More rampant soldier-hating among the crazy left.
For the record, here’s what I see is going on. Every campaign naturally follows the character of the guy in charge. John McCain has an insanely thin skin; whether it’s post traumatic stress disorder or because he’s naturally like that, even McCain’s Republican colleagues dread the thought of him near the nuclear trigger. I have a feeling that McCain saw the version of the interview that was dishonestly spliced together by FOX to make it look like Clark was saying more than he was and freaked out in typical McCain fashion.
The GOP ran with it mostly because it’s good politics to get outraged over something at least once a week. However, there’s something deeper at work as well. Note this bit from a Kevin Drum post:
Blog readers seem to exhibit strong homophily. That is to say, they overwhelmingly choose blogs that are written by people who are roughly in accordance with their political views. Left wingers read left wing blogs, right wingers read right wing blogs, and very few people read both left wing and right wing blogs. Those few people who read both left wing and right wing blogs are considerably more likely to be left wing themselves; interpret this as you like.
In other words, it’s almost impossible for rightwingers to read leftwing blogs. The message is pretty obvious, but I’ll belabor it anyway: modern conservatism either makes people amazingly sensitive to criticism or it preferentially attracts people who already are (nature vs. nurture? discuss.). The idea certainly fits with sociology studies linking conservatives with whiny kids who crave certainty and the comfort of authority. Bleeding heart liberals, environmentalists, peace activists and non-wealthy black people come in for plenty of abuse at the hands of big evil Hollywood and yet I somehow find myself able to sit through a movie without feeling compelled to write a five thousand word post defending my precious way of life against every hack writer.
It’s hardly possible to illustrate my point better than John McCain sending original swift boater Bud Day to tear his shirt and cry about Wesley Clark.
In other words, McCain and his party demand be protection against the kind of criticism that they throw at everyone else. It’s even funnier to see how the criticism that drives them into hysterics is comically weak tea compared to the kind of stuff that attack-mode conservatives, swifties, and angry-mode John McCain regularly dish out.
LarryB
OT: Wow, John, you netted 2 consecutive links from the GOS this morning. Swoosh! (gong).
calipygian
Have any Democratic operatives gone to the archives in Hanoi looking for the film that McCain allegedly made while he was in captivity?
You know Karl Rove would be looking for it were the shoe on the other foot.
Hell, he may have gone looking for it in 2000 when McCain was kicking Bush’s ass in the primaries.
LarryB
P.S. And you have the crappy server response to prove it, too! :)
Cols714
That picture should be sent to reporters to show what Republicans think of military service when done by Democrats.
BFR
Is Bud Day like 3 feet tall or something?
dr. luba
Silly rabbit, IOKIYAR!!!!!
And Republicans are by definition the most patriotic of all Americans–and have the lapel pins and magnetic yellow ribbons to prove it. (Especially the chickenhawks!)
……on another note, I was a bit non-plussed when two of my daily bogs disappeared this morning–Balloon Juice and Pottersville. You all are back (technical difficulties?), but Jurassic Pork appears to have been completely removed from blogger. Anyone know what happened?
RSA
Oh my God, it’s Bud Day! Let’s get drunk!
Zifnab
Or it could simply be used as further proof that the Republican party is composed of hideous looking old people.
Jack H.
That photo is the perfect response to the hyperventilating media. As Clipygian points out above, if McCain were on the left can you imagine the crap that would be circulating?
This ‘scandal’ is like a political Rorschach test. It shows almost the entire media to be on the right. Maybe they’re just showing how protective they are of their baby McCain. Oh yea, Sully’s still an idiot despite being right about the Clinton’s.
rawshark
If you give people access to all the information they will choose what’s best for them. Therefore the right only provides information that suits the conclusion they prefer and they give you reasons not to take in any other information. Why would you read lefty blogs if everything you need and nothing you are told to avoid is all in one place?
