McCain Speech Thread #3

by: Matt Stoller

Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 22:57


He's now discussing his captivity.  I respect and honor his service from forty years ago.  

... McCain is talking about how he was worked over by his captors and how his brother POWs were there for him and encouraged him to fight for his country.

... This is boring.  Bring back Palin!

... The crowd is cheering but their heart isn't in it.  Not enough hatred towards Democrats and coded racial slurs.  Bring back Palin!

... "Fight with me"... Is that a question?

... He's winding up for the big finish.  Can't Palin do the big finish?

... It's over.  And a big ole country song is next.  Gotta end with a culture war signpost.

Hope you found this live-blogging mavericky, my friends.  shrug
Matt Stoller :: McCain Speech Thread #3

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McCain Speech Thread #3 | 35 comments
ctrl-c, ctrl-v (0.00 / 0)
this part of the speech is pretty much the same "Greater Cause" speech he's been giving for quite a while.

"I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that."
-Lawrence Summers
My Cause (4.00 / 1)
Defeating McCain Palin

Laugh hard. Its a long ways to the bank.  
FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT! (0.00 / 0)
When are they going to fight?

Laugh hard. Its a long ways to the bank.  
What a maverick (4.00 / 1)
he's ripping off Knute Rockne

"I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that."
-Lawrence Summers
[ Parent ]
He also ripped off Obama (0.00 / 0)
who's given the "Serve Something Larger" speech any number of times.  
[ Parent ]
FAIL (0.00 / 0)
this speech fails.
Everyone knows your a hero, what they wanted to know if you could connect with them in their economic needs. FAIL
Wait, wait... Slow down... John McCain is a War Hero? (4.00 / 1)
really?
[ Parent ]
Maverick, POW, Maverick Maverick, POW MCCAIN Maverick (0.00 / 0)

I LOVED IT!!!!!! (4.00 / 1)
Its not going to sway anyone, especially the few undecided voters out there.

I am content...

From now on (4.00 / 1)

 Expect all references to McCain to prominently feature the name PALIN.

 After this pancake-flat speech, it's his only hope.  

"We judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their actions. It is a great convenience." -- Howard Zinn

Zzzzzzzzz (0.00 / 0)
McCain is very hard to focus on.
I found Obama and Biden to be predictable and evasive. Completely forgettable.
Sarah Palin held my attention.

McCain and Obama both give me some hope when they talk about helping people who need help.
Both of them scare the crap out me when they talk about Russia, Iran and Iraq.

I'm not much for "clean coal" - an oxymoron if there ever was one. McCain and Obama both touted it in their speeches. Bad news.

The democrats could have had Hillary Clinton on the ticket.
Now look what we got.

Ok Sunshine (0.00 / 0)
Obama scares you as much as McCain? But Palin is acceptable?  Hmmmmmm. I can't say i agree.

This speech made me feel good about Obama. Thank you McCain!

Laugh hard. Its a long ways to the bank.  

[ Parent ]
Palin came across well (0.00 / 0)

 The CONTENT of her speech was repulsive. But her delivery did what it had to do -- excite the wingnuts. On the basis of accomplishing goals, Palin was FAR more effective than McPOW.

  McCain doesn't scare me. Palin does.  

"We judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their actions. It is a great convenience." -- Howard Zinn

[ Parent ]
What substantive thing did Palin say that gripped your attention? (0.00 / 0)
McCain and Obama were both more issue-heavy than she was.
[ Parent ]
It's not about issues (0.00 / 0)
.  

"We judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their actions. It is a great convenience." -- Howard Zinn
[ Parent ]
Or Is It? (0.00 / 0)
McCain Memo: 'Respectful Campaign': "Throughout his life John McCain has held himself to the highest standards and he will continue to run a respectful campaign based on the issues."
[ Parent ]
Her energy. (0.00 / 0)
She held my attention because she spoke more spontaneously than the other politicians whose speeches I witnessed recently.

As far as substance - I liked that she drew attention to the needs of children with special needs. It felt real. I like reality.

On other matters of substance, I don't care for denying prisoners their Miranda rights. Her bellicose foreign policy stance is something that feels like the same old B.S.

Unfortunately, there are ample quotes from Obama recently - praise for the "surge" the success of which he said exceeded our "wildest dreams" (gag), threats of military action against Iran are also disquieting.

I can deal with people who speak from the heart spontaneously. I feel they can be reached. People who have it all down pat are unreachable and usually turn out to be god-awful when given power.

I am not planning to vote for McCain or Palin.
I am not planning to vote for Obama or Biden either.

[ Parent ]
I actually wholly disagree with this-- (0.00 / 0)
When politicians have stuff down pat, it means that they prepared something, and thought what they were going to say, and made sure that it makes some damn sense.  It means that they are being thoughtful and repsonsive to facts.

When they speak from the heart, it means that they've made their decision about the world, and are just going to interpret events according to their view of the world.  The latter are almost universally far worse at governing.  They use their emotions as a filter for reality.  This is extremely dangerous.  

It's the difference between GW Bush and Clinton.  Or hell, it's the essential difference between GW Bush and his father.  

[ Parent ]
180 degrees (0.00 / 0)
I think when someone has it "down pat" - it means that they have prepared something - or that something has been prepared for them. It doesn't mean that they feel what they are saying.

When someone speaks from the heart, it means, to me at least, that they are expressing something that has personal meaning to them.

But - as I said, all of the candidates with which we have been confronted are, for the most part, automatons programmed by corporate interests.

As a human being, I identify with people like Kucinich, Nader, Gravel... people who actually think and are constantly willing to reexamine issues.

But, we never have a chance to get any of these people into a position of power.

So - we get stuck with schlok like Obama, who thinks the surge is fantastic, and McCain who thinks the surge is fantastic.


