From the diaries by Jeff
Remember when
McCain said that he had visited all
57 States during his campaign? Then there was the time that
McCain said
"Well let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of
Israel's." Oh, and what about the time that McCain said
"10,000
people died" in the Kansas tornadoes (death toll really 12).
Crazy stuff, eh? Wait, let's not forget when McCain said that
Arkansas was a "nearby"
state to Kentucky, arguing that it was closer geographically than
his home state. Man was that a major flub showing a complete lack
of knowledge of simple geography.
Hmm, wait a minute. I might be making a flub myself, here. Didn't Obama make all those gaffes (and many, many more)? Why, yes, he did. So, why, amidst an ever growing list of Obama flubs and gaffes, did the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz just pen a story titled "Is McCain's Age Showing? Tongues Wag Over Flubs"? It's as if the Obamessiah has spoken in flawless, if not mellifluous, English with nary a gaffe uttered throughout the campaign.
"We interrupt the nonstop coverage of Barack Obama's overseas trip," Kurtz writes, "to bring you some breaking whispers about John McCain."
He has been making a series of verbal slips -- invariably described as "gaffes" -- that are starting to ricochet from liberal blogs to the mainstream media. And fairly or not, some critics are suggesting the 71-year-old Republican candidate is showing his age.
Well, Kurtz doesn't exactly say so explicitly, but his piece pointedly reveals the utter lack of introspection as well as simple fairness evinced by the squaller of the leftist blogosphere and their old media lapdogs. The left is certain that McCain is getting a pass.
As Obama's list of gaffes grows, his are dismissed while the left spares no efforts to report any slip of the tongue by John McCain and then to ascribe it to senility. Yet, as Obama makes gaffe after gaffe the press blows off his mistakes as merely that of a "tired" candidate tuckered out from this exhausting campaign.
But that used up McCain, why he's just too old.
Politico catalogued the errors on its Web site yesterday, saying: "McCain's mistakes raise a serious, if uncomfortable question: Are the gaffes the result of his age? And what could that mean in the Oval Office?"
The question is fair, says veteran analyst Charlie Cook of National Journal. "People wonder if McCain is kind of like a pitcher seven or eight years past his prime and misses a few here and there," he says. "When you're about to turn 72, people are going to be watching to see if you're slipping."
So, McCain is senile and Obama... well, he just needs a nice nap.
The press is doing their level best to gin up McCain's flubs but are correspondingly dismissive of Obama's as Kurtz reveals. Obama's constant gaffes are being called "minor misstatements," and are only made because he is so, so tired. Why one liberal commentator even thinks that Obama is so tired that "his hair has grown grayer since he began campaigning." They are each of them bending over backwards to excuse Obama's gaffes while unbendingly calling McCain's a result of some mental problem!
Well, there are great lists on the Internet of the flubs and gaffes from both candidates, so you decide what those gaffes can be blamed on. As to the left, unsurprisingly they can only see McCain's. Good thing the left is so much more "fair" and "balanced" than the rest of us, eh?
But, there is one lingering question that hangs over this whole business. If McCain's gaffes are a result of his being old and tired, how is it they can use being "tired" as an excuse to paper over the mistakes of the supposedly virile and vital Obama? And if Obama's are ascribed to mere exhaustion then why can't we say that McCain is just as tired? After all, McCain is an 71-year-old man. Is Obama so weak that he tires as easily as a man of such advanced years as McCain?
The left's excuse making is weak indeed. Weak and tired.
Be sure and Visit my Home blog Publius' Forum. It's what's happening NOW!
The first thing that comes to my mind
Jake W July 26th, 2008 at 12:29 a.m. (link)
I remember hearing about that Howard Kurtz piece the other day. The first thing that came to my mind was how he could convienently forget Obama's many embarassing gaffes.
And then I thought to myself about those words Reagan said while debating Mondale back in 1984
"I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent's youth and inexperience."
They're just as applicable today, if not moreso, than they were back then, and McCain might want to think about pointing it out.
"The secret of success is constancy to purpose."
--Benjamin Disraeli
We're all just raisin' McCain...
Bias Myas
johndoug July 26th, 2008 at 7:54 a.m. (link)
The MSM is presented with a choice that amounts to this:
Should we cover the super bowl, or should we cover paint drying?
Republicans can't seem to understand why the media won't spend time covering the drying of paint.
McCain is boring
Aww, you signed up just to tell us that.
Moe Lane July 26th, 2008 at 8:02 a.m. (link)
How cute.
Moe
PS: No, that's it. You can still post; I have minimum standards for tossing, and you didn't reach them.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.I've been usurped!Yes I did
johndoug July 26th, 2008 at 11:15 a.m. (link)
I found this site from a WAPO article on netroots which described the dearth of blogs on the political right. Thanks for posting my comment. Like many on the left, Republicans need a reality check now and then. I promise to be respectful and will happily debate the candidates and issues on their merits or lack thereof. John Kerry lost in 2004 in part because he (like McCain) was boring. Gore was too. Its not a media conspiracy.
Actually, you'll be respectful whether you promise or not.