Joshua Norton
2 words. Max Cleland.
nightjar
Yep. If the original Swiftboaters were working for Obama, we would be hearing things like:
MCcain was never at the Hanoi Hilton, that he actually captured himself and held himself captive for 5 years. And doctored all the Navy paperwork to cover up his lies. And that torture injuries stuff, well that happened when Johnnie fell of a bar stool one night in Manila.
El Cid
The righties demand that they have the exclusive aurhotity to label everyone else society-destroying, family-hating, terrorist-loving surrender-monkey cowards, and in exchange they grant the recipients of those labels the right to grovelingly accept such charges.
Republicans will be considered the exclusive arbiters of the basic definitions of patriotism, Americanism, national security policies, economic insights, and anything else important, and Democrats at best may request to dissent technically while agreeing on all the basics.
Any refusal to accept such labeling, and any attempt to speak clearly and — heaven forfend — brusquely against those charges, will be met by horrified screams and outrage.
Luckily for them, most of the time Democrats seek to honor that unspoken agreement desired by the right.
People who don’t want to honor that system are then considered to be wild extreme fringe ultra-left dirty freaking hippies who need to realize that now / in 2 years’ time / at any given time there is an election coming up and please be quiet with your wild-eyed crazy person dissent which is not anywhere near where they consider the center to be.
The Grand Panjandrum
Bud Day sounds like a rastafarian holiday to celebrate dope smoking.
Fuck McCain. Here is the REAL John McCain:
Equal parts womanizing opportunist and war hero.
That “my friends” speech mannerism of his is even more irritating when you take the above into consideration. John McCain and Republicans can kiss my lily white ass.
Punchy
I know for a fact that McCain shot his own plane down in ‘Nam, just to get that coveted POW status and the medals that came with it.
Tsulagi
Oh fuck! Is he suggesting I could have latent homophily?
And on top of that now learn I’m left wing? Just shoot me now.
ThymeZone
It’s a hunch, I have no empirical support for it right now, but listening to the churn on CNN, FOX and XM POTUS channels, I am guesstimating that on balance this Clark thing is working better for Obama than it is for McCain right now.
The bottom line here is not about Clark, or McCain’s crashed planes or POW experience … it’s about the fact that we are actually allowed to question McCain’s qualifications for the job he seeks, and to challenge the idea that his service is the basis for that qualification. That is a legitimate question, and the incident has exposed that question.
And an objective examination of that question does not return an answer favorable to McCain, and McCain knows this, and that’s the reason for the Hey How Dare You response you are seeing here.
Which is fine. I think it causes people to think about what it is that they really want in a candidate, and when they ask that question and look at the choices, we win.
So, let the churn mills churn. Let McCain be exposed for the fake that he is. Fine with me.
Any time you hear the dogs on the right barking really loud, it’s because they are trying to drown out something else. They want to distract you.
Dr. Squid
Bud Day looks like Cotton Hill in that picture.
And that purple bandaid wearer still has the most awesomely bad dentures ever.
The Grand Panjandrum
— Barack Obama, Independence, Missouri
The link is to Obama speech on patriotism. Don’t worry about Obama nobody is going to fuck with him on the patriotism issue. That quote is the first shot across the bow of the Right Wing. If you have not watched the speech, it is 28 minutes of good shit. It is well worth your time.
ThymeZone
Wow, who knew?
Gregory
Or for right-wing blogs to allow
censoredunmoderated comments sections.ThymeZone
I’ve posted a link about three times so far, and I have heard the speech in its entirety about three times so far.
It’s the best speech this year in a year of great speeches, I think. It’s clear, it’s relevant, it’s thoughtful, and it absolutely takes patriotism attacks off the table for this election cycle. It’s leadership, in a word, and it’s exactly what McCain cannot provide because his whole approach to the matter is the opposite of Obama’s. Barack’s approach is about what is good for the country, while McCain’s approach is about … well, you know.
Obama praises McCain’s service, and then proceeds to demonstrate that he, Obama, is the guy who really understands what Patriotism is about without taking anything away from McCain.
