Senator John McCain made Tuesday’s Worst Person in the World honors for mistakenly accusing Iran of training al Qaeda members then sending them back into Iraq for the THIRD time, and guess what? Grandpa McCain did it again today. Keith Olbermann breaks down the chain of errors on Wednesday’s Countdown that appears to signal a pattern for the aging Senator.
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Contrary to what McCain’s campaign reported, the Senator did not correct himself, he was aided by his new BFF, Joe Lieberman. Keith talks with Newsweek’s Jonathan Alter about McCain’s multiple, identical gaffes and notes that he probably isn’t that concerned about conflating Iran and al Qaeda as they’re trying to give the false impression that everybody in Iraq is a bad guy to begin with. Alter doesn’t see these gaffes as “senior moments,” but I’m not so sure. If you watch the video, McCain looks lost and confused. As Blue Texan asks at FDL — Is this the guy you want answering the phone at 3am, and can we really afford four more years of this kind of cluelessness? As David Letterman says; He’s old.
Olbermann:”But he’s saying all terrorists are al Qaeda, all extremists are al Qaeda. You’re basically then offering the public two choices and neither of them seem to be very good for Mr. McCain, which is it’s a senior moment, it’s not Chris Farley it’s Emily Litella. A two day long senior moment interrupted by a second or two of clarity or it’s a conflation worthy of George Bush, which is to say, a bald faced lie about it.”
Filed Under: Campaigns/Elections, Countdown/Keith Olbermann, Election 08, Iraq, John McCain, MSNBC, Middle East
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“That’s very different”. “Never mind”.
I wonder what “Pearl of Wisdom” Lindsey Graham dropped to McBush just before the gaff.
Do we want four to eight years of senior moments from a person with their hand on the nuclear warhead button?
I think not.
Either Democratic candidate is superior in intelligence, perception and energy to Sen. McCain. Could we have someone intelligent as president for a change?
Anais @ 3:
No, we need someone who is “entitled” to the job.
Well..whether he’s confused, or lying through his teeth…is moot…he cannot be prez.
Simpsons reference was nice.
Whats new about this Keith?
Why isn’t anyone saying it publicly?
McCain shows all of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
– Public confusion
– Frequent memory lapses
– Inappropriate emotion and mood swings
– Poor impulse control (his so-called “maverick” behavior)
The man is 72. Should we really be surprised that he’s demonstrating some form of senile dementia?
No one can say that this guy, McCain, can or should be President.
He wants to start more war, it just doesn’t matter who or what. Bomb them all and let God sort them out isn’t a foreign policy.
John McCain’s message of hope: “Yes You Can’t”
What would Grandpa do with out his BFF LIEberman???
I wonder if Joe makes sure the old guy takes his medication and changes his diaper?
Ooops…Grandpa shit himself again.
Airlines refuse to let pilots over the age of 60(something?) fly, based on the correct assumption that physical and mental health past a certain age is uncertain enought to let them hold the lives of their passengers in their hands. We should take a lesson. Perhaps it should not be sixty(something), but there has to be an age where mental faculties begin diminishing to the point where one’s competence to lead this country should be questioned.
But John McBush cooks a mean barbeque for us media types! C’mon, he’s old, cut him some slack! Making mistakes is just part of his charm…
In any event, all of these so-called Al Qaeda groups are as unrelated as Ray’s Pizzas
The ‘Wrong’ wing finally have the candidate they’ve been searching for…<b<Very Reaganesque!
i want him getting the phone at 3a.m…..
HE’LL BE UP PEEING ANYWAY… AND HIS OTHER HAND IS FREE…
RASMUSSEN POLL: McCain Now Leads By Double Digits:
So what now?
Sit around babbling nonsense or get organized?