Moe Lane July 26th, 2008 at 11:24 a.m. (link)
You'll also learn to thread comments properly.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.I've been usurped!Yes I did
johndoug July 26th, 2008 at 11:15 a.m. (link)
I found this site from a WAPO article on netroots which described the dearth of blogs on the political right. Thanks for posting my comment. Like many on the left, Republicans need a reality check now and then. I promise to be respectful and will happily debate the candidates and issues on their merits or lack thereof. John Kerry lost in 2004 in part because he (like McCain) was boring. Gore was too. Its not a media conspiracy.
Well at least McCain didn't put 200K Germans to sleep
Dave_in_Fla July 26th, 2008 at 5:44 p.m. (link)
I wouldn't be so sure of Obama's dynamic personality if I were you. Arrogant condesention toward people who know the text of your speech better than you do, isn't a recipe for excitement.
Local reports from some people that were there is that the Germans in the crowd were standing with their hands in their pockets looking at each other wondering "what the Hell is this guy talking about?" At least it was blessedly short. Vapid, but short.
But hey, you keep believing in hopechangehope my friend! It will give you some comfort when your naive inexperienced candidate gets the crap kicked out of him by the commercials using his own words from this trip. I love high profile campaign trips by incompetents. They are SO target rich.
"If they were merely incompetent, then at least SOME of their actions would have been to the benefit of the country."
When I read your comment
David Hinz July 26th, 2008 at 6:17 p.m. (link)
I thought perhaps that Obama had liberated another concentration camp like his granddaddy did.
The Minority Report -- The HinzSight Report -- TMRB.tv -- MFOB
And don't forget
itrytobenice July 26th, 2008 at 12:52 a.m. (link)
"The bomb" that fell (apparently from the moon) on Pearl Harbor.
Or when he can't remember whether or not he's on the Senate Banking Committee.
His expected 8-10 years as President.
When he forgot to ask his supporters for money for Clinton's debt when the supposed purpose of the function was to shake them down.
Iran is little and no threat to America when the next day it was a grave threat.
And finally, his uncle who liberated Auschwitz. Or not.
And Dan Quayle was never endingly mocked as a fool because he misspelled potato. With a spelling that had previously been acceptable.
I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100 percent.
Recommended
itrytobenice July 26th, 2008 at 12:54 a.m. (link)
In the New RS 3.0 way. Which means I left you this nifty little comment. :)
I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100 percent.
Huh?
Neil Stevens July 26th, 2008 at 8:34 a.m. (link)
Actually the RS 3 way to recommend is to use the recommend feature same as always :-)
Though this diary's been promoted so recommendations aren't there.
HTML Help for Red Staters
Nobody can claim a "free speech" right to suck the fun out of our lives. Certainly not on a private board. – Steve Jackson
For me comments work better.
itrytobenice July 26th, 2008 at 1:01 p.m. (link)
Since NightTwister bought the best real estate on the Recommended list (I know :) I'm just teasing), I just look at recent comments and see what threads are getting any action and that's the ones I read.
I may be missing some really good ones, but I just don't have time to read them all.
And by the way, for all its flaws, I love having my replied to comments back. I really missed that when we went to RS2.
I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100 percent.
Gotcha (nt)
Neil Stevens July 26th, 2008 at 1:59 p.m. (link)
HTML Help for Red Staters
Nobody can claim a "free speech" right to suck the fun out of our lives. Certainly not on a private board. – Steve Jackson
Capitalism at its finest :-)
NightTwister July 26th, 2008 at 2:08 p.m. (link)
Night Twister • Veterans For McCain-•-Palin
I'm taking bids now.
NightTwister July 26th, 2008 at 9:15 p.m. (link)
If anyone wants to buy the top spot from me...
Night Twister • Veterans For McCain-•-Palin
Don't forget when Obama lied about being what committee he is on
dskinner11 July 26th, 2008 at 1:45 a.m. (link)
Obama told an audience in Israel that "his committee", the Senate Banking committee had passed a bill to call for divestment from Iran.
He isn't on that committee. That wasn't an error of a lapse in thinking. He lied to that group of people to try and prove to Jews that he is tough on Iran.
I thought senior citizens
blooch July 26th, 2008 at 8:44 a.m. (link)
were pretty consistent about showing up to vote. Snotty Boomers, with their ED pills, nip/tucks and hair dye are chanting their "senility" mantra to a bunch of short attention span know-it-alls who consistently scramble to Late Registration every semester and probably haven't even registered to vote.
But y'all go ahead and make fun of the oldsters. I'm sure that's helping to bring older Hillary supporters back into the fold, and it's not as if we "clingers" have any respect for our elders.
"Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in common: their gender and their good looks."--spam
Old Man vs Messiah
LibRick July 26th, 2008 at 9:16 a.m. (link)
Obama makes major gaffes in tightly controlled and scripted media situations and gets a free pass. But since he's the anointed one, it must have been because he has the weight of the world on his shoulders and can't be bothered with details.
McCain allows nearly complete media access and anything that he doesn't articulate perfectly is pounced on. But since he's the old man, he must be having a senior moment.
It's getting pretty obvious that this is how the media is framing it. Your article does a great job pointing it out.
McCain and Obama are pretty even in the polls so I'm hopeful that America isn't buying it.
And now a little levity
wolfgang July 26th, 2008 at 12:39 p.m. (link)
http://oldwardogs.us/2008/07mine-eyes-have.html http://www.oldwardogs.us/2008/07/on-th-road.html Worth the effort of manually entering the address