On Obama’s ‘McCain Can’t Send E-Mails’ Attack
Jimmie explains: ‘The bigger reason he got a late start on the wonderful world of cheap Viagra and generous Nigerian princes is because he spent a few years being crippled by the North Vietnamese, suffering injuries so severe that he couldn’t lift his hands high enough to comfortably use a computer keyboard. Jonah Goldberg found this out after a few minutes with a wonder of the online world – the search engine – that neither Barack Obama nor anyone in his staff seem to know how to use.’
Ace, using that miraculous device called Google, found another article on John McCain’s e-mail aptitude. Turns out he’s an “inveterate devotee of email” who has to dictate his responses to his wife at night for her to type because it’s too freaking painful for him to type them himself.
Oh, and if you’re reading this and happen to be on the Obama campaign, “inveterate” means habitual. It especially refers to a habit created through persistence.
Message to Obama; making fun of a war hero who cannot perform certain tasks, or could not perform them for decades / years, because he was tortured by America’s enemies may not be the smartest thing to do.
Can you imagine a new ad, summarizing McCain’s imprisonment and suffering, explaining the fact that he could not raise his arm high enough to work on a keyboard afterwards, and then pointing out Obama’s latest ad?
How do you think that one will go over?
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Gee, who would have thought the GOP would use the POW thing as an excuse for everything. "Sorry that the Department of Defense was infiltrated by Chinese hackers and our satilites don’t work anymore. Our President doesn’t understand how to use a computer, but it’s okay, he was a POW. Surely when we explain this to the Chinese, they’ll destroy those plans to our new aircraft carrier."
Sorry, disability or not. There is no excuse to not know the basics of a computer in the 21st century. Stephen Hawking can’t even move his head and uses a computer. Besides, McCain himself described himself as illiterate, but learning.
So your theory is that the President of the United States personally has to implement cyber security procedures to protect those aircraft carrier plans?
Who knew. I wonder how we survived the 1990s, since Bill Clinton didn’t use email either. Lucky, I guess.
Setay, there’s likewise no excuse for a blog commenter not to exhibit basic reading comprehension.
Did you just not see that he is quite e-mail savvy or did you choose to ignore the parts of the post (which, basically, is every word but "and", "but", and "or") that punched truck-sized holes in your worldview?
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/07/mccain-says-hes.html
From McCain (who is a POW) himself: “I don’t e-mail. I’ve never felt the particular need to e-mail.”
But he (a former POW) can drive a car and he has operated a Blackberry. So is it from disability or just being "out-of-touch"? I don’t care, really.
Make no mistake, I don’t agree with the attack and hold it against Obama. But I’ve never said Obama is a different candidate by much. I just see a very very light shade of gray vs. a terribly dark one. Obama has a blue lightsaber, McCain (the former POW) has a red one, it is that stark.
That’s truly a laughable remark.
Just wondering, if he can’t reach up to type on a computer keyboard (which can be lowered for easier use!) can he use a phone? Or does his wife, aides need to hold the phone too. How about eating? Does someone need to feed him? How about his ability to sign important bills? Or any bills for that matter. I am truly sorry for his injuries and am wondering aside from not being able to use a computer are there any other limitations that his injuries impose on his day to day life. Thanks!
How disrespectful can people get?
But McCain’s own campaign has scoffed at Obama, responding that McCain has a laptop. Also, McCain did throw a baseball to start of a baseball game in 2001. He piloted a plane after Vietnam – do you think he would go up in the air if he thought his arms might not be up to the task?
Being unable to comb your hair is one thing, but laptops have existed for a while and your arms can go low. The attack about McCain having no techie cred is still a bit weak and reflects a bit poorly on Obama, but I will not respect the outrage levelled by people like Goldberg, who has spent much time tying perfectly reasonable left-wingers to fascists and nazis.
So… Apparently McCain can operate a computer, yet is behind the curve. His own campaign has stated that his POW experience and current ails is no excuse.
“John McCain travels with a laptop,” said McCain campaign spokesman Tucker Bounds.
Has anyone bothered to answer the question of how sending email is a requirement for office?
CL Pasm,
To help answer your question, I know McCain is unable to brush his hair by himself.
utsu,
Over the last 50 years the left has spent plenty of time tying conservatives to nazis, not only on places like tv but in academia. William F Buckley was called a fascist by Gore Vidal. I’m sure you’ve heard the term ‘crypto-fascist’ to describe ordinary conservatives. Jonah Goldberg is just posing a counter argument. Its not an uneducated one, although its too weak to consider better than the arguments put forward by leftists making conservatives fascist. I don’t know what he’s trying to accomplish by it
I think this is the final nail in Obama’s coffinhttp://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/12/why-cant-mccain-email/
"Its not an uneducated one"
People have fisked his book to pieces, the man’s arguments are unworthy of being brought up at this blog IMO.
Still, Goldberg is not one to feel outraged – he is a conservative fully addicted and dependent on the culture war to gain attention, and I am sad to see the Obama campaign move closer to his pathetic little sandbox.
Great subject.
Shakespeare comes to ming … Something about… much ado … although …
Mark Twain may be more apropos for he may have been thinking about this type of discussion when he wrote:
"Silly as it Seems" Carry on…
~JQP~
The Boston Globe story is so far from conclusive, it’s laughable. McCain himself clearly says he is computer "illiterate." That proves Obama’s point, end of story. You’d also better be careful getting so easily outraged over supposed insults to someone else’s war wounds. My grandpa used to peck with one finger on a keyboard after he was disabled. The fact is, we all know people more visibly handicapped than McCain who use computers. If people even half-way suspect McCain or his surrogates are exaggerating about this, it will be 99.9% of America saying "how dare you" to him!
And that point is……?????
Will someone answer my question? Since when is computer literacy a job requirement for the President? Even Clinton was computer illiterate, and that was during the paradigm shift to the information economy. Now that the information economy is well established, don’t you think that the President’s personal intervention is unlikely to be necessary in the area of cyber-security?