Why shouldn't he, if he's going to blatantly avoid answering the question.

To me, that means, "Yes, I said it, and I'm hoping like Hell nobody's sitting on a tape of me when I said it until after the conventions."

Cameltoe?

McCain needs to throw his wife under the bus.

Wait...what?

"MCCAIN: Now, now. You don't want to ... Um, you know that's the great thing about town hall meetings, sir, but we really don't, there's people here who don't respect that kind of language. So I'll move on to the next questioner in the back."

In other words, YES.

I sort of like the question suggested by Oblermann:

If this race is about character, why did you cheat on your first wife with the woman that you're now married to, Senator McCain?

I was hoping he was going to have a snarky answer.

Damn you Fark.

Olbermann, whoops.

The audience gasped at the question and applauded at McCain's handling of it. Parrish was escorted from the event and questioned by Secret Service, but not charged. Parrish had checked in to the event as a member of the press.

Because as we all know, anybody who would ask an uncomfortable question to a presidential candidate--especially one who has a reputation as a "straight-talking maverick"--is obviously an America-hating terrorist who wants to do physical harm to that candidate.

I see he dodged answering the question. what a maverick politician

prefers to slap his women

Hobodeluxe: I see he dodged answering the question.

It was an insipid question and I wouldn't have blamed any politician who declined to answer it.

He got grilled by the Secret Service just for asking a question.

It sure is a nice country we have here, isn't it?

Ron Paul Revere: You're such a partisan hack it makes me want to puke.

"Partisan hack"? Well, I guess you have your opinion. Don't forget to brush your teeth so you don't have puke breath. Not that anyone is around you to care...

Ron Paul Revere: Nabb1: "Partisan hack"? Well, I guess you have your opinion. Don't forget to brush your teeth so you don't have puke breath. Not that anyone is around you to care...

Why is a question about a statement McCain made (reported by the press) off limits or "insipid?"

He's never, ever addressed the accusation, and the one time someone asks him, he dodges the question by acting indignant.

If Obama's preacher is fair game, so is McCain's alleged comments about his coont of a wife.

Oh, fine if you think it's that important. I think stuff like that is just juvenile. Your question on the torture issue has to do with an matter of policy. So, maybe he called his wife a "coont." Classless, sure, but I that's between him and Mrs. McCain. Maybe it's some sort of weird pet name. I don't know. Truth be told, I don't want to know.

Nabb1: It was an insipid question and I wouldn't have blamed any politician who declined to answer it.

How he feels about and treats women is not an insipid issue in this election.

Nabb1: Oh, fine if you think it's that important. I think stuff like that is just juvenile. Your question on the torture issue has to do with an matter of policy. So, maybe he called his wife a "coont." Classless, sure, but I that's between him and Mrs. McCain. Maybe it's some sort of weird pet name. I don't know. Truth be told, I don't want to know.

he could have, and probably should have, said "my wife and i have fought in the past. what married couple hasn't?" and moved on.

that would have been an honest and politically safe answer.

Would McCain calling his wife a coont in public be more or less outrageous than Obama calling people bitter?

I'm not saying he did it - there's no recording as far I know (though it fits with his long-standing reputation - still doesn't make it true though).

But assume he did. With whom would Joe Sixpack and Jane Bluecollar rather a beer? A man who suspects that they or people like them may be bitter, or a man that publicly calls his wife a coont and a trollop?

Lionel Mandrake: Would McCain calling his wife a coont in public be more or less outrageous than Obama calling people bitter?

i'd go with none of the above. neither are particularly important, and both are potentially true.

Nabb1: So, maybe he called his wife a "coont." Classless, sure, but I that's between him and Mrs. McCain.

If it's true - IF - then it was McCain that chose NOT to keep it private.

burndtdan: i'd go with none of the above. neither are particularly important, and both are potentially true.

I tend to agree.

I'm just interested if and when JM's rather legendary temper will become an issue and to what degree - not whether, but to what degree - right wing pundits who now so gleefully fling poo at Obama will deem this an "inappropriate" subject for discussion, and say the "liberal media" is ganging up on McCain.

So far, the "liberal media" has been very kind to McCain, but if Obama keeps weathering these "storms," they may seek a new target.

