Friday, September 26, 2008
please stop him before he hurts himself
I'm a fool.
Remember way back a couple of weeks ago, when I said that Ruben Navarette of cnn.com had written "the most humiliatingly awful article"? About his wish that he could vote for an Obama/Palin ticket?
Well, I guess I should have added the words "to this point," because beyond all reasonable expectation, he has just written an article even MORE humiliatingly awful. This time about McCain's decision to "suspend" his campaign to focus on the bailout bill.
Some key quotes:
Second, can he really compare Obama's decisions about locations for holding speeches that every presidential candidate/nominee always gives to McCain's decision to unilaterally cancel a debate - or did he? - in order to inject himself into a situation in which nobody asked for him, and to which he apparently has little if nothing of substance to offer (let alone leadership or expertise)?
Especially given the fact that McCain has obviously NOT suspended campaigning, despite his protestations to the contrary.
Especially especially given the fact that McCain just a week ago seemed to believe beyond all evidence to the contrary that "the fundamentals" of the economy were strong and that despite the fact that this crisis has been looming for months upon months, McCain had yet to offer any sort of leadership on this issue until now. Wasn't he like *the* most absent senator over the past two years?
Obama's "stunts" were about injecting themes and an image into his campaign. It's what every politician around the world does, some more successfully than others. McCain's insane-o scheme is about ... well, who knows what it's about, other than drawing attention to himself. Frankly, I think that's what the Palin pick was about, too. John McCain is desperate for attention, and he can't stand the fact that Obama commands more of it.
There's a word for what McCain's doing: grandstanding. And it is by far the least effective way to actually solve a crisis.
More Ruben:
So, to summarize: McCain (1) pretends to suspend his campaign, (2) doesn't, (3) is completely useless in the negotiations over the bailout bill, (4) tries desperately to get the press to believe he's somehow putting the needs of his country over his campaign, (5) gets a total of ONE dummy to actually believe that (our Ruben), and (6) then agrees to debate after all.
Ruben - you've been had. Why on earth does cnn.com continue to promote your insane ramblings? Oh wait, this is the same website that promotes t-shirts that say "Pig holds woman prisoner in her house." Nevermind.
Remember way back a couple of weeks ago, when I said that Ruben Navarette of cnn.com had written "the most humiliatingly awful article"? About his wish that he could vote for an Obama/Palin ticket?
Well, I guess I should have added the words "to this point," because beyond all reasonable expectation, he has just written an article even MORE humiliatingly awful. This time about McCain's decision to "suspend" his campaign to focus on the bailout bill.
Some key quotes:
Some in the Obama-friendly media were quick to dismiss McCain's move as a political stunt. I don't know. It's not like launching one's candidacy in Springfield, Illinois, in the hopes of conjuring up comparisons to Abraham Lincoln, or moving one's convention speech to a football stadium to accommodate a larger crowd.First of all, is he saying the media is "Obama-friendly" or is he saying that it was those in that section of the media that is friendly to Obama were the ones calling this a stunt? It's absolutely unclear (though really irrelevant). Call an editor, stat.
Second, can he really compare Obama's decisions about locations for holding speeches that every presidential candidate/nominee always gives to McCain's decision to unilaterally cancel a debate - or did he? - in order to inject himself into a situation in which nobody asked for him, and to which he apparently has little if nothing of substance to offer (let alone leadership or expertise)?
Especially given the fact that McCain has obviously NOT suspended campaigning, despite his protestations to the contrary.
Especially especially given the fact that McCain just a week ago seemed to believe beyond all evidence to the contrary that "the fundamentals" of the economy were strong and that despite the fact that this crisis has been looming for months upon months, McCain had yet to offer any sort of leadership on this issue until now. Wasn't he like *the* most absent senator over the past two years?
Obama's "stunts" were about injecting themes and an image into his campaign. It's what every politician around the world does, some more successfully than others. McCain's insane-o scheme is about ... well, who knows what it's about, other than drawing attention to himself. Frankly, I think that's what the Palin pick was about, too. John McCain is desperate for attention, and he can't stand the fact that Obama commands more of it.
There's a word for what McCain's doing: grandstanding. And it is by far the least effective way to actually solve a crisis.
More Ruben:
After all the doom and gloom, pundits were then surprised when McCain decided to temporarily suspend his presidential campaign(while still running ads, keeping all his campaign offices humming, accepting donations, meeting with Lady de Rothschild, giving interview after interview after interview after interview, and giving his stump speech to the Clinton Global Initiatives crowd)
and return to his day job in Congress, where he tried to work out a bailout deal with his colleagues.Well gosh, THAT went well.
Unfortunately, [Obama] also looks like someone who is so focused on what he hopes will be his next job that he has lost interest in his current one.You have got to be kidding me. And you still haven't explained why McCain didn't return Obama's phone call about issuing a joint statement, why he didn't simply ask for the debate to be shifted to economic issues, and why his campaign thought it would be a good idea to also postpone the Vice Presidential debate.
So, to summarize: McCain (1) pretends to suspend his campaign, (2) doesn't, (3) is completely useless in the negotiations over the bailout bill, (4) tries desperately to get the press to believe he's somehow putting the needs of his country over his campaign, (5) gets a total of ONE dummy to actually believe that (our Ruben), and (6) then agrees to debate after all.
Ruben - you've been had. Why on earth does cnn.com continue to promote your insane ramblings? Oh wait, this is the same website that promotes t-shirts that say "Pig holds woman prisoner in her house." Nevermind.
