McCain’s confusion has nothing to do with his age

June 11, 2008

I can appreciate the fact that the McCain campaign and Republicans in general are a little touchy about the senator’s age — running to be the oldest president in U.S. history will do that — but that’s no reason to characterize every critical adjective in the language as some kind of slight about McCain’s septuagenarian status.

Poll after poll shows that more voters trust Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on matters of national security than they do Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois. Hoping to bridge that chasm, the Obama campaign and Democrats harped on comments McCain made on the Today show this morning, repeatedly calling the 71-year-old presumptive GOP presidential nominee “confused,” seeming to feed into concerns voters might have about the Arizonan’s age.

After McCain said this morning that it’s “not too important” when U.S. troops come home from Iraq, Obama aide Susan Rice said on a conference call that McCain’s comments reveal a “real confusion and lack of understanding of the situation in Iraq” and the larger region. She added that McCain’s series of errors of fact and judgment are “reflective of a pattern of lack of understanding and lack of strategic depth.”

Reporters, apparently having internalized McCain’s talking points, asked Rice if she was attacking McCain’s age by calling him “confused.” She responded, “[W]hat I meant by that is very simple — on critical, factual questions that are fundamental to understanding what’s going on in Iraq and the region, Sen. McCain has gotten it wrong. And not just once but repeatedly.”

This comes a month after Obama, responding to an ugly attack by McCain about Hamas, told CNN, “[F]or him to toss out comments like that I think is an example of him losing his bearings as he pursues this nomination.” McCain, Lieberman, and their GOP allies said this was a shot at McCain’s age.

Look, this is silly. Every criticism is not a veiled reference to McCain turning 72. “Losing his bearings” has nothing to do with age — it refers to someone who has lost their way. They’re off track. They’re moving in the wrong direction. Likewise, people of all ages get “confused.”

Maybe McCain and the media can draw up a list of acceptable adjectives that McCain critics can use?

The kicker is McCain really has been confused. Whether he’s 72 or 22 is irrelevant — he’s been consistently wrong about Iraq, demonstrating time and again that he just doesn’t understand the basics.

* McCain has been confused about how many U.S. troops are in Iraq.

* McCain has been confused about whether the U.S. can maintain a long-term presence in Iraq.

* McCain has been confused about the source of violence in Iraq.

* McCain has been confused about Iran’s relationship with al Qaeda.

* McCain has been confused about the difference between Sunni and Shi’ia.

* McCain has been confused about Gen. Petraeus’ responsibilities in Iraq.

* McCain has been confused about what transpired during the Maliki government’s recent offensive in Basra.

* McCain has been confused about Gen. Petraeus’ ability to travel around Baghdad “in a non-armed Humvee.”

* McCain has been so confused about Iraq, in November 2006, he couldn’t even do a live interview about the war without reading prepared notes on national television.

And we’re not supposed to say McCain’s “confused”? Why, because it might make him sound old?

Tell you what, reporters and McCain campaign, pick a better adjective for us. “Confused” sounds like an attack on his age? Fine. You tell me. Befuddled? Bewildered? Baffled?

The problem isn’t that McCain’s critics are picking loaded terms; the problem is McCain doesn’t seem to know what he’s talking about when it comes to his signature issue.

Why we’re not supposed to mention this is a mystery. I guess I’m confused.

June 11, 2008 at 1:44 pm

It doesn’t fit the media narrative yet – and the media loves their simply defined stories.

By now they’ve got to be actively ignoring it because the guy’s screwed up a LOT.

So we do what we can do and keep hammering away bit by bit – or with things like Obama’s factcheck site.

You really do have to talk to reporters like you’re making a legal case. Spell out every term. Anticipate every conclusion they will try to jump to. Figure out how they’re going to screw it up.

Furthermore, that old fart McCain is confused a lot.

Tell you what, reporters and McCain campaign, pick a better adjective for us

Dishonest?

Deluded?

Incoherent?

Living in fantasyland?

Inattentive at best?

Pretending that the real world is actually just an action-movie narrative?

Dunno… I think ‘confused’ is the nicest, most delicate way of saying that he’s completely full of shit.

Do Lying and Pandering have some sort of age reference?

We could use those.

Latts is right. “Confused” is a lot more polite than “lying” or “ignorant.”

The MSM is covering for McCain, as they have for the last several years. There have been reports that these types of comments, gaffes and bizzare statements are part and parcel of his ‘straight talk’ express. The MSM just chooses not to cover them.