This is why McCain is yelling about Clark, he knows he has been pwned.
Ninerdave
God that picture of that idiot with the band-aid galls me.
Is it just me or do others want to reach through the computer and backhand her when they see that.
Adam
I know John loathes Wes Clark, but the petition to him over at VoteVets does explain exactly how McCain is wrong and Clark is right on this.
Here.
Tsulagi
Yeah, right. In which transcendental universe?
Obama’s actions on FISA and Clark tell me far more about Obama than his words in xxx-number of transcendy speeches.
El Cid
CNN, 2004:
rerun
excerpt from a CNN article in 2004
cleek
mmm. they’ve been fucking with him for a year now. he’s a radical Muslim, black-power, manchurian candidate with an anti-American wife – doncha know.
SpotWeld
Is it just me, or are right-wing bloggers perfectly willing to make a mockery of the military and it’s traditions when it suits them (the purple heart band-aids), but go totally bug-nuts when a possible “liberal” might be doing anything less then absolute flag worship (remember that flap when a judge on So you Think You Can Dance had a reversed Marine emblem on her jacket?)
rerun
ummm, jinx
Bill Arnold
After he came home, Carol walked with a limp. So he threw her over for a poster girl with big money from Arizona.
The true story, according to a friend from AZ, is that she walked with a limp, and had gained weight.
El Cid
I’m not buying you a Coke, or Pepsi, or whatever that commercial was.
calipygian
Michelle Malkin sez: Kerry shot himself
Michelle Malkin loves her some troops, yes indeed!
Rick Massimo
Does John McCain know that if he is elected president, Ahmadinejad, the al Qaeda crew and all those scary scary people he keeps telling us about REALLY WILL insult and demean him? And even if Bud Day and Orson Swindle whine to Andrea Mitchell all day long, they won’t stop?
Fledermaus
That really was the icing on the cake.
PeterJ
If it’s ok to argue that Clark’s record isn’t stellar, then I guess it’s ok to talk about McCain’s not so stellar military career.
BTW, if he was a democrat, then we would hear a lot more about the USS Forrestal fire.
JoyceH
It’s not just being thin-skinned. The McCain campaign doesn’t dare let the media start absorbing the concept that five years in a prison cell forty years ago doesn’t automatically make one the most qualified person available to be president. They don’t dare let that thought take hold – BECAUSE THAT’S ALL THEY HAVE.
What else are they going to run on? McCain’s record? He’s betrayed every principle he ever believed in exchange for his party’s nomination. His life story? But that would include the 35 years (half his life!) AFTER he was released from prison. It would include dumping Carol, marrying the young heiress, Keating, wife’s drug thefts from charities and getting a cushy skate ‘sentence’ for it, on and on.
Or run on his expertise? Heh!
El Cid
By the way, does it strike anyone as kind of unusual that the same people who supported the actual Sh*t Floats Veterans for Dupes in 2004 now in 2008 get to use “Swift-Boating as a pejorative without dealing with 2004?
Like, you know, Fux Nooz?
Perry Como
Also, she wasn’t trollopy and cunty enough.
cleek
sadly, no – it’s not unusual.
it’s not about the military, or the swiftboats, or McCain, or even ideology. it’s about the fact that the GOP screams loud and long at whatever they think they can scream about, and the media sycophants cower and nod along, afraid that if they don’t, they’ll be the next target of that screaming.
it’s simply “working the refs”; and it works.
unfortunately, high-profile Dems seem congenitally incapable of playing that way.
ThymeZone
So let me see if I can discern the subtle meaning of your, er, post.
You disagree with Obama’s FISA position, therefore, you think he is vulnberable to attacks on his patriotism?
Or what fucking tortured and insane thing are you saying exactly?
