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McCain owns so many homes, he’s lost count

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Throughout the campaign, there have been various trivialities that have taken on enormous political significance. Nearly everyone can no doubt rattle more than a few examples off the top of their heads — haircuts, arugula, bowling scores, lapel pins, etc.

But I have a hunch not one of these is as humiliating as this one.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife

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, Cindy, own.

“I think — I’ll have my staff get to you,” McCain told us in Las Cruces, N.M. “It’s condominiums where — I’ll have them get to you.”

It’s one thing to be so extraordinarily wealthy that you own multiple homes. It’s another to be so extraordinarily wealthy that you can’t even remember how many homes you own.

There’s been at least a half-hearted effort on the part of Democrats lately to characterize McCain as out of touch with the concerns of regular ol’ working American families. There’s been a more subtle effort to paint McCain as old and befuddled.

By struggling to count his own number of homes, McCain has done Democrats an enormous favor. I’ve seen some equate McCain with Grandpa Simpson, and I’ve seen some equate McCain with Mr. Burns. It turns out, he’s both.

Time’s Mark Halperin reported this morning that Dems are planning a “major offensive” on this, and intend to “hammer the Arizonan” over his comments. I can’t say I blame them. This is a slow, hanging curve, right over the middle of the plate.

Now , for accuracy’s sake, I should note that there’s been some question as to exactly how many homes McCain actually does own. I’ve heard some Dems argue he has six, while Newsweek recently pegged the number at seven. McCain’s staff told the Politico the correct answer is “at least four.”

By one count, the actual number is actually 10.

But in most respects, the exact number isn’t especially relevant. The point is a) McCain is so rich he owns a lot of homes; b) McCain is so out of touch he can’t even remember the number of homes he owns; and c) despite his extravagant wealth, McCain is anxious to push an agenda that favors the rich even more while screwing over the middle class and working families.

Over the course of the campaign, McCain has offered a couple of doozies. He talked about keeping U.S. troops in Iraq for 100 years. He described the Social Security system as a “disgrace.”

But this is the kind of humiliating story that can really hurt. Everyone in America heard about Al Gore claiming to have invented the Internet (despite the fact that never happened). Everyone in American heard John Kerry said he “voted for it before I voted against it.”

And fairly soon

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, if there’s any justice at all, everyone in America will know that John McCain is so out of touch, he’s lost count the number of homes he owns.

In the midst of a housing crisis, with foreclosures skyrocketing, and with McCain offering a regressive economic agenda, this story is quite a gift to Democrats. Expect to hear a lot more about it.

Comments

  • Castor Troy

    says:

    Ah, but maybe he doesn’t know how many houses he owns because he is in such dire financial straits that some of them have come under foreclosure 😉

  • TR

    says:

    If they don’t beat the shit out of McCain over this comment, then the Dems deserve to lose. This is a gift.

  • Aeolus

    says:

    Millions of Americans are losing their homes, and McSame can’t even keep track of how many residences he owns.

    How many pairs of $520.00 loafers does he own? Does he keep extra pairs in every home? How many?

    Does McCain make more or less than five million a year?

    There are a lot of questions that our press can’t follow because they involve hard questions about complex issues like economics and policy, but can’t they keep track of shoes and houses?

  • TheSpiceMustFlow

    says:

    Cindy, how many forgotten siblings do you have?

    I…They’re half…I’ll have to get back to you.

  • Martin

    says:

    Ah, but maybe he doesn’t know how many houses he owns because he is in such dire financial straits that some of them have come under foreclosure

    More likely Cindy won’t tell him how many they own. A girl’s got to keep her eye on things.

  • Nick

    says:

    Great news. I hope this helps with the lackluster polling as of late.

    Also, in the last paragraph, it should read “Expect to hear…” not “Except to hear…”

  • slappy magoo

    says:

    slightly off-topic, but “war heroq or “prisoner of war” will probably be used in an attempt to diffuse this controversy. It’s what they do.

