The Egregious John McCain Interview

John McCain made news last week for an interview with the Kansas City Star, noteworthy for an egregious comment.

When asked if his Democratic opponent for president was a Socialist, Sen. McCain -- apparently channeling red-baiting of the glorious 1950s -- shrugged and said, "I don't know."

Honest.

If Sen. McCain is that unperceptive with a man he works with, why should anyone trust the Republican with total strangers? At least George Bush could look in people's hearts. On the other hand, if John McCain actually knows that Barack Obama really isn't a Socialist, well... what does that say about his renowned integrity?

It's a remarkable quote, and understandable why it got all the attention in Dave Helling's interview.

But that wasn't the egregious comment.

Because Sen. McCain continued disingenuously, "All I know is his voting record, and that's what people usually judge their elected representatives by."

Forgetting for a moment that that's not remotely true -- since people judge their representatives by countless things, like their smile, their lapel pin, their spouse, the crude jokes they tell, whether they'd like to share a beer, and how disingenuous he is -- by Mr. McCain's logic, he might be a Communist mole. Or an escaped ax murderer. Or a mime. Because if all we know for sure about a representative is his voting record, then John McCain, too, could be anything.

(While I'm aware there was some satire above, I apologize for suggesting that John McCain could be a mime.)

But that wasn't Sen. McCain's egregious comment, either.

In attempting to smear Sen. Obama with red paint, Mr. McCain commented that his opponent's voting record "is more to the left than the announced socialist in the United States Senate, Bernie Sanders."

Blanket statements generally play havoc with the full truth -- as did John McCain. In fact, checking VoteView, made up of actual political scientists, Sen. Obama is only 10th most liberal - behind, among others...Bernie Sanders. Oops. In Congressional Quarterly, an actual, official record of government, it reported Barack Obama voted with George Bush 40% of the time, putting him in the middle of Democrats. Oops. By the way, the rating John McCain likely refers to is from the National Journal, which doesn't rank McCain himself -- because he missed over half the key votes. Oops.

Yet that wasn't Sen. McCain's egregious comment, either.

Because Dave Helling asks the senator about the Minutemen, a rifle-toting posse pushing for a wall across the U.S.-Mexican border. Since the vigilantes are based in McCain's home state of Arizona, Helling inquires if they're a "good thing... do they help in the immigration fight, or not?"

After another shrug, John McCain starts in, "I think they are citizens who are entitled to being engaged in the process. They're obviously very concerned about immigration." Then again, that also describes the American Nazi Party. And it doesn't address the question. So, Dave Helling tries again, "Are they helpful?" To which the senator answers, "I think that's for others to judge."

John McCain is running for president -- and he doesn't think it's for him to judge what's helpful dealing with immigration??? He's supposed to be guiding that very judgment. Not dodging it. Besides, who are these mystical "others" who are entitled to judge, but not the would-be president? Anyway, the Senator continues his answer, "I don't agree with them. But they certainly are exercising their legal rights as citizens." Of course, when a 61-year-old librarian, Carol Kreck, was exercising her legal rights by carrying a "Bush=McCain" sign to one of the senator's open meetings, his security detail had her ejected.

But still, no, that too wasn't Sen. McCain's egregious comment.

You see, near the end, John McCain starts to point out issues on which Barack Obama changed his positions. Dave Helling finally interrupts the speech, and in a soft, "Okay, okay, I know, but let's be honest here a moment" voice, says politely:

"You flip-flop a little bit, too. You flip-flop on drilling a little bit. On tax cuts....You were against the tax cuts, now you're talking about making them permanent. Isn't there flip-flopping on both sides?

To which the engineer of the Straight Talk Express acknowledges -- "Actually, no."

"No." Period. That's as emphatic as it gets. Never mind that seconds before, he explained changing his position on drilling! Adding, "I haven't changed my position on any other issue." Only to then explain - seconds after insisting there's "No" flip-flopping on his side - that his changed position on tax cuts was because, "We had to restrain spending, that's the main reason I voted against them."

Here's a good linguistic tip: just because you have a reason you changed your opinions doesn't mean you didn't change your opinions.

But "No," there is no flip-flopping on his side. None. Honestly, there was more flip-flopping in that single answer by John McCain than most people see at the dolphin show at Seaworld.

And...even that wasn't the egregious comment

This was the egregious comment -

After Sen. McCain explains his gas tax holiday suggestion, Dave Helling points out, "A lot of experts say this is not a good idea."

And this is how John McCain defends criticism of the detailed facts and specifics of his economic plan: "A lot of experts are driven to work in chauffeured limousines. A lot of experts live in Georgetown and walk to work."

Yipes.

I mean...yipes. That may be. But...they're still experts. And he's said he's not

Further, I'll bet cash money that most economic experts don't have chauffeured limousines. Name four. Most don't live in Georgetown, but across America. Though John McCain himself is chauffeured in a limousine.