DFD
It all has to do with authoritarian psychology, confirmation bias, and cognitive rigidity/dissonance. The type of slack jawed slobbering imbeciles that inhabit right wing blogs generally can’t stomach information that contradicts a previously established paradigm. The fact that a blog is left leaning is reason enough to ignore any information posted on it. This is the same reason the media bias meme is so insidious. Right wing goose steppers insulate themselves from other news sources and leave it to Limbaugh, Fox et al to spoon feed them information. They are tragic fools who prefer not to do their own thinking lest they be confronted with some uncomfortable truths.
DFD
Is it me or does that guy look like Cotton “Grandpa” Hill from King of the Hill?
Brachiator
Oh, yeah? The GOP Smear Machine is always on the case. Jonah Goldberg, in today’s USA today, tries to nail Obama on the patriotism issue (Obama’s real patriotism problem).
This is not just “status quo” BS, but a return to the central Republican theme that so-called “progressives” have been wrong since the 1920s in attempting to change America, and that conservatives are essentially the only true patriots who have ever existed in this country.
The speech is too long.
The battle has been joined. The GOP response defines “leadership” as staying the course, and attempts to parry thoughtfulness with a gut appeal to sameness, stability, and safety. And with all kinds of appeals to fear (with a nod to Geraldine Ferraro), Goldberg goes on,
He is obviously distorting everything that Obama has said into a vision of an elitist outsider pulling a reluctant nation kicking and screaming toward his vision of something … different.
Yeah, it is stupid and despicable. But it will appeal to many if it is not countered effectively. And look for much more “Obama is not a real patriot, not like that nice John McCain” throughout the Fourth of July weekend.
Stevenovitch
I read a study on slashdot a while back that basically stated that people with more conservative thought patterns had a harder time accepting or comprehending ambiguity. This explains why you get a lot of the anti-nuance approach to politics on that side.
Remember in 2004 in one of the debates Kerry explained his position on abortion, and Bush responded with a chuckle “you’re either for it or you’re against it”.
On the other hand I’d imagine that liberal folks are too quick to write off blatant contradictions as ambiguity. Haven’t seen any studies on that but I’ve definitely seen it in my own life, and in my own behavior sometimes.
It is somewhat of paradox because the conservative lawyers as of late have been exploiting ambiguity to make some pretty radical cases. In fact, the ABA states on it’s LSAT prep page that one of the key qualifications for being a good lawyer is being able to deal with ambiguity and accepting that there isn’t always a clear answer.
Does this mean conservative lawyers are just complete dicks?
ThymeZone
Maybe, but nobody is really listening to the GOP right now. I don’t even think the GOP is listening to the GOP.
Tsulagi
Let me help you out with English. Two separate paragraphs. Two points.
First paragraph, a comment on your idiot assertion.
Second paragraph, the weight attributed to latest transcendy speech.
If you really think any speech from Obama “absolutely takes patriotism attacks off the table for this election cycle” from the evildoers, you shouldn’t be making fun of McCain’s senior moments. They’ll make the attacks regardless of whatever Obama says. Hell, I could speculate they might even get him to apologize for his own stern words, but that would be inartful.
Still too subtle?
ec1009
Yes, I am gonna go there. It would be irresponsible not to.
Ask yourself this. Pretend that you are a Vietcong intelligence officer and the son of the admiral landed on your doorstep. After high fives to your comrades, what would you do?
some questions to ponder:
1. Video technology?
2. If a cute Vietnamese “nurse” went into Cpt. McCain’s room and offered him a blowjob, would he say no?
3. How many hours of video can you record in five years?
4. What else may be on video?
5. Does China have copies?
6. If McCain is President, would the existence of blackmail tapes by a foreign government or governments effect said President’s foreign policy?
7. If I had a copy of these tapes, how much money would they be worth on the black market?
ec1009
Barack, throw me under a bus if you feel the need. It’s the least I can do for my country.
Cris
Just to provide a little anecdata, I pretty well restrict my blog reading to lefties. I get really depressed reading the vitriol and anger directed my way at righty blogs.