    I’m not trying to belittle any one veteran’s war record with this comment. But sadly, McCain’s staff uses his POW status as a cudgel to mute criticism constantly. And what bothers me is how rarely is it asked “if every mistake/gaffe/lapse of judgment McCain makes on the stump can be explained away by his POW status, what happens if he gets the big job, moves into the Oval Office…AND STILL MAKES THESE SAME MISTAKES/GAFFES/LAPSES OF JUDGMENT?!?!? OR EVEN WORSE?

    If his personal history makes him unable to keep his thoughts together, it’s a shame, a travesty, an example of the horrors of war. But we shouldn’t trust a brain that damaged by the horrors of war with the button, either.

  • jimBOB

    says:

    Time’s Mark Halperin reported this morning that Dems are planning a “major offensive” on this, and intend to “hammer the Arizonan” over his comments.

    I’ll believe it when I see it. Their idea of “hammering” might be for an Obama surrogate to mention it in local appearances two or three times.

    C’mon, Obama campaign, prove me wrong.

  • jhm

    says:

    Tell me that Politico has Hon. Sen, McCain on tape admitting that his “staff” would have more of an idea how many houses he has than he does (was he more afraid of answering and the number being wrong or of answering with a number in double digits?).

    I would add that this is interesting to me on a more general level; Senator McCain doesn’t really ‘own’ much of anything, nor does he often have to think about it much. His wife owns, and bought, everything that the Senator possesses, and manages all the assets, and does the taxes…. There really isn’t much he has in common with people who handle life’s financial necessities, day to day.

  • searcy

    says:

    Being rich isn’t going to hurt McCain. EVERYONE in this country wants to be rich. Being rich shows he is successful.

    McCain’s temper might be a more effective source of hesitation in voting for McCain for president. Unfortunately, I heard Russ Feingold on CNN last night state that McCain would be a fine president. Feingold seemed much more enthusiastic about McCain than he was about the candidate he was supporting, Obama. And Feingold dismissed the temper issue. Tom Daschle was also interviewed and declined to state that McCain’s temper was a problem.

    This is why we Democrats lose. We don’t have troops. We only have generals.

  • Fred

    says:

    I think hammering McCain for the number of homes he owns misses the point. He’s teflon on that, as well as most other things. His vulnerability is that he’s old, looks older and with his memory failing him, he doesn’t remember how many homes he owns, where he was last week, where Pakistan is, and whether that big red button in the corner is for nuking China or to call the butler for his cocoa.

    Americans are looking for any excuse to support McCain — his inexplicably improved polling on the economy is an example of this. The way to beat him is to remind voters that he is putting us all in much greater danger then we would be in with a president who remembers that slacks go on after boxers.

  • wvng

    says:

    Benen: “This is a slow, hanging curve, right over the middle of the plate.”

    Can Dems hit curve balls?

  • Nashville_fan

    says:

    The McCain draft story is being buried.

    I think the time to picket is upon us.

    This is getting ridiculous.

  • danimal

    says:

    This issue is pure class warfare…

    Note to Dems: Class warfare works and there are more poor people than rich people.

    Fire away!

  • pixie

    says:

    This is like George Bush Sr. at the supermarket, amazed at the bar codes that normal people had been accustomed to for years. That is, an old, out-of-touch geezer who thinks he knows what’s best for the rest of us. Combine this house quote with McCain’s recent befuddlement when HE visited a grocery store—follow up with him hugging W. Bingo! Say hello to President Obama.

  • petorado

    says:

    C’mon people. We should probably leave McCain alone on this one. He’s a Viet Nam vet for chrissakes. Those guys have tons of home. I mean has anyone ever heard of a homeless Viet Nam vet?

  • eric

    says:

    Oh, this info will matter in the deabtes. When a reporter asks McCain if he call feel people’s apin wehn he is wealthy and he will say yes becaseu ever since he was a POW he was attuned to pain and suffering.

    then, barack can say that it is a pretty speech (turning tables) but the reality is that you do not even keep track of the number of homes you own, you have a pension for life, you are super rich, no matter how much pain you undoubtedly suffered as a POW, your comments have shown that you do not understand what it is like to wake up and wonder if you can make your house payments, save enough money to send your kids to college, make enough to better your circumstances. Nothing in all of your speeches evidences that you have an understanding not of pain or suffering, but the FEAR of falling so far behind that everything in your world collapses. That fear has spread far beyond the poor, the working poor, but has now reached into the middle class and, with the collapse of the stock and housing bubbles, to the upper reaches of the middle class. Your party treats the expression of concerns over a sinking middle class as class warfare. Me and my party see that conversation as ensuring that all of us, of every color, of every faith, gets a meaningful and real opportunity to experience the American dream.

