Society Issues Talk

Harry Hope · Guest

Now let's check in with the rest of McCain's gaffes and blunders over
the past couple of weeks...

1) Johnny Mac got super-pissed at a veteran who dared to remind
everyone that he doesn't have a perfect voting record with veterans'
groups.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzr3pdXqZ98&eurl=http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=385&topic_id=155470

"I've been endorsed in every election by all of the veterans
organizations that do that, I've been supported by them and I've
received their highest awards from all of those organizations,"
retorted McCain.

Bzzt!

Sorry, that's a lie - and it's not the first time McCain's told it.
http://www.examiner.com/x-243-Progressive-Politics-Examiner~y2008m7d8-McCain-and-Veterans

2) McCain campaigned in Pennsylvania where he told this delightful
anecdote about the time he was captured in Vietnam:

When I was first interrogated and really had to give some information
because of the physical pressures that were on me, I named the
starting lineup -- defensive line -- of the Pittsburgh Steelers as my
squadron-mates!"

Well done Senator!

Except an eagle-eyed Kos diarist discovered that according to McCain's
own autobiography: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/7/10/122429/486

Eventually, I gave them my ship's name and squadron number, and
confirmed that my target had been the power plant.

Pressed for more useful information, I gave the names of the Green Bay
Packers' offensive line, and said they were members of my squadron.

By the time McCain gets to Michigan I expect he'll have given his
captors the names of the Detroit Lions' punt return unit.

3) According to an article in the Los Angeles Times last week, Sen.
McCain obtained a license to marry his second wife while he was still
married to his first wife.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-divorce11-2008jul11,0,5924926,full.story

Perhaps someone should ask McCain to clarify his definition of
"traditional marriage."

4) Did you know that John McCain loves to gamble?

According to Time magazine, "In the past decade, he has played on
Mississippi riverboats, on Indian land, in Caribbean craps pits and
along the length of the Las Vegas Strip."
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1819898-2,00.html

Only recently have McCain's aides urged him to pull back from the
pastime.

In the heat of the G.O.P. primary fight last spring, he announced on a
visit to the Vegas Strip that he was going to the casino floor.

When his aides stopped him, fearing a public relations disaster,
McCain suggested that they ask the casino to take a craps table to a
private room, a high-roller privilege McCain had indulged in before.

His aides, with alarm bells ringing, refused again, according to two
accounts of the discussion.

"He clearly knows that this is on the borderline of what is acceptable
for him to be doing," says a Republican who has watched McCain play.

"And he just sort of revels in it."

McCain's former chief strategist John Weaver was quoted as saying,
"Enjoying craps opens up a window on a central thread constant in
John's life. Taking a chance, playing against the odds."

Ah yes, just the kind of qualities we need in a president during these
times of uncertainty.

5) Finally, the McCain campaign started running a Spanish-language
radio ad in Florida last week.

The ad notes that "Three-quarters of Florida's exports are with Latin
America," and that "Last year Florida's exports to Latin America
reached almost $45 billion dollars.

Colombia is Florida's third most important export market and this
trade agreement would create almost 5,000 new jobs."

Surprise!

According to a Newsweek analysis, "every number in the ad is wrong,
except one, a prediction of job gains taken from a group favoring the
trade deal. And even that number is rounded upward so generously as to
flunk third-grade arithmetic." http://www.newsweek.com/id/145031

Ay carumba.

By EarlG
Democratic Underground
http://www.democraticunderground.com/

Harry