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More Mavericky Behavior

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So apparently aging sociopath John McCain slapped a hold NLRB nominee Craig Becker back in October, and even though Becker has been a nominee for six months and answered 280 written questions, McCain never found the time to submit any questions. Al Franken comes to the rescue:

You’d think with his 20 some appearances on Sunday talk shows, he would have had enough spare time to ask even one question to get at why he had a hold on Becker. Apparently not.

McCain’s only principle is what benefits him the most at that very minute. That is why he is able to be so mavericky and switch his postion on everything- he simply doesn’t really believe in it, so why not change your mind if there is some immediate political gain and some camera time to be had.

Meanwhile, the worthless shitheels in our national media (I’m talking to all you McCain fluffers, and especially you Sunday show hosts- Mr. David Gregory, Mr. Bob Schieffer), continue to pretend that McCain is a man of honor and integrity, and a man who stands on principle. Rather than confess their sins and admit what they helped to create, they’ll sit idly by as a bitter geriatric makes them his bitch.

The suicide rate for j-school professors has to be astronomical these days. Are any of David Gregory’s professors still alive?

(video courtesy of the Jane Hamsher’s of the left)

Reader Interactions

77Comments

  2. 2.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Couple of points:
    McCain’s only principle is what benefits him the most at that very minute.

    You vastly overestimate him. On a pie chart of John McCain’s motivations, personal resentment and vindictiveness would take up at least half, maybe as much as two thirds. Political self-interest is probably about 15% (that’s why he has Joe and Lindsey, to tell him what to do). Sheer marble-skulled stupidity about another 10%. This is a rough estimate off the top of my head.

    McCain fluffers, and especially you Sunday show hosts- Mr. David Gregory,

    Gregory’s flufferism is a learned behavior, learned from Brokaw and Russert in this case, two men who channeled all their near-pathological daddy issues into Gampy War Hero.

  3. 3.

    Violet

    The suicide rate for j-school professors has to be astronomical these days. Are any of David Gregory’s professors still alive?

    David Gregory may have taken a journalism class or two, but his degree is in “International Studies.”

    I love Al Franken in the Senate. More like him, please.

  4. 4.

    dmsilev

    Are any of David Gregory’s professors still alive?

    If so, I’m sure they’re busy airbrushing him out of old gradebooks and the like.

    Oh, and there’s a typo on line 3. ‘Af Franken’.

    -dms

  6. 6.

    Comrade Javamanphil

    This post and the accompanying video are good news for John McCain. Maybe he should run for president or something?

  7. 7.

    Violet

    @Make7:

    Is it even possible for a former prisoner of war to be morally wrong on an issue?

    Real world answer: Yes, of course.

    Village insider answer: No! It’s impossible! His POW experience proves that he’s always right about everything.

  8. 8.

    Riggsveda

    McCain is an abusive son of a bitch to his wife, whom he nabbed after he dumped the one who stuck with him through the war years and the rehab upon return. He is a pitiful excuse for a human being, a bully who likes to publicly humiliate those weaker than he, and no amount of promo for his Hanoi Hilton days is going to change that.

  9. 9.

    feebog

    Two words for this: Recess Appointments. I know they are only good for that term of congress, but so what? If McCain, Vitter, DeMint and the rest of these obstructionists knew that hold=recess appointment maybe they would stop their bullshit. BTW, Becker is extremely qualified.

  11. 11.

    beltane

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Perhaps McCain intends to act upon the principle of self-interest, but he is too stupid to carry it out effectively. Reckless and impulsive behavior, rather than cunning self-interest, is the common thread that runs through McCain’s entire adult life. If it feels good at the moment, he does it, and sometimes revenge feels good. Temper tantrums feel good, too.

  12. 12.

    de stijl

    You vastly overestimate him. On a pie chart of John McCain’s motivations, personal resentment and vindictiveness would take up at least half, maybe as much as two thirds. Political self-interest is probably about 15% (that’s why he has Joe and Lindsey, to tell him what to do). Sheer marble-skulled stupidity about another 10%. This is a rough estimate off the top of my head.

    I’m working on a pie chart of my own. It has two segments: pie I have already eaten & pie I have yet to eat.

  16. 16.

    Midnight Marauder

    @AngusTheGodOfMeat:

    Great post. Gregory is a whore.

    You don’t know the half of it.

    David Gregory spoke to MarketWatch’s Jon Friedman’s about his first year as “Meet the Press” moderator and boldly declared his year mistake-free.
    __
    “I don’t think we’ve made mistakes,” Gregory told Friedman when asked what his missteps were.

  17. 17.

    beltane

    @Violet: The Villagers confuse being a prisoner of war with being a political prisoner. McCain was a POW solely on account of having the bad luck to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, not because he deliberately took a principled stand against an oppressive government and was forced to pay a hideous price for it.

    It is one thing to honor John McCain for his service to his country; it is another thing to confer sainthood on him for it.

  19. 19.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Midnight Marauder:

    “I don’t think we’ve made mistakes,” Gregory told Friedman when asked what his missteps were.