    That would be how i use this. innoculate the class warfare crap and populism 101.

  • short fuse

    says:

    Double-bonus opportunity: tie this to his social security “disgrace” comments (and maybe his $5M line for wealthy):

    “No wonder he’s so out-of-touch on how social security works, he’s so $%&@#% rich that he doesn’t even know how many houses he owns! Can you trust this man to understand how the economy works for the 99.8% of us? Of course not. Vote Obama.”

  • phoebes in santa fe

    says:

    Ah, the draft.

    As a child/teenager of the ’60’s, I would like to see some form of draft DISCUSSED by the candidates. All along in this misguided war-of-choice by Bush, the protesters who were out in force during the Vietnam war have been relatively quiet. Know why?

    The Iraq war did not affect the majority of Americans. (Other than the billions of dollars being wasted on it).

    If we had a draft, you’d better believe little Chloe’s and little Taylor’s parents would be out there saying, “Not MY kid!” There would have been far more questioning of governmental policy than has gone on.

    Am I for a draft? No, but I’d love to see some sort of community service requirement for teenagers.

    Am I for a draft? No, but it might spur interest in the country’s policies.

  • Mick

    says:

    Being rich isn’t going to hurt McCain. EVERYONE in this country wants to be rich. Being rich shows he is successful.

    McCain said it himself. He knows plenty of rich people that aren’t happy people. He mentioned this when talking about tax cuts to the wealthy – a rationalization of why they shouldn’t be taxed. The basic principle this country was founded on is “the persuit of happiness.” If money does not equal happiness, by what measure can we say McCain is successful? Maybe the perception that everyone should have bucket loads of cash should not be viewed as the pinnacle of success?

  • amy

    says:

    We should find an Iraq vet missing a limb and facing foreclosure.

    “Meet Private First Class Smith. He served four tours of duty in Iraq. He’s lost a leg and now he’s about to lose his home. Meet John McCain. He was a war hero. He has two arms, two legs, ten toes, ten fingers and more homes than he can count.”

  • Goldilocks

    says:

    Note to Dems: Class warfare works and there are more poor people than rich people.
    Fire away!
    (danimal #16)

    How lovely if it were true: But, a higher percentage of Americans — by double figures — just love old elitist McGlut’s so-called ‘economics’…

  • biggerbox

    says:

    It sure seems like McCain relies a lot on other people to keep track of details for him.

    He apparently has “staff” to keep track of how many properties he owns, he has Joe Lieberman to keep track of who is who in Iraq, he has the GOP platform committee to tell him what he’s supposed to believe in, he has his lobbyist/campaign manager to tell him what his policy on Georgia should be. I guess the staffer in charge of geography was sick the days McCain talked about ‘Czechoslovakia’ and the Iraq-Afghanistan border.

    Who are we voting for, McCain, or his staff?

    (Imagine having so many houses that you needed “staff” to keep track… Sweet. Nice work if you can get it, and you can get it if you … well, abandon your wife and go marry money! What a hero.)

  • Capt Kirk

    says:

    The networks won’t repeat clips of McCain’s confusion over his own wealth nor his refusal to define or discuss the divide between middle class and rich like him. And if the Democrats start to repeat it on TV, the anchors will frame it as “beating up on an old man”.

    Since this Saddleback thing it’s more than apparent that the media is determined to push McCain into the White House. Jack Cafferty at CNN had an exceptional review of McCain’s Saddleback performance that closely describes it as I saw it. But the rest of the networks seemed to agree that it was some sort of grand slam home run for McCain.

