Imploding Obama Campaign
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| Sat, 09-13-2008 - 10:47am |
The arrogance is astounding! This will defintely backfire on him.
Friday, September 12, 2008

Wondering No More
Yep. The day after 9/11, as part of its "get tough" makeover, the Obama campaign is mocking John McCain for not using a computer, without caring why he doesn't use a computer. From the AP story about the computer illiterate ad:
"Our economy wouldn't survive without the Internet, and cyber-security continues to represent one our most serious national security threats," Pfeiffer said. "It's extraordinary that someone who wants to be our president and our commander in chief doesn't know how to send an e-mail."
Well, I guess it depends on what you mean by "extraordinary." The reason he doesn't send email is that he can't use a keyboard because of the relentless beatings he received from the Viet Cong in service to our country. From the Boston Globe (March 4, 2000):
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. Friends marvel at McCain's encyclopedic knowledge of sports. He's an avid fan - Ted Williams is his hero - but he can't raise his arm above his shoulder to throw a baseball.
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.
Update: Well, now the story is up on Drudge (You heard it here first!). Re: Mark's point about how the supposedly web-savvy Obama campaign can't handle Google, here's another story confirming he has difficulty using a keyboard. Ironically, it's from one of the most pro-Obama journalists out there, Jacob Weisberg, in an article in Slate in 2000:
"Six months ago, no one would have pegged McCain as the most cybersavvy of this year's crop of candidates. 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."
Now, in response to some angry criticism already coming in: Feh.
Some say, So what if he was handicapped? He could still learn how to send email.
Sure, but why would he? Bill Clinton sent two emails during his entire presidency and often admitted he didn't know squat about the internet.
One reader says "Steven Hawking knows how to use a computer!" Yes, because if he didn't he couldn't do his job or communicate. McCain, like Clinton, didn't have that problem. Here's a more sane version of t he same complaint:
You are ridiculous about this. While of course McCain probably can't type for long periods or in the manner in which many of us do, there are a tremendous amount of people that peck with just their index fingers. He also can surely use a mouse. How much typing do you really have to do to send emails and use the internet. Plus, when he was asked point blank about it he never said he couldn't type. I am sure he can't use a blackberry, but there are tons of people with far worse injuries than McCain that use a computer.
That's absolutely true, I'm sure. But they need to use computers to get through life. McCain doesn't. And the fact that he's not blaming his disability hardly sounds like a serious indictment. If he did blame his disability, many of the same folks yelling at me would be complaining that McCain's whining.
Now, I'd hardly be surprised if McCain could type for short stretches and all that. The point is, that it's perfectly understandable why he wouldn't get in the habit of it.
Oh one last point for now: Lord knows I think the chicken-hawk arguments are stupid. And I don't think the fact that Obama never served in the military should count against him in and of itself. But how stupid is it for the Obama campaign to claim that McCain is unqualified to be president because he can't grasp cyber-security issues based on the fact he has never sent an email when the McCain campaign can just as easily say Obama can't understand first order national security issues because he's never fired a rife, flown a plane, commanded men in battle, or faced an enemy? I mean which prepares someone to be commander in chief better, hitting "send" on AOL or fighting a war?
Update II: On the other hand: I don't know what to make of this interview with the New York Times. He sounds awfully web savvy in it, which makes the Obama ad sound unfair. And if you read it closely, it sounds like he knows how to surf with a mouse, but doesn't do much by way of typing.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTliMTNiZjg5ZDEwZWNiZDYwZWFjN2JlNjNjNjkxZmM=

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You know, I tend to agree with you. Look at me, for crying out loud! Sitting on my butt as a SAHD in the same district from which Newt Gingrinch launched his successful campaign for congress which resulted eventually in the 1994 landslide and the "Contract On America." What, after all, have **I** got to show for all mah fancy book larnin', 'cept a useless knowledge of dead languages, LOL? (P.S. - my house is less than five miles from where Sean Inanity used to live when he was in Atlanta doing his radio show, before he got picked up by the Murdoch propaganda team).
Ordinarily - a lot like jane_afw - I don't mention (and certainly don't lean on) my college pedigree (though Jane's is even more high-falutin' than mine, you Harvard elitist, you, Jane - LOL). It's just not worth it. Unless your university (general "you," not you specifically) was REALLY poor, the reality of it is that one can acquire a good education at any college, if one has the proper attitude toward one's studies. And I'm here to tell you that one can attend one of the finest universities in the country, and emerge four (or five) years later with a degree to hang on the wall and about zero greater understanding of the world - I knew too many of these people when I was in college. Not to mention that it's snobby and obnoxious to constantly remind someone where you went to school. And obviously, it doesn't prove - by itself - anything about the person who has a degree from this or that school. I think I've posted before on this board that one of the people who attended my little tiny snobby private high school in La Jolla, CA was Andrew Cunanan, the guy who shot Gianni Versace after a cross-country murder spree. So I'm pretty well aware that education, by itself, isn't a particularly good indicator of much.
But when someone slags off an entire university - which I attended - without knowing a single student or alumnus from that university - in pursuit of a cheap political attack? Well.....time to set the record straight. That's all.
Ashes where the bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has sturck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling Begging
Ashes where the bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has sturck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling Begging
Huh? What?
Ashes where the bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has sturck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling Begging
I continue to be astonished at how many conservatives seem congenitally unable to grasp this distinction.
Ashes where the bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has sturck the hour
Day of judgement, God is calling
On their knees, the war pigs crawling Begging
Being able to read and send your own emails IS an important skill in the workplace today. If you aren't reading and writing your own email, you gatekeepers get to pick for you -- what you see, what you don't. I once worked for such a Luddite; it was exhausting and frustrating to have someone who simply refused to adapt to technology that had become an essential part of the job. REAMS of paper were wasted, as well as countless hours. The Internet is HOW the world communicates today. It is how we exchange ideas, learn about new developments, break news, express ourselves, keep in touch, etc. By missing out on the key medium of our era, he has lost touch with the way we live our lives AND left himself very vulnerable to being swayed by what others show and tell him. If you only read what others show you and never seek anything out on your own, how can you be sure you've seen the whole picture?
(better signature to go below?)
Caroline
I appreciate that
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