# John McCain Has Got to be One of the Dumbest People on the Planet **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 30, 2008, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243 "2008-03-30T02:38:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/61 "2008-03-31T02:34:29Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] John McCain Has Got to be One of the Dumbest People on the Planet \ Barack Obama is going to make mincemeat out of this guy. It’s going to be like watching [Gore and Quayle against Admiral Stockdale](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5Jbmaq4YHA) all over again. [/QUOTE] Obama’s good with the quips and prepared speeches. He doesn’t seem quite as good otherwise. We’ll see. No, if Obama thinks people will forget “Reverend” Wright and the weaselly way he handled the matter, HE’S the dumbest person on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/62 "2008-03-31T02:39:10Z")
[QUOTE=Voyager] Hey, that’s unfair. I don’t think McCain is a creationist. [/QUOTE] Probably not. But he’s shown willingness to [pander to them](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Story?id=2897153&page=2) in the recent past, most notably telling the Arizona Star in 2005: > [@](#): > > When asked if intelligent design should be taught in science class, McCain said, "There’s enough scientists that believe it does. I’m not a scientist. This is something that I think all points of view should be presented. But in Aspen in 2006, McCain said of intelligent design, “Should it be taught as a science class? Probably not.” Did he change his view? Or does he think there should be a separate pseudoscience class to teach creationism? Who knows? I’ve heard it said that one reason McCain is appealing is because when he’s called for doing sleazy things, he looks embarassed. Nice, but not quite sufficient. Based on his pandering to the religious right and Ron Paul groupies, _I’m_ embarassed for him. At this point I’d have a difficult time voting for him. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/63 "2008-03-31T02:45:12Z")
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle] No, if Obama thinks people will forget “Reverend” Wright and the weaselly way he handled the matter, HE’S the dumbest person on the planet. [/QUOTE] Where do you people come from? ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/64 "2008-03-31T02:57:15Z")
[QUOTE=Martin Hyde] Actually it’s not really true that Kerry beat President Bush in the debates–that was only true “as reported on the SDMB.” If you look at polling at the time all of the Kerry-Bush debates were basically a wash. The first one was Kerry’s only clear margin of victory in the polling, and none of them had a major impact on the election. I can’t remember the polling on the Gore-Bush debates, but I don’t remember them having much impact on the election either way. [/QUOTE] I was talking about the debates, not the polling about them. And I don’t see how my SDMB membership has anything more to do with my political opinions than yours does. [QUOTE=Martin Hyde] Elections aren’t decided by debates in this country. [/QUOTE] I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/65 "2008-03-31T02:59:13Z")
[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil] …but I crave at least _some_ substance. [/QUOTE] No you don’t. You’re a troll, who does nothing but shit in threads with things you probably only half-believe. If you wanted substance, you’d be debating the many substantive policies Obama has proposed. What you want is outrage or whatever internet kicks you hope to get by posting shit like this in this thread and countless others. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/66 "2008-03-31T03:00:26Z")
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle] Obama’s good with the quips and prepared speeches. He doesn’t seem quite as good otherwise. We’ll see. No, if Obama thinks people will forget “Reverend” Wright and the weaselly way he handled the matter, HE’S the dumbest person on the planet. [/QUOTE] Why did you put scare quotes around "Reverend? What do you think people need to remember about the Wright story and what was “weaselly” about how Obama handles it? ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/67 "2008-03-31T03:43:25Z")
[QUOTE=Richard Parker] No you don’t. You’re a troll, who does nothing but shit in threads with things you probably only half-believe. If you wanted substance, you’d be debating the many substantive policies Obama has proposed. What you want is outrage or whatever internet kicks you hope to get by posting shit like this in this thread and countless others. [/QUOTE] No, I am not a troll. Thanks for the shiftless, unfounded accusations, though! That was pretty uncalled for, but hey! It’s the Pit, so in keeping with the spirit of things here…FUCK YOU, you condescending, self-righteous prick! Have a pleasant evening! ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/68 "2008-03-31T04:40:20Z")
