‘Never, ever, old’?

August 2, 2008

The NYT’s Michael Powell had an odd observation today.

Even some Republicans are not convinced that Mr. Obama intended to accuse Mr. McCain of racism, as there’s no percentage for him. Mr. McCain talks of himself as experienced but never, ever, old; Mr. Obama talks of change but charily of his status as a historic first. [emphasis added]

Really? I think Powell might need to watch more television:

Or maybe just listen to more of McCain’s campaign speeches.

“I am older than dirt,” McCain said. “More scars than Frankenstein.”

Reporters who cover the campaign do actually watch the campaign, don’t they?

You know, by the way, that old is as old does? NH’s Grannie D, who walked across the country in her early 90s for campaign finance reform, and ran for Senate after that, and is still politically active at 98, will never be old. She will die young, with her straw hat on. John McCain is old, in his heart, and rather rotten, it would seem, like the oak that blows over in a storm, and shows its rotten core to us all.

  • “Reporters who cover the campaign do actually watch the campaign, don’t they?”

    Oh, good God, no, of course they don’t. They watch Fox and CNN at home while drinking beer in their undershirts, then they phone it in.

  • Reporters who cover the campaign do actually watch the campaign, don’t they?

    Why bother, when you know how it comes out?

  • “Reporters who cover the campaign do actually watch the campaign, don’t they?”

    No. These people do not reside in the reality based community, they create their own reality, when we are trying to analyze the reality they’ve created, they created another. Something like that, right? Monkey see, we’re in monkey do?

  • Do they watch it? Of course not. They make it all up so they don’t have to. They say what they want. McCain is even irrelevant to them.

  • Mr. Axelrod, now thats a name. An axel to ride on? Lets take a look at what Mr. Axelrod needs to defend in Barack Hussein Obama.

    Please be ware that I support Obama and would likely vote for Obama no matter what right now. But here are my thoughts, really tough hard thoughts about Obama’s need to address the problems in America.

    It is race, Obama needs to get over it, and this is exampled by the challenge in Obama’s speech the other day by a young black man that wants to know what Obama is going to do about the Black community. This young Black man hit the target.

    Actually Mainstream America wants to know what Obama is going to do about Black America. Actually McCain and Company is begging the Question, Obama what are you going to do about American Blacks in our culture today. It is race and what are you going to do? Stop dancing around ludicrously. I don’t want a hip hop song that has ugly and divisive black dribble.

    Obama it is time to dig in this Black stuff there is no way around it. What are we going to do about that so called reparations? Even though the American community electively gave about six point seven trillion dollars over the last five decades to welfare and Black positive assertive action programs. Very little return seems to have been made. Obama even though America has about twenty million alien Mexicans running parallel to an economy that is in tilt, we need to address it and need to do it quick, like now. This is the moment. Well pony up fellow. To reflect on that last five decades of six point seven trillion dollars of welfare aid could have went to reconstruction of every piece of infrastructure in America. And now America has twenty million Mexican aliens wanting a piece of the American MLK’s dream. So, lets have it, whats the story tell me now, not after your elected, don’t give me this yes we can bullshit, Obama buddy I want to know How the hell you going to make it better. Now. Or its over.

    So whats happening. Obama we know its tough out there you have McCain on one side begging the question what are you going to do about Blacks in America and then you have Jesse Jackson willing to cut your nuts off if you don’t do it right.

    Well, Barrack Hussein Obama you asked for it.

    Yes we can, but the question is turning to “CAN YOU”?

  • How old is McCain?
    So old… that 8 years ago he said he’d be to old to be president today:

    Lehrer: Finally for the record, you have not lost your desire to be President of the United States have you? McCain: Certainly it’s been put in deep cold storage. haha.. Lehrer: You haven’t lost it? McCain: Well, in 2004, I expect to be campaigning for the reelection of President George W. Bush, and by 2008, I think I might be ready to go down to the old soldiers home and await the cavalry charge there.

    Bada bing, bada boom.

  • As blooming pol’s comment (#1) reflects, “old” has become a dirty word. I don’t think it should be. Think of it. Throwing off the euphemism has been a standard part of other civil rights movements. Blacks wanting to be called black. Women wanting to be called women. And at the turn of the last century, Jews wanting to be called Jews (rather than Israelites or Hebrews). Hiding behind euphemisms suggests there’s something shameful about what you are.

