The education of John McCain -- on condoms

Wow.

...That's it as a reaction -- just "Wow."  If I didn't just read this, I wouldn't believe it. 

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~~Autumn~~

As if there were safety in stupidity alone.
--Henry David Thoreau

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by: Autumn Sandeen @ Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 03:04:43 AM CDT

He lied, plain and simple

He knows this, he's too intelligent not to know it.  What totally screwed him up is his constant shilling for the right wing and the administration. He wants to be the heir to Bush and the standard bearer for the ultras in his party, and they are against birht control, against the use of condoms to prevent stds and are obsessed with abstinence.

But like any liar who's ambivalent (as opposed to a sociopath), his lies make him stumble, they don't come out smoothly.  He's lost in political calculation and can't answer a straight question directly, but is like a  cartoon character rushing out over a precipice, hanging there and spinning its legs in a cloud of dust.

I confess, I bought the straight talk image in the 2000 campaign and voted for him in the Michigan primary, thinking he might make a decent president.

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 05:42:38 AM CDT

The Straight Talk Express!

Well, of course he knows. I don't think even a presidential candidate can be totally ignorant!  But he isn't sure if he dares say so.  I love all that weaseling (and on the "Straight Talk Express").  He has to consult an advisor to find out just what he can risk saying without contradicting the Christianists.

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by: phelps @ Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 05:43:43 AM CDT

You know what would be fun?

Put a bunch of GLBTQI activists into a mini-van, paint the side "Queer Talk Express" and have it follow the Straight Talk Express everywhere it goes and appear in protest at every stop.

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by: Alan down in Florida @ Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 19:29:49 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

Classic!

Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception - I'm sure I'm opposed to government spending on it, I'm sure I support the president's policies on it.

Wow, a candidate actually admitting that he does not know what he thinks! I wouldn't vote for him just on the basis that he can't actually sit there and think but has to go consult what he thought before. This kind of status quo politics is why we are in the mess we are in now in the first place.

<3 Sam

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by: Samie D @ Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 06:50:37 AM CDT

General Ignorance

I would suspect that most heterosexuals would have trouble with this question.

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by: Holly in Cincinnati @ Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 09:17:57 AM CDT

Most Hets, maybe

But Holly, he's not most heterosexuals, he's a Senator, he's in the public eye, he supposedly reads the news, pays attention to the world around him, and is involved in public health spending via votes as a Senator.  Nobody's expecting him to describe complex biological processes.  It's kinda like in Steel Magnolais when Olympia Dikakis says, "Are you married or are you not married?  This is not a difficult question!"

"In order to maintain an untenable position, you have to be actively ignorant."  The Colbert Report

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by: Lev Raphael @ Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 11:05:49 AM CDT

[ Parent ]

Some maverick

Q: "I mean, I think you'd probably agree it probably does help stop it?"
Even when the reporter gave him the answer, he couldn't spit out a simple fact: that condoms help stop the spread of the HIV virus. 

If I put on my GOP hat, I can almost understand him hesitating on the first question. 

But not being able to answer whether condoms prevent HIV infection?  Does he know they also help stop the spread of pregnancy?

He's not a maverick or a straight-shooter.  He's a waffling politician trying to secure a base.

Electricity's for light bulbs!

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by: n8nyc @ Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 09:20:50 AM CDT

One would think that an adulterer would already know such things. . .

but then, being a Republican, beliefs and "moral principles" are just campaign slogans, not mapping points for charting his own life.

I suppose that as long as American Ayatolluh Falwell has forgiven him his sins, the tool is a born-again virgin and a brand-new role model for abstinence.

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by: kevinbgoode @ Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 09:25:04 AM CDT

I can't believe he didn't know the answer

Even my cat knows the answer (I just asked her).  What McCain meant to say was that he had forgotten his talking point on the issue.  He didn't want the possibility of contradicting himself.  If he'd spoken hiw REAL opinion on the topic (since I can't believe this man would be this clueless), he would have stated the obvious - that condoms help protect against HIV.  But then he probably would have stepped into a pile of shit by not mouthing the republican talking point. 

I dislike McCain worse than any other candidate on either side.  I used to think he was an ok guy about 5 years ago.  Then he started kissing Falwell's ring and stopped having a spine.  Pandering, doddering idiot.

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by: Hype-Jersey @ Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 11:41:14 AM CDT

That is EXACTLY what he was doing,

and here is the proof:

Q: "But you would agree that condoms do stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Would you say: 'No, we're not going to distribute them,' knowing that?"

Mr. McCain: (Twelve-second pause) "Get me Coburn's thing, ask Weaver to get me Coburn's paper that he just gave me in the last couple of days.

I'm convinced "Coburn" is Sen. Tom (out of control high school lesbians) Coburn, M.D. (Christianist Wingnut- OK).

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by: oddjob @ Sun Mar 18, 2007 at 12:24:10 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

too senile to answer

what he knows he used to know?

Lurleen on Twitter

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by: Lurleen @ Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 12:34:15 PM CDT

Like Lev, I once liked McCain.

He wants to be president and will say or not say whatever gets him there.

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by: Holly Capote @ Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 17:40:35 PM CDT

We should each mail him a Condom...

to educate him.
John McCain 2008
P.O. Box 16118
Arlington, VA 22215

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by: RogernDC @ Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 18:43:14 PM CDT

Early stages of senility?

If so, it should become more apparent with time. Particularly with his bad temper. He'll escape from his handlers at some point.

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by: NancyP @ Sat Mar 17, 2007 at 19:10:19 PM CDT

STRAIGHT talk express, by and for STRAIGHTS

McBush how many years have we been educating the public about HIV/AIDS? 25 years

How many of those years have you been in the G*D DAMN Senate...oh yeah, ALL OF THEM!

stretch a condom over his HEAD

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by: underbear1 @ Sun Mar 18, 2007 at 08:56:59 AM CDT