    McCain’s answers were so Bush-like and dismissive. He still refuses to say what income would define wealthy. His answer defining his faith, I found unbelievably shallow: “it means I’m saved and forgiven.” It sounds like something he’d say to a Christian charity before he slams the phone down without donating.

    The self deception necessary for a Christian person to support this kind of candidate is really beyond me. But it’s everywhere in America, people calling themselves Christians and supporting Bush, voting him in twice, all the while the man makes a mockery of Christ and His teachings.

  • Goldilocks

    says:

    Fred #13: His vulnerability is that he’s old, looks older and with his memory failing him..
    Wrong. Obama is simply far too young to lead.

  • lou

    says:

    Beware, the Republicans will spin this with their classic, trickle down justifications. Owning multiple homes provides construction jobs, service jobs for maintenance and cleanup staff, security jobs, pays local property taxes, grows the economy, etc. While many of us look at this from a personal point of virtue, ethics, greed, excess, waste of resources and energy, etc. many people view it as a badge of success and freedom to pursue the dream of good standing among the country club set.

    Plus, the press will get to travel to multiple vacation settings and will not be restricted to taking shots standing by a few John Deere farm implements as they have near Crawford, TX.

    Next, what kind of big honking pickups or SUVs do the McCains utilize in their “rest of us” digs?

  • doubtful

    says:

    This is a slow, hanging curve, right over the middle of the plate.

    Lotsa sports analogies lately. 🙂

    But this is the kind of humiliating story that can really hurt…

    …a Democrat.

    Oddly, this story reminds me of the Bush/Kerry debates and Bush asking the audience if they wanted to buy some wood. If this attack is not done correct, I think it will have little to no impact. Fortunately, the time is ripe for this attack since most of the country is aware of the mortgage and housing industry woes.

  • The Other Ed

    says:

    Now can we finally focus on who is the true elitist in this race?

    The Admiral’s son, kept in Annapolis only because of his family, who’s wife buys him a congressional seat in a district he never lived in, has his best selling book written by a ghostwriter and can’t even remember how many houses he owns.

    or

    The son of a single parent who gets scholarships because of his academic achievements, passes up big bucks at a Law Firms to work in non-profits and finally a few years ago gets to buy his first house for his family because of the profits of the best selling book he wrote himself.

    Didn’t we learn over the last 8 years that under-achievers propped up by family money and connections are classic examples of the Peter Principle? People who will be abject failures when they are promoted to position above their capabilities?

    But then as history shows us, how important is competence and achievement when you are an ex-fighter jock who is fun at a BBQ?

  • Goldilocks

    says:

    We should find an Iraq vet missing a limb and facing foreclosure.

    “Meet Private First Class Smith. He served four tours of duty in Iraq. He’s lost a leg and now he’s about to lose his home. Meet John McCain. He was a war hero. He has two arms, two legs, ten toes, ten fingers and more homes than he can count.” (amy #25)

    Sorry to say so, but that ROCKS (and hence bears repeating).

  • TheSpiceMustFlow

    says:

    @32

    Couldn’t have said it any better. Obama has lived the American dream – what’s elitist about that?

  • aReader

    says:

    Per McCain’s quote… apparently he DOES know how many homes he has, he just doesn’t know how many condominiums he has.

    Author Adam Smith, in the classic book The Money Game, describes such people as the “Private Railroad Car” types (or some such phrase). McCain now can publicly painted be one of those types.

  • Stevio

    says:

    It’s very hard to run for Prisoner of War of the United States. Hard, hard work. How many homes? How many homes? My God he was a prisoner of war! A prisoner of War! According to the GI Bill each prisoner of war is entitled to numerous homes, condos and wives, especially if the first one is no longer sexy. It also calls for each prisoner of war to be elected , without any negative connotations, to the highest office in the land unless their last name is Kerry.

    The GI Bill also guarantees that no MSM “journalist” can dig into the candidates past to see just how lousy a pilot they were. I know this because our most recent “occupant in the W.H. got the same deal. Drunken flying, womanizing, A.W.O.L. (the current occupant). crash landings, and “wet starts” leading to death are never to be talked about. Never, you hear, never! My God, he was a Prisoner of War!! Get it? Knock it off.

