John McCain’s Senior Moments are Getting To Be Too Much
Taken from Think Progress:
Today, John McCain said this:
While the past few years have seen increased efforts on the part of the State and Justice Departments and the FBI to combat the human slave trade, we must do more. As President, I’ll increase cooperation and communication between all agencies of the federal government by establishing an Inter-Agency Task Force on Human Trafficking, whose purpose will be to focus exclusively on the prosecution of human traffickers and the rescue of their victims.
Apparently, he has no idea that in 2000, his work was already done for him.
The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 authorized the President to establish the President’s Interagency Task Force (PITF), a cabinet-level task force to coordinate federal efforts to combat human trafficking. The PITF is chaired by the Secretary of State and meets at least once a year. […]
The PITF approved the following resolution reaffirming the victim-centered approach [and a] commitment to bringing human traffickers to justice, and a sensitivity that victims are just that – victims.
Furthermore, it seems he completely forgot that his hatred of earmarks trumps his desire to see this act stopped. While railing against those terrible earmarks in 2001, he complained (quoted from the Congressional Record by David Brody at CBN:
There is also a $200,000 earmark for a conference in human trafficking at the University of Hawaii in this bill.
Who saw this kind of forgetfulness and/or casual lack of forethought coming? If Democrats lose to this guy, we deserve to. I think all his years of “straight talk” might have given him one of the most two-faced, doubletalk-laden records in Washington.
Considering that he is the oldest first-time Presidential candidate in history, this is a big deal. Right now, only 16% of Republicans and 27% of Independents think his age is a problem. But if he keeps up this kind of thing, that number will assuredly rise. Thanks not only to the incessant needling by late night comedy hosts (SNL will have a field day when they come back in August/September), but also to people simply seeing their unwarranted concerns warranted. People might worry that Obama would be a serious radical, but there’s no real evidence for that yet. McCain is directly providing all the soundbites we need to make the case that he would be too absent-minded to serve one term, let alone two.
gurusteve
DFV the Scribe
Andre the Defiant
Wes
pg - your humble messenger
hairybeast
thompaine
Drowning Creek
A conference in human trafficking- IN HAWAII! Lots of human trafficking out there; yeah, right. The beaches had nothing to do with the location, I’m sure. A junket by any other name…
This should have been scrapped and McCain was right on this one.
I guess you’d rather have the guy who wants to bomb the only nuclear-armed Muslim country in the world.
Mike O
7 May 08 at 9:37 pm
Nice try Wes but you’ll have to do better than this.
Dave - the Warrior Sage
7 May 08 at 9:54 pm
Wes and Andre have become something of joke. The man they both lauded in the past (they, along with just about every major media and political figure in the country) is now seen by them as a lightweight dullard.
All of his policies are apparently “half-baked,” even though he’s been in the Congress for 30 years and their jackass clown just arrived to town and holds no major political differences from Walter Mondale.
Both of them have referred to him as “this guy,” as in, “if we can’t beat this guy…” This guy? Seriously? The most admired and respected political figure of the last 20 years? You guys just look like buffoons, now.
If Obama has amazing prescriptions for success, let’s hear them. If McCain’s policies are foolish (which his gas tax holiday certainly is) then have at it. But to act as if only idiots could ever vote for a genuine American hero and the man who has shown more personal and - yes - political courage than almost anyone in our lifetime is to simply make asses of yourselves.
DFV
7 May 08 at 10:07 pm
And that is the problem with our old friend DFV. He just does not know how to openly and honestly tell someone what he thinks about their views and opinions on a subject. I for one and tired of him holding back and feel that he should share his true feelings with us on all matters.
Oh yeah, he should also attempt to post once a month or so. We wouldn’t want to overwhelm him or anything.
Dave - the Infidel Sage
7 May 08 at 10:22 pm
I don’t think John McCain qualifies as the most admired and respected political figure in 20 years. That belongs to Bill Clinton. Followed by Al Gore. Even Bush is still more respected, though that figure is changing. John McCain was respected precisely because he did have courage and didn’t subscribe to policies just because he was a Republican. Now that courage looks weak as he bends over backwards to toe the party line.
I’d be more inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt if his plans didn’t suck. Hell, I was afraid of him in February. I still am. But I had respect for him that is fading fast. His ideas are just so tepid, and half of them are contradictory to his own statements. This isn’t just one instance, it is part of a pattern of misstatements and contrasting positions.
