
I keep waiting for that thing that lives in his face to explode. What the heck is that? A chaw of tobacco? A rat that he just chewed the head off from? An extra set of dentures just in case? Gdub's penis?
How 'bout when McCain Confused Shia with Chia Pets
just keep blasting the truth out!
You should have included the union meeting where, under pressure about his immigration plan, he offered the audience $50.00 an hour to pick lettuce in Arizona. When several members had taken him up on the offer, he said, "You can't do it, my friends," implying that American workers are more wimpy than Mexican immigrants. GRRRR.
Wow, I thought Bush was a train wreck. If this guy gets in,were screwed.
Maybe somebody could photoshop that pic so he is sticking his tongue in his cheek, simulating a certain oral sex act. Now that shit would be funny. Disturbing, but definitely funny
Reagan
.........Reagan
...................Bush
.........................Clinton
..................................Clinton
...........................................Bush
.................................................Bush
.......................................................McCain?
Descending the staircase into complete despotism.
If a maverick is someone who doesn't give a flying fuck about the public, then he's a maverick.
Chris F. @ 16:
PS Hagee's junk in there maybe.
xoites (Bitter before Country was Cool) defends Constitution @ 17:
we're already there, xoites
BaScOmBe against Bitter Elitist Bullshit @ 20:
It can get worse.
Cantor de Mambo @ 18:
a maverick is a lost steer. I think that describes him a bit better - lost.
This stuff should be a big part of Obama and Dem ads. Those ads should start immediately if not a month ago!
lj @ 23:
I disagree.
Obama should continue to attempt to bring the country together. His message has been to include everyone.
The debates between Obama and McCain will bring McCain down. That is all we need to see happen.
xoites (Bitter before Country was Cool) defends Constitution @ 21:
It is getting worse and more obviously so.
oil @ $123.+
money is being printed at a rate equivalent to 28% inflation
they are trying to cripple the country before the election.
BaScOmBe against Bitter Elitist Bullshit @ 25:
By the time the elections take place either the Republicans will be voted out of office or the Corporate Media will blame the depression on the Democrats who opposed the "Gas Tax Holiday" and it will be all their fault.
xoites (Bitter before Country was Cool) defends Constitution @ 24:
OK point, but remember that the last two "gentlemen" Gore and Kerry didn't counter Repub attacks, dirty tricks, Swiftboating etc. and look where they are. Mainly, I want to point out that the Dems should have had a candidate by now.
Since a recession is defined as negative GDP two quarters in a row and we had .6% growth its not fair to say we are in a recession..
John McCain is wrong for the USA because he is a REPUBLICAN. They shoved Bush on us, who is the worst president ever, and don't deserve to keep the WH for another 4 to 8 years. The GOP has failed the American people. They can only go so long to keep scaring and whipping up the electoral masses (those who don't use their God-given minds). Now most of the people are onto you, GOP. McCain is not right. Not right now.
8 houses, eh? Even here in elite San Francisco that's a head turner. Perhaps a campaign ad just showing those eight houses and identifying them as his could get the 'elitist' monkey off Obama's back for a while.
I want to see a photo of Hillary's 'handsome brick two story' childhood home from her hardscabble hometown of Park Ridge.
Keep repeating:
1.) Multi-millionaire heiress Cindy McCain
2.) eight homes
3.) Bush's ((and McCain's) Base: "The haves and have-mores"
4.) Ditched his first wife for multi-millionaire heiress trophy wife
5.) Pander Bear
6.) flippity flop ________ (pick your issue)
7.) government sponsored health care his entire life
8.) Accompanied by his daughter, Cindy-- excuse me- wife Cindy
9.) remind me, Mr. McCain, Falwell/roberts/hagee/parsley/bobjones are they good or bad for America?
Cheers,
I've been calling this buffoon Grampa Simpson, but perhaps Mr. Burns is a more appropriate comparison.