    That reminds me of someone… who was it now? short guy, stuttered and stammered a lot…

  22. 22.

    Cat Lady

    If Hayworth beats McCain, which is more and more likely, then our long national nightmare of President McCain may end. The fellaters in the press won’t do their jobs, so I guess I have to root for Hayworth. You’d think Halperin would want to get some more mileage out of his gossip rag by discussing McGrumpy’s cuckolding, since the Edwards’ marriage is old news. That’s the only thing that would shame him into going away – not all the crashed planes and being pantsed by Bush. What a fucking loser.

  23. 23.

    Comrade Mary

    If Hayworth beats McCain, which is more and more likely, then our long national nightmare of President McCain may end.

    Sorry, I doubt it. If and when McCain loses, he’ll get an endless pity fuck from the media. Not only will they feel so, so sorry for St. BBQ, he’ll be perfectly positioned as an impartial and highly experienced observer. Expect him to have his own tv show, too.

  24. 24.

    Alice B. Stuck

    I’m so sick of these self serving wingnut clowns. It’s why I haven’t turned my teevee on except for cspan, and even then when I turn to the senate, there is spittle flecked Mccain whining about how he and his fellow wingnuts are being shat on by the dems and Obama denying them their native right to run this country with a 41 percent pure white majority.

    They are insane, and at least the progs make a little sense and don’t drool too much when wrestled with. Well, some of them.

    Wanna fight, huh, do ya ?

  25. 25.

    West of the Cascades

    This is what makes Cole and Balloon Juice so essential to our survival as a democracy (it’s not frequently posting cat photos): the term “worthless shitheels” and “national media” ought to be used over and over and over in the same sentence. Yet I have never before seen it that starkly stated.

    Thank you, John, and hope your shoulder feels better. And please post some Tunch shots.

  26. 26.

    darryl

    February 3rd, 2010 at 7:53 pm Reply to this comment
    Riggsveda
    McCain is an abusive son of a bitch to his wife,

    She’s a multi-millionaire who made him sign a prenup. I doubt he’s all that abusive. You’ll have to show me more than mean words from a single fight to convince me otherwise.

  27. 27.

    handy

    People people. You fail to consider a far simpler explanation: Gramps “Get off my lawn” McCain switches positions because he can’t remember what he ate for breakfast let alone what his position on a given issue has been at any time.

  29. 29.

    Midnight Marauder

    @dmsilev:

    “I don’t think we’ve made mistakes,” Gregory told Friedman when asked what his missteps were.

    Fixed.

    “I don’t think we’ve made mistakes I raped and murdered a young girl in 1990,” Gregory told Friedman when asked what his missteps were.

    This is a fun game.

  33. 33.

    Martin

    @Violet:
    And Franken always delivers with the hot aides, though I prefer the other one.

    But I think this campaign of shame could be an effective one. Moar plz.

  43. 43.

    gbear

    @Martin:

    The hot aides must be good for office morale. When you call Al Franken’s office, the staffers who answer the phone always sound incredibly energized and aware.

  45. 45.

    Texas Dem

    That was a fine effort from Sen. Franken, but, alas, except for political junkies like us, no one will ever see it. That’s what happens when you don’t have a media infrastructure to get your message out. Olberman and Maddow notwithstanding. (and I don’t know what’s going to happen to them after Comcast takes over NBC). I wish I could be optimistic, but I fear we may have to wait for the GOP to destroy itself, and probably the country along with it.

  47. 47.

    Ash Can

    David Gregory…boldly declared his year mistake-free.

    “I meant to blow those goats Republicans, and by golly I blew them!”

  48. 48.

    DonkeyKong

    Well, at this point in your political life you’d be pretty vindictive if you had to wear “Oop’s I Crapped my Pant’s” without the Presidental Seal on it.

  49. 49.

    LuciaMia

    Is there a transcript of this somewhere? Please take pity-yes, i am one of those internet dinosaurs that still only has dial-up.

  50. 50.

    Texas Dem

    This is what makes Cole and Balloon Juice so essential to our survival as a democracy (it’s not frequently posting cat photos): the term “worthless shitheels” and “national media” ought to be used over and over and over in the same sentence. Yet I have never before seen it that starkly stated.

    Until we lose net neutrality, and that’s only a matter of time, given the enormous power corporations now have over our “democracy.” Then it’s lights out; party over.

  51. 51.

    Bobby Thomson

    I think you’re all forgetting something important. For five years, John McCain couldn’t put a hold on any nominations because he was a POW!

    In any event, this is excellent news for John McCain.

  53. 53.

    recusancy

    The suicide rate for j-school professors has to be astronomical these days. Are any of David Gregory’s professors still alive?

    I can’t stop laughing. But mostly because it’s either that or crying.

  54. 54.

    morzer

    John McCain has a very clear and consistent set of principles:

    1) Never know anything about anything

    2) Never do anything that somebody else can be made to do for under minimum wage for you

    3) Never remember anything (unless it involves promoting yourself)

    4) Never work for a house that your wife can loan to you

    5) Never remain faithful when you can trade up

  56. 56.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @Bobby Thomson: I hereby declare a new rule:

    As an online discussion about U.S. federal politics on a progressive/liberal blog grows longer, the probability of the use of the phrase “This is good news for John McCain” approaches 1.