I just don’t think they can keep this up for much longer. Everytime he opens his mouth these days one these little gems slips out. There are only so many times times ‘reporters’ can make excuses for him before it starts to look silly.

I think McCain has gotten so used to the protection he’s enjoyed that he’s lost his ability to filter himself effectively.

I don’t know whether it is the stress of the war years that have impaired McCain’s brain function or the 30 years of pampered politician’s lifestyle that’s done it.

Call John McCain confused = get accused of ageism.
Call John Edwards a faggot = get book deals and speaking engagements.

OK. Got it. Thanks, mainstream media.

If McCain isn’t losing some of his mental faculties because of his age, what is his excuse for the long list of incorrect statements he’s made. And remember, the list CB provides is only demonstrably wrong statements about Iraq.

So if it’s not McCain’s age, what other reasons might there be?

1) McCain is intellectually lazy. After all, he finished fifth from the bottom in his graduating class at Annapolis and he ended up a senator. Why should he need to study so he actually knows anything now?

2) McCain is a moron. As is fifth-from-the-bottom position in his Annapolis graduating class demonstrated, McCain is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier. Maybe the people of Arizona aren’t much smarter. But now that he’s having to talk without a script, McCain’s shortcomings can’t be hidden anymore.

3) McCain is an arrogant asshole. His father and grandfather were both 4-star admirals, damnit, so of course he’s an expert in foreign policy. He just doesn’t think he should be subjected to pop quizes at every campaign appearance. And he doesn’t think that anyone has a right to question whether anything he says is right or wrong.

So which is it?

There is being confused and there is the reason for such confusion. No Republican wants McCain’s confusion to be due to innate intellectual limitations. He graduated 2nd from the bottom of his class at Annapolis and was never tapped to attend any of the Navy’s postgraduate schools, so he has no history of any intellectual achievement. Better they bring out the bogus age issue rather than focus on his obvious “not the sharpest tack in the box” problem.

The proper reply is that it is not that he is old, it is that he is dense.

See Steve T. I defer to him on McCain’s graduation standing, but still prefer the dull tack analogy to the dim bulb. Viva le difference.

I propose “Dumber than a double-shot of Plutonium-laced mud that’s been chased with a great big mug of the ~~liquefied Clydesdale excrement~~ “beer” his wife’s been peddling throughout Arizona.”

Oh—he’d probably need notes, a teleprompter, a translator with a PhD in English, and a thesaurus just to understand that, wouldn’t he?.

Right. “Confused” it is, then….

Ah, we called him confused, and MSM ran it w/ GOP talking point, saying we’re attaching his age.

I can’t wait to see when GOPs start screaming age discrimination against their guy.

List of Forbidden Words:
Old
Ancient
Trollop
Depends (verb or noun)
Timeless
Aging
Fumbling
Crappy
Internet
Beer
Confused
Grampa Simpson
Onions
Belt
Horseless Carriage
Photograph
Computer
Abacus (before his time, too)

If this is how you write when you’re confused… Real nice piece, CB.

“Waaaah! He called me old!”

That’s all the tuff guyz of the GOP got. It might work for a while but by October that schtick’s going to be real … well. You know.

Holy shit are the McCain people stupid. Rather than fighting back against charges that their candidate is confused, they instead decide to remind people of how old McCain is and that this might be the cause of the confusion. This is DEFINITELY NOT how the Bushies gained office.

This is the equivalent of Republicans attacking Kerry for being a flip-flopper and his campaign responding by saying the remark was an attack on him for being a Massachussetts liberal. When you respond to an attack, you’re supposed to go on the offensive and throw an attack on your opponent, not remind people of another attack on you and connecting the two together. These people are really making this too easy.

CB: “I guess I’m confused”

Is that a veiled attack on your own age? ADMIT IT!!!

1) McCain is intellectually lazy.
2) McCain is a moron.
3) McCain is an arrogant asshole.

Aww… do we have to pick just one?

Tell you what, reporters and McCain campaign, pick a better adjective for us.

For me, it’s a toss-up between “senile” and “in a persistent vegetative state.” Either way, I say stop feeding him.

[Was that too much? I never know.]

On the other hand, I wouldn’t be so quick to write it off as having nothing to do with his age either. It’s quite possible it is having a detrimental effect on him. If he were a pilot, he’d have been forced into retirement by his age, yet he is one of two people being considered to pilot the country.

Sweet, they’re playing the “age card”.

Take a look back at his history…has he always said these drastically inconsistent things…has he always been this “confused”… or has he always gotten a free ride from MSM and only now are we seeing his ignorance due to the fact that he can’t escape it? I don’t know since I’ve never been a big fan of his….