The MSM needs to look in to McCain's first wife and his dumping her after she was in a terrible auto accident. She was thrown through the windshield, disfigured and lost 4-inches in height due to multiple operations. What did John do? Well, you decide if he honored that wedding vow of "In sickness and health"? Chases after a not disfigured, 15-yr. younger multimillionaire lady, does the adultery thing, dumps Carol McCain and marries Cindy one-month later. He definitely fits in to the fake Family Values Party.
John Kerry was always tagged with Theresa Heinz's fortune, why doesn't the Corporate media mention Cindy McCain's Beer fortune? Oh never mind... answered my own question.
mccain is the nominee because he is the best the republicans can come up with. they've scraped the bottom of the semi-plausible barrel and there's nothing in the bucket.
i can only hope that he is choked with self-loathing.
BaScOmBe against Bitter Elitist Bullshit @ 25:
Who is responsible for this printing of money?
Isn't that on behalf of congress done?
How about when he recently said that women don't need a law requiring equal pay, they just need, you know, education and training. That's right, Maverick John. It's not that discrimination exists in the workplace. It's just that us womenfolk are dumb, uneducated and unskilled. Imagine if Barack Obama had said the exact same thing, then imagine how the media would have responded.
My God and this is from the last few years... I'm sure he has TONs of additional moments from the past.
I'm old enough to remember when the Repubs got it. Now they've become the apologists for the Bush administration and represent the CEO's of the country. Unfortunately for them we get one vote each regardless and they have to convince that what's good for corporate America is good for the rest of us.
Every time we mention "McCain," we should include "Bush." Let's simply associate him with the Worst president ever, as he himself is so eager to do. That'd be more effective than any nuanced arguments about who is or isn't elitist or out of touch.
McLame is constantly saying that the solution to the job crisis in this country is to re-train and re-educate our work force to do different jobs. Maybe he just wants to buy everyone a "How to get rich selling on eBay" CD-ROM?
But, if you really want to see out of touch, read his tax plan... a few of his proposals:
Reduce the Federal corporate tax from 35% to 25%
Eliminate the AMT
Gas tax holiday
Doubling the exemption for dependents
Eliminate estate tax
Maintain current capital gains rates
Prohibit additional Internet and Cell Phone Taxes (Meg Whitman loves that one!)
All this in the face of a massive deficit and an on-going war (which if he were elected would be sure to last at least a decade more). Will anybody ask him to do the math on that one? How are you going to pay for your war, Senator McCain?
Man, all the Dems have to do is run his "moments" and then show his decrepit, lumpy finger inching toward The Button.
Am I the only one who notices the resemblance between McCain and late life photos of Charlie Chaplin? Not sure what the parallel is here except, perhaps, that's where McCain gets the idea that he's "funny"...yet another example of his being out of touch with REALITY!!!
The 'corporate media' is just basically cable news because no one reads newspapers anymore and the networks have completely whored themselves out to 'reality' shows.
Blogs and other internet channels are the main way most people get their news nowadays. Sure it's also biased, but it's also a very easy to find differing perspectives.
This means that the MSM no longer has a stranglehold on public opinion. They have some, but nearly what they used to have.
Republicans still rely on this ol' reliable network to spread their propaganda, but it's just not sticking as much as it used to.
The GOP demise is parallelled by the demise of the media behemoths. No accident there.
Bugs @ 40:
I agree and maybe we can expand McSame to "McSame(as Bush)" to make it even clearer.
Uh...excuse me, Mr. Mel Torme, you forgot your microphone.
xoites (Bitter before Country was Cool) defends Constitution @ 24:
You mean like, when Kerry's triple *ss kicking of Preznit stumble-mumbles sealed the election for the Dem ticket in '04? One thing's for sure, waiting until the debates to take these guys on would be a huge mistake.
I think Republicans have demonstrated the limitations of pure capitalism, and the price of American exceptionalism. The depths of their indifference to the plight of fellow Americans, and abscense of empathy these right wingers possess borders on psychosis.
