In one swoop, McCain made fun of the alleged awkward looks of Chelsea, who was then only 18 and is better looking than any of McCain’s children; Hillary Clinton, who McCain implied was bisexual; and Reno, who McCain implied was ugly and really a man when she served as the first female US attorney general.
McCain reportedly apologized to Bill Clinton, but not to Hillary, Chelsea or Reno. But karma came back to bite McCain in South Carolina in 2000 when Bush and Rove used a whisper smear campaign that included a rumor that McCain fathered a black child out of wedlock – who was really McCain’s adopted daughter from Bangladesh.
Another smear that may actually have some truth to it that Bush and Rove used was that McCain’s time as a POW in Vietnam caused him to have mental problems. Some veterans, including at least one who swift-boated Kerry in 2004, say McCain regularly misrepresents his time as a POW for political gain. The smears helped Bush win South Carolina and go on to defeat McCain in the Republican primary.
McCain’s poor judgment continued this year in choosing Sarah Palin as his vice presidential running mate, a choice even many Republicans have questioned after seeing her embarrassing performance in interviews with Katie Couric and others. People realize that McCain is getting increasingly senile and could have to be replaced in the White House by Palin, who took six years and five colleges to get a journalism degree – something yours truly did in four years at two colleges while working full-time most of the time.
In the current economic crisis, McCain called for suspending his campaign so he could work to persuade House Republicans to support the $700 billion financial-markets bailout. McCain took credit for a compromise, even though those involved said he had little to do with it. A few days later, the House voted down the proposal, and McCain couldn’t even convince one of his home state’s representatives to support the plan. When the plan failed, McCain called on people not to “fix blame,” then criticized Obama.
Earlier this year, McCain, who can’t remember if he owns 7 or 8 houses and graduated fifth from the bottom of his class at Navy, admitted he was “somewhat divorced from the day-to-day challenges people have.” McCain is also divorced from having any semblance of good judgment.
For some more interesting reading on McCain, see http://www.azcentral.com/news/election/mccain/articles/2007/03/01/20070301mccainbio-chapter7.html and http://therealmccain.com and http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccain.com/
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