Comments on: McCain Killing Iranians with Cigarettes, Risks Killing Presidential Chances with Bad Jokes

By: Alex Knapp

Alex Knapp — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:02:42 +0000

Alex, it appears you must have missed Obamas doubletalk on NAFTA and the anger he caused with his denouncement of Canadas oil sands as too dirty. Wonder how those slipped by you.

Yes, because that's exactly like wishing the population of another country dead...

By: Hal

Hal — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:06:33 +0000

Oh, and I forgot about the whole offense around questioning whether being a POW was, in itself, qualification for being President. Any bit of offense on this subject pales in the the whole offense-a-thon thrown by the right wing cry babies over the supposed attacking of McCain's military record.

By: Hal

Hal — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:00:25 +0000

You remind me of the people who cause constant dissension in an office by being "offended" on a daily basis. That's kind of rich considering that the entire right seems pretty much in a constant state of being offended by everything. Focussing simply on Obama, for example, everything from Wright to his elitism to his lack of flag pins to his supposed refusal to say the pledge. Seriously, we remind you of people who are offended on a daily basis? Geebus. Look in the mirror.

By: Barry

Barry — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 12:54:31 +0000

James: "Still, it’s probably not worth all the hubbub it’s generating."

And then you quote Michelle 'Screamer' Malkin?!?

By: graywolf

graywolf — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:10:48 +0000

Most of you (Kathy, bros...) need to take a grow-up pill and not take yourselves sooo... seriously.

You remind me of the people who cause constant dissension in an office by being "offended" on a daily basis.

By: FREDW

FREDW — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:29:11 +0000

This joke was not as outrageous as it seems. Some time in the 80's one of the tobacco lobby shills released a statement on how smoking is a positive because, for instance, it helps keep Social Security costs in check by limiting lifespan of a number of recipients ( for real, you can't make stuff like this up). I still have a copy of the article in my files somewhere; it is one of those things that is so outrageous you have to keep copies as a reality check.

By: brainy435

brainy435 — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 02:13:33 +0000

Alex, it appears you must have missed Obamas doubletalk on NAFTA and the anger he caused with his denouncement of Canadas oil sands as too dirty. Wonder how those slipped by you.

Thanks for the well-reasoned counter argument, anjin. You moving on to junior high next year?

By: Balloon Juice

Balloon Juice — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:10:26 +0000

[...] Outside the Beltway, this McCain [...]

By: anjin-san

anjin-san — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:49:45 +0000

Yes, McCain's sense of humor is a big deal.

~~If you happen to be a lightweight liberal~~

If you happen to be a person with a working brain and a respect for life...

By: Alex Knapp

Alex Knapp — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 20:27:28 +0000

Er... did I miss Obama's "bomb Canada" joke?

By: brainy435

brainy435 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 19:29:25 +0000

Yes, McCain's sense of humor is a big deal.

If you happen to be a lightweight liberal running for an office that is WAY above your qualifications.

Funny that most of the people worried about how this joke MIGHT be recieved are the same people who aren't worried about how the Canadians and Columbians have ALREADY percieved Obamas rhetoric about their respective countries. Bad Presidential humor is more damaging to the US than bad Presedential policy, I guess.

By: sam

sam — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:20:42 +0000

One can tell a lot about someone by listening to what they laugh at, or by what they think is funny.

Hmmm...Ah, right:

Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious, by Sigmund Freud

;)

By: Hal

Hal — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:47:55 +0000

It certainly seems like McCain - at least - believes that he's going win the election via divine intervention - just like he won the nomination. So he's just doing the same thing, believing it will work for him again. My guess is that his election team is running around screaming, pulling their hair out...

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:37:26 +0000

The substance of his comment aside, I'm just troubled by what this says about McCain's campaign - that they've made zero progress in assessing their candidate's strengths and weaknesses, and haven't any plan for taking the fight to Obama. McCain doesn't joke well. Heck, he doesn't communicate well, but it really doesn't work for him when he tries humor. Problem is, he's up against a world-class communicator. It seems like every day we get lengthy sound bites of Obama coming around to a centrist position on another substantive issue and just when they should be taking the man to task, the McCain camp instead serves up some lame-ass "joke" about cigarettes and Iran? It really doesn't matter if this is right or wrong, good or bad. This is the way it is going to be from now until November. McCain is behind and so often it looks like he'll just be content to fumble around aimlessly for a few more months. One thing's for sure: "Jokes" like this aren't going to close the gap.

By: Hal

Hal — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 16:31:03 +0000

Me? Meh.

It was meant to be a comment on McCain, who thought it was funny - didn't know there was anyone recorded who laughed at it, didn't infer that you were...