# McCain finally draws a line on slander **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 11, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405 "2008-10-11T01:50:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/121 "2008-10-12T05:23:59Z")
Huh. **Rand Rover** quotes **Dio** _after_ the edit window was closed in order to preserve it from future editing? Colour me amused. Oh, and **Diogenes** , that was a really wacky accusation. You don’t have the slightest evidential basis for making it, do you? ---
**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:** [October 12, 2008, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/122 "2008-10-12T05:38:53Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > Huh. **Rand Rover** quotes **Dio** _after_ the edit window was closed in order to preserve it from future editing? Colour me amused. > > Oh, and **Diogenes** , that was a really wacky accusation. You don’t have the slightest evidential basis for making it, do you? Of course not. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/123 "2008-10-12T05:56:08Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Of course not. Well, I’m just a furriner with no dog in this fight, but it seems rather inappropriate to accuse someone of being likely to assassinate the POTUS for personal gain based on a “feeling”. Possibly even libelous. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2008, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/124 "2008-10-12T06:02:10Z")
Nope. Opinions cannot be libelous. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/125 "2008-10-12T06:10:21Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > Nope. Opinions cannot be libelous. I think you are safe, but if your opinion implies your knowledge of an underlying set of facts which your opinion is based upon, Libel might exist. But that is for another thread… ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/126 "2008-10-12T09:45:02Z")
> [@ladyfoxfyre](#): > > It seems to me that it would be, mathematically speaking, difficult to be two-thirds anything. Turns out all you need is [a time machine and a questionable code of ethics](http://forums.xkcd.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=28530). That Obama is even more dangerous than we thought! ---
**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:** [October 12, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/127 "2008-10-12T13:47:35Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > I think you are safe, but if your opinion implies your knowledge of an underlying set of facts which your opinion is based upon, Libel might exist. But that is for another thread… I asserted no facts. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/128 "2008-10-12T13:51:40Z")
> [@askeptic](#): > > What on earth makes you think he would want to edit it? Oh yeah, you are an idiot. Before you yell at me, I promise I don’t want to give cash hand outs to any poor people… Would you support rendering their fat into candles and soap so that they could finally contribute to society? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/129 "2008-10-12T14:41:13Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > I asserted no facts. Here let me repost what I said before, maybe this time you will understand it. > [@askeptic](#): > > I think you are safe, but if your opinion implies your knowledge of an underlying set of facts which your opinion is based upon, Libel might exist. But that is for another thread… I was saying that while you probably didn’t say anything actionable it is possible for opinion to be actionable if that opinion implies knowledge of underlying facts on which the opinion is based. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/130 "2008-10-12T15:38:55Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > While I don’t think that McCain has it in my mind, I have a feeling that Palin does. Not only do I think she would welcome something happening to Obama, I think she’d probably set about figuring out how to bump off McCain as soon as they got into office. While I highly doubt Palin would be plotting McCain’s demise, there is no question she is not only a political “natural” but that she is very ambitious. People (some people) respond to her “charisma”\* very strongly. Problem with Sarah is substance: there is none. She would make an excellent spokesperson or poster child for various causes. I have no doubt that if she loses the election, she will be offered a punditry position on Fox or something similar unless she goes back to AK and into obscurity. Bill Clinton, a connoisseur of such things has commented on Palin’s remarkable ability to connect with a (some) crowds. So I agree with Dio’s sentiment, if not his actual statement. This is a woman who has and will continue to do all she can to foster her rise and IMO would not hesitate to use her position for personal gain. I neither approve or disapprove of this–it’s just one aspect of Palin. \*I have to put it in quotes because I just cannot understand this appeal. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/131 "2008-10-12T17:03:58Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > This incident today is all well and good and nice to see, but I think he needs to follow it up by putting a gag on Palin. If she continues to incite the mobs, then McCain’s sincerity will be severely compromised. His own campaign – particularly his running mate – is responsible for ginning up this hatred in the first place. He can’t have it both ways. Either he truly believes Obama is a decent person or he doesn’t. If he believes it, then his entire campaign needs to reflect that. If it does not begin to reflect that, it shows that McCain is either unable to effectively lead his own campaign, or doesn’t really mean what he says. The proof will be in the Palin. We have our answer: > [@](#): > > [Man At Palin Rally Displays Monkey Doll Donning Obama Sticker](http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/10/11/politics/fromtheroad/entry4515246.shtml) > > As the crowd cheered at a Sarah Palin rally this morning in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a man in the audience grinned as he held up a stuffed monkey doll with a Barack Obama bumper sticker wrapped across its forehead… No rebuke from Palin – the display continued until the chickenshit noticed that he was on Candid Camera: > [@](#): > > After Palin finished her remarks this morning, the man holding the stuffed monkey seemed to notice that a video camera was pointed at him, at which point he removed the Obama sticker from the doll’s head and crumpling it up in his hand. He then handed the doll to a young boy who was watching the rally from his father’s shoulders. The boy’s parents later told CBS News that they weren’t acquainted with the man who gave their son the stuffed monkey… ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/132 "2008-10-12T18:19:35Z")