[QUOTE=Martin Hyde] With Obama, I don’t need to google anything at all. I can just point out he’s a long time member of a racist organization–and I can say I don’t trust the man. I think he’s a black man with a sense of entitlement that hopes to “put one over on whitey” by getting elected to the Presidency where he will proceed to implement some of the most horrifying programs of wealth redistribution from white to black we’ve ever seen. I think most middle class Americans realize such programs are anathema to their well being and I hope they will vote against a racist like Obama. [/QUOTE] Looks like someone gets their news from St\*rmfr\*\*t. That sounds exactly like the bullshit that paranoid white power nutjobs would spew. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2008, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/69 "2008-03-31T05:22:58Z")
[QUOTE=Martin Hyde] But what really interests me is this thread itself. It’s the thread of someone who has been home googling stories about McCain to try and find something embarrassing, or someone who is, in fact, signed up to some sort of Obama-ite mailing list that sends out links about the opposition to disseminate throughout the internet. There’s no way this OP found this article “in good faith” by innocently perusing the net. This year old interview isn’t featured in any major news outlet right now, precisely because it is a year old. [/quote] Oh shove it up your ass, you stupid moron. As a matter of fact, it’s the 3rd item from the top of the list of articles listed on FARK under the politics tab from the day I posted this thread. [See for yourself](http://www.fark.com/politics/), schmuck. Don’t you DARE accuse me of not bringing something to the attention of this board in good faith. G-d you make me sick. The rest of your post is just more of the same baseless and false accusations, so I won’t dignify your scummy ass with any further reply. Now go fuck off. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/70 "2008-03-31T06:45:35Z")
Judging by the fact that posts about Obama have outnumbered posts about McCain by 5-1 or so, since Brother **Martin Hyde** ’s contribution, I’d like to put in a request that he give us _Claire de Lune_, or possibly _My Melancholy Baby_. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/71 "2008-03-31T13:56:12Z")
C’mon. Let’s stop explaining things away and start explaining things. Barack Obama came to Chicago after Harvard somewhat disconnected from his black identity - we know this because he described the experience for us in his books. This disconnected feeling and the desire to address it drove several of his decisions - to become a community organizer, to attend a black megachurch led by a charasmatic and controversial pastor, to attend the Million Man March (an event not geared toward racial reconciliation and organized by a man who has been controversial himself, to say the least.) Now, all of these decisions made sense to some degree, and they can be explained in various ways - but this phase of Obama’s life wasn’t devoted to transcending racial identity, but pinning it down. It’s easy to understand that you have to do the one before the other - but I don’t know that Obama has done all that he can to explain this to people who haven’t read his books - which is most people, and most voters. The Philadelphia speech can’t be seen as the last discussion on this subject, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/72 "2008-03-31T14:51:47Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Moto] C’mon. Let’s stop explaining things away and start explaining things. Barack Obama came to Chicago after Harvard somewhat disconnected from his black identity - we know this because he described the experience for us in his books. This disconnected feeling and the desire to address it drove several of his decisions - to become a community organizer, to attend a black megachurch led by a charasmatic and controversial pastor, to attend the Million Man March (an event not geared toward racial reconciliation and organized by a man who has been controversial himself, to say the least.) Now, all of these decisions made sense to some degree, and they can be explained in various ways - but this phase of Obama’s life wasn’t devoted to transcending racial identity, but pinning it down. It’s easy to understand that you have to do the one before the other - but I don’t know that Obama has done all that he can to explain this to people who haven’t read his books - which is most people, and most voters. The Philadelphia speech can’t be seen as the last discussion on this subject, IMHO. [/QUOTE] I’ll take Non-Sequiturs for a thousand, please Alex. Seriously, what does this have to do with anything? And who has been “explaining things away”? I know of no-one who claims that the Philly speech will be “the last discussion on the subject.” Nor has anyone, in this thread at least, claimed