    I tried to explain that to my mother, when she was already past 80. She wasn’t ready to hear that, and countered that I’m middle-aged. And so I am. I gladly call myself middle-aged, rather than “in midlife.”

    But I won’t really have the right to say that about “old” until I’m at least old enough for Medicare.

    Even my mother, though, thought Bob Dole was too old to run for president, and called the cat old once the animal was about 12.

  • 6.On August 2nd, 2008 at 5:17 pm, Megalomania said:
    Mr. Axelrod, now thats a name. An axel to ride on? Lets take a look at what Mr. Axelrod needs to defend in Barack Hussein Obama.
    Please be ware that I support Obama and would likely vote for Obama no matter what right now.

    You use his middle name like a racial slur, something he should be ashamed of. If you are a supporter then you’re a really stupid one.

  • Megalomania: May I ask, what are you talking about? What did David Axelrod ever do to you?

    As a Black woman I can say what you call “this Black stuff” are just issues of education and socio-economic reform. If you go to Obama’s website and look at his platform he has already answered your questions, however convoluted and masked in xenophonia they may be.

  • Blooming pol (#1), it’s nice to hear you talk about the irrepressible Granny D, an inspiration if ever there was one. She’s like a vivacious 25-year-old stuck in a 98-year-old body, yet with all the wisdom of her years. She would have been a real asset in the Senate if she’d been able to win in ’04. I’ve never been able to figure out how Vermont and New Hampshire can have such different political cultures being so small and right next to each other. If Granny had run in Vermont she’d have been in the Senate today. It seems, however, that NH is tending more liberal lately. But I’m an outsider looking in, so it might just be wishful thinking.

  • “I am older than dirt,” McCain said.

    Biblically speaking, God made dirt. The only thing biblically older than dirt is God. McCain is now referencing himself as God.

    Fortunately, God is a DFH. He’s got a beard, long hair,and runs around all year long in sandals….

  • While I support Obama–and am solidly liberal–I try to retain an ability to look objectively at any political situation. I am not always successful, I admit. This past week there was a McCain ad that ended with the pictures of Obama and the words “Foreign Oil,” which stated that because Obama was against drilling domestically, he was pro-imported oil. Most bloggers picked up quite readily that McCain was really alluding to Obama’s “foreigness”–his race, his Muslim father, etc. But I have not seen anyone else note that Obama’s counter-punch said that McCain was using “Old politics;” yes, the key word was “old,” and it wa used every bit as calculatingly as McCain’s use of “foreign.” Is this where we are–each side planting subliminal IED’s?

    I think the way out of this shit is to put the issues on the table and teach the American public how to do some analysis. ABCnews.com this week said that Obama admitted “playing the race card” because his dollar bill comment was a comment about his race. Is every mention of race “playing the race card”? If so, we can never have a serious discussion of race in this country. Why would Obama “play the race card” anyway? He’s already got 90% of the Black vote sewn up, and highlighting his racial background can only harm him with white voters. Why don’t we discuss it, and in that way figure out who is really playing the race card? Why don’t we discuss–as Wes Clark did–why being a POW in the 60’s (one who broke under pressure at that) entitles McCain to claim he is ready to be President? He does not know “how to win a war;” McCain knows how to lose airplanes (five!). Wes Clark can honestly claim to having won a war and commanded troops, being supreme allied commander of NATO, and one who won a war without ANY American combat deaths.

    Someone said that every Presidential election is a referendum on the intelligence of the American voter. The political system is supposed to educate the electorate. Let’s try that this time. .

  • >You use his middle name like a racial slur, something [you] should be ashamed of.

    Or terrorist-baiting, the post-2001 successor to red-baiting. Or insinuating that he’s irremedially foreign. Or maybe, with race-baiting, all three.

  • Looking at McCain today, forgetful and confused, anyone considering voting for him should wonder what he will be like after 2 years in office. He loses his temper at the drop of a hat
    never remembers what he says from day to day. And let’s not forget he associated the anthrax attacks with Saddam Hussein, I seem to remember we were all told to buy duct tape and tape our window, that is a case that gets curiouser by the day. I always wondered why the attacks targeted democratic senators.

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