I’ll start from early on in my evolution… I am a biracial man whose father is African-American and mother is Caucasian. My parents met in 1959 when my un-wed mother was in a nursing school where my father was employed as a nurses aide… my mother was engaged to a white man who was attending engineering school. My father had an African-American wife and (5) children at the time of his extra-marital relationship with my mother. At some early point of my mothers pregnancy with me she made the decision to marry her fiance, and to lie to everyone about who the father of her un-born child was… she achieved this by claiming that I had been afflicted with a skin-disease called “melanism”.
My mother and step-father had four more children together in the space of nine years after I was born, and we grew up together in a middle-class household in white america where the subject of “race” was never discussed. My earliest recollections of having to be aware of race was when I was asked questions about the color of my skin by other classmates in first grade… “Why was my skin dark?”, “Was I adopted?” race was certainly a hot-button issue in 1965-66 when I began school , but any awareness that my mother and step-father had achieved from growing up in their white neighborhoods in the 40’s and 50’s was insufficient in preparing them for raising a biracial child… and to complicate things, they were both in complete denial of their complicity in my mis-education. When I came home from school after having been asked questions by fellow students from my all-white school district, my mother then explained “the skin-disease story” to me… “other kids with this disease usually have dark blotches all over their bodies, so you should feel fortunate”. When I would tell my mother about other boys and girls who would call me names or act aggressively for no apparent reason, I began to understand that I would get no further assistance from her to explain this rationale… my step-father was even more removed from the conversation and would only add, “You know what your mother said”.
By the time that my step-father transferred jobs and our family of (7) had moved from the all-white Cleveland, Ohio suburb of Stow to the all-white school district of Portville in Western up-state N.Y. it was the spring of 1970 and I was in fourth grade, and already the veteran of many racial incidents and altercations between myself, classmates, and even some adults. My four younger siblings had also been told the same story, and had to explain the same things to their friends when asked why they had a brother who was black… “Hey, did your mother fool around a little bit??” I remember how much that hurt me when I heard it, and I’m sure that they felt just as badly when they did… nonetheless, this was a “subject” that we never discussed as a family, not once, at least in my presence.
I was taught through my observations of my mother and step-father to keep quiet about things that I wasn’t sure about, and I was also taught to ignore the obvious.
As I matured into my teen-aged years and began to experience societies issues and insecurities in coming to terms with this countries racial in-equalities during the 70’s, I felt an increasing need to rationalize and then codify the information that my mother had given me, regardless of what I was beginning to realize inside… I felt a growing discomfort/conflict, yet there was no one in my life to offer any other perspective… I had learned that black people were a part of society that we didn’t talk about. ( There was a black family in my small town, and they were poor and lived in a run-down house near the river…I never had any opportunity or reason to associate with them)
I was a “B” student and also began taking an interest in sports where I was above average. Meeting other schools and student athletes were opportunities to then be exposed to populations that had not been inured by my story yet…I was just another black kid to them.
Communicating my experiences to my mother and step-father was difficult because they had no experience with racial prejudice, therefore when I had problems with other children it would be looked at as an issue that “I” had in getting along with others(as well as intra-family sibling issues).
Because “race” was being ruled-out entirely, by my mothers denial of my father, she could not logically use that rationale to explain any conflicts that I would have. My step-fathers complicity in this was to blindly support my mothers viewpoint.
The “white” viewpoint has always been that blacks(black society) were pretty well cared for, and what contact they did have would be polite and careful… What, with the Voting Rights and Civil Rights Acts being passed, the playing field had been leveled.(re: my mother and step-father’s generation)
The feelings and comfort of my mother were apparently what was important, and her inculcation had to have been partly comprised of the idea that white society acted as the gate-keepers and care-takers of an infantilized black population.
questions:
How has black society formed its identity?
What role models have been used, and how does white society react to positive
black role models today? (Are they held to a more critical prism??)
Is there enough information readily available for black people to easily form a
positive racial identity?
Is it important that black society is able to connect accurately the dots of its social
evolution in America? and is it also important that white society can connect those
same dots??
What is White Privilege?
What is White awareness?
What is Whiteness?
What about Affirmative Action?
Is Race just a social construct?
How do we improve our society in America?