Europe is passing us by, in regards to civil liberties and economic success-yet the right wraps themselves in a cocoon of ignorance inside a flag....I wonder how long it will be before the US decides the way to deal with an economically successful European Union is through military invasion?
I don't know why the right wing paints McCain as a liberal, as he is as far right as Bush, and cares only about appealing to the neo fascist Christian right wing....
bullfrog @ 9:
#2 - was singing like a bird to avoid torture
#3 - was increasing shoot downs by 60% - he sang big time
#4 - was making volumes of anti-American propaganda videos
#5 - was voting AGAINST POW interests
#6 - was calling his millionaire wife a c*nt - that's just stupid
#7 - was the keating scandal
#8 - was the lobbyist - deflected well
#9 - was hugging Bush like his bitch - an accurate depiction
#10 - is flip-flopping 10x worse than Kerry ever did.
That guy really looks tired. He's just too old. Just show video of Obama playing basketball shirtless and then show McWar in any one of his many decrepit, feeble, geriatric moments.
Anyone know why the media doesn't go after Hillary's $11.5 million loan to her campaign and how much more loot has she got stashed away?But it's A-OK to go after Obama's spit in the bucket wealth!
McCain will win in November because the average blue collar
worker is a dumb-ass & will vote against their best interests.
They watch the boneheads on Fox & love right wing radio.
I know this is not a popular thought but it's true. W is the
president because of working class dopes. Case closed.
Never, ever forget that John McCain is the son and grandson of Naval admirals, who is married to a woman who is a multi, multi-millionaire. He went to the Naval Academy on the same preferential program that got George Bush the younger into Yale...the Daddy Program. There, he did even more poorly than old George did at Yale. That probably reflects the honor program at the academy. It's harder to get someone to do your work for you at Annapolis than it is at Yale. Consequently, he graduated 5th from the bottom of his class.
The only friends and associates he has are from the elitist upper class and his lobbyist friends. To think that he would be other than out-of-touch with the average American's financial problems is ludicrous.
His answers on the financial woes of this country all reflect a man who has never had to worry about feeding a family or making a house payment.
This is the guy who wants to label Obama an elitist? Someone needs to buy him a dictionary.
Can someone please tell me why a man of "family values" committing adulturery and then dumping his wife for said younger and richer model isn't near the top of the top 10?
Did anyone see Mrs. McCain on the Today show this morning. All I can think of is that someone deprived Cindy of her beloved Barbie doll at too you an age. Or her plastic surgeon loves dear Barbie.
The contract works only to make her husband look older.
That's her Barbie doll at too YOUNG an age and the CONTRAST works only to make her husband look older. If I'm going to be bitchy, I should, at least, spell properly.
I felt obligated to respond to the most clearly incorrect, exaggerated or out of context comments
1) By definition, economic downturns are "psychological" so McCain is not wrong, out of touch or showing a "limited understanding of economics." There are three big problems right now - consumer confidence (people are afraid to spend their money), employment (companies are afraid to hire more), and credit crisis (banks are afraid to lend). All of those are unquestionably psychological factors.
Beyond refuting what you actually wrote though, what I assume you intended to say (that the psychology behind these problems is deserved by underlying economic weakness and thats what Mac doesn't get) has some deep flaws and legitimate counter-arguments. The doom-and-gloom-disaster-sky-is-falling current state of affairs is as follows: 95% employment (5% unemployment rate is lower by the way than the Democrat-viewed "glory days" of the 1990's), debt that is among the lowest in the world in relation to GDP and interest rates on that debt that are near historic lows, the Dow near historic highs at about 13k (affecting pensions for the middle class)... and of course, in the middle of a "crisis of epic proportions"... last quarter GDP still managed to grow. With what some people termed a perfect storm of events, we still grew. There are a lot of troubles, which Mac says (and by the way the authors "figments of Americans imaginations" line is directly refuted by his own NEXT point when he quotes McCain saying there's no doubt Americans are hurting badly) and a lot of reforms need to be enacted. McCain has been clear on the need for change repeatedly. But I believe its a fair point to make that this sky is falling attitude being perpetuated in the media and affecting the psychologically based problems of our economy, is a bit exaggerated.
