Has Obama gone too far?
Obama's new ad states:
Seems kind of damning doesn't it? The person who might be the next president of the US can't use email. Well, it turns out that there is a good reason why he can't:
Or this:
This interview in the NY Times makes it look like he can use the mouse if not the keyboard.
So it appears as if Obama is not only attacking someone who is crippled from old war injuries but it is also wrong because he does have some knowledge of the web.
UPDATE: I just did a Google news search on all this at 1:40 PM EDT. Using the terms "Obama ad McCain computer" produces 4804 hits over the last day. Using the terms "Obama ad McCain computer vietnam" produces 256 hits.
Howard Kurtz has a discussion here. The LA Times blog mentions the issue here, with a note about McCain's war injuries.
"[McCain] admits he still doesn't know how to use a computer, can't send an e-mail"
Seems kind of damning doesn't it? The person who might be the next president of the US can't use email. Well, it turns out that there is a good reason why he can't:
McCain gets emotional at the mention of military families needing food stamps or veterans lacking health care. The outrage comes from inside: McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes.
Or this:
At 63, he is the oldest of the bunch and because of his war injuries, he is limited in his ability to wield a keyboard.
This interview in the NY Times makes it look like he can use the mouse if not the keyboard.
Q: What websites if any do you look at regularly?
Mr. McCain: Brooke and Mark show me Drudge, obviously, everybody watches, for better or for worse, Drudge. Sometimes I look at Politico. Sometimes RealPolitics, sometimes.
(Mrs. McCain and Ms. Buchanan both interject: “Meagan’s blog!”)
Mr. McCain: Excuse me, Meagan’s blog. And we also look at the blogs from Michael and from you that may not be in the newspaper, that are just part of your blog.
So it appears as if Obama is not only attacking someone who is crippled from old war injuries but it is also wrong because he does have some knowledge of the web.
UPDATE: I just did a Google news search on all this at 1:40 PM EDT. Using the terms "Obama ad McCain computer" produces 4804 hits over the last day. Using the terms "Obama ad McCain computer vietnam" produces 256 hits.
Howard Kurtz has a discussion here. The LA Times blog mentions the issue here, with a note about McCain's war injuries.
posted by John Lott at 5:18 AM
6 Comments:
I think this one's going to backfire on them. If slurs and innuendo based on fiction is all he's got, Obama is circling the porcelain fixture.
Go Obama! Obama doesn't engage in nasty republican "Rove style politics." Obama is change we can believe in.
From Jonah Goldberg:
In a similar vein I guess it's an outrage that the blind governor of New York David Paterson doesn't know how to drive a car. After all, transportation issues are pretty important. How dare he serve as governor while being ignorant of what it's like to navigate New York's highways.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTliMTNiZjg5ZDEwZWNiZDYwZWFjN2JlNjNjNjkxZmM=
"Senator Barack Obama's national press secretary, Bill Burton, accused Sen. John McCain of "cynically running the sleaziest and least honorable campaign in modern presidential campaign history."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13417.html
Funny, I don't recall any presidential campaign in modern history where a candidate criticized another for a physical disability resulting from injuries suffered in service to our country in war.
Obama certainly is the candidate of change. Not content with refraining from such despicable attacks, he's broken new ground by personally approving of the mocking of his opponent's physical disabilities.
Go Obama!
http://voxday.blogspot.com/2008/09/tweedledum-and-tweedledummer.html
UPDATE - Ace of Spades discovers a Forbes article that shows the "doesn't know how to use a computer" ad called "Still" is even dumber than it appeared at second glance: "In certain ways, McCain was a natural Web candidate. Chairman of the Senate Telecommunications Subcommittee and regarded as the U.S. Senate's savviest technologist, McCain is an inveterate devotee of email. His nightly ritual is to read his email together with his wife, Cindy. The injuries he incurred as a Vietnam POW make it painful for McCain to type. Instead, he dictates responses that his wife types on a laptop."
Records show McCain more bipartisan:
"Sen. John McCain's record of working with Democrats easily outstrips Sen. Barack Obama's efforts with Republicans, according to an analysis by The Washington Times of their legislative records.
Whether looking at bills they have led on or bills they have signed onto, Mr. McCain has reached across the aisle far more frequently and with more members than Mr. Obama since the latter came to the Senate in 2005.
In fact, by several measures, Mr. McCain has been more likely to team up with Democrats than with members of his own party."
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/15/records-show-mccain-more-bipartisan/
So if McCain is more bi-partisan, that makes Obama more partisan. Is being a loyal soldier by toeing the party line an example of no politics as usual?
I'm sorry, who is the candidate of change again?
You have an acceptable reason that he can't do all of these normal tasks. I appreciate that and agree he should not be insulted, but are you OK with a President that is inept to everyday situations due to these injuries?
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