Truth Alert: McCain's Freudian Slip is Showing (and Very Telling)

At the same time that former West Wingers Brad Whitford and Richard Schiff were stepping forward to say that they too had heard John McCain say that he didn't vote for George Bush in 2000, McCain was grabbing a shovel and digging himself deeper with yet another denial.

Appearing on The O'Reilly Factor, McCain told O'Reilly, "I voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004."

But on the way to that unequivocal refutation, his unconscious mind jumped up, started waving its hands and yelled: "Not so fast!"

O'REILLY: Did you vote for President bush?

MCCAIN: Of course not. I campaigned all over this country for him.

As dear old Dr. Freud would tell you, the unconscious is a powerful thing. And the new, do-and-say-anything-to-be-president McCain clearly couldn't keep the old, give-it-to-you-straight McCain - and the truth - from slipping out. "Of course not."

There was another interesting wrinkle in the McCain/O'Reilly Bush vote exchange: after asserting that he'd twice voted for Bush, McCain added, "And not only that, far more important than a vote, I campaigned everywhere in America for him." [emphasis added]

Do I see a fallback position coming? "Okay, look my friends, I was angry, I was contemptuous of him, I knew I was better than him, he'd attacked my family, and I couldn't bring myself to pull the lever next to his name. But I campaigned everywhere in America for him - and that's far more important than one little vote, right? Right? Isn't it..? My friends..?

Check out the video and transcript below.

UPDATE: I've said before that when it comes to the love affair between John McCain and the media, old loves die hard. The latest proof of this comes courtesy of The New Republic's Michael Crowley. Faced with the mounting evidence that McCain is lying about not saying that he didn't vote for Bush, Crowley scrapes the bottom of the logic barrel and wonders: "Is it possible McCain was talking to Arianna about the Arizona primary?"

Talk about bending over backwards to give McCain some wiggle room! The media-McCain dynamic is pure high school: the nerds are always so grateful when one of the jocks is nice to them.

Transcript:

O'REILLY: OK. Arianna Huffington says you didn't vote for Bush in 2000. She's one of these people who is going to come after you.

MCCAIN: Yes.

O'REILLY: On her website yesterday, somebody blogged that you collaborated with the North Vietnamese, and they didn't torture you. This is Arianna Huffington. Now Arianna Huffington flat out said you did not vote for President Bush in 2000.

MCCAIN: What can you say?

O'REILLY: Did you vote for President bush?

MCCAIN: Of course not. I campaigned all over this country for him.

O'REILLY: So you voted for President Bush.

MCCAIN: Of course. I mean, that's a ridiculous question.

O'REILLY: So she lied?

MCCAIN: Well, I don't -- frankly, I do not read Huffington Post. I spare myself from having that experience.

O'REILLY: You voted for Bush in 2000?

MCCAIN: I voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004.

O'REILLY: OK.

MCCAIN: And not only that, far more important than a vote, I campaigned everywhere in America for him.

O'REILLY: (INAUDIBLE).

MCCAIN: I enjoyed it. I campaigned with him. I did everything I could to get him elected and reelected president.

Follow Arianna Huffington on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ariannahuff

Comments

[texascommonsense]

02:32 PM on 05/13/2008

Consider the source...............just about covers it.

[stevejbons]

11:42 AM on 05/13/2008

According to George Bush and Karl Rove in 2000, two more honest people you could not meet, John McCain was rendered completely loco by his five years as a POW in Vietnam. McCain is w-a-a-a-y too mentally unstable to trust as Commander in Chief. Nuff said - even his own party thinks he's unqualified for the job. In any case, this time Republicans will either stay at home or do the only responsible and patriotic thing and toss their own party to the wolves.

[ACH33]

07:21 PM on 05/12/2008

I want to poke holes in McCain's candidacy as much as anyone, but this interview is unconvincing to me. There is awkward laughing and people talking over each other, which makes it is inconclusive that McCain is directly (or even Freudianly) answering O'Reilly's question "Did you vote for President Bush?" with "Of course not."

Please, let's not believe things just because they confirm our own opinions, biases, and preferences. Let's ask for better journalism and let's practice it too.

Thanks!