And, if a man's lapel pin is newsworthy, than his tendency to enter into apoplectic fits wherein he loses the goddamn common sense to NOT call his wife a coont in public...well, that is worthy, too.

Yeah, I hate to say it, but McCain handled it perfectly. Not that that's so hard to do--this is the political equivalent of a $100 Jeopardy! question. But obviously the questioner was hoping for McCain to absolutely lose his shiat. If he had, all of us on the internet would have said "Hey, good for you, you maverick straight-talker, telling it like it is" and then he would have lost the general election by 80%.

That's the bad news, if you're a Democrat. The good news is that McCain is seething mad about every farking thing under the sun, and the rage he managed to bottle up today will come spewing out a few months down the road when some 80-year-old woman asks him if he prefers puppies or kittens.

Lionel Mandrake: Nabb1: So, maybe he called his wife a "coont." Classless, sure, but I that's between him and Mrs. McCain.

If it's true - IF - then it was McCain that chose NOT to keep it private.

I see your point, but I'm still going with it being a matter between the two of them. If she forgave him for it, then it's not my business to second guess her.

. . . politicians rarely take questions from the audience . . .

Submitter: Have you noticed that Senator Obama seems to be very comfortable taking questions from the audience?

Cyberluddite: The audience gasped at the question and applauded at McCain's handling of it. Parrish was escorted from the event and questioned by Secret Service, but not charged. Parrish had checked in to the event as a member of the press.

Because as we all know, anybody who would ask an uncomfortable question to a presidential candidate--especially one who has a reputation as a "straight-talking maverick"--is obviously an America-hating terrorist who wants to do physical harm to that candidate.

"Land of the free".

Ron Paul Revere: Nabb1: I see your point, but I'm still going with it being a matter between the two of them. If she forgave him for it, then it's not my business to second guess her.

Funny that Republicans didn't take that same point of view when it came to Clinton getting a BJ from Lewinsky.

/imagine that hypocrisy

I don't care that he got a BJ - that's also between he and Hillary - but as a lawyer, I find lying under oath contemptuous. He knew better and lied for no other reason to cover his own ass. Maybe he didn't deserve impeachment, but he did deserve to lose his law license. Rather odd that a former President can't even represent anyone on a traffic ticket.

Ron Paul Revere: Funny that Republicans didn't take that same point of view when it came to Clinton getting a BJ from Lewinsky.

Bad comparison, really. Lewinski didn't forgive him; the part people were angry about, that I was angry about, was the abuse of power.

I totally think that the investigation into it was political hackery and cheapened the political discourse in this country. But it wasn't about him cheating.

Lionel Mandrake: burndtdan: i'd go with none of the above. neither are particularly important, and both are potentially true.

I tend to agree.

aha! then you agree it is potentially true that cindy mccain is a coont. which is basically like calling her a coont yourself.

why do you hate america?

burndtdan: aha! then you agree it is potentially true that cindy mccain is a coont.

Well, I guess that's one possibility we haven't discussed yet. The old man might be right.

/I keed. I keed.

Nabb1: I see your point, but I'm still going with it being a matter between the two of them. If she forgave him for it, then it's not my business to second guess her.

Yeah. That was kinda how I felt with Obama's first round with Wright. Long, close, personal relationship...stupid shiat said...one party decided to forgive and stick with the relationship.

Not that it is on the same level as a marriage - but it's a personal relationship that shouldn't be dragged in front of the slack-jawed public who ignore politics until and unless some scandal erupts.

Has McCain said these things before? If Cindy stays married to the guy, does this mean she believes that she is in fact a coont?

I really wish both "stories" had never "broken."

I'm mean, can't we focus on what really matters? Who would you rather have a beer with?

Lionel Mandrake: Who would you rather have a beer with?

McCain's daughter.

Uh, of course, my wife would be there, too. Because, you know, that might be inappropriate if she wasn't.

burndtdan: aha! then you agree it is potentially true that cindy mccain is a coont. which is basically like calling her a coont yourself.

why do you hate america?

I don't hate America. I hate Cindy McCain. Wait....

I need to go watch more "news," I forgot who I am supposed to hate, or be afraid of.

Nabb1: McCain's daughter.

