"When I was in high school, I landed a summer internship with Arizona Senator Dennis DeConcini. (One of my Hebrew School teachers was his office manager. It really is all about who you know.) A big perk for the interns was getting to have lunch with famous Arizonans - including John McCain. It was 1990 and one of the big issues on the Hill that summer was a proposed constitutional amendment to outlaw burning the American flag. McCain was a staunch supporter of the proposed amendment and so, during the lunch, I asked him why he supported it. I guess McCain figured I didn't support the amendment (I didn't), because his jaw clenched, his face turned red, and he launched into a tirade. This all happened 16 years ago, so my memory is a bit fuzzy on the specifics of what he said, but the gist of it was that he had served his country, I hadn't, and therefore I could never understand what the flag meant and I had no right to question him about it. I think I tried to interject something about how I was just 16 and therefore not yet eligible to serve in the military, but there was no stopping McCain, and he continued to browbeat me for my lack of service and patriotism." [Zengerle, TNR]
If you were a REAL patriot, son, you would have lied about your age. Service to das Vaterland is really the only metric of worth. Ask not why John McCain doesn't believe in free speech, ask what YOU can do for your country.
(Nod to KL)
6 comments:
Hmm, Mungo, I realize this is the internet and all but I'd think you could do better in your anti-McCain vendetta. An "incident" in 1990, with no "specifics of what he said".
Plus no matter what he actually said, I bet it wasn't nearly as bad as stuff we've said to people over the years, was it??
Is not putting up with some dumbass kid the same as not believing in free speech?
Is McCain really a Nazi (das vaterland)?
Holy crap dude.
But the thing is that there are tons of examples of McCain going on tirades for things like this. Romney released a list a while back (along with some clips) of ten of McCain's unreasonable tirades, and it's well known within Congress that McCain has a horrible temper. So, I think this is totally consistent with that theme, and valuable insofar as it highlights that.
Can you imagine McCain's reaction upon being disturbed at 3 am when the white house phone rings?
"Is not putting up with some dumbass kid the same as not believing in free speech?"
No, but supporting a flag-burning amendment is.
Allen D: LOLZ, dude. excellent comment. especially if it's a flag-burning teenager on the line!
Look on the bright side: suppose McCain gets elected... he's really old.
Do I hear "Mark Sanford for VP"?
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