3) Regarding eBay, why is presenting a choice/option to people a problem? It would be a problem if the Senator said eBay was his only solution. It would be a problem if it was his main solution. But this is simply one option he presents. You seem quite "out of touch" if you doesn't understand that Americans by nature like having choices.
4) Why is someone accepting a cake for their 69th birthday connected to their policies for Katrina? Seems like a non-sequitur.
9) "Consistently non-chalant about the dangers - and casualties - US troops face." Beyond the lack of class in saying that about a veteran who faced 5 1/2 years of torture after being shot down serving his country, McCain's speech at the World Affairs Council in LA last month eloquently and clearly refutes the authors claim:
"When I was five years old, a car pulled up in front of our house in New London, Connecticut, and a Navy officer rolled down the window, and shouted at my father that the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. My father immediately left for the submarine base where he was stationed. I rarely saw him again for four years. My grandfather, who commanded the fast carrier task force under Admiral Halsey, came home from the war exhausted from the burdens he had borne, and died the next day. In Vietnam, where I formed the closest friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home to the country they loved so well. I detest war. It might not be the worst thing to befall human beings, but it is wretched beyond all description. When nations seek to resolve their differences by force of arms, a million tragedies ensue. The lives of a nation's finest patriots are sacrificed. Innocent people suffer and die. Commerce is disrupted; economies are damaged; strategic interests shielded by years of patient statecraft are endangered as the exigencies of war and diplomacy conflict. Not the valor with which it is fought nor the nobility of the cause it serves, can glorify war. Whatever gains are secured, it is loss the veteran remembers most keenly. Only a fool or a fraud sentimentalizes the merciless reality of war. However heady the appeal of a call to arms, however just the cause, we should still shed a tear for all that is lost when war claims its wages from us." http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/mccain_addresses_the_l...
10) This Bush third term stuff might sound good but its disingenuous and you know it. McCain is and has always been very active in combatting climate change. His name is on campaign finance reform laws. He consistently disagreed with how Bush executed the war until Bush finally relented, firing Rumsfeld as Mac had demanded and employing a new strategy. He disagreed on torture. He has a proven track record (ehem... Obama) of bipartisanship.
Just like Senator Obama, Senator McCain has his weaknesses. I just believe this article did a very poor job of exploiting those.
You missed the most frequent of his "out of touch moments" - every time he utters the words - "my friends" when addressing US citizens....
Ok,
How to respond to post 57? Let's see...
1. Economic downturns not just "psychological". They have real effects in the real world. People are have problems finding or holding on to jobs, prices are up in important indicators like food limiting discretionary spending. This is not something that is a figment of peoples imaginations, this is real.
2. While E-Bay has helped a limited number of people, it can't take the place of real jobs with more steady wages. Remember E-Bay is an electronic auction house. If you don't have anything of value, or can't get anything of value to sell online you are SOL. Not to mention the fact that there is no health insurance unless the seller buys his own.
More later, I have to go to work.
See Ya!
Colin #57:
I must ask why, considering McCain was a POW for five years would he be for torture (before he was against it)? What clear thinking compassionate person would advocate toture? Why doesn't he support taking care of our returning vets? What about his dumping his injured wife for a rich younger one, one MONTH later? And the rich wife (which was a HUGE issue to rethugs regarding Kerry) and eight homes? And he has the nerve to call Obama "elitist"? GMAB. And he has voted with Bush's polices on almost everything. Why not compare him w/Bush? How is he going to magically lower taxes and start another war? How is this going to be paid for? With Afganastan and the illegal invasion of Iraq, we are already in the red ( In Iraq alone we are spending $5000 per SECOND). There's lots and lots more. Funny, you didn't address any of these issues.
Kelvin Phillips @ 59:
In response to #57, McCain is clueless. He has slipped so much since this began that I am aghast. No man who is 72 years of age should be President of the United States.