[diogeron]

10:36 PM on 05/12/2008

Makes sense to me. McCain was against Bush before he was for Bush, just like Falwell was an "agent of intolerance" before he was a "great man" and McCain sought out his endorsement and spoke at Liberty College (sic) for graduation. Of course, the fact that both Falwell and McCain's other pastor of choice, John Hagee, said that the U.S. had it coming on Sept 11, is ignored by the press. If Stephanopoulos would have shown on of the many John Hagee rants on tape when he interviewed McCain a few weeks ago, it would have been interesting to hear what McCain would have said. Of course, Hagee's melanin content is less than Rev. Wright, so that's obviously not as "newsworthy."

[Yokel]

12:32 AM on 05/13/2008

I hope his wife who was there for Arianna's conversation (and anyone else) is asked how he voted. His sin ain't as bad as his denial of it.

[iyamynot]

03:25 PM on 05/12/2008

i'm lookin fer McCain 1981 or 1983 CoNGReSSiONaL...
1984, 1990 etc etc SeNaTe...
CaMPaiGN PaMPhLeTs / brochures / literature...
where there may be potentially embarrasing positions...
vis-a-vis 'pro-choice' flip-flops...
c'mon people...
it's GoTTa be out there...
somewhere...

oh... btw...
did yu kno that his great-great-great grandpappy...
WiLLiaM ALeXaNdeR McCain had owned 52 SLaVeS!!!
NO Sh'T!!!
CZeCh iT Out fer yrself...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_S._McCain% 2C_Sr.

here's a LiNk...
to John McCain's UNCLe'S RaCiaL / RiGhT-WiNG pamphlet collection...
housed @ UNiV of SOUTheRN MiSS...
http://www.lib.usm.edu/~archives/m393.htm

i yam YNOT!
http://the-rockin-rex.com/forum/forum.php?id=6& page

[ACH33]

07:09 PM on 05/12/2008

I'd advise against the ancestors-owned-slaves witchhunt. That applies to many people who personally had nothing to do with that awful practice.

[NotWaldo]

03:14 PM on 05/12/2008

McCain has the "I'm lying to your face" smile. Straight talk my a.. !

[ObamaEdwards]

01:17 PM on 05/12/2008

NO MORE LIARS IN THE WHITE HOUSE!!!

[truthilicious]

01:39 PM on 05/13/2008

Well, that eliminates everyone in politics. It's like the old saying goes, "How can you tell if a politician is lying?" Answer: "His / Her mouth is moving."

[NewtC]

10:51 AM on 05/12/2008

Look at his eyes and mannerisms, he sounds like he's outright lying in that interview!

No question about it. Worse than Bosnia sniper fire.

[MizLiz]

01:00 PM on 05/12/2008

You know, if he wasn't running for president, I'd feel a lot of pity for the old man and write a letter telling people to lighten up. But since he's going to have the nuclear launch codes, and he can't remember the difference between Sunni and Shia or anything else, including who he voted for, I say dig up everything we can and run the old coot out on a rail.

[Geauterre]

10:41 AM on 05/12/2008

John McCain has developed into a sad commentary. He's for it, of course, unless it changes course, and then he's pointed in another direction, following a beneficial wind. Oddly enough, this sounds like Hillary Clinton's line of thinking, along with her actions, along with her plans for the future as long as she's in the running for the President....

I don't find it surprising that each favors a mask to suit their needs, but what is alarming is that people who've supported them, are slow to get the message. They're fakes. Both of them. As artificial as sun lamps on a rainy day.

That said, have a nice one.

[Stew118]

02:05 AM on 05/12/2008

He sounds like a grandpa- and seeing as I love my Grandpa that is far from a bad thing. The fact that he sounds like a crazy, deranged, Mr. Burns-type grandpa is what gives me pause. The man is going to accidentally nuke somebody if you give him the keys. No thanks. I strongly supported him over GWB in the 2000 primary when he appeared to my sensibilities a totally different candidate than the one I see now. I also supported Bradley in the primary but would have voted Gore were I not a year too young.. John McCain's recent pandering to the Limbaughs Hannitys and Coulters of the world is qutie showing and telling (to borrow a phrase).

[MizLiz]

01:02 PM on 05/12/2008

Oh boy --- a lot can happen to the human mind and body in eight years, especially at his age. I used to be able to run my teenaged granddaughter into the ground mall-shopping, but now it's a way different story.