I hope that spineless, un-evolved ass fissure gets his picture plastered all over the mainstream media and becomes outed as the racist bigot he is. I hope he’s looked down upon by his family and friends and regrets this for the rest of whatever meager life he has left. But we all know that’s not what’s going to happen. He’ll probably be hailed a hero in his home, and will get winks and thumbs-up from those around him who all jerk off to pictures of Hitler and the confederate flag, keeping their idle hand on the Bible. Politics is made of corrosive material, and the ignorant are the oxidizers. It’s up to those that run their campaigns whether or not to keep them untarnished. I’m afraid the real monkeys here are McCain & Co. ---
**Author:** ![BJMoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@BJMoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BJMoose)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/133 "2008-10-12T18:49:36Z")
> [@Merijeek](#): > > Would you support rendering their fat into candles and soap so that they could finally contribute to society? > > -Joe Having grown up within olfactory distance of a rendering plant, I would request that you not do this. I truly wonder how much control McCain has over his campaign org. Example: how many times has Keith Olbermann chortled over the fact that McCain is saying one thing on the stump while at the same time his campaign ads are saying the opposite? Now, anyone actively campaigning for office simply won’t have the time or energy to do much direct management of his organization. I find myself wondering if McCain if starting to realize that his staff’s actions have bitten him on the butt; starting to realize that he is going to lose, and that the conduct of his campaign is at least partly to blame. His body English Friday was that of someone who was _weary_, of someone who was about ready to pack it all in if only he could. Or maybe, as Paddy Chayefsky’s Howard Beale once put it, McCain “just ran out of bullshit.” ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/134 "2008-10-12T19:30:11Z")
I may as well jump in with those that say way too little, too late with “drawing a line on slander.” From the first blush of anything in regards to race, faith or patriotism, McCain should’ve put his foot down and made that a policy of his campaign. Denouce the biggots, racists, fear and hate mongering, arab=muslim=terrorist slander (and for fuck’s sake, he’s a self-proclaimed Christian with American and African heritage). Make it **loud** , and make it **clear**. How hard would that have been? And he calls himself a _maverick_. My ass he is. This shit has been going on way too long, and my cite is my junk mail folder, and my fundamentalist friends and family. It’s so goddamn tiring. A policy like the one described above has been what Obama’s been doing all along, even so far as to denounce those in his life (let alone the faceless supporters), that clash with his views, message and standards. We all have ignorant people in our lives that we have to cope with. Why not make that policy #1, when you’re running for fucking POTUS against a black candidate? I’m cynical enough like most here to think I know why. And I’m glad it’s backfiring, I just hope the backfire is enough. McCain’s made himself understood, to me at least, what kind of leader he would be. Weak, voiceless, pandering, self-serving and a dollar short/day too late – basically the status quo. _gag_ ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/135 "2008-10-12T21:38:45Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > While I don’t think that McCain has it in my mind, I have a feeling that Palin does. Not only do I think she would welcome something happening to Obama, I think she’d probably set about figuring out how to bump off McCain as soon as they got into office. Unless they’ve recently played switcheroo with the tickets, what possible advantage would there be to Sarah Palin in the assassination of President Barack H. Obama? I mean, she seems like an opportunist backstabber, but saying she’s in favour of murdering the President is one hell of a leap. ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/136 "2008-10-12T21:52:28Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Unless they’ve recently played switcheroo with the tickets, what possible advantage would there be to Sarah Palin in the assassination of President Barack H. Obama? > > I mean, she seems like an opportunist backstabber, but saying she’s in favour of murdering the President is one hell of a leap. I think the speculation is that Palin would welcome the early demise of Candidate Obama, not President Obama. Easy sail into the White House, then she can get busy rallying people to pray for the [smiting](http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/3/11483/34706) of John McCain. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/137 "2008-10-12T22:28:47Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I mean, she seems like an opportunist backstabber, but saying she’s in favour of murdering the President is one hell of a leap. I think it’s more that IF she were to become VP, she’d not shed many tears if McCain went to join the Gipper. I don’t think she wants Obama dead at all. She wants him marginalized so that anyone else “like him” would not have the public acceptance that he does. She is out of touch (I hope and pray) with mainstream America and how it has changed. But I’ve lived here all my life and all my life I’ve been surrounded by prejudice from all groups. White against black, Hispanic against black, Filipino against Hispanic, Poles vs Irish, Jew/Christian etc. So much hate. Why do we want to save the earth again? Sorry, meandering from the point. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/138 "2008-10-12T22:36:02Z")
In more cheerful news, she got booed out of the stadium at the [Flyers’ game](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/11/hockey-mom-palin-greeted_n_133911.html?page=56&show_comment_id=16714559#comment_16714559). Laughed my ass off. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2008, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/139 "2008-10-12T22:46:24Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > In more cheerful news, she got booed out of the stadium at the [Flyers’ game](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/11/hockey-mom-palin-greeted_n_133911.html?page=56&show_comment_id=16714559#comment_16714559). Laughed my ass off. I don’t know what she or the campaign or Ed Snider were thinking! A) Philly is NOT a Republican stronghold B) Philadelphia sports fans booed SANTA CLAUS! Bible Spice didn’t stand a chance. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2008, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405/140 "2008-10-12T22:57:00Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Unless they’ve recently played switcheroo with the tickets, what possible advantage would there be to Sarah Palin in the assassination of President Barack H. Obama? > > I mean, she seems like an opportunist backstabber, but saying she’s in favour of murdering the President is one hell of a leap. What **C3** said, but also, I was being sardonic. I don’t think she’d literally do that. I think she wouldn’t mind if it happened by itself, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mccain-finally-draws-a-line-on-slander/467405.md?page=8)