Off the Meds
So is this the real John McCain?
No question the man who turned up last night did a better job than he'd done at the previous two debates. But here's the problem for McCain: he's either last week's guy, who seems to be on medication, or he's this week's guy, who seems to have been abruptly taken off it.
He gave the game away in his first answer when, in talking about the economy, he said that Americans were angry. But Americans aren't angry, they're poleaxed. They're terrified. They're afraid they're going to lose their jobs or their homes or their pensions. They're worried they won't be able to send their kids to college. If John McCain thinks they're angry, it's either because he's projecting, or else he's simply been going to too many of his own rallies.
As he smirked and blinked and raised his eyebrows, I couldn't help wondering what tonight's McCain seemed like to all those conservative pundits who'd been hoping a different McCain would show up. Is this what they meant? Is this the John McCain of Bill Kristol's dreams?
Whichever McCain shows up, some things stay the same. He's a towel-snapper. He can't land a joke. He seems old. (As Martin Short said on Letterman just after the debate, "The only time he doesn't have to pee is when he's peeing.") And he's an absolutely terrible actor. Every time McCain went into his Joe-the-plumber-bit, those undecided voters on CNN were unmoved. They were probably not saying barf, like some of us were, but that's only because they're not allowed to talk amongst themselves during the debate.
At the Time Politics conference this week, New York Times columnist Frank Rich asked, "Was there any way that the Sarah Palin choice might have played out differently?" CBS' Jeff Greenfield gave a wonderful answer. He said the question reminded him of a woman friend who'd said of her divorce, "We would have had a wonderful marriage if he had been a completely different person." Isn't that great? It's practically a Zen koan, not that I know what a Zen koan is. But one of the most remarkable things about Barack Obama is that he's the same person every time he shows up. And as for John McCain, a completely different person showed up tonight, and it didn't seem to matter.
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The Christian right is certainly angry. Years ago I was coerced by my parents into attending Jimmy Swaggart Bible College :) for a year. Recently I got back in touch with some old alumni via Facebook, and WOW thesd people are angry and downright frightened at the prospect of an Obama presidency. One of the old professors from there, Dr. Larry Hunt (now President of Messenger College in Missouri) said on Facebook: "simply put, Obama is a liar, a deceiver and a Marxist". I always shake my head at the hatred the comes from those who profess to follow Christ.
It seems that most of those right wingers who profess patriotism and Christianity are the least patriotic when it comes to backing a leader that doesn't follow the laws set forth in our Constitution and those who speak the loudest calling themselves Christians seem to be full of hate ,anger and bigotry and vote for leaders who promote unecessary wars and whose party is against all social programs that support for the poor ,disabled and elderly ! It seems both these groups have their supposed values upside down !
McCain told the public what his plans are for the economy ,,freezes on programs across the board except for Pentigon and military spending ,,so we see where his parties values lie ,,big spending on wars and to hell with the middle class and the poor ! Can you imagine how many people his economic plan would make homeless, cold and hungry without the programs that helps seniors, disabled and the poor who are already barely getting by as it is. His program lacks a heart and soul ! Obama on the other hand understands the needs of all the people not just the very rich who don't need these programs .Thank God we at least have one candidate with a heart ,soul and mind to vote for come November !
I just wish someone would give him some eye drops. After 15 minutes I reached for my restasis. After 45 I almost called the cable company thinking something was wrong with my set. No - he had ME blinking wildly! I couldn't watch Obama during the split screens because McCain's blinking was too distracting. This entire thing is sad!
MCCain's PTSD is really showing now. This is what the GOP has to represent them. This is why their brand is DOG FOOD. I f anyone vote for this crazy man they should be embarassed to ever admit it.
I guess my entire neighborhood in Florida with their McCain signs all should be embarassed. I think not.
Actually, Melissa-they SHOULD, but won't be. They will continue to live in their little bubble, oblivious to the real world.
Some of your fellow Floridians were proudly announcing that they would "never vote for a black."
Sure, be proud of THAT statement.
The rest of the world moves on; certain places in this country are rooted to the past.
klgrube wrote -- "Look at what having an extremist court and legislature has done here in California? We now have gay marriage and force foster parents to teach kids about it, of all the ridiculous nonsense."
FYI, the "extremist" Supreme Court that declared same sex marriage constitutional in California was headed by a REAGAN appointee, who has stated that he thought long and hard about same sex marriage and concluded that to deny gay people of this right was wrong. He stated that he viewed it as a "civil rights issue" equal to the civil rights struggle waged for African American equality in this country in the 60s. Proposition 8 seeks to strip a specific group of citizens of their constituional rights. Think about that. You may have religious objections to same sex marriage, but instead of letting irrelevent religious beliefs (this is NOT a theocracy) or personal bias color your attitude, substitute "African Americans", "Jews" or "Christians" for the phrase "gay marriage" in your argument, and see how that sits. And BTW, Prop 8 will DO NO SUCH THING as "force" the "teaching" of same sex marriage to children. That is a lie.