I actually don’t think this has anything at all to do with his age.

I think psychologically, he has a lot invested in his current position. To say anything approaching reality is near on impossible because he is so far distant from reality with regards to the goings on in Iraq that he wouldn’t recognize reality if it bit him on the a**.

Horseless Carriage

I was reading happily along, enjoying my PB&J, and that one sent jelly up my nose.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t be so quick to write it off as having nothing to do with his age either. It’s quite possible it is having a detrimental effect on him.

Sure, which is why we don’t need to say so. They can just keep freaking out at Obama’s “coded” anti-ageism, continually reminding everyone that their guy is a very old version of 71. Just keep talking about how old you are, John.

I can’t understand what’s wrong with referring to McCain’s age anyway. Something is causing these gaffes that he’s committing with troubling frequency. If not age, what? Just plain stupidity, ignorance and laziness? Would Republicans rather this, than the former? That just makes him a Bush clone – stupid, ignorant and lazy. Haven’t we learned our lesson about putting mental midgets into that office?

What’s wrong with thinking 72 is too old for the rigors and stress of the presidency? It is, for Chris sakes. And when you are this old, you cannot guarantee your state of health, no matter how good it seems to be, for any appreciable time forward. Things happen rapidly, without warning when you get that old.

As a senior myself, I can say these things, and I probably see more than younger people because I know what to look for, and how to spot the way he tries to appear young and vigorous, how he compensates, for the ravages of old age. In my opinion, he’s a tired, over the hill man who’s too old for the job, and he demonstrates that every day in both subtle and obvious ways.

I’m with hark…

It is age.
I know 71 year olds that are incredibly fit and smart.
But they admit themselves they aren’t half as sharp as they once were.

Never mind his politics… it is his age dummy.
I wouldn’t trust McCain to run the local doughnut shop with agility…
Never mind the entire country.

I have to agree that the Republican’ts are being stupid to bring up McCan’ts age.

That is, if their real objective is to see him win.

If it is to see him lose in such a way that they get inroads into the Senior Citizen vote…

All we have to say is McCain is a moron. Morons come in all shapes, sizes, genders, sexual preferences,ethnicities and ages.

Anytime they want to contest that, merely refer to the actual facts of whatever the subject is under discussion. On every one, McCain is a moron.

All we have to say is McCain is a moron. Morons come in all shapes, sizes, genders, sexual preferences,ethnicities and ages.

Anytime they want to contest that, merely refer to the actual facts of whatever the subject is under discussion. On every one, McCain is a moron.

Remember the Cheneys being shocked and appalled and outraged and shocked and, y’know, appalled when Kerry mentioned the fact that they have a daughter who’s gay? Something that’s supposedly unmentionable even though it was a) quite relevant; b) quite a benign, even complimentary reference, and c) hardly a secret given the woman herself was a fairly prominent activist and entirely “out” as to her orientation? This is a variant on the same trick.

But hey, Obama and Clinton and their various surrogates tried to pull the same schtick on each other with race and gender, so I guess it’s fair for McSame to try for it.

Maybe there needs to be some stock phrase like “No, I’m not talking about his age. I’m sure many people Senator McCain’s age have a solid grasp of the facts. Sadly, Senator McCain isn’t one of them.”

So when the RNC uses the term ‘street organizer’ – as Obama himself has used – it’s a racist dogwhistle. But calling a 71 year old man confused – oh, it means nothing!

Ri-ight. That sure seems fair.

I LIKE the word “trollop”. It’s kinda up there with “shrew”.

I plan to start using them whenever possible. Though not together, unless a “trollop” can be “shrewish”. (As opposed to Jewish, I guess).

Hey, I’M a Jewish Shrew! But, NOT a trollop.

See! I didn’t lose my marbles, I lost my bearings, just like I’ve said all along!

Or is it the other way around?

After all, he finished fifth from the bottom in his graduating class at Annapolis and he ended up a senator.

I thought it was 3rd from the bottom…

How did he get IN to the USNA?

Maybe it had something to do with his dad being an admiral. And his grandfather also being an admiral. Maybe that’s also why he didn’t get thrown out.

Of course what we REALLY have here is an affirmative action program for the stupid children of flag officers.

For anyone interested, I wrote more about this here:
McCain and the Old, Old Politics

CB, it’d be great if you made those bullet point links fully-linked – like this:

* McCain has been confused about how many U.S. troops are in Iraq.