When Obama is facing him one on one and the media stops having fun with the Democratic knife fight, he’s going to have to do better. And when the media starts actually going after McCain, he’ll have to find answers for why he is running on the same conservative tax cuts he once voted against.
Wes
8 May 08 at 4:42 am
Bill Clinton the most respected political figure in 20 years?? I almost ruined my keyboard over that one; the guy was reduced last week to running around the sticks of North Carolina last week, drumming up votes for his wife like some county constable (and wasn’t very successful at it). He has spent his post-presidency trying to build up something of a legacy OUTSIDE of the political arena since his political legacy is, uh, somewhat stained, shall we say? Twenty years reaches back and touches Ronald Reagan’s time; I’ll match respect for Ronnie against Billy Boy’s any time.
And, as for McCain’s position on tax cuts, he can look square at the camera and say, they proved to be the right thing to do and give the figures to show it.
Mike O
8 May 08 at 5:23 am
Yes, the tax cuts worked remarkably well, didn’t they? Trickled right on down to China and India.
Wes
8 May 08 at 5:29 am
Mike welcome back I think prior to the recent Hillary campaign the argument could have been made the Bill Clinton was the most respected political figure in the last 20 years. Now not so much.
DFV has a valid point but at the same time McCain wasn’t exactly presenting himself as a centrist during the Republican primary season, as he used to, but I have the feeling that may be changing soon. So I can see why the left is turning on him.
thompaine
8 May 08 at 9:10 am
Wes cites Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Bush (I guess he means W). I won’t look up the numbers, but I’ll bet you that those three men might actually have some of the highest negatives of any recent politicians.
Thompaine rightly points out Bill Clinton’s sadly apparent weakness, where his party and his base have viciously turned on him, and of course he remains quite hated among Republicans and lampooned among the media. the result of all that is hardly high levels of respect.
And Bush? Good grief, the guy has been at a ridiculous 30% interminably since his re-election. He is easily the most disrespected President since Carter and one of the least-liked since Truman. That even W now edges upward in his estimation shows just how determined Wes is to bring McCain down.
DFV the Scribe
8 May 08 at 9:22 pm
Wes and Andre have become something of joke. The man they both lauded in the past (they, along with just about every major media and political figure in the country) is now seen by them as a lightweight dullard.
Maybe there’s a reason for that. At least he wasn’t confusing Shi’ite and Sunni for a change.
Andre the Defiant
8 May 08 at 10:31 pm
If you’re going to take an overview through 20 years, I’d say Clinton would rank higher than McCain. But I was going by the unscientific USA Today respect poll. Oprah ranked #2 behind Hillary on the women’s list. If you want to go by a poll of likability, I found one from 2006 that put McCain third, right behind Barack Obama. I assure you, W ranks dead last in respectability, and if Clinton is somewhat floundering now, Bush will be a pariah for years on par with Richard Nixon. Particularly if his worst nightmare comes true and a Democratic President can actually go through any Presidential records that he forgot to shred.
But these are all meaningless measures. I just use them to say that picking who is respected is extremely subjective, and the reasons why that person is respected may not guarantee them respect in the future, especially if people start feeling like they misunderstood who they were. That’s happening to an extent to Barack Obama right now, but at least he has the benefit of consistent positions and an ability to talk his way around these gaffes. But people change their minds all the time, and respect is something you can lose in a heartbeat. If you need proof, just look to the man who topped that likability poll in 2006: Rudolph Giuliani. If I respected McCain once for being honest, when he starts becoming dishonest, I can’t respect him anymore. It’s as simple as that.
Wes
8 May 08 at 11:05 pm
Give McCain a break; the GOP base loves incoherent candidates with no connection to reality. After 8 years of Reagan’s alzheimers induced mumblings, four years of Bush the first cracked language and seven years of George W. “catapult the propaganda” it’s a wonder the GOP nominated somebody who doesn’t speak in tounges.
The McCain has alzheimers threads are already popping up on the net and after the example of Reagan and Bush (both) they will grow. Of course this will only make him more beloved to the republican base that will decide that this makes him a godly man and humble too.
God help us but Americans are idiots.
Pangolin
9 May 08 at 12:24 am
Uhh, I imagine McCain knows at least how many states there are:
http://politicalinquirer.com/2008/05/09/omg-and-they-worry-about-mccains-age/
Mike O
9 May 08 at 8:02 pm
If anything, I’d think McCain’s age would cause him to forget a few states. “I’ll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognize Missouri!”
Wes
9 May 08 at 10:44 pm