# I call bullshit on John McCain's purely political "suspension" tactic. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 24, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046 "2008-09-24T19:32:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/141 "2008-09-25T17:38:40Z")
Y’know what? That Letterman footage with Olbermann was absolutely priceless. For those who haven’t yet seen it–[here ya go, this is wonderful.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYphmG7JeZE) I wonder how many McCain supporters tuned in to watch their guy on Letterman, without knowing he’d bailed on the show and got a chance to watch that. Letterman was pissed! I love the way Olbermann came over like “dude, you are on FIRE tonight! Let me dump this can of gas all over you to help put it out, 'k?” _wipes tears_ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/142 "2008-09-25T17:40:21Z")
> [@nebco9](#): > > I’m quite sure that Palin didn’t make any comments as stupid as Biden’s. If she had, there would be at least 5 threads here calling for her to step down as VP candidate due to her ignorance of who was president when the depresion began and when television became available to the public. Only 5? More like a dozen.😛 But hell, I’ll give Biden a pass, that was just a slip. I’d give McCain or Palin that same pass mind you. ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/143 "2008-09-25T17:41:05Z")
John McShame is a despicable, filthy liar. His supposed “suspension” of his campaign, which was to include canceling all of his television advertising, was a bald faced, flat out, fucking LIE. I **just** watched one of his underhanded, lying commercials airing on CBS not 2 minutes ago. Lying fuck. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/144 "2008-09-25T17:43:47Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I chuckled when I saw that clip on The Daily Show last night. It didn’t bother me. We know that Biden knows when the stock market crashed, who was president at the time, and when television was invented. We know this because we’ve had 30+ years to watch him. We’ve heard him speak **his own words** , off the cuff, quickly, and sometimes without thinking things through. > > We can’t say the same about Palin. Not to mention, does misspeaking about whether tv was around 70 years ago matter when Palin can’t name one thing her own running mate has done in his time as a Senator in regard to deregulation? Biden was free-talking his own thoughts on a subject and put his foot in his mouth. Palin couldn’t find her own mouth unless someone else was kicking her in the teeth with her own foot. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/145 "2008-09-25T17:53:27Z")
> [@Noelq](#): > > A senator is stopping his non-job related duties to pay attention to his job-related duties, and you’re outraged? > > More senators should pay attention to their JOBS and their ELECTED DUTIES, rather than focusing on their re-election campaigns and fundraising. Well stated. But of course, that’s fact and it has no bearing whatsoever on DTC’s rants. What McCain did was honorable and correct. And please note that Obama didn’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/146 "2008-09-25T17:58:09Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Well stated. But of course, that’s fact and it has no bearing whatsoever on DTC’s rants. > > What McCain did was honorable and correct. And please note that Obama didn’t do it. Nevermind… fish in a barrel and all. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/147 "2008-09-25T18:02:44Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Well stated. But of course, that’s fact and it has no bearing whatsoever on DTC’s rants. > > What McCain did was honorable and correct. And please note that Obama didn’t do it. What McCain did was desperate and political, and now that a deal has been reached without him, self-defeating. it is to Obama’s credit that he didn’t fall for this stupid trick. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/148 "2008-09-25T18:07:39Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Well stated. But of course, that’s fact and it has no bearing whatsoever on DTC’s rants. > > What McCain did was honorable and correct. And please note that Obama didn’t do it. Bullshit. If they were negotiating a treaty of some sort with Mexico or France, I would expect McCain and Obama to be in the Senate working on it. They’re not doing that, they’re trying to make the economy slightly less fucked-up, and neither of them has much experience in that area. The best thing Obama and McCain can do right now is get out of the damned way and let the experts figure things out. What McCain did was absurd political posturing. And please note that Obama didn’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![Jolly\_Roger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@Jolly\_Roger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jolly_Roger)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/149 "2008-09-25T18:08:44Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Well stated. But of course, that’s fact and it has no bearing whatsoever on DTC’s rants. > > What McCain did was honorable and correct. And please note that Obama didn’t do it. What was honorable and correct about it? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/150 "2008-09-25T18:09:01Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > What McCain did was honorable and correct. Why didn’t he do it when it would have made a difference? ---
**Author:** ![Atomicflea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/58956e/32.png) [@Atomicflea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomicflea)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/151 "2008-09-25T18:17:53Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > What McCain did was honorable and correct. And please note that Obama didn’t do it. McCain has missed more votes than any other Senator excepting those on medical leave. How honorable is that? ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/152 "2008-09-25T18:21:18Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Why didn’t he do it when it would have made a difference? The same reason he did not criticize the war when it would have made a difference. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/153 "2008-09-25T18:22:32Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Well stated. But of course, that’s fact and it has no bearing whatsoever on DTC’s rants. > > What McCain did was honorable and correct. And please note that Obama didn’t do it. I’m still trying to figure out what, exactly, McCain _did_. He didn’t fly straight to DC from New York–he paused long enough to have an interview with Couric. He didn’t pull his ads. I saw several McCain campaign ads yesterday evening and I live in Utah! Probably the one place in the nation he doesn’t need to keep his smear campaigns on the air. He didn’t take his attack dogs off the news. His surrogates are still making the rounds on the cable channels. What part of his campaign was suspended? The debate? That’s not until tomorrow night, and there’s a very good chance that the bill will be taken care of by then. He’s not on any important committees, and even if he had been in DC, doing his job (something that he wasn’t terribly interested in when he wasn’t running for president), all he had to do was be present to vote. He’s got a personal jet. He could have made the vote without “suspending” his campaign. So he did the honorable thing by saying he’d suspend the campaign, and then doing everything _but_ what he promised to do? Yeah, I can see why a Republican would think that. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/154 "2008-09-25T18:23:00Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Originally Posted by Noelq > > A senator is stopping his non-job related duties to pay attention to his job-related duties, and you’re outraged? > > > > More senators should pay attention to their JOBS and their ELECTED DUTIES, rather than focusing on their re-election campaigns and fundraising. > > Well stated. But of course, that’s fact and it has no bearing whatsoever on DTC’s rants. > > What McCain did was honorable and correct. And please note that Obama didn’t do it. Bullshit. As far as I’m concerned the last thing McCain was elected to do was represent his party as a nominee for president. His job now is to run for president, and up until it became politically expedient for him to re-enter the Senate chambers, that’s what he’s been doing. He hasn’t showed up in the Senate since April. Does that mean that he can’t go back and cast a vote now and again? No, but to think that it was his duty as one senator from Arizona to run back and be present to work on this bailout is complete bullshit. His job right now is to show American voters how he will lead them as president-- that means being out on the campaign trail and debating his opponent, not grandstanding in the Senate on an issue that hundreds of other members of Congress are probably more knowledgable about. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/155 "2008-09-25T18:27:06Z")
Some people don’t realize that his brass balls have been shown to be made of chicken mcnuggets. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/156 "2008-09-25T18:27:48Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Well stated. But of course, that’s fact and it has no bearing whatsoever on DTC’s rants. > > What McCain did was honorable and correct. And please note that Obama didn’t do it. Cite? Or just your opinion? If opinion please support both the claim of “honorable” and the claim of “correct”. McCain is a man without honor. He left his crippled first wife. When Bush attacked his family in the 2000 campaign, McCain responded over the next eight years by hugging Bush personally and praising him and changing all his positions. Those are the acts of a coward, not an honorable man. How a man stands by and protects his family are the most important windows on his character you could have. McCain is scum. Another important indicator to McCain’s scumminess is how he treats his period as a POW, which he survived. He mentions it constantly. A real man would downplay it, the same way Dole wasn’t constantly going on about his war wound. McCain answers many criticisms, either himself or spokespeople, with reference to his being a POW. Its disgusting. McCain is an utterly selfish narcissistic prick who is completely unqualified to be President. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/157 "2008-09-25T18:34:16Z")
Looks like there’s not going to be any snow on Friday and everyone is going to have to go to school. Sure hope that little Johnny Mac studied for his test and wasn’t counting on the weather to save his bacon. ---
**Author:** ![Kokopilau](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Kokopilau](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kokopilau)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/158 "2008-09-25T18:34:35Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Well stated. But of course, that’s fact and it has no bearing whatsoever on DTC’s rants. > > What McCain did was honorable and correct. And please note that Obama didn’t do it. You fail at life. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/159 "2008-09-25T18:47:18Z")
People! DNFTT! ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2008, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046/160 "2008-09-25T18:48:11Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > I’m still trying to figure out what, exactly, McCain _did_. > > He didn’t fly straight to DC from New York–he paused long enough to have an interview with Couric. > > He didn’t pull his ads. I saw several McCain campaign ads yesterday evening and I live in Utah! Probably the one place in the nation he doesn’t need to keep his smear campaigns on the air. > > He didn’t take his attack dogs off the news. His surrogates are still making the rounds on the cable channels. > > What part of his campaign was suspended? The debate? That’s not until tomorrow night, and there’s a very good chance that the bill will be taken care of by then. > > He’s not on any important committees, and even if he had been in DC, doing his job (something that he wasn’t terribly interested in when he wasn’t running for president), all he had to do was be present to vote. He’s got a personal jet. He could have made the vote without “suspending” his campaign. **Clothahump** , please take the time to address these very salient points that **pepperlandgirl** pointed out. I am actually very interested in how a McCain supporter responds to these, particularly the fact that McCain is not on the relevant committee, and was not invited by the people who were working on the deal. What the heck could he have done? His JOB as one of 100 senators is to vote once the deal has been hammered out BY THE APPROPRIATE PEOPLE. I’m seriously looking for your explanation here. How was what McCain did "honourable and correct? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-call-bullshit-on-john-mccains-purely-political-suspension-tactic/465046.md?page=9)