  • Goldilocks

    says:

    Didn’t we learn over the last 8 years that under-achievers propped up by family money and connections are classic examples of the Peter Principle? #32

    Don’t know what the ‘Peter Principle’ is (Peter Pan? Peter Out?), but certain know what one goddam motherfucker of an abject failure is, and I ain’t talkin’ wrecking your daddy’s car — I’m talkin’ TOTALLY SCREWING AN ENTIRE COUNTRY AND HALF THE WORLD (sorry, I never use capitals) m*therf*cking failure.

    Do Americans forget truly what’s at stake here?

  • neilt

    says:

    Did anybody catch the McCain camps response to this??

    “Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people “cling” to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who’s in touch with regular Americans?”

    really? REALLY?!?! Is this the best they can do?? Wouldn’t this be the textbook definition of swingly blindly??

    this looks like a winner so far…keep at it guys!!

  • Prup (aka Jim Benton)

    says:

    Keep at it, but use the POW story as well, using some of the following quotes, from someone who was a POW even longer. (No, DON’T use the Marchurian Candidate bit, that’s absurd and only turns people off.)

    “John was offered, and refused, “early release.” Many of us were given this offer. It meant speaking out against your country and lying about your treatment to the press. You had to “admit” that the U.S. was criminal and that our treatment was “lenient and humane.” So I, like numerous others, refused the offer. This was obviously something none of us could accept. Besides, we were bound by our service regulations, Geneva Conventions and loyalties to refuse early release until all the POW’s were released, with the sick and wounded going first.”

    (so his heroism in refusing it wasn’t so special)

    “John was awarded a Silver Star and Purple Heart for heroism and wounds in combat. This heroism has been played up in the press and in his various political campaigns. But it should be known that there were approximately 600 military POW’s in Vietnam. Among all of us, decorations awarded have recently been totaled to the following: Medals of Honor – 8, Service Crosses – 42, Silver Stars – 590, Bronze Stars – 958 and Purple Hearts – 1,249. John certainly performed courageously and well. But it must be remembered that he was one hero among many – not uniquely so as his campaigns would have people believe.”

    (the author “was awarded two Silver Stars, two Legion of Merits, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Heart medals”)

    “Succeeding as a POW is a group sport, not an individual one. We all supported and encouraged each other to survive and succeed. John knows that. He was not an individual POW hero. He was a POW who surmounted the odds with the help of many comrades, as all of us did.”

    “Most of us who survived that experience are now in our late 60’s and 70’s. Sadly, we have died and are dying off at a greater rate than our non-POW contemporaries. We experienced injuries and malnutrition that are coming home to roost. So I believe John’s age (73) and survival expectation are not good for being elected to serve as our President for 4 or more years.”

    (the age issue — but not just a number, the stress the POW experience added)

    “I can verify that John has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly that is not the finger I want next to that red button.”

    (temprament)

    “I’m disappointed to see John represent himself politically in ways that are not accurate. He is not a moderate Republican. On some issues he is a maverick. But his voting record is far to the right. I fear for his nominations to our Supreme Court, and the consequent continuing loss of individual freedoms, especially regarding moral and religious issues. John is not a religious person, but he has taken every opportunity to ally himself with some really obnoxious and crazy fundamentalist ministers lately. I was also disappointed to see him cozy up to Bush because I know he hates that man.”

    (dishonesty and ‘not a religious person)

    I’d seriously suggest that as many of you as can, print off the article and SNAIL-mail it to friends, or hand it around. Again, this isn’t the opinion of some blogger, but someone who knew McCain personally, lived on the same floor with him at the Naval Academy, and was a POW 2 1/2 years longer.

    It is
    http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,164859_1,00.html

  • Chad

    says:

    Thank you all for my daily dose of class envy. You all sound like a bunch of babies. “Mommy, he has more toys than I do.” Did you ever think that he owns these houses for business reasons? People do buy houses and re-sell them all the time. I’m sure he doesn’t live in all 10 residences, and if he did, so what. He’s a successful person who made it in this country. He doesn’t have to explain his wealth to you.