I know it’s a good thing to be put on the defense, and to have a contrary opinion force you to re-examine your own beliefs, but I find it exhausting pretty quickly.
ThymeZone
Yes, but you see, they won’t stick. Nobody but McCaniacs is taking them seriously. Ergo, my point, which is actually a point made by the Zogby/POTUS team on XM radio, a rather interesting political audio channel. Their point, which I paraphrased, was that from this point forward, opposition would be foolish to try to go after Obama on patriotism. The lapel pin nonsense, the pledge of allegiance nonsense, the “is he a real American” nonsense, all off the table because Obama has taken them off the table. It was the reason for the speech, and the speech accomplished its purpose quite dramatically.
It’s not an idiot point, it’s a correct point, unlike the stupidass point you tried but failed to make.
Any questions?
jvill
There should be some sort of old-time-y conventional wisdom for the current character of the Republican Party..
Can spoon it out but refused to accept it?
Can dish some to you, but you don’t want it?
Can dish it out but can’t…
Or maybe something about a goose and a gander…
I dunno. It’s in there somewhere…
Wasn’t John McCain shot down three times?
Maybe he wasn’t paying attention about dodging projectiles when he graduated 6th from the bottom of his class at Annapolis.
Tsulagi
None, other than what color is the sky in Transcendalot? And at the bar, who buys? You or Bob Shrum?
ThymeZone
My other point, for the Tsulagi-stupid among you, was that the Clark thing is something that the GOP thinks is working for McCain because, you know, HOW DARE HE, SHUT UP etc.
But in fact, it is exposing a legitimate question, the one implied by Clark himself: What is it about McCain’s plane crash that makes him qualified to he president? Was it the landing? The way he managed to bring the plane in despite the damage? His management of the fuel system?
The truth here is that Bob Schieffer is the one who made the stupid gaffe, not Wes Clark. Schieffer posited that McCain’s plane crash was more or a qualification for the job of president than Obama’s, uh, Reverend Wrightiness, or his Madrassiness, or his Husseininess. But in reality, McCain’s whole schtick is a Wizard of Oz deal and this incident has just exposed it. Which nets out to a plus for our side.
The fact is that nothing in McCain’s background uniquely qualifies him for the job he seeks, which was exactly what Clark said. So I say again, let these fools blabber about it as loudly as possible. The more they blabber, the more the mythical qualification fades.
cyntax
Look, I can’t stand McSame but that’s just lame. You want some sense of what it’s like being a POW? Watch ‘Rescue Dawn.’
Adolescent fantasies about nurses aside, when you’re in the Hanoi Hilton with two broken arms, you aren’t that worried about getting your d*ck waxed.
ThymeZone
I don’t know, what color is the sky in Stupidfuckville?
Zifnab
You buying or selling?
cleek
not a chance. he doesn’t have that kind of power. nobody does.
we’re still talking about race, right?
Brachiator
If only. The BBC News site has an interesting story about how well McCain comes across to some pro-Republican voters (The master of the town hall stump)
His comments on the US “energy crisis” were also blunt – or possibly wishful thinking, depending on your point of view.
You can’t simultaneously write these people off as McCainiacs and also say that nobody is listening to the GOP.
Actually, you have it backwards here. Obama can’t take these issues off the table. Only the voters can. Obama is doing a great job, and is getting a good response, but the GOP and their surrogates will work hard to keep this stuff an issue, just as they did with the Rev. Wright stuff, and a sycophantic press corps will do all they can to serve as a GOP Smear machine echo chamber.
One thing that might make a difference, and something that Kerry didn’t have, would be a more unified effort from other Democratic Party figures, including the Clintons. In the previous presidential campaign, sometimes it appeared as though Kerry was out there by himself fighting off attacks. Now that everyone knows the GOP’s style, a more unified effort is needed to offset their efforts.
Dreggas
After McCain’s stunt with the televised “town hall” where he hand picked the people who came I bet he is doing the same elsewhere.
