By:
John Amato on Saturday, February 9th, 2008 at 9:01 AM - PST
John McCain made this odious joke about Chelsea Clinton back in ‘98.
Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno.”
– Sen. John McCain, speaking to a Republican dinner, June 1998.
Not only is McCain’s hideous attempt at humor about 10 times more tasteless than what Shuster said (as the David Corn article notes, newspapers that reported on the joke wouldn’t even print it), but while the newsman’s ill-conceived comment was at least spontaneous, McCain’s joke was a prepared remark to a public audience.
Maybe McCain has more in common with Limbaugh than Rush thinks. The straight talk express should be ashamed of himself.
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McCain is crude to begin with, why the surprise?
The straight jacket express knows no shame.
I’ve never really heard McCain say much that wasn’t crude. Well except for that damn annoying part in ALL his speeches, “My friends…………..”
As fast as McCain folded for the Republicans after they demeaned his family with some light slander, how likely is it that he actually held out against the Vietnamese?
Not too likely.
Uh huh. And within’ a year, you’ll be calling him your next President. Bravo. So much has been learned… mark my words… McCain and his “Bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran” is going to be the next President. I think anyone with a modicum of sense sees the bowling pins being lined up and knows the script by heart at this point. The horror… the horror…
I hate HIllary and think picking her to represent our party would cost us the WH even though everything is right for us to take it - she is too divisive and what proggressive can support someone that voted for war with iraq and iran?
Saying that John McCain, with this comment, again shows how much of a myth his media image is. This guy is a mean hothead. What is he going to to if a world leader refuses his demands? Drop a nuclear weapon? Pat Buchanan got it right when he called McCain - Bush on steroids. And if we pick Hillary and thus allow McCain to win - Merle Haggard is right saying that we will be living at the end of what was once a great country.
ConcernedCanuck @ 3:
I’ve been trying to figure out why he uses it so often in his speeches and I’m with you - so annoying!
At least in Shuster’s case it was just a REALLY bad choice of words at the time….
right, i’m sure mccain is right on that feeling ashamed about a retarded joke made a decade ago. his horrible past has been revealed! isn’t there better dirt on mccain?
Now that I think about it, it is kind of a humorous joke, and doesn’t really slam Chelsea or doesn’t intend to do it. It jokingly questions Hillary’s sexual orientation, and I remember well, everyone joking about that after Bill’s ex-flings starting to come out of the WhiteHouse woodwork and eyewitness accounts of the same things happening while he was Governor. It is in poor taste, but given the date in time he said it, is no worse or better than anything Ann Coulter says.
Cons love pushing peoples buttons.
Thats never changed.
It’s a good joke cuz it’s multidimensional. It simultaneously pokes fun at the attractiveness of Janet Reno and implies Hillary is a lesbian. It’s totally tasteless but well crafted.
Does anyone remember Limbaugh on David Letterman years ago? The bloated gasbag was commenting on how ugly Hillary was and Letterman looks at him and says “Of course you can say this because you’re such a fine physical specimen.”
same applies to McCain.
This is pretty old news and you’ve brought it up twice this week. I have to agree that there has to be better dirt on McCain.
John will probably say chill out it’s just a hazing tradition.
That joke is funny. Lighten up crooksandliars.
Concerned American @ 1:
I wonder if he makes the same kind of statement now. I’ll bet he doesn’t do the same thing.
We will probably see soon if he starts doing the comedian thing again. But it seems that he really is crude and without good timing for any vulgarities he might use. Sure sign of a RePUG, a conservative, and someone with lots of aggression.
One of our biggest problems is we let idiots like McCain and Rush get to us.
So if HRC is going to refuse to appear on MSNBC - effectively blaming an entire network for the gaffe of one individual - will she now refuse to debate McCain?
I would’nt worry about this remark. Evidently Hillary doesn’t. After all, John is her friend. I beleive that is what she said as yesterday in Washingon.
This guy is a real loser. He may be 71, mentally he is about 10.
KansasCityFaGt @ 18:
Not if he agrees to do it on Fox!!!! Rupert luvs him some Hillary.
I don’t get C&L…what’s up with this old 1998 McCain silly joke? Have you nothing better to post or are you obligated to post stuff about Hillary somehow?
SassySandy @ 19:
Yep, and ol’ Bill said if they were the final two it would be the most civil candidates debates in US history cuz they have mutual respect and admiration for each other, and vote similar on the issues.
harry @ 20:
16-18
10 is still to young to be affected by adolescent games and nonsense. There are better things to do at 10.
You see these “jokes” supporters, but the salient point these people miss is that:
1) The “jokes” are not told in private, they are told in a very public setting
2) They are a reflection of the beliefs and values of those who tell them, which many here do indeed find odious.
I think we can all agree that McCain will become more odious as his fearmongering pitch increases and its either vote for “Him or the Terrorists” which will result in his landslide defeat.
really, if i had learned obama said the joke instead, i would still think of him as a decent man. this particular topid reeks of character assassination, hate to say it. really, the joke is no worse than what you’d see on conan, letterman, stewart or colbert. they make ugly jokes and lesbian jokes all the time, albeit much more funny. ask yourself if you’re actually offended, or just knee jerking, as the topic seems to indicate that i should be offended. wellllll i’m not.