    Sure, Americans are struggling with foreclosures, but not all of them are. McCain doesn’t owe anything to people that make poor business decisions. If you can’t afford a house, don’t buy one until you can. These people that are foreclosed on did not make their payments, is that McCain’s fault? No, it’s theirs.

    I just love how you guys punish success on here. If you’re rich and worked hard to make it big, for some reason, you think they’re evil because there’s so many people suffering in the world. Yeah, and there’s so many people succeeding in the world too, but no one cares about that.

  • BuzzMon

    says:

    Goldilocks – here’s a quick overview of “The Peter Princple.”
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Principle
    People get promoted until they are in a position where they are incompetent, then they stay at that position.
    But, in my opinion, George W. Bush has been VERY competent, but only for the people he represents, the super-rich.
    And you are right, he (and all of his Republican supporters) have screwed us ordinary folks to an extreme degree.

  • neilt

    says:

    know why I love our dear friend Chad? ‘Cause he’s nothing more than a One Stop Republican Talking Point Shop.

    I don’t need to do any further research to find out what the official party response is to any issue…just wait for ol’ Chad to chime in with his two cents (or should I say wooden nickels?)

    keep it up buddy, you’re doing some true yeoman’s work around here!

  • 2Manchu

    says:

    “He described the Social Security system as a ‘disgrace.'”

    But he’s more than happy to get his slice of that “disgrace” every month.

    And it’s one thing to lose track of your account balance, or how much you owe on your credit card, or how much you paid in taxes last year.

    But to lose track of how many HOUSES you own?

  • BuzzMon

    says:

    Chad’s jealous ’cause deep down he thinks that we got more brains than him.

    Psst, Chad – It’s his wife that inherited the money, McBush didn’t do dick but woo her & accept her little gifts.

  • Capt Kirk

    says:

    Chad, one would hope you are defending the super-wealthy as a pampered prince in some gilded ivory tower, otherwise you would be a foolish serf who worships his lord until the hordes storm the castle and only those inside are safe.

    McCain did make one very astute business deal that we are all aware of when he dumped the poor one and married his current wife. The one with percodan boobs.

  • doubtful

    says:

    Sure, Americans are struggling with foreclosures, but not all of them are. McCain doesn’t owe anything to people that make poor business decisions. If you can’t afford a house, don’t buy one until you can. -Chad

    I assume you are also against the bailouts and handouts to the banks who made “poor business decisions” by giving people who couldn’t afford a house a mortgage. John McCain isn’t.

    I just love how you guys punish success on here. If you’re rich and worked hard to make it big, for some reason, you think they’re evil because there’s so many people suffering in the world. -Chad

    Neither Cindy McCain or John McCain made it big through hard work. Everything they ever had was handed to them both. Regardless, they’re only allowed their luxury via society, so no matter how they came about their wealth, they owe a debt to society. The richer you are, the more you benefit from government which in turn means you owe more.

    Out. Of. Your. League.

  • BuzzMon

    says:

    Hey, let’s not forget McCain voting against any minimum wage hike.

    The McCains & Richard Mellon Scaife – Poster Children for a big hike in the Estate Tax. More tax money for America, less harm to the world.

  • Davis X. Machina

    says:

    Selfish bastards. You just don’t want Chad to get those McCain golf club covers. Or is it the mouse pad?

  • Chad

    says:

    Paint it anyway you want it, it’s still class envy. Whether he married into it (your jealous) or whether he earned it (your jealous), it’s a no-win situation for him.

    I’ve been noticing that most of the stories on here are decidedly anti-McCain, but I don’t notice many pro-Obama stories. Don’t have many nice things to say about Barry eh?

    Back to the house issue, Is Barry living in a cardboard box down by the river? No, I believe he’s doing quite well for himself. Heck, if everybody did business with people like Rezko, the housing crisis would be a hell of a lot worse than what it is now.