That gets the key words “McCain”, “confused”, and “how many US troops are in Iraq” into a link by itself, along with the others. The links descriptions are accurate, so this bit of search engine optimization should be useful for people searching for similar things – “mccain wrong about iraq” or whatever someone may search for.

Just my immediate thought upon reading the post! Keep up the great work as always, I figured you are probably highly rated in the Google rankings in general so things like that will only help other Internet searchers 🙂

Whenever they are accused of ageism, all they have to do is point out the irrelevance of McCain’s age. What is said is what is important, not the age of the speaker. Ask the MSM why they keep bringing up McCain’s age.

When the MSM tries to make it seem like the Obama camp should make an issue of McCain’s age, say ‘we’ll run our own campaign, thank you very much. Are the fine folks of the 4th estate, unable to make any assertions of their own, or are they no more than parrots?’

I nominate “pig-ignorant” as the go-to McCain pejorative.

I CONCUR FULLY WITH THIS POST AND THIS COMMENT

On June 11th, 2008 at 5:27 pm, james said:
CB, it’d be great if you made those bullet point links fully-linked – like this:

* McCain has been confused about how many U.S. troops are in Iraq.

McCain is less than par when it comes to facts. If he can’t grasp the simple data of a campaign process, how can he expect to grasp the concept of universal and ambiguous responsibility with natural consequences as president. In his years in politics his experience seems to have been annual replay of one experience. He’s trying to satisfy today’s hunger with yesterday’s meal. Claude

Dear American Voters,

Hon. Senator McCain and Obama, besides each having many attributes and characteristics. The critical differences between the two of these presidential presumptive nominees are as under:

1. Presidential “Temperament and Composer”.
2. Little Washington “insider Versus outsider” experience.
3. “Vision and mission” for our nation future rather than past.
4. American policies, ” first U.S.A Centric” than any other country [ ies ] centric.

In my professional opinion Senator Obama leads in all above qualities.

The need of our next movement and generation is a change. The Change in ” past Washington and its Leadership”. A change we can believe in and not the seductive, deceptive, and confusing slogan of “leader we can believe in” [? Effexor ?”.

Our Greatgrand Nation has to address many present and future challenges and start with new clean “Slate and Senator”.

God Bless America. its diverse people, and our Greatgrand Nation.

Our Greatgrand Nation is needs the CHANGE at every level and for long time.

I am sure Senator Obama with the help of Senator Clinton and her supporters, can deliver that CHANGE.

Please stay involved, stay engaged, and stay informed. Please do not allow any seduction, deception, and or confusion by some partisan media and leaders effect your vote [ Psychological Terrorism ]..

Yours truly,

COL. [retd] A.M.Khajawall
Disabled American Veteran
Forensic psychiatrist, Las Vegas

It’s not age stupid. . . it’s PTSD. . .

** John McBush won’t surrender South Iraqi-Nam to North Iran’s Sunni gooks **

John, the Navy declared you mentally fit in 1999, but PTSD wasn’t a big deal to them then, or now.

Twenty percent of service members returning from Iraq suffer PTSD. None has endured what you endured. Five years in a North Vietnamese prison cell subjected to disabling tortures, it also must have created still festering psychological wounds.

Little yellow men in black pajamas. Those “gooks” haunt you don’t they John? Beach Boys’ tunes pop up in your head singing ‘Barbara Ann’ as ‘Bomb Iran.’ No one can presume to question your authority on military issues. Can they John? You know-it-all. Your hair-trigger smart ass replies, your well-documented temper tantrums, your mood swings.

Perpetual war. Viet Nam never ends does it, John? Kill the gooks! Bomb Hanoi! Never surrender! There’s light at the end of the tunnel. America love it, or leave it. Cambodia’s next. Forty years drop away like napalm, don’t they John? For you, it’s still 1968.

But it’s 2008 in Iraq. And, blind militarism is all you know. Iran’s next, right Sideshow John? We’re forced to share your disgusting atavistic delusions ” for 5 more months. John, on the tube you exhibit that befogged glaze of incomprehension, just like alzheimer Ronnie.

Your clouded memory, your non-rational irritability, and unwavering bellicosity amount to a mental health disqualification for high executive office.

I am 66 years old and I am in perfect health for a person of my age.
That does not mean that I feel the same as when I was 30,40 or even 50 years old. Age takes its toll and Mr. McCain is no exemption. Being confused,sometimes, is part of the game of getting old. Nothing wrong with it because it is ”normal” . But when you are talking about holding the highest office on earth (President of the U.S.A.) age really matters and voters have to take it into consideration. I will.