Tsulagi
TZ yesterday…
TZ today…
TZ, he’s a transcending machine!
So TZ of yesterday, like the Transcender himself of today, would say Wes Clark of Sunday was inartful? But TZ of today now says the same Clark which TZ of yesterday spoke exposed a legitimate question and not guilty of a stupid gaffe?
Nope, no more questions. I’ll just wait for tomorrow’s comedy.
ec1009
cyntax, so you are saying that his arms (and one leg by the way, you forgot to mention the leg) were broken for five years.
“Adolescent fantasies about nurses aside. . .” ALLRIGHTYTHEN!
Sometimes blowjobs happen in real life cyntax.
If you want to pin your hat on J. Sidney McCain’s abstinence for five years, more power to you. Your faith shall set you free.
The point, which I thought was obvious, is that anyone in the military intelligence of ANY government who had an admiral’s son as a prisoner would be drooling at the opportunities. He would be a fool not to.
Maybe there is no sex-tape. Fine. McCain was faithful to his wife until the day he came home. I will concede the point. Certainly there are dozens and dozens of hours of video. Why would there not be? What is on them?
Brachiator
Perception counts, especially if a lazy and suppliant media is willing to kiss McCain’s behind.
ec1009
Zifnab Says:
7. If I had a copy of these tapes, how much money would they be worth on the black market?
You buying or selling?
I wish I were selling. I wouldn’t be here. I would be in a meeting with Larry Flynt and my lawyer.
Zifnab
Perception only counts when people don’t know what they’re seeing. It’s like watching a magic act. You can only fool people who don’t already realize its a trick. And while the Republi-drones that J. Sidney picks to pack his crowd inevitably coming out with ooo’s and aaa’s, the moment the transcript gets released people tear him to shreds.
Remember his epic “That’s not change we can believe in” crotchity old man-o-thon? Frak’n hilarious, but I don’t see it winning him any voters with it.
He can give his little Town Hall speech and televise it across the country. But the swaths of his audience that aren’t put into a coma by his pedantic voice are inevitably going to hear the content of his proposals. And that’s when he’s going to get his ass handed to him.
ec1009
In Re: Not sex tapes:
1. McCain denouncing America
2. McCain denouncing his father
3. McCain denouncing the Vietnam War
4. Something else, use your imagination.
Let me be clear, if these tapes exist, I would not criticize McCain. Being tortured, I mean being enhancedly interrogated, can get you to say anything. One thing I know for sure, if I was in McCain’s shoes, I would have accepted the BJ offer.
dslak
Doughy Pantload sez:
Jesus sez:
So Jonah is saying that American conservatives, at least the Christian ones, are idolators. I had always suspected as much, but it’s good having confirmation.
Dennis - SGMM
They’re going to hear; “McCain wants to lower the price of gas and Obama doesn’t.”
They’re going to hear; “McCain is a hero and he’ll win the the war.”
They’re going to know that Obama is a Muslim.
They’re going to know that Obama is black.
These are the people who voted for George W. Bush and the re-elected him. To suggest that they’ve somehow wised up is commendably optimistic.
calipygian
At the end of the day, Doughy Pantload does not believe in “an ever more perfect union” since the Union is as good as it will get.
Why is Doughy Pantload such an unpatriotic, America-hating dickwad?
cleek
pantload’s gotta make a livin.
The Other Andrew
Conservatives like America? That’s news to me. They tend to hate everything that came after the Enlightenment, and America definitely falls into that category. Now, they definitely like their fantasy-version of America, which they attempt/pretend to live in, and want to enforce on the rest of us…
Pooh
How is it that such a bunch of pussies are supposed to be up for the task of defending America? I’m sure “boo-fucking-hoo” woulda worked on Bin Laden too. Why haven’t we tried it in response to one of his videos?
Nellcote
I read almost exclusively “leftwing” blogs because I get more than enough rightwing infotainment from the MSM. And the MSM won’t blink an eye at using Bud Day since they still won’t acknowledge that the swiftboaters were lying scum.