Is there any other way(besides the attrition of the old guard) to achieve this??
Dave Myers
www.discussrace.com
L.A. Confidential @ 18:
But..but…but….Obama is black and what about that preacher?!?!
Liberal AND Proud @ 20:
I’m losing hope the Dem movement will get organized at this point. Unless a major miracle happens.
I’ll still vote Dem, but we’re preparing for McCain. How fu*ked up is that?
That old fool only has about 3 years on me but the thought of him in the White House for even 1 week sends CHILLS down my spine. My God people after 8 years of Bush and before that 8 with Reagan hasn’t this country had enough of senility and stupidity.
I welcome the McCain Presidency.
We need a leader like that. Our President needs to be a reflection of the country… outdated, ignorant, out of touch, conceited, quick to anger, short on facts and long on rhetoric.
L.A. Confidential @ 18:
Polls schmolls!
I don’t even believe McBain is ahead of anything.
Liberal AND Proud @ 23:
Wait, haven’t we just endured that for seven and a half years?
So much about the war hero John McSenile:
FACT SHEET: Military record of John Sidney McCain III
read on:
http://www.vietnamveteransagai.....5B1%5D.pdf
The War Secrets Sen. John McCain Hides
Former POW Fights Public Access to POW/MIA Files
read on:
http://www.vvof.org/mccain_hides.htm
Navy Awarded McCain Medals For Valor Without Required Eyewitnesses
Presidential candidate John McCain is being hailed by the press as a genuine “American war hero” and says he has the medals to prove it.
For 5 ½ years as a POW (three of which he says were spent in solitary confinement), the U.S. Navy awarded McCain a Silver Star, a Legion of Merit for Valor, a Distinguished Flying Cross, three Bronze Stars, two Commendation medals plus two Purple Hearts and a dozen service medals.
Former POW McCain claims his experience as a prisoner of the communists better qualifies him to be President of the United States. He has forged that experience along with his military record deeply into his campaign.
But, Navy regulations say two eyewitnesses are required for any award of heroism and McCain has none for the valor awards he received.
Are McCain’s Awards Heroism Valid?
The following narrative is what the Navy Said McCain did from October 27, 1967 to December 8, 1967 to earn a Silver Star.
read on:
http://www.usvetdsp.com/mcainmdl.htm
L.A. Confidential @ 21:
Stand fast troops! Even if this poll is remotely accurate…there’s a loooong way to go yet before election day! Chin up! We ain’t beat yet!
So, try to help me understand this. What is listed below is supposed to be interrupted as informed political debate. Do you really think these types of arguments carry any weight with the electorate and are going to persuade them to you side of the argument?
I have my doubts. Keep it up; you are only making McCain’s election easier.
12 Liberal AND Proud Says: Ooops…Grandpa shit himself again.
Quote This Comment March 20th, 2008 at 9:15 AM - PDT
16 Acting Patriotic Says: McCain shows all of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
The ‘Wrong’ wing finally have the candidate they’ve been searching for…<b<Very Reaganesque!
Quote This Comment March 20th, 2008 at 9:17 AM - PDT
17 Big Dick Cheney Says: i want him getting the phone at 3a.m…..
HE’LL BE UP PEEING ANYWAY… AND HIS OTHER HAND IS FREE…
bshock Says: Why isn’t anyone saying it publicly?
McCain shows all of the symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
– Public confusion
– Frequent memory lapses
– Inappropriate emotion and mood swings
– Poor impulse control (his so-called “maverick” behavior)
The man is 72. Should we really be surprised that he’s demonstrating some form of senile dementia?
liberalHUSSEINmoderation @ 27:
Agreed, the general election is eight months away, a lifetime in politics.
Wow! He actually does have more in common with Reagan than I initially thought.
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Clevenative @ 4:
We need Hillary?
Oh yea.. This is certainly who the nation needs handling the ‘football’ let alone answering the phone at 3am…. A 70 plus year old McCain presidency? Given what he’s demonstrating just on the campaign trail, let alone actually running the nation should he end up in the oval office? … Well, to quote the guy himself. That would be… ‘ludicris’……………..JD
Personally I think McCain is showing his age and forgot to take his memory meds.