  • Always hopeful

    says:

    Chad, I guess you also think it’s OK for McCain to get 100% disability, yet insist he is totally fit to be President and take that $$ from the gov’t tit even though he doesn’t need it, along with his Social Security, which he thinks is a disgrace, even though he doesn’t need it. Just like Republicans to decry the govt tit while sucking away…

  • Chad

    says:

    Uh Yeah Hopeful, he deserves disability because he spent 5 1/2 years in a freaking POW camp in Vietnam getting tortured you twit. WTF?! How about all the welfare rats out there popping out kids to get more money, do they deserve more money? Maybe you should worry about them over some veteran getting what he deserves.

    And oh no, I played the POW card. Facts are facts, stop crying over it. Obambi’s playing all the cards he has to his advantage, but your not pissing yourselves over that.

  • Prup (aka Jim Benton)

    says:

    Chad is very good at what trolls do — which is to deflect people from the actual topic to responding to them. Take a look, since he ‘chimed in’ at #43, 7 of the next 11 posts are responses to him, and one is a follow up by him.

    There is a reason for the rule

    don’t feed the trolls

  • Prup (aka Jim Benton)

    says:

    Then i break my own rule. To quote from the article I excerpted above — which i hope will get us back on topic —

    “Was he tortured for 5 years? No. He was subjected to torture and maltreatment during his first 2 years, from September of 1967 to September of 1969. After September of 1969 the Vietnamese stopped the torture and gave us increased food and rudimentary health care. Several hundred of us were captured much earlier. I got there April 20, 1965 so my bad treatment period lasted 4 1/2 years. President Ho Chi Minh died on September 9, 1969, and the new regime that replaced him and his policies was more pragmatic. They realized we were worth a lot as bargaining chips if we were alive. And they were right because eventually Americans gave up on the war and agreed to trade our POW’s for their country. A damn good trade in my opinion! But my point here is that John allows the media to make him out to be THE hero POW, which he knows is absolutely not true, to further his political goals.”

  • Chad

    says:

    Oh, he was only tortured the first 2 years, my god, what was I thinking. Well then, I guess it’s okay for you to belittle his POW experience. I’m sure if any of you were subjected to that treatment, you’d tell them anything. But no, McCain took it like a man and if he wants to use that, more power to him, and if you want to try to belittle that, that’s great, it only shows that the left doesn’t respect his service and will only help McCain.

  • doubtful

    says:

    Prup,

    The problem with not feeding trolls is for those folks at home who do not comment. They may not know how to rebut these ignorant arguments. We all know someone like Chad in real life, or probably will as the election approaches, so I think it’s helpful to have a good, reasonable answer to unreasonable idiocy.

    Plus it’s fun to poke the trolls sometimes. Especially Chad, because he actually gets angry. A truly successful troll doesn’t take it to heart, but Chad is easy to rile.

    After just a few responses illustrating his ignorance, he got so frustrated he couldn’t even spell ‘you’re:’

    Paint it anyway you want it, it’s still class envy. Whether he married into it (your jealous) or whether he earned it (your jealous), it’s a no-win situation for him. -Chad

    Emphasis mine.

    It pleases me to no end to watch him get so frustrated simply because he’s so far out of his league. Honestly, we deserve better than such a newbie troll, but we’ll take what we can get, I suppose. He’s no where near our dear Mary. Man, she could troll.

    I imagine Chad furiously pounding his keyboard and losing his tiny mind every time we so thoroughly destroy him. I think we crushed his spirit, though, because the last few days it just seems like he’s not trying.

    Buck up, Chad, you’ve only got a few more McPoints to save up for that mustache comb!

  • Chad

    says:

    Oh Hopeful, I’m so glad you think of me. Hey, how’s the proofreading business going? I’m so sorry I mixed up a your and you’re. Thank God you caught that, it could have been the end of the world. From this point on, I’ll try to make it a point to pick out every grammatical error on here. I wouldn’t want the grammar police (doubtful) to have to cite anyone for errors in grammar that they most likely got from public schools that get more and more money, but deliver very little.

  • Chad

    says:

    Oh, I just caught this on post #4:

    Cindy, how many forgotten siblings do you have?