My 13 year old daughter "forced" me to learn about being gay--when she came out to me!
And I was thankfully able to tell her "it's the best time in history to be gay." (Please California don't prove me wrong.)
What a brave young woman you have Maribelle-I hope you recognize this-you've obviously done a good job with her.
She'll have a tougher life but hopefully, the trend towards ACCEPTANCE (not mere tolerance) will continue.
I've been in a biracial relationship for 26 years (married for 22 of those)-it isn't always easy to follow your heart, but its always worth it.
Best of luck to her (and you!)
Gee, Miss Ephron, I seem to recall Pauline Kael saying "I don't know how Nixon got elected--none of my friends voted for him!" Or words to that effect.
Are you sure YOU are hanging out with ordinary folk? I know a great many who are angry at quite a lot, including the corruption at Fannie Mae, possible wrongdoing on Wall Street, etc. Some, like Joe the Plumber, are angry that government wants more and more money for ever more inefficient and ineffective boondoggles.
If Joe Biden's "Molly's Diner," where he gets all his info on ordinary people, hadn't gone out of business 20 years ago, you might visit it and have a seat and eat a three-egg western omelet, have a cup of coffee, and listen to what's going on.
If your ordinary folk friends think borrowing even more money (with interest no less) is a better idea than actually paying for this meltdown here and now (with our taxes), then they must be very rich or very poor because they don't know the first thing about handling money.
Your republican friends have charged more to the national credit card in eight years than the entire nation borrowed in the other 224 years combined! How do you think that gets paid back? Taxes. So you can thank George W. and the republicans the next time you get your tax bill.
And by the way, the republicans would like your vote so they can rack up a few more trillion at your expense before you wise up.
Isabel 1971 sure stirred up a Palin beesnest, be sure to check her posting out one or two pages back.
Honestly, I really am angry about the lack of a decent choice in this election. I actually do like John McCain's scrappiness and sarcastic sense of humor. But I hate it that he talks about no one getting a tax increase. Is there some part of the wealthiest among us paying their fair share - and not being able to use tax loopholes to get out of it - that he doesn't understand? But he did have the common decency to correct his supporters in their lies about Barack Obama. It's a shame Barack Obama didn't return the favor.
But, I will never forgive that outrageous letter Barack Obama sent to Equality California congratulating them on being able to marry and calling California's Marriage Protection ballot proposal "discriminatory and divisive." when the California courts mandated gay marriage. No matter what he says now, I don't believe that he doesn't support gay marriage. And the thought of having an extremist liberal Supreme Court, Congress, and Executive just scares me. Look at what having an extremist court and legislature has done here in California? We now have gay marriage and force foster parents to teach kids about it, of all the ridiculous nonsense.
So, as far as I'm concerned, we have two bad candidates, and right now I think I will choose neither. I doubt I'll even cast a vote for President. And I think there are a lot of people who share my anger that we don't have better choices.
I can't believe I'm going to say this, but if this is how you really feel, then I hope you don't vote.
And you might want to consider not living in California. Try Appalachia.
Two bad candidates? Go to barackobam
Very true and valid comments but, isn't it also true that raising taxes discourages growth.
The headway we made on the deficeit in the 90's was caused by tremendous economic growth due to the the huge tax cuts of the eighties, not huge tax increases. Tax cuts always result in an increase of revenue. That is the inconvienient truth. so do you want tax increases to punish the wealthy or do you want tax cuts because it will stoke the eeconomy, create jobs and everybody will be wealthier.
Obama has credited McCain many times, yet, there has been no acknowledgment from McCain. So what are you referring to? I do not think there are that many voters who share your anger, really I don't.
I was angry for the same reason but I had to get over it, hold my nose and get prepared to vote for the lesser of two evils.
There is no GREAT choice this year, as you have noted, but there is the lesser of two weevils, as the cotton farmer said.
I have a bit of advice, however: NEVER CHEER WHEN SOMEBODY ELSE'S TAXES ARE RAISED, FOR YOU WILL BE FOOTING A GOOD PART OF THE BILL IN LOWER WAGES, LOST JOBS, LOWER DIVIDENDS, LOWER PENSION GROWTH, ETC.
Robbing from the Rich and giving to the Poor only worked for Robin Hood. Everyone else who tried the Marxist approach created squalor and poverty and loss of freedom.
Reaganomics or "trickle down" from the non-taxed rich finally CRASHED THE ECONOMY.
Now we have SOCIALISM FOR THE RICH.