Who CARES! No wonder U.S. Troops are still dying in Iraq in the hunt for the 9/11 Conspirator Osama Bin Laden. We live in a nation of idiots and cowards. Democrats Republicans, ugh. It’s disgusting. You all need to stop watching MSNBC, CNN, Fox, It’s just garbage.
ConcernedCanuck @ 10:
Yea, whatever.
Later.
My self imposed time limit (new discipline) for wasting my time on the internet is up for the day.
Jesus, enough with the daily “Hillary Clinton as victim” story. There really are bigger issues in the Democratic primary.
jonesy @ 13:
It’s way too complicated to explain the difference between Iraq and Korea to debunk McCain “100 more years” argument. Much better to just make fun of him.
I wish someone would come up with a Video clip of McCain saying this, that would be a great anti=McWarmonger slogan..
odanny @ 28:
Oh come on. It was a joke. What is with people not having a sense of humour anymore? He made a joke in 1998. At the time, The Daily Show featured McCain regularly because he was funny, and human, regardless of his party. He WAS a maverick. He said whatever he felt like saying and didn’t give a damn what the Dems or Reps thought about him. He was essentially, what EVERYBODY has been screaming for in politics. Oh well. And now back to our regularly scheduled faux election symposium covering such wildly entertaining subjects as cult leader candidates, god candidates, and the entire globe pickin’ on those poor honest-ta-goodness Clinton underdogs who have been savaged throughout their lives like a beaten housewife.
haha, c’mon thats pretty funny. i thought it was funny then, i think it’s funny now.
god, is everyone here too enamored by bill clinton to take a joke?
MSNBC now whining about the Convention is going to select the candidates.
Basically because the Mainstream Media spent a great deal of time shaping the election with spin and deception. Especially hate radio.
The Media is the status quo and I can’t wait till Fox news, CNN, MSNBC become irrelevant.
Post Americans @ 27:
Well, the point you made about looking for OBL and 9/11 conspirators in Iraq says a whole lot, mostly, THEY ARE NOT IN IRAQ !!! they’re in Afghanistan. So much for that argument.
McCain stayed in prison in Vietnam because he had no choice. The Vietnamese weren’t going to let him go. He’s a hero because he survived, and that’s all. The History channel had a movie on it.
Barrett D @ 9:
I thought the same thing.
Why is C&L dredging up wince material like this?
Shuster’s temporary idiocy stands on its own. He apologized; let’s move on.
*sigh* nobody funny no more
http://www.hillaryclintonjokes.....3738f726b0
Kevin @ 15:
Actually, Kevin, the joke is NOT funny.
To attack an adult by saying their child is ugly is not even worthy of an 8-year-old.
Grow up.
And I think it is a good idea to drag this 10 year old quote out into the open…I had never heard it and it certainly speaks to McCain’s judgement and to what ends he will go to please a fringe group.
Finally, I think Chelsea is becoming quite attractive as she grows, and even when she was younger, i thought she bore a resemblance to Eleanor Roosevelt….and we all know what a loser she was.
Hillary Clinton and her driver were cruising along a country road one evening when an old cow loomed in front of the car. The driver tried to avoid it but couldn’t - the old cow was killed.
Hillary told her driver to go up to the farmhouse and explain to the owners what happened. She stayed in the car making phone calls to lobbyists.
About an hour later, the driver staggered back to the car with his clothes in disarray. He was holding a half empty bottle of expensive wine in one hand, an expensive Cuban cigar in the other and was smiling happily, smeared with lipstick.
“What happened?” asked Hillary.
“Well,” the driver replied, “the farmer gave me the cigar, his wife gave me the wine, and their beautiful twin daughters made mad passionate love to me! .”
“My God, what did you tell them?” asked Hillary.
The driver replied: “I said, I’m Hillary Clinton’s driver, and I just killed the old cow.”
1) The real story is the bias of the newspaper.
2) Those of you who think the joke was funny and people need to lighten up…how would you feel if someone called your kid ugly, even if they were only joking? You say that about one of my kids and I’ll lighten you up.
ConcernedCanuck @ 33:
Calling a teen-aged girl “ugly” isn’t a slam at Chelsea? Implying that the First Lady and the Attorney General are lesbians is fair game?
It was disgusting and contemptible. So is defending it.
No More Bubbas For Presideny @ 36:
Vietnam was a war for imperialism, he is no hero.
myiq2xu @ 42:
It is no different than Dem politicians saying similar things about the Bush daughters or the comedians doing it. And they have. ’nuff said. Get a sense of humour.
Shuster got supended for his “pimping” comment but McInsane got swiftboated:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFM1xqqTX_g
ConcernedCanuck @ 44:
Oh, forgot……..she WAS ugly.
ConcernedCanuck @ 40:
Got any jokes about Barack Obama picking cotton? If you’re going to make a fool of yourself, go all the way.
ConcernedCanuck @ 10:
No better or worse than Ann Coulter?………………THAT’S your smell test?…………………