Uh, of course, my wife would be there, too. Because, you know, that might be inappropriate if she wasn't.

I'll have a beer with your wife.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!!!

I KNOW that was inappropriate!

/my Press Secretary will draft a crafty non-apology apology right away!

Ron Paul Revere: I do too. On the other hand, the question had no business being asked. It was completely and totally irrelevant to anything meaningful and was asked specifically to embarrass him and score political points, not to advance any particular investigation.

You may be right, but discovery allows very wide latitude. So long as the request is reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence, it is fair game, even if the question itself would be irrelevant at trial. He know that. If it was truly calculated to merely embarrass or harass him, his attorneys could have stopped the questioning and asked the court to decide if the line of questioning was inappropriate.

What abuse of power? Putting the presidential cigar in the intern twat?

Having a sexual relationship with a subordinate employee, especially one half your age, will, in almost every line of work, result in you getting sued and/or fired.

Lionel Mandrake: I forgot who I am supposed to hate, or be afraid of.



terrorists

unless you are a muslim, in which case it's

Lionel Mandrake: Nabb1: McCain's daughter.

Uh, of course, my wife would be there, too. Because, you know, that might be inappropriate if she wasn't.

I'll have a beer with your wife.

Whoa. Flag on the play.

Nabb1: Whoa. Flag on the play.

My bad. I'll move back ten yards and pick up the next pitcher.

burndtdan: terrorists

unless you are a muslim, in which case it's [teh Joos]

Thank God (said the atheist) that I don't have a dog in that race!!

And, yet, somehow...my government has placed me in the middle of the fkn track!

DAMN YOU...errr....FREEMASONS!!!!

Lionel Mandrake: Nabb1: Whoa. Flag on the play.

My bad. I'll move back ten yards and pick up the next pitcher.

Sounds good. My wife can drive us. She's pregnant, so I have a designated driver for the next six months.

Ron Paul Revere: Then his lawyers were bad. It had zero relevance to the case at hand. His consensual philandering had no bearing on a case of sexual harassment. Paula Jones was accusing him of unwanted sexual advances. Her lawyers never had any reason to believe his actions with Lewinsky were of that nature.

His lawyers were anything but bad. His (then alleged) sexual relationship with a subordinate employee was a fair line of questioning in a sexual harassment suit.

Ron Paul Revere: Only if it established harassment.

Not in discovery. Again, it's a very low threshold.

While some may consider sexual contact with a subordinate to be de facto sexual harassment, I do not.

And if you were Paula Jones's lawyer, it would border on malpractice not to ask about it.

Nabb1: Sounds good. My wife can drive us. She's pregnant, so I have a designated driver for the next six months.

Sweeeeeeet! ROAD TRIP!!!

/congratulations, btw

Ron Paul Revere: What abuse of power? Putting the presidential cigar in the intern twat?

Yes. Something that I'd instantly fire anyone who worked for me for, anyway. To me, it's de facto harassment.

Besides just being really gross.

Anyway, my only point was it wasn't a great comparison. While it may work for you, it doesn't work for me, since I'm not at all annoyed at him cheating on his wife-- that's private-- I'm concerned with abuse of power.

/like I said, investigation was stupid and unnecessary. But he contributed to that, too.

Lionel Mandrake: /congratulations, btw

Thanks.

And, hey, it's already linked! (new window)

Gotta love YouTube.

/McCain didn't need to answer this junk
//not a McCain supporter at all

Lionel Mandrake: DAMN YOU...errr....FREEMASONS!!!!

now you're getting the picture!

/it doesn't matter who you hate, just that you hate

burndtdan: /it doesn't matter who you hate, just that you hate

...I'm pretty sure the Rosicrucians are involved

/more hate = more good, yeah?

"This is about character," Parrish said, when reached by telephone afterward. "And in a moment of intemperance, he called his wife the most despicable name a person can call a woman.

The people worried about "character" tend to be the same people who can't understand the issues. Or generally have no idea what a President does.

People, people.

This thread is supposed to be about McCain's "coont", not Clinton's

Lionel Mandrake: McCain needs to throw his wife under the bus.

Wait...what?

He already did with this first wife.

"Grrrrr."

omg, he may have said a bad word! hes unfit to be president@222111112