Working and middle class Americans are BAILING OUT GREEDY CORPORATE WELFARE QUEENS.
No more years of REPUBLICANS' FAILURE TO GOVERN.
It's gov't FOR THE RICH, OF THE RICH, BY THE RICH.
NO MORE YEARS of republican corruption and ECONOMIC LIES & ROBBERY.
vote obama-biden '08
That's a bunch of bull. None of the major American corporations are hurting for cash, in fact most of them pay no taxes at all due to creative accounting. I've actually worked for some of them and overheard their accountants talking about how terrible it would be if the firm actually had to PAY TAXES that year, and how they were going to avoid it. That's not patriotic! That's class warfare, forcing the middle and lower classes to pay for everything while the corporations get to keep every penny they make.
Worrying about whether gay folks can marry is the LEAST of this country's problem.
I truly DON'T care what my gay friends/neighbors do, provided they are good citizens.
I thought this was one of the strangest parts of the debate (Maybe your meds theory explains it.):
OBAMA: But when people suggest that I pal around with terrorists, then we're not talking about issues. What we're talking about...
MCCAIN: Well, let me just say I would...
SCHIEFFER: (inaudible)
MCCAIN: Let me just say categorically I'm proud of the people that come to our rallies. Whenever you get a large rally of 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 people, you're going to have some fringe peoples. You know that. And I've -- and we've always said that that's not appropriate. But to somehow say that group of young women who said "Military wives for McCain" are somehow saying anything derogatory about you, but anything -- and those veterans that wear those hats that say "World War II, Vietnam, Korea, Iraq," I'm not going to stand for people saying that the people that come to my rallies are anything but the most dedicated, patriotic men and women that are in this nation and they're great citizens.
It was a bit of a train-jump
"True" in the sense that it was actually John McCain and not a CGI animation up there spouting these random phrases with no bearing on the topic of threats against Obama's life. McCain blew off those threats like, oh, what are you going to do, there's always one crazy in the crowd. Uh, no, that's actually the first time I've ever heard of anyone calling for someone's DEATH at a rally. That's kind of a big deal.
I'm angry that I didn't get a cell tower too - hey, I live just outside of Sedona and also have terrible phone reception.
Who does one have to know around here to get some service!!!
From everything we are told, John McCain has always been angry. As with the rest of us, every time we get angry, we get better at it. For some, it becomes our default position. Anxious? Unsure? - Get angry! From watching John McCain in the debates, what one sees is a man who is very good at being angry. Practice makes perfect!
Great post!
Medication or not, what is certainly obvious at this point, is that McCain isn't a very smart person. He's been slipping in the polls, because of his lies and negative attacks, and yet he keeps doing the same thing, perchance expecting a different result the 100th time around...? (Isn't that a clear sign of madness? Repeating the same pattern all the time, expecting the results to differ?)
Obama smiled his way through the debate, even when attacked, whilst McCain was clearly uncomfortable and I'm sure that will have its effect on people as well - issues and facts(!) aside.
VIVA PRESIDENT OBAMA!
Sure, we're angry and staunch defenders of the 2nd Amendment, but don't you dare say we're bitter and cling to guns!
Obama has supported for many years the 2nd Amendment and your individual right to bear arms, unlike most of the Democratic party. For some reason he never really mentions it, though. Maybe he doesn't want the Dems to desert him.
The truth may be that McCain is ON his meds. I read somewhere that he takes Ambien (the powerful sleeping pill) regularly. As someone who has experienced the personality side-effects of Ambien--the worst is sometimes called Ambien psychosis--I can say that he looked like a person who had taken Ambien too many days in a row. No doubt he's having trouble sleeping lately. I once took Ambien for 7 days in a row and I was twitching, blinking and gritting my teeth, contemptuous of others, interrupting people with an overwrought need to say ten thousand things that I couldn't get out coherently, and just really really mean. Why else would he self-destruct last night, knowing full well that such angry behavior was a losing strategy? The only other explanation is that, like Palin, he feels he has nothing to lose (since he's already lost) and figures he will just let his real bastard self come out??
This is a very good point. I once had the same reaction to sleep meds, and I hadn't thought of it until I read your post. If I remember correctly, he's due to crash soon, likely in a puddle of tears or a horrific tantrum before collapsing. Good times!
Let's hope that he has a temper tantrum on the air so that everyone can see what he is like - the real John McCain.
Nora
Youi are the "BEES KNEES"
O yes, I LOVE YOUR NECK
Nora-- you have totally upset the bees, and you have stirred up the nest big time!! Did you anticipate these strong reactions which have absolutely nothing to do with McCain's medical situation, which should be a private matter???
Nora,
You are the "bee's knees" Great article and by the way,
I Love You NECK
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