But if there were, and of course there could be intent on McCain part to inflate the turmoiil and Al Qaida fear in hopes of drumming up McSame votes. What was Lindsey Graham and Joe Liarmann there at his side for?
It was like McCain was a prisoner and was making a forced speech with the Gestapo at his side just in case…………………
Al Qeada and Shia Islam are enemies to the death, enemies to the end of time. The sect of Sunni Islam from which Al qeada draws its ideoloogy and doctrine and the sect of Shia Islam view each other as heretics, usurpers and blasphemors. They wish nothing less the total destruction of each other, viewing each other as adherants of a satanic abomination. McCain would have to be brain dead not to be aware of this. Then, to cite “newspapers” as his authoritating source for his claim is showing his craziness and/or his dishonesty.
kep306 @ 31:
That’s it! I hereby nominate myself…ah nevermind…
and:
McCain’s Military Record Shows He Is Unfit To Be President
…
McCain’s reputation as a war hero rests on the sum total of 20 hours in combat. That’s right. McCain spent only 20 hours in combat in the entire war. He flew 23 missions. He got 28 medals. In other words, he got more medals than he had missions. Not bad. It should be noted that none of McCain’s medals related to anything he did in combat. They were given for the supposed bravery he displayed after he had been shot down and captured.
read on:
http://www.forandagainst.com/a....._President
John McCain’s real war record(concerning Iraq)
On the campaign trail he touts his sharp criticism of Donald Rumsfeld and the Bush administration on Iraq. But a look at McCain’s record reveals a different war story.
read on:
http://www.salon.com/news/feat.....17/mccain/
Robt @ 33:
I’m thinkin that’s equally as likely…
gaffe?
i think not.
what it seems to me is that LIEberman, with his famous tin ear and the fact that the GOP keeps him at arm’s length, wasn’t brought into the GOP-fold, and didn’t get the message (see, order). the GOP/rightwing/war profiteers are desperately trying, by whatever means necessary, to enflame an iranian conflict. mccain, true to his mealy-mouthed ways, was being a good soldier and trying to trick the country into another needless, immoral and illegal war. and what does droopy dog do? he sticks his nose in poop he is not authorized to talk about.
i can’t recall ever seeing a prez candidate being corrected like that…
yes, there was a gaffe. and it was LIEberman’s honesty (for a change), not mccain’s statements, those were purposeful.
Dave Myers @ 19:
Wow, quite a life story.:) But of all your questions, I wonder why you had to even ask this one?
liberalHUSSEINmoderation @ 24:
My friends, how many active liberal bloggers are there (and I mean including the posters)…a million at best.
Look around you, you are the minority. Silent or otherwise, you are the minority. The country doesn’t want change, it had its feel good moment and those were reflected in Barack’s numbers. However, its clear that the public was simply waiting for an excuse to not vote for the black guy or the woman…so they latched onto the preacher and soon they will latch on to Lewinsky…and then they will cling to the security blanket they’ve always known…the “seasoned” (read OLD) uncle. They no longer want the guy they can have a beer with, they want the wise old uncle, they want grandpa, they want Daddy…just as they did with Reagan. They latched onto GHW Bush cause he was grandpappy’s friend, they latched onto Clinton because he promised them the things they wanted to hear, eliminate welfare (ohh..there’s that racism thing again), and he didn’t promise high taxes (but got them anyway…but he got a pass because he balanced the budget).
Yeah…it was fun bein’ all rah rah for the black guy and all those white people felt good voting for him…specially when it didn’t cost them anything…I mean…he wasn’t gonna go into office the next day…besides…I’ll get the do-over to vote for the old white guy.
This is America. Face up to it. The power of today is the counter culture movement of yesterday, and they are behaving in accordance with their past behavior. Sex, drugs and rock and roll were fun…but…geeez