McCain Gaffe Thread

[MovieMogul]

From MSNBC:

*** Speaking of gaffes…: Imagine if Al Gore or John Kerry had changed the facts of a story they told forever in order to appeal to whatever swing state they were speaking in? John McCain is getting killed on Steeler fan forums for claiming that when he was a P.O.W. he would tell his interrogators the names of the starting defensive line of the Steelers. The actual story in his book had to do with Green Bay Packers offensive line. Also, the famous Steelers defensive line that McCain was trying to refer to (Mean Joe, L.C. etc.) didn’t become famous until after McCain was out of Vietnam. The actual Steelers front four McCain could have referred to, according to one the Steeler fan forum that is crushing McCain on this comment today: “When McCain became a prisoner of war, the Steelers front four consisted of Ken Kortas, Chuck Hinton, Ben McGee and Lloyd Voss.” Not exactly household names. And while we’re sure McCain’s a big time NFL fan and was in the ‘60s, there’s little chance he knew the front four of the then perennial doormat Pittsburgh Steelers. (Irony alert: McCain is in Wisconsin today, where no doubt the story would change before Cheeseheads.)

[MovieMogul]

Then, of course, there’s the infomercial McCain just appeared in.

[MovieMogul]

From Salon:

“I was concerned about a couple of steps that the Russian government took in the last several days. One was reducing the energy supplies to Czechoslovakia.”

Of course, if McCain’s characterization of what had happened had been accurate, it would probably have been good news – given the price of energy these days, who could blame the Russians for reducing the supplies given to a country that hasn’t existed since 1993? (The country split into two parts, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It’s the Czech Republic that’s been subject to a cut in oil supplies coming from Russia.)

As Talking Points Memo’s Greg Sargent points out, this isn’t the first time McCain has made this mistake. In fact, it’s at least the third time since October of last year.

As it is, this is only a minor, if embarrassing, gaffe – though, as Sargent observes, one that the McCain camp would certainly run with if Barack Obama had been the one who made the mistake. And it probably won’t become big news. Still, I’m sure McCain will now be extra careful not to accidentally refer to Austria-Hungary.

[Liberal]

Thank God we have McCain to protect us from the Ottoman Empire.

[El_Cid_Viscoso]

@Liberal

Thank God we have McCain to protect us from the Ottoman Empire.

Damn straight. I was born on a hassock and by god I’ll die on a hassock.

[BrainGlutton]

McCain’s latest gaffes warranted nine entries in this week’s “Top 10 Conservative Idiots.” Most of which have not yet been posted here.

[Fish]

@ArchiveGuy

From MSNBC:

Speaking of gaffes…: Imagine if Al Gore or John Kerry had changed the facts of a story they told forever in order to appeal to whatever swing state they were speaking in?

During the Bill Clinton campaign, there were warning signs about what kind of president he’d be. “I didn’t inhale” comes to mind as an example of the evasive non-answer he was so good at.

During the George W. Bush campaign, there were warning signs about what kind of president he’d be. “I definitely was in the National Guard, even though all the documentation seems to have been accidentally shredded, but trust me, I was there” comes to mind as an example of his penchant for arrogance combined with secrecy.

I see all these as warning signs about McCain: keeps changing his story, denies he changed it, gets defensive and blustery when called on it. If elected he’d become known for the phrase, “Here’s what I must have meant when I said what I had said that I had never said.”

[Biggirl]

Two gay people equal only one parent so gays shouldn’t be able to adopt.

“I think that we’ve proven that both parents are important in the success of a family so, no, I don’t believe in gay adoption,” McCain said in reply to a reporter’s query.

[MovieMogul]

@Biggirl

Two gay people equal only one parent so gays shouldn’t be able to adopt.

But, in all fairness, 2 gay parents are better than zero parents. Or as Dan Savage puts it:

John McCain, however, is cool with states banning adoptions by same-sex couples, even if it means that many abandoned children will never find homes or caring parental figures to look after them. Oh, and speaking of abandoned children: McCain divorced his first wife in 1980 when their daughter, the youngest of their three children, was just 14 years old. So John McCain—who personally prefers for children to be raised by a mother and a father—abandoned three of his own children, depriving them of the kind of mother-and-father home that he believes children deserve. Except, you know, his own.

Still, not to nitpick, but this isn’t really a gaffe. It’s merely an odious policy position.

[MovieMogul]

More on the comedy stylings of McCain.

[Biggirl]

@ArchiveGuy

Still, not to nitpick, but this isn’t really a gaffe. It’s merely an odious policy position.

Yeah, that’s why I put that heading in.

Still, not to nitpick the nitpick but what I think he meant was that a child needs a mother and a father and not that a gay couple is only one parent.

[Dumbguy]

@Really Not All That Bright

Military service in a volunteer army is a job, like any other. Sure, it comes with a greater risk of injury than, say, dentistry, but I don’t see you stumping for NFL teams to provide educational grants to players with career-ending injuries.

Minimum NFL salary is $285,000. Median NFL salary is $770,000.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@Dumbguy

Minimum NFL salary is $285,000. Median NFL salary is $770,000.

Thanks for your contribution.

[descamisado]

@Biggirl

Yeah, that’s why I put that heading in.

Still, not to nitpick the nitpick but what I think he meant was that a child needs a mother and a father and not that a gay couple is only one parent.

I can see this as being what he really meant.

If his model of the all-American family is a man and women raising the children, in his “mind,” two men or two woman doing so would not round out the equation as he sees it. Two of each would only be one-half of what he “thinks” is needed for effective parenting, therefore that permutation, to him, equals only one parent.

[Squink]

McCain Blows Security on Obama Iraq Trip

Republican presidential candidate John McCain commented on Friday on the unannounced timing of a high-security trip by Barack Obama to Iraq, saying he believed his Democratic rival was going this weekend.

I’d like to think McCain is too experienced in security matters to have done this by accident, but doing so makes the reality look pretty sinister. Maybe McCain just had a “senior moment” at a bad time. That’s not good either.

[E-Sabbath]

He’s been having a lot of those recently, though. Czechoslovakia…

[MovieMogul]

This thread’s been a little dormant lately (though not due to lack of material), but this one was too good to pass up:

Speaking to reporters about the situation in Georgia, Sen. John McCain denounced the aggressive posture of Russia by claiming that:“in the 21st century nations don’t invade other nations.”

It was the type of foreign policy rhetorical blunder that has regularly plagued the McCain campaign and could have diplomatic ripples as well. Certainly the comment was meant in innocence. But for those predisposed to the notion that the U.S. is an increasingly arrogant international actor, the suggestion by a presidential candidate that, in this day and age, countries don’t invade one another – when the U.S. is occupying two foreign nations – does little to alleviate that negative perception.

:smack:

[Gangster_Octopus]

Isn’t it funny how McCain folks think Obama was being all presumptious and acting like he was already President, when it is McCain who is sending advisors to Georgia, talking to the Georgian president, and making all sorts of wild comments. How’s that for respecting the current President as he tries to deal with the situation.

[EddyTeddyFreddy]

But McCain’s a War Hero[sup]TM[/sup]!!!

[brownie55]

Latest add:

Wahington is broken!
We are worse off than we were four years ago.

Cool I think, Obama is fighting back. Nope, it’s John McCain repudiating everything he supported. How the hell does that work. And the sniveling little putz is still claiming to be a maverick? Bite me John-boy, does it hurt your mouth to actually tell the truth. Straight Talk Express my wide white ass.