And, most sadly of all, he is willing to sell out to every right wing fantasy out there. Good luck selling that to the average American after the last 7 years.
in response to #57
The economy is NOT physcological. It is very real. And what the f*ck is this about getting a second job? My 64 yr old husband works two jobs and still we are below federal poverty level. I am handicapped, trying desperatly to get social security, in the meantime hoping and praying that someone will give me a job. But, when your health is bad, nobody wants you. Even with all the tax breaks that they give to the corps. for hiring the handicaped. Get real and get your facts straight. With unemployment well over 5%, you are still cut off after 26 weeks. Believe you me, it is no picnic. We used to be middle class, 25 years ago. As a matter of fact, we haven't had a vacation in 25 years. Thats corporate America for you. Or should I say our goverment in action being run by corporatr America. My advice to you is to read McShames platform from 2000 when he was moderate, then read his platform that is now, 2008. Maybe you will see how he has turned his back on American voters.
JoGoBamma(formerly Jo) @ 11:
I asked that question in another thread yesterday, and an astute commenter noted that indeed, it is G-dub's penis, therefore, it is true. ;)
You forgot to mention that, when he was walking around Baghdad, he also said, "Gen. Patraeus rides around in an unamoured Humvee." The market he visited that day was bombed the next week. I don't know if he's lying, or he's got old-timers and just forgets.
Colin Smith @ 57:
Your A does not imply or have any connection to B. And in fact you are willfully blind to the biggest, most obvious problem of all: MOST PEOPLE SIMPLY DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO SPEND. That's why they're "afraid" to spend it - THEY HAVEN'T GOT IT. Anyone who doesn't understand THAT factor IS wrong, out of touch, and knows NOTHING about economics. That goes for both McCain - and you.
It's pure pie in the sky fantasy for most people, and McCain either knows it or ought to. So should you. What do you do if you have nothing to sell, or nothing that any one else wants to or can afford to buy? Starve?
John McCain's 69th birthday was August 29th, 2005. He and George Bush were hanging out together eating birthday cake while a hurricane was roaring ashore on the Gulf Coast. Bush took days to show up for a totally staged and ANTI-helpful (it was actually obstructive) photo-op at New Orleans, while McCain never showed his nose until this primary season. It's not a non-sequitur, it's a combination of arrogance and total indifference. And the most offensive part of it isn't eating cake with a man he by rights ought to loathe, despise and shun after the utterly despicable things that man said of his family in 2000 - it's the cavalier bullhockey about how to "solve" the problem ("rebuild, tear it down, whatever").
Words are cheap. Saying it's all right to have a US military presence in Iraq for 100 years is holding our soldiers' lives cheap. McCain has both feet shoved so far in his mouth they're coming out his backside. And he doesn't even notice.
Blah blah blah. It doesn't matter what McCain said or stood for ten years ago - what matters is what he stands for NOW. And what he stands for NOW is more of the same insane bullhockey that is destroying this once-great country. He NOW stands for more military adventuring overseas, for more torture, for more shredding of the Constitution, for more erosion of civil rights for everyone except the very very rich (of which he is one), for twisting and breaking the very campaign finance laws he promoted, etc. etc. etc. All he stands for NOW is four more years of Bushit.
Hi Folks!
To continue:
4. The point was being made that McCain has a habit of saying one thing then changing his mind once what he originally says gets him in trouble. The birthday reference was made to point out the fact that instead of being concerned about a hurricane striking a major American city, he and President Bush gave the appearance of being unconcerned at a party. It was not a "non-sequitur".
5. Simply being a war hero from a past war does not give one a pass on making questionable statements and judgements. McCain made his "Baghdad comment" while being heavy protected. Days afterward, gunmen struck at the very marketplace he called "safe". Lives were lost, damage incurred. All I have to say is, I would love to see McCain make that same statement by himself without a vest, a hundred troopers, or helicopters.
More later
See Ya!
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