See Obama make fun of the handicapped!

[shirenomad]

This ad (approved by the Obama campaign) claims McCain can't use computers or email. It's correct -- he gets Cindy to type his emails for him -- but it fails to mention why, which this old article does (scroll down to the last six paragraphs).

"McCain's severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes."

So no, McCain can't type on a computer. And Franklin Roosevelt couldn't jog, and David Paterson can't drive. Thank you, Barack Obama, for bringing something so important to our attention.

(Meanwhile, here's a much more respectful ad, although it's not officially endorsed by the campaign. Wait for about 1:20 for the payoff... and no, it's not the music.)

Comments

Actually...

[theotherbaldwin.livejournal.com]

He never asked why McCain has trouble with a computer keyboard. He said McCain doesn't know how to use a computer. So did McCain himself in an interview on Yahoo! where, when asked "Mac or PC?" he said that he was a "computer illiterate".

Being computer illiterate in today's world means that you are:

* not responsible for managing your own correspondence
* do not do any of your own research.

would have to have mostly been made up of entirely of either manual labour at someone else's behest, or of telling people what to do.

You can only get away with that if you have teams of people to do stuff for you: prepare your documents, write your letters, do your research, deliver news to your desk and filter your interaction with the outside world, and if you do not get your hands dirty by joining in with that work.

Alsom by his own staff and his own words, he uses a Blackberry (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/us/politics/13text-mccain.html?_r=1&oref=slogin) that belongs to one of his staffers.

[chubbypanda.livejournal.com]

The Republicans had eight years of control over the executive and judiciary branches, and six years of control over legislative (plus two additional years of filibustering any bills that might have helped the American people). The result? One royally screwed pooch.

These sorts of comments do not engender any substantive policy discourse. Instead, they rely on emotional smears that have little bearing on how best to save our country.

Frankly, I expected better from someone whose friendship I value, and whose logic/judgment I respect.

[shirenomad]

I apologize for the rude language of my post, but not the message behind.

These sorts of comments do not engender any substantive policy discourse. Instead, they rely on emotional smears that have little bearing on how best to save our country.

The same thing could be said for Obama himself, who spent half an ad saying "McCain's too old and stupid to be president". It was disrespectful to the dialogue of the campaign, attacking McCain on a subject that did not matter anyway to encourage the stereotype of Republicans as "old out-of-touch white guys." And given its out of context nature, if it had mattered, it would have bordered on libel.

There was someone on my friend list who posted a couple times about a McCain ad she disapproved of for similar reasons. I will grant that the ad was out of bounds. But for those who are voting for Obama because he is "purer in heart", I thought it was fair to show he is not above the same tactics.

[chubbypanda.livejournal.com]

Agreed. The argument that someone is "purer of heart" is a similar red herring, and should be discarded from political discussion. This November, people of conscience should consider who has a better plan for the country economically and militarily. In other words, who can best get us out of the hole what we've dug for the past eight years. Not who has more "character".

However, I'll point out that the attacks from the Republicans have been far worse. "Obama is a Muslim. Obama's wife hates America. Obama's reverend is an angry black man who hates America, therefore Obama is an angry black man who hates America. Obama called Palin a pig." All very transparent lies repeated over and over by Republicans. The true test of character is whether someone who has been smeared in such a way resorts to the same tactics against his opponent. Sarah Palin is vulnerable to the same types of attacks, yet the Obama camp has restrained itself despite vociferous urging from Democrats to hit back. His message about McCain, too old, out of touch, and four more years of George W. Bush, has been consistent, apt, and respectful as political attacks go.

[shirenomad]

"Obama is a Muslim. Obama's wife hates America. Obama's reverend is an angry black man who hates America, therefore Obama is an angry black man who hates America. Obama called Palin a pig."

the Obama camp has restrained itself despite vociferous urging from Democrats to hit back.

So are we complaining about the parties in general or McCain and Obama in particular? Because former Republican candidates and bloggers may have roasted Obama as described, but I can't remember McCain ever slinging mud like that (save, granted, responding to the 'pig' gaffe).

[chubbypanda.livejournal.com]

I concede the point to you.

I think that, at this stage, it's very difficult to separate the candidates from their parties, as both are the heads of their respective factions. American politicians have typically relied on surrogates to do the dirty work of smearing their opponents, while the candidate himself attempts to maintain an aloof image. In addition, independent groups like 527s operate in a nebulous gray zone. There's no way for us to tell how much of the messaging is coordinated on each side.

[shirenomad]

*nod* Anyway, I'll try to shut up about politics for the remaining two months, for both our sanities.

[chubbypanda.livejournal.com]

Love ya, buddy.

Eh...

[theotherbaldwin.livejournal.com]

...I would think that having a little more than a passing familiarity with computers, as noted in my comment above, does make the issue pretty important.



And giving the (false) excuse that McCain doesn't know how to usee computers because of his POW injuries is, I feel, a slap across the face to the disabled Americans who have less range of motion in their arms and hands than McCain does.

Proclaiming himself as "computer illiterate" like he did last year painted himself as someone out of touch with vast sources of information like LexusNexus, he doesn't have access to borderless information and he's failing to use an excellent medium for immediate contact with the vast majority of his constituents.

OUr very government, over the past two decades, has been more than a little shaped by both computers in general, and the Internet in particular. He's been hanging his hat on having a deep understanding of military and national security.

These days the armed forces and the intelligence agencies rely heavily on computers. Why hasn't he taken the time in the past few decades to become computer literate and achieve a deep understanding of what the armed services and intelligence agencies are doing?

I think the he next few years will see much more legislation about how the internet works and who owns it. Without a personal sense of access to web information, how would a person possibly understand the need for Internet freedom and 'net neutrality?