    That’s nice, how about “Obama, how many forgotten siblings do you have?” You do know that they found one of Obama Sr’s bastard children in Kenya yesterday right? Living on a dollar a month. Good for him. What was that verse Obama used at Saddleback last week? Something about brothers and doing something unto them, I’m not going to look up the verse, but it sounds like a big bushel full of hypocrisy to me.

  • stinger

    says:

    To build on petrado’s excellent point (#19), how about a head count of homeless vets in each of the towns where John and Cindy own a home? How many BRs in each of those homes? How about they let one or more homeless vets live there, as caretakers perhaps? Do something good for vets with all that cash, instead of just trading on his own now distant service?

  • lenko

    says:

    Phoebes @ 23…

    I was trying to raise the subject of a possible draft in these comments a year back. Nobody seemed to want to discuss it. But if McSame wanted to be in Iraq another 100 years, at a time when recruitment was falling, how else was he going to put together an army? Seems like just simple math to me.

    Your 4 year old is just cannon fodder to Grampa.

  • Chad

    says:

    Yes Stinger, and lets ask how many homeless people live around the community that Obama was an organizer for. How many homeless in Chicago and the State of Illinois. How many homeless in Denver during the DNC or in St. Paul for the RNC. Are you ignorant enough to think that homelessness will just someday magically cease to exist? Good luck trying to save every single living soul on this planet. Sometimes, they just have to help themselves.

  • Capt Kirk

    says:

    Charles pegs you guys right, Chad, the more you talk, the more your hate stinks up the room. Your “class envy” whining sounds just like “let them eat cake”. Please continue.

  • slappy magoo

    says:

    In post #8, earlier today, I wrote “slightly off-topic, but “war hero” or “prisoner of war” will probably be used in an attempt to diffuse this controversy. It’s what they do.”

    Granted, this is a no-brainer, it’s not like I’m some psychic, but it’s good to be right once in while 🙂

    “Speaking to the Washington Post, aide Brian Rogers, in full damage-control mode, acknowledged that his boss had “some investment properties and stuff,” but added: “This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years — in prison.””

    Set stomachs to “purge.”

  • jennsavage

    says:

    I am laughing at anyone focusing on the fact that McCain owns this or that, when his wife inherited millions of dollars when her parents died…nobody wants to mention that Obama was in bed with a felon slum lord making deals for the properties he purchases…Obama is dirty…you just never hear the stories about it.

  • jennsavage

    says:

    McCain believes that all people should be allowed to be successful…what a concept…Obama wants to hold your head under water with excessive taxation so he can be the only one with money. Democrats are hypocrits to the core…it’s o.k. for them to have all the money and the power…but you had better not ever try to be successful in your own right…because if you are…they are coming after you to shut you down.

  • jennsavage

    says:

    Obama lives in a 4 million dollar home, while his brother George lives in a hut making less than $12.00 per year. Obama wants you to give up your money to help others, but doesn’t help his own family…his family only gave 1% of their income to help charities last year…yeah he is a real winner….NO OBAMA in 2009

  • George Arndt

    says:

    Its almost too funny how the GOP is trying to portray Obama, a man who’s mother was on welfare and worked his way up, as an elitist. And then with a straight face, they claim that McCain, who was born into an pretty well off family, married into even greater wealth and apparently owns seven houses, as “one of the common people”.

  • stinger

    says:

    Chad @ 65: I may be ignorant, but I’m also a vet, and as such am quite disappointed in a politician who trades heavily on his own veteran status without doing much either personally or as a lawmaker to help homeless veterans. Add in the fact that he claims to be a follower of Christ, and his non-action is all the more disappointing.

    Obama isn’t a vet, yet has done more for veterans in both his local organizing and his senatorial voting than McCain has, so pointing over THERE and saying, “But what about HIM?” is unconvincing.

    Also, who mentioned “every single living soul on this planet”? I specifically said veterans. Try to learn to present an argument without resorting to personal insults or ludicrous extremes, okay?

  • cb

    says:

    I can careless about how many homes McCain has, but I am insulted by his balant hypocrisy. Protraying Obama as an out of touch of elitist, give me a break. My friends, you are being played.