TR
They claim to like America, but tend to express it with their hatred of large numbers of Americans.
ec1009
Duh, all real Republicans hate America: The Enlightenment, Due Process, prohibitions against “cruel and unusual punishment”, Science, pro-foreign imperialism.
My hunch is that Jefferson, Adams, Madison, Franklin, et al, were against English speaking occupiers of another country. [Whats that? Iraqis have brown skin. Never mind. Jonah is a great American.]
jake
OK:
[fRiechtard
1. Waaah! Lieberuls use long words whut I can’t understand ‘cos there eletists!
2. Not enough flags/sq. in.
3. I went to a liberal blog once and encountered people who weren’t exactly like me. The horror! The horror!
4. Sometimes, if I crane my neck just right, I can almost see Debbie Schussel’s boobies. Where are the left wing boobies??
5. Too busy whacking off to mole porn to have time for opposing view points.
[/fRiechtard.
Really John, I hate that fucking photo. And I can’t help thinking Fran Fixodent up there is wearing the bandage on her primary chin because she picked up a nasty rash from the pResidential ball sack.
Oracle
See? The game can be played both ways.
They’re also the same people who gave Bush 50% approval in 2004 and 27% now. It’s realistic – not optimistic – to think that a dramatic change in the country’s mood and party preference + a dramatic increase in the youth vote = landslide potential.
Cain
I think I know how to go against the right wing outrage machine. Every democrat out there should start making gafts left and right (oops, right er I mean middle). Eventually, there would be so much collective whiplash back and forth that they’ll just get tired. Just keep doing it until they break. There is only so much outrage they can take.
cain
GSD
It is funny, I haven’t heard a single media tool or beltway gasbag state that: ‘John McCain has put his service out there, so it is fair game.’
Not one of these shitheels.
-GSD
Dennis - SGMM
My late father, a Fleet sailor two years before WWII started, gave me many pieces of sage advice before I started my own career in the Navy. Among them; “Son, if you’re ever in a bar fight, pick up a stool and start swinging. There are no rules once the fight starts.”
jake
You don’t know them vewy well. Do you?
I think reverse psychology is a better bet. I wonder if there is a way Obama could work a few mentions of gravity into his speeches. Before you know it the WhingeNuts will scream “There’s no such thing as gravity! Look I’ll climb out on this ledge …”
Nah, you’re right. Too messy.
Zuzu's Petals
Describing Ted Sample as a “leading campaigner for veterans’ rights” is like calling Goebbels a “leading campaigner for Germans’ rights.” Or something like that.
The guy is the scum of the earth.
Xenos
If McCain tries to drag this out for another day, the time will have arrived to smack him in the nose. Give him a taste of the misogynistic, biased sort of invective that is so popular with Republicans:
Webb and Clark can tell McCain to stop being hysterical, to calm down, to mind his blood pressure, that he must be hard of hearing to have misinterpreted what Clark and Webb said, that he has again lost his bearings, that McCain is being cranky, and dyspeptic, and irregular, and demented.
This is a contact sport, guys. McCain has started hitting, so hit back, already. There must be some official non-surrogates who would enjoy taking some cheap shots. Not being Republicans, they can come up with some original talking points, too.
Zuzu's Petals
Describing Ted Sampley as a “leading campaigner for veterans’ rights” is like calling Goebbels a “leading campaigner for Germans’ rights.” Or something like that.
The guy is the scum of the earth.
Zuzu's Petals
I KNOW ! ! ! !
Zuzu's Petals
I have a question for anyone who knows da rules:
I know it’s a violation of federal law for a retiree to wear his or her uniform to political events or in support of a political cause. Even MOH recipients (who get leeway otherwise) must obey this rule.
What about wearing your MOH at political events or in support of a political cause? Think of the SBVT ad that prominently displayed Bud Day wearing his. Think of the pics of him at McCain rallies.