that Obama somehow transcends the issue of race; in fact, the Philly speech clearly shows that, rather than transcending it, he is acutely conscious of how important the issue is to American culture. The only reason that Obama has become the central figure in this thread–which was, if you remember, actually about John McCain’s apparent ignorance on issues of contraception and disease prevention–is **Martin Hyde** ’s claim that Obama is “a long time member of a racist organization,” “a black man with a sense of entitlement,” and a “racist” who will “implement some of the most horrifying programs of wealth redistribution from white to black we’ve ever seen.” Do you agree with those claims? Do you think that the responses to those claims in this thread constitute “explaining things away”? ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/73 "2008-03-31T15:34:33Z")
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle] Obama’s good with the quips and prepared speeches. He doesn’t seem quite as good otherwise. We’ll see. No, if Obama thinks people will forget “Reverend” Wright and the weaselly way he handled the matter, HE’S the dumbest person on the planet. [/QUOTE] Weaselly? Apparently, you did not hear his speech in Philadelphia: [You tube link](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrp-v2tHaDo&feature=related) Anyone who can give this speech would be a fine president in my book. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/74 "2008-03-31T16:50:11Z")
[QUOTE=mhendo] Do you agree with those claims? Do you think that the responses to those claims in this thread constitute “explaining things away”? [/QUOTE] While I don’t agree with the claims as such (you’ll see I made my own claims) the responses to those claims seem to indicate that Obama is either completely innocent, unworthy of being associated with these other figures with genuine racial issues, and yes, that he has explained this as much as he needs to. I don’t think that is so. If Obama attended the Million Man March, that opens him up to questions about how he feels about Louis Farrakhan, then and now. Those would be fair questions. ---
**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:** [March 31, 2008, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/75 "2008-03-31T17:00:28Z")
Given that this is **my** thread, and the subject matter is **John McCain** , I’d like to ask that you take your Barack Obama hijack to one of the gazillion places there already are to bitch about Reverend Wright or any other supposed “connection” Obama is supposed to have. I can see now that the meme “But Clinton. . .” has now become outdated and replaced by “But Obama. . .” I’m not having it in this thread. If you can’t keep it about what a mental moron John McCain is, I’ll ask a mod to close this thread. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/76 "2008-03-31T17:08:11Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] Given that this is **my** thread, and the subject matter is **John McCain** , I’d like to ask that you take your Barack Obama hijack to one of the gazillion places there already are to bitch about Reverend Wright or any other supposed “connection” Obama is supposed to have. I can see now that the meme “But Clinton. . .” has now become outdated and replaced by “But Obama. . .” I’m not having it in this thread. If you can’t keep it about what a mental moron John McCain is, I’ll ask a mod to close this thread. Thank you. [/QUOTE] I apologize, I am guilty of participating in the hijack. My take is similar to some others in that while on the surface, yes, it is indeed frightening that someone with McCain’s supposed accumulation of knowledge and wisdom should know that factual evidence supports that condoms help prevent the spread of STD’s. I mean, 12 year olds know that! OTOH, as others have also mentioned, he may have felt trapped by the question politically and simply chosen the easiest way out of giving a direct answer that may have compromised his position in some way, and just plead ignorance. I think it makes him look bad either way, again, as others have pointed out. For a guy that supposed to have this tough guy image as a POW survivor and a political maverick, you’d think he would shoot from his hip a little more on a question like this one. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/77 "2008-03-31T17:24:15Z")
[QUOTE=Shayna] Given that this is **my** thread, and the subject matter is **John McCain** , I’d like to ask that you take your Barack Obama hijack to one of the gazillion places there already are to bitch about Reverend Wright or any other supposed “connection” Obama is supposed to have. I can see now that the meme “But Clinton. . .” has now become outdated and replaced by “But Obama. . .” I’m not having it in this thread. If you can’t keep it about what a mental moron John McCain is, I’ll ask a mod to close this thread. Thank you. [/QUOTE] The Republicans here were trying to remember all the brilliant things McCain has said. When they failed–they decided to hijack the thread! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/78 "2008-03-31T17:28:17Z")