    I’m calling it “Halperin’s Law.”

  57. 57.

    Mike in NC

    I’m talking to all you McCain fluffers, and especially you Sunday show hosts- Mr. David Gregory, Mr. Bob Schieffer

    Ah, Bob Schieffer. Texan, Republican, regular George W. Bush golfing buddy. You couldn’t ask for a more objective host.

  58. 58.

    DCr

    I love the idea of Al Franken in the Senate. This was excellent.

    But I can’t shake the belief one day he’s just going the shed the straight face and deliver his punchline: The joke’s on you. It’d be epic.

    DCr

  59. 59.

    Tenzil Kem

    Hayworth’s a start, but is there any halfway-viable Democratic candidate for the general election? Bruce Babbitt’s, what, 70? BFD, so’s Mike Castle.

  60. 60.

    El Cid

    @Mike in NC: Didn’t Bob Schieffer actually cry or at least weep & blubber like two Sundays in a row during the Presidential campaign on some nonsense in which somebody didn’t sufficiently praise Saint John McCain for having been a POW?

  61. 61.

    Dan Robinson

    I have a man crush on Senator Franken.

    But it is a tasteful man crush. My man crush is just the opposite of the one the media has on Senator McCain. Mine is all lips, no tongue.

  62. 62.

    El Cid

    That’s right. Bob Schieffer freaked out and super-indignantized hisself when Wes Clark correctly pointed out that being a POW didn’t make John McCain qualified to be President, and then the next week he freaked out and super-indignantized hisself when John Kerry questioned McCain’s judgment on foreign policy.

  63. 63.

    slag

    I wonder if this is one of the “grudges” Obama mentioned with regard to people holding up his nominees. McShame…never could stand that guy.

  64. 64.

    suzanne

    @Tenzil Kem:

    Arizona has some good Dems, but I don’t know if they’re interested. Terry Goddard (current state AG, former Phoenix mayor) is apparently going to go for the governorship. Congresscritters Grijalva and Kirkpatrick are rad. Giffords and Mitchell (mine) are OK. I would love to see Grijalva in particular go for the Senate seat, but I’d hate for him to take the chance and lose.

  65. 65.

    Llelldorin

    @mcd410x:

    Is this peak wingnut?

    No. Wingnuts are essentially a pudgy, cheeto-stained variant of ninjas, and obey a variant of the appropriate inverse law. (To be clear, they’re technically ninjas the way Nac Mac Feegles are technically fairies.) The fewer remain, the crazier they are. Peak wingnut won’t happen until the last wingnut Senator stops all Senate business to deliver a continuous week-long rant on how evil feminist witches working for the ACLU and the communist-front PAW are poisoning our children with fluoridated water as part of the gay agenda. We’ll finally pass peak Wingnut when his voice gives out and he goes Galt.

  66. 66.

    DougL (frmrly: Conservatively Liberal)

    Looks like Al is cracking Walnuts. Big mistake though, all he will find is shriveled, bitter nut devoid of any meat.

    @AngusTheGodOfMeat:

    Why are you down on whores? Unlike Gregory, whores are honest about what they are. The only thing Gregory and whores have in common is that when you are dealing with either of them you know exactly what they are going to do.

    That and the whores display more variety when performing their ‘jobs’. Gregory is a one-trick pony in a boring carnival show.

    “I don’t think, we’ve made mistakes,” Gregory told Friedman when asked what his missteps were.

    Fix’t.

  71. 71.

    Thoughtcrime

    @West of the Cascades:

    This is what makes Cole and Balloon Juice so essential to our survival as a democracy (it’s not frequently posting cat photos): the term “worthless shitheels” and “national media” ought to be used over and over and over in the same sentence. Yet I have never before seen it that starkly stated.

    But have you seen the video?: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUBfzq8ysdg

  74. 74.

    Aspasia

    If you care at all about Arizona and the USA, please please please do not even joke about Hayworth’s being elected. He is a vicious loudmouth whose politics are slightly to the right of Limbaugh’s.

    McCain’s other opponent in the primary is a former Minuteman. You know, the people who blow up trains and banks to make their point, whatever it is.

    An earlier post was correct about prominent Democrats in Arizona–there are only four since Janet left. We have to hope, though, that someone will emerge to run against whichever of these cranks the Republicans nominate.

  75. 75.

    Rick Taylor

    A trip down memory lane.
    __

    As I look around the blogosphere, and view memeorandum, it occurred to me that we may have hit and passed Peak Wingnut. Don’t get me wrong, this election is still not over and by no means in the bag, but as I read things, the hey day of modern wingnuttia may have passed.

    __
    Has a theory ever been so quickly and thoroughly discredited? At the time, I confess it made sense to me; how could they get any nuttier or more extreme than they are now, I thought. Well. . .

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