He souldn't be running for president, and I'm surprised the party is letting him do it. He's going to waste a lot of money, but maybe they know he's going to lose and don't want to waste the fight on someone better.

Assuming, of course, that the republicans can come up with someone better, which I sincerely doubt.

[Moarku]

01:47 AM on 05/12/2008

I've done that fake laugh where I pretend to be smarter than everyone else more than enough times to recognize when other people are doing it. In fact, that's one of the biggest reasons I don't do it any more. I saw pretty quickly (especially after the first time someone did it to me), how obvious it is and how stupid you actually look doing it.

You'd think McCain would have figured that out by now too, but my guess is that he just wants to be president so bad, it's taking precedence over his own ideals which he's selling out more and more. If the McCain of 2000 were running today, there's a real chance he'd get my vote. This guy? No way.

[yankhadenuf]

05:32 PM on 05/11/2008

Ironic, it took a Greek woman to dispel so much "maverick" mythology ! Truth really does set us free.

I am experiencing near nirvana, this is one of the most relaxing carefree Mother's Days I have had in several years.

[ZekeBundren]

09:49 AM on 05/11/2008

This episode reveals the real McCain, the one the media gives passes on bad behavior because, well, Old John is an American Hero, and we need all of them we can get. Ordinarily and as a practical matter ithere is something to be said for that point of view. America does need its heroes, especially at a time like this when American leadership has failed the nation in planning and policy at every level of government.

But these are not ordinary times. McCain lied to someone. Huffington is credible and so are the attest witnesses. McCain has never been credible. His reputation as a truth telling maverick is as much of a myth as are Pecos Bill and Paul Bunyon. McCain has been an intemperate loose cannon all his life and all his life someone, his mother, the Navy, the media, has always been there to help him smooth things over after bad acts.

Now McCain runs for president and 40% of the American public are locked in on this man less fit for the presidency than George Bush the Inheritor was. Believe me, any body politic that could elect Bush in 2000 has the potential to elect McCain. Bush was nothing. McCain is a legitimate hero.

One hopes the public will somehow gain awareness that McCain is dangerously intemperate and unlikely to change after a lifetime of cover granted without question and keep McCain where he is and where he serves America well.

[ibsteve2u]

09:43 AM on 05/11/2008

lollll...O'Reilly is one helluva teleprompter, isn't he? If you can't read your lines right, he instantly forms a one-answer question for you...

[AndrewMT]

05:22 AM on 05/11/2008

McCain clearly is lying about voting for Bush. But I think that underscores that saying "McCain is 4 more years of Bush" is an exaggeration.

McCain is bad but not as bad as Bush.

[LibDrummer]

03:00 PM on 05/12/2008

MCain himself may or may not be as Bad as Bush, that is a high bar to reach after all. The problem lies with the fact that McCain is not pulling thestrings. The same people running things under the Bush administration are running things at the McCain campaing today.

My question for McCain would be to als how he felt when Rove ran the add about his illegitimate black baby he had from a proitutute and what his hiring Rove now says about his "character"?

Oreily gets a pass on: "somebody Blogged" and " This is Arianna Huffington." once again? He continues to quote comments on blogs as representing the host, yet denies repsonsibility for things put on his own Blog. He is such a slimeball that it gets less atttention because you come to expect sleezy comments from Oriely. Scum!

[mlmonterey]

03:19 AM on 05/11/2008

Ariana, I just remembered another half-joke theory that may apply to this issue. What if the Republicrats, including McCain, don't really want to be in the White House in the aftermath of their latest private party and our Oilwellian Joy Ride to global disaster, even if they could win it? Then McCain's strategy makes perfect sense. But is it a conscious strategy or not? Here's a new theory: the far Right Republicrats, NeoCons and NeoLibs are not really reptilian shape-shifters from another planet, but they are infested with reptilian ego demons (habits and obsessions that would simply be natural for a lizard or some other cold-blooded predator with a brain smaller than a walnut). I back that up with the fact that arrogance breeds stupidity, just as power breeds corruption. As the predators become more like pigs or cattle, spending most of their time feeding or lazing about, they grow duller, slower, less aware and more resistant to change and adaptation, which is terminally stupid. More on these fascinating issues and theories will be posted at > realistics.ning.com < ASAP. Yours Truly, MM > mlmonterey.ning.com