> [@Martin Hyde](#): > > But what really interests me is this thread itself. It’s the thread of someone who has been home googling stories about McCain to try and find something embarrassing, or someone who is, in fact, signed up to some sort of Obama-ite mailing list that sends out links about the opposition to disseminate throughout the internet. There’s no way this OP found this article “in good faith” by innocently perusing the net. This year old interview isn’t featured in any major news outlet right now, precisely because it is a year old. > > This is the result of a partisan hack, a mindless fool who believes Obama is a representative of everything right and perfect and [Whoever Obama is running against] is a representative of \*everything] wrong and evil. This is a stance that hasn’t wavered, whether Obama is being compared to John McCain or Hillary Clinton. It’s a legitimate criticism that a poster’s interest in a candidate’s documented history opens him or her up to imaginative speculation about motives, methods and character, if by “legitimate” one means “bullshit.” Also, in this case “criticism” would also mean “bullshit.” The internet has a long memory, and a year is not that much time. All that noise the Republicans made about Kerry flip-flopping in 2004 is now biting them in the ass, which was inevitable because you can comb through anybody’s record and find such stuff. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/79 "2008-03-31T18:47:17Z")
[QUOTE=Martin Hyde] With Obama, I don’t need to google anything at all. I can just point out he’s a long time member of a racist organization . . . [/quote] :dubious: The [Trinity United Church of Christ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_United_Church_of_Christ) is not a racist organization. It is a distinctly African-American church, but 11:00 Sunday morning remains the most segregated hour in America, as we all know, and to which few seriously object. [QUOTE=Martin Hyde] –and I can say I don’t trust the man. I think he’s a black man with a sense of entitlement that hopes to “put one over on whitey” by getting elected to the Presidency . . . [/quote] Insofar as those attitudes exist at all in the African-American community, Obama would have to have been raised **in** that community to internalize them. In fact, he was not raised in it; he merely married into it. [QUOTE=Martin Hyde] . . . where he will proceed to implement some of the most horrifying programs of wealth redistribution from white to black we’ve ever seen. [/quote] 😕 I **wish!** Where in Og’s name are you getting **that?!** And what would be “horrifying” about it anyway? [QUOTE=Martin Hyde] I think most middle class Americans realize such programs are anathema to their well being . . . [/QUOTE] But, they’re not. At least, not as you are formulating them (what your strawman has to do with Obama’s actual policies remains unclear). ---
**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:** [March 31, 2008, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243/80 "2008-03-31T19:13:30Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] :dubious: The [Trinity United Church of Christ](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_United_Church_of_Christ) is not a racist organization. It is a distinctly African-American church, but 11:00 Sunday morning remains the most segregated hour in America, as we all know, and to which few seriously object. Insofar as those attitudes exist at all in the African-American community, Obama would have to have been raised **in** that community to internalize them. In fact, he was not raised in it; he merely married into it. 😕 I **wish!** Where in Og’s name are you getting **that?!** And what would be “horrifying” about it anyway? But, they’re not. At least, not as you are formulating them (what your strawman has to do with Obama’s actual policies remains unclear). [/QUOTE] **BrainGlutton** , you know I love ya, and these are all good and truthful arguments. But this thread is about **John McCain**. Please do not allow these guys to deflect the conversation away from the idiocy of their nominee’s comments. It’s the same game Hillary just played with the “Bosnia? What Bosnia? I would never have stayed in that church with Jeremiah Wright!” **Don’t let them get away with this shit**. Either they can support their candidate’s dumbass remarks or they have to acknowledge that they were some of the dumbest shit a presidential candidate could ever say. “I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is. . .”?? _That_, from someone who wants us to give him control of our government? Is he insane?? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-mccain-has-got-to-be-one-of-the-dumbest-people-on-the-planet/443243.md?page=5)