Is it illegal or just sleazy as anything?
Zuzu's Petals
You weren’t the only one:
Zuzu's Petals
Look, I hope I don’t come off as condescending, and this is not aimed at anyone here personally. But …
Smearing somebody based on their military record/academy standing/POW status is just scummy.
It was scummy when they did it to Gore/Kerry/Cleland, and it’s scummy when people do it to McCain.
We don’t have to stoop to this.
Zuzu's Petals
PS, I wasn’t talking about Clark’s comments, which I think were legitimate.
TenguPhule
Fuckstain McCain crashed a plane.
This qualifies him for what, exactly?
TenguPhule
TZ, I hate to break this to you but the entire fucking media save Olbermann are grafted directly to Fuckstain’s right ballsack.
Xenos
Indeed. The prominent republicans who have repeatedly done this to McCain should be ashamed of themselves. There may be a few very marginal democrats who have done this, and the same goes for them.
dr. luba
I disagree. They disapprove of everything that came after the Dark Ages, including the Renaissance and the Enlightenment.
MH
I was just thinking yesterday…you know how we often see dumb rightwing blogposts ripped apart? I was wondering how often someone on redstate or townhall ever Fisks a post from Kos or such.
I guess not all that often, if those who read both wings are more likely to be left.
maydayog
In other words, McCain and his party demand be protection against the kind of criticism that they throw at everyone else. It’s even funnier to see how the criticism that drives them into hysterics is comically weak tea compared to the kind of stuff that attack-mode conservatives, swifties, and angry-mode John McCain regularly dish out.
Remind me again…
How, exactly, did Senator McCain react when Senator Kerry was attacked?
Oh, that’s right– he called the attacks dishonorable. So where, exactly, did you originate this idea that Senator McCain once attacked anyone’s military service?
Joe Max
What really annoys me is seen that guy sporting his Medal of Honor like some cheap bauble, saying, “look at me, I’m a hero!”
Thank you for your service, sir. Now, do you think you can refrain from cheapening your Medal of Honor and DIShonoring your fellow recipients by using it for a cheap political ploy to slag other veterans with outrageous lies?
Gerald
“Bleeding heart liberals, environmentalists, peace activists and non-wealthy black people come in for plenty of abuse at the hands of big evil Hollywood”
With the exception of “non-wealthy black people”, care to show me an example of this happening? I cannot recall the last example – or any example – of a movie bashing liberals, environmentalists, or peace activists. That is, unless you call portraying them as humans with the usual character flaws and faults “abuse” of some kind … I dare say that military – industrialists, fundamentalist preachers, anti – abortion activists, etc. would love to fare so well as to receive whatever “abuse” that environmentalists and trial lawyers got in “Erin Brockovich”, or liberals got in “The Cider House Rules”, “Philadelphia”, or what have you …
Zuzu's Petals
Go back and read my post. I talked about smearing somebody based on their military record (or simply smearing their military record). Not asking how it qualified them for the Presidency.
And I immediately explained I wasn’t referred to Clark’s legitimate criticism.
Zuzu's Petals
Good point.
cyntax
They do–your scenario just doesn’t strike me as one of them. Maybe you should get out more.
I’m not pinning my hat on anything. I just think making fun of the time someone spent as a POW is about one of the most dumbass things I’ve seen someone write to date, so you’ve got that going for you.
It’s ironic that in post decrying the right’s treatments of Kerry’s war record, you employ similar tactics on McCain.
Mike G
Smearing somebody based on their military record/academy standing/POW status is just scummy.
It is. Like when Rove’s operatives in 2000 said or implied that McCain sold out his fellow POWs.
But most people here, like Clark, are stating facts about McCain’s known military record but disputing how important they are to predicting his performance as President; not making shit up like “Kerry shot himself to get a Purple Heart”.
Zuzu's Petals
That’s why I said I wasn’t talking about Clark’s legitimate criticisms.