What troubles me is that he did not release the part of his medical records dealing with his mental health. Is is verboten to bring up the fact that as a p.o.w. for 5 years who was subject to torture, that perhaps his emotional ability to handle stress and confrontations may be compromised? Is it wrong to want to know if he has post traumatic stress to any degree? Seeing how he’d be in charge of the worlds largest nuclear arsenal, i think those are very important questions. Why does he get a free pass on the possible negative effects of his imprisonment on his mental health, when he gets to tout it as a selling point for his candidacy.

Here’s my test for people who want to be president: If you were on the hiring committee tasked with finding a new principal for your local middle school, would this man or woman be qualified? I eliminated Huckabee on the basis that he did not have sufficient education to be a middle school principal. I would eliminate McCain as well. The fact that he admits to not knowing how to use a computer (when asked Mac or PC?) indicates not that he’s old but that he’s incurious and lazy, and that’s not the person I’d want running a middle school in my town. Much less president!

Here’s a thought. Let’s say McCain was…I dunno…say McCain was a working-class kid being raised on food stamps by a single mom for example.

Would his academic results have gotten him into officer training at a Naval Academy? Would anyone have trusted him to pack bags at WalMart, never mind fly big expensive airplanes? At 72, would he currently be a senator or would he more likely be collecting a modest pension and watching daytime TV?

McCain is as a dumb as a rock. He belongs to that generation of the rich and privileged that promoted not only its finest, but also its dumbest. McCain, Dubya etc.

You have to sometimes wonder if the likes of the McCain and Bush families didn’t have discreet parlour conversations about their problem children. “Damn Daphne, the kid’s as thick as schit!” “I know Roger. We’ll have to put him into politics. He won’t be able to do any damage there.”

Unless people elect them as presidents of course.

Deranged?..SOMETHING is wrong with him.

I was left scratching my head after the Fox news, Neil Cavuto interview with McCain..McCain said our troubles are psycological????? I hope people are hearing that, especially ones who are are hungry and Homeless would not appreciate THAT!!!

This week on Fox News, Neil Cavuto asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) about the worth of rescinding an 18-cent gas tax as prices at the pump escalate this summer. McCain responded that “a lot of our problems today” are “psychological.”
Transcript:
Cavuto: I think you know, Senator, we’ve been in and out another all time high for oil and gas prices today. Many are sort of jumping on your proposal to nix the federal gas tax — a little north of 18 cents — throughout the summer. Are you afraid though, by the time we get to the summer, we’ll be up that much and more in gas prices?
McCain: I’m very concerned about it, Neil. And obviously the way it’s been going up is just terrible. But I think psychologically — and a lot of our problems today, as you know, are psychological — the confidence, trust, the uncertainty about our economic future, ability to keep our own home. This might give them a little psychological boost.
Let’s have some straight talk, it’s not a huge amount of money. But it might be nice to be able to save a few bucks and maybe buy something else the next time that they have to fill up their gas tank and say, “You know I’m going to be able to afford that little expense now.” A little psychological boost. That’s what I think it would help. But we also, I think, we need to stop competing for a limited supply, as far as the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is concerned. Let’s just stop buying that as well. But it might be a nice thing to happen.

How did this guy fulfill his responsibilities as Senator for so many years without knowing how to use a computer? I can’t picture him reading all those bills? And where does he get independent information. Do people print out all his emails for him? Or does he just make decisions off-the-cuff?

This is scary. He is going to be even more vulnerable than Bush to being led around by others. The fact that he’s changed so many of his positions from just 2 years ago makes me think that it’s already started.

This guy should have retired 7 years ago. Unfortunately, Ronald Reagan was going through the beginning stages of Alzheimers during his last couple years in the White House. But despite any sensitivity the press has about race – I think they’ve got 3x as much about age – and I think they’re scared of pointing out all of these constant mistakes and confusion because they don’t want “age discrimination” thrown at them. And John McCain despite graduating near the very bottom of his class, crashing 4 planes, the USS Forrestal incident – is evidently destined to get a complete pass on everything because of his POW years.

I am very afraid of John McCain becoming president – because we have no idea of who is really going to be pulling the strings. Phil Gramm – and the oil speculators and Swiss banks he represents? The warmongers that want us to invade Iran and kick Russia out of the G8? the uber-rich who want their tax cuts kept intact – regardless of what it does to our economic security?

If the press doesn’t wake up – the next 4 years are going to make today look like the glory days.

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