And again -- they...are...experts. Even if they bicycle to work.

Of course, sometimes you have to put things in perspective. After all, John McCain's economic expert was Phil Gramm, who explained there's only a "mental recession" in our "nation of whiners." But now he's been fired, so perhaps Sen. McCain is left without guidance.

In the end, it might be hard to say which of these comments are the most egregious . But what's most noteworthy is not which one -- but that all these egregious comments weren't said over the course of weeks... but in 6 minutes and 7 seconds.

Comments

[JimR]

McCain also said "I don't know" when asked if Iraq borders Pakistan.

[MrsPeel]

Jim,

Do you remember when and where? Would like to add this and the source/s to my growing list...

Thanks.

[Egalitare]

Incredible that the only thing MSM chose to highlight in this was the "Is Obama a Socialist?" line.

That's okay: we'll amplify all the nuttiness that the good Senator from Arizona puts out and let him back-flip away from them a few days later.

Perhaps he should have tried out for the Men's Gymnastic team going to Beijing.

[gmlang]

John McCain is a master of the dodge. If the issue forces him to choose between the conservative base and the moderate middle, he abstains from answering either with awkward silence or by means of some pseudo-clever rhetorical device (though probably not by design; I would argue the McCain dodge is innate; his prowess in front of a teleprompter indicates he has little ability to think on his feet).

The biggest problem isn't that his constant dodging is disingenuous, or that nobody really knows his true position on the issues he dodges. The problem is that his position IS abstention, at least in the face of disparate constituencies. He genuinely refuses to disagree with any constituency that holds power over his future as president.

Coupled with his lobbyist- and PAC-funded campaign, his refusal to disagree becomes a big problem. What will happen to the maverick when his conservative financiers push him to toe the party line, and there is no "other side" imminently threatening his dominion to force him into a bumbling state of waffledom? His consistent abstention regarding contentious issues should offer us some clue. Instead of indecisiveness or disingenuous redirection, he'll probably dance to their tune. Voila, a new puppet-leader is born; an automaton capable only of acting on behalf of those who wrote the checks that got him elected. All laid bare in six minutes and seven seconds. Way to hit the nail on the head, Mr. Elisburg.

[CintiBlue]

gmlang:

Love your comments.

I've felt for some time that all the joking about McCain's age misses the point that he has never had the mental acuity it takes to be an effective president. You've covered it beautifully.

I say to you, 'way to hit the nail on the head'.

[meanguy]

boy oh boy...when the far left 'let's imagine us up an outrage" machine gets ginned up, it pretty much acts like the energizer bunny, doesn't it? it just keeps going, and going, and going...

[Liberal2]

'let's imagine us up an outrage".... ya mean like who's wearing a "made-in-China" flag lapel pin and who's not????

[westwind]

If John McCain was forced to deal with his many statement blunders, and his changes of position that he then denies are actually changes of position, the way that Barack Obama is forced to deal with the largely inconsequential so-called issues he is forced to waste time on, this wouldn't even be a race.

Maybe that's why the media let him get away with so much (aside from them being a corporate media on the side of the biggest corporatist in the race). The media wouldn't be able to garner readers or viewers if the race was going to obviously be a blowout, so they try to even things up to give the illusion of parity. Of course, in ignoring McCain's lies and distortions, they actually are making the race closer, but that's because of their manipulation.

Money in politics is bad, but money contolling the dissemination of news vital to our democracy is anti-democratic.

[bluestatelib]

Very nicely done Robert Elisberg. You had me on the edge of my seat anticipating McCain's most egregious comment. And I wasn't disappointed in the one you choose - though of course virtually any of the statements you chose to highlight could have called his most egregious. McCain campaign seems so unpolished. It's a wonder he's gotten so far in politics.

[mmgpsych]

When the mainstream media ignores this level of obfuscation, spin, character assasination and flat out lie, how anyone can claim that the media is too pro-Obama is beyond me? When will *anyone* in the mainstream media call McCain out for the B.S. artist he has become? When?

[KSH]

And there was not one ounce of this reported on the cable news networks. I guess that bias goes a long way b/c if the press is so in love with Obama, they don't report the dumb things McCain says either!

[Liberal2]

According to Lou Dobbs, the media loves Obama. Ya think Dobbs is spending any time researching McCain's gaffs?

[marthlois]

I saw that interview & I was shocked. Until your Op-ed, there has been no commentary about it - yet another and very major example of the media shielding this man. Thank you for bringing the facts to the forefront. I'll be forwarding your article to many.

[4President]

Well, you only blog here, so what you say doesn't get much traction, and besides - we follow this mess and agree with you - church/choir!

How or when will this fraud be exposed?

[CitizenE]

Old Nails Against the Blackboard on the Forked Tongue Express. He was against torture before he was for it.