[ Parent ]
This just sucked (0.00 / 0)
The man cannot deliver a speech.  He has no sense of rhythm or cadence.  It was jarring to listen to.  
and poorly written.
this was BAD
My Fave (4.00 / 2)
Was the botched, "she worked with her hands and nose"

Full stop

"and knows yadda yadda yadda"

Thank the maker for Tivo.  

Laugh hard. Its a long ways to the bank.  

[ Parent ]
McCain can't read. (0.00 / 0)
That's the only conclusion here (if, as I assume, he was using a teleprompter as all politicians always do).

The way he reads aloud what he sees on the teleprompter suggests that he actually just can't read very well.  Meaning, he can't look at written sentences and see the energy and pacing and meter of real thoughts in them.  The words that he sees are dead, and he just says them aloud in order, putting the emphasis in random inappropriate spots because he's not actually getting real thoughts out of them.  Sometimes you can see him figure out the meaning of what he just said, when the sentence is over, and at those times he flashes a weird creepy grin that usually isn't appropriate to the subject at hand.

I'm actually serious about this.  Add it to the last-in-his-class at the Naval Academy and the doesn't-use-email, and I'd make a serious bet that he just relies on and lives in the world of spoken communication, instead of written.  There are a lot of people like that, and it's an ok way to be, but it's also pretty damn limiting for a major leader, because it means he only has other (live, in-the-room) people to listen to, and not any of the kinds of people you can listen to in books or periodicals.  He literally lives only in the world of the people who surround him, because he can't listen to any source who isn't standing in front of his face.  Bush was the same way I'm sure, and we saw how insulated it made him.

I'm sure lots of high-level leaders (especially in business, and congress) have this trait, because being capable and winning in person is more valuable than being capable with print in those worlds, but it's a pretty scary thing nonetheless.  Can we really afford two presidents in a row who can't read?

[ Parent ]
the maverick thing has to be put to bed or something.... (0.00 / 0)
It reminds me of bob dole in 96 referring to himself in the third person.  It's like the song that is played 200 million times on the radio...after it's 200 millionth play every time you hear it you sigh, yawn and say what ever...
This torture stuff is for the "Passion of Christ" Repubs. (4.00 / 4)
It became clear to me the other night, when Fred Thompson was going on and on about McCain getting tortured.

They're trying to make him into a Christ-like figure for the Fundies.

Better than expected (0.00 / 0)
OK, so I have to admit that I thought McCain's speech was better than I expected.  Of course, the bar was set very low.

Near the end, McCain's message of serve a cause greater than yourself is welcomed.  We should have more leaders talk about this.  If Kerry had projected a vision for America and a challenge to Americans to be better than the pettiness and selfishness that has infused our society, then he'd have won.  Even if McCain's message isn't completely sincere, or if the GOP doesn't take it sincerely (who cares if you have health care), the message is still valuable and it's refreshing that both parties are using it.

Of course, I'm still voting straight D.

It's been around (0.00 / 0)
GWB always talked about volunteerism, and daddy bush had his 1,000 points of light.  Backing it up is the important thing.  
[ Parent ]
Agreed (0.00 / 0)
Backing it up is the big thing
[ Parent ]
the thing is (0.00 / 0)
The "cause greater" is in direct conflict with the "maverick". I don't mean just in terms of narrative, I mean in John McCain's brain there's the punk navy brat kid side of him and the confessional pseudorepemptive side of him and they're always in conflict. You can read about this in the book Myth of a Maverick by Matt Welch (and maybe some of the other books out there).  

Usually in the conservative narrative once you have the redemptive event in which you decide to serve the greater cause (family, church, country, whatever) that is supposed to represent a passage into fully realized adult life that you can't go back. Not for McCain... he goes back and forth over and over again. Look at his gambling addiction, his temper outbursts, calling his wife a c&nt to her face. That's pettiness and selfishness, and it hasn't gone away  or faded over the years.

I wish this was being discussed in the media... I agree with Glenn Greenwald that this election may favor Democrats but they're tempting fate if they don't go after McCain's character.

"I think the economic logic behind dumping a load of toxic waste in the lowest wage country is impeccable and we should face up to that."
-Lawrence Summers

[ Parent ]
Obama ad--McCain in his own words (4.00 / 3)
"We lost the trust of the American people when some Republicans gave in to the temptation of corruption... we lost their trust."

95% with Bush.

John McCain is right. It's time for a real change. Vote Democrat.

The talking heads seem to love it...! (0.00 / 0)
Gergin gives it an 'A', says it proves McCain a "formidable" candidate.

Halperin goes with either an 'A-' or 'B+'.

Seriously, did everyone here see a different speech from the one they did?

[ Parent ]
Talking heads (0.00 / 0)
just like to hear themselves talk.
[ Parent ]
Look at the line up.... (0.00 / 0)
They are all conservatives or centrists.

Palin and McCain could have come out and taken a shit on a paper plate and they wouldn't have given it anything less than B+!

[ Parent ]
Perfect line to introduce a clip of McSaint at the Keating 5 hearings (0.00 / 0)
Or is that TOO obvious to be stated?

"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."
[ Parent ]
Honoring Our Veterans (0.00 / 0)
Did they forget their purple heart Band-Aids?
Some folks don't need to be beaten to within an inch of their lives (0.00 / 0)
to realize that they love and respect their country.

How is what McCain said about that incident substantively different than Michelle Obama saying that Barack's nomination was the first time she felt proud of America?

What excuse does John Bush McCain have for NOT realizing this before he was tortured by the VC?  Didn't he grow up in a patriotic family that has fought for America in every war, legal or otherwise, since the Revolution?  Didn't his up-bringing instill patriotism?  

"It sounds wrong...
     ...but its right."

McCain Speech Thread #3 | 35 comments
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