AP reported McCain "didn't embrace the [bitch] epithet" not that he called the question "excellent"
SUMMARY: The Associated Press reported that Sen. John McCain "chuckled in response to" a supporter's question, "How do we beat the bitch?" -- presumably referring to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton -- but that he "didn't embrace the epithet." The article further noted that "[a] few minutes later he said he respects Clinton, a New York senator and colleague." However, the article made no mention of the fact that McCain first called the question "excellent" and then pointed to a Rasmussen poll that he said showed him beating Clinton in a head-to-head matchup before saying, "I respect Senator Clinton."
A November 17 Associated Press article claimed that when a questioner at a recent campaign event in Hilton Head, South Carolina, asked Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), "How do we beat the bitch?" -- presumably referring to Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) -- McCain "chuckled in response to the voter's question, but didn't embrace the epithet." The article further reported, "A few minutes later he said he respects Clinton, a New York senator and colleague." However, the article made no mention of the fact that McCain first called the question "excellent" and then pointed to a Rasmussen poll that he said showed him beating Clinton in a head-to-head matchup before saying, "I respect Senator Clinton. I respect anyone who gets the nomination of the Democrat [sic] Party." Additionally, the article uncritically reported that "Republican presidential hopeful John McCain on Saturday said he won't follow his rivals' lead in taking personal shots at Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, and that voters seeking a candidate who will do that should look elsewhere," despite McCain's previous "personal shots" at Clinton.
A November 14 article in The Hill also discussed the incident without reporting that McCain said that it was an "excellent question," as Media Matters for America noted.
In the wake of the incident in which the McCain questioner referred to Clinton as "the bitch," Media Matters also noted that the Politico's Mike Allen, while discussing McCain's comments, told CNN's Kiran Chetry on the November 14 edition of American Morning, "All right. But what Republican voter hasn't thought that? What voter in general hasn't thought that?" Additionally, as Talking Points Memo Media reporter-blogger Greg Sargent noted, reporter Katharine Q. Seelye wrote in a November 16 New York Times article that the McCain campaign "episode may remind voters that many people have strong feelings about Mrs. Clinton and make them question whether they want to live with animosity and polarization." Seelye also wrote that the episode is "a reminder that many voters view Mrs. Clinton as divisive."
While the AP article repeated McCain's assertion that he "won't ... tak[e] personal shots" at Clinton, Media Matters has documented McCain's previous personal shots at Clinton, including naming a nursing school's training dummy "Hillary" during another recent campaign appearance in South Carolina. Additionally, in 1998, while appearing at a Republican fundraiser, McCain reportedly made what New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd called "his disgusting jape": "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno." McCain reportedly apologized to President Bill Clinton for the comment.
From the November 17 Associated Press article:
Republican presidential hopeful John McCain on Saturday said he won't follow his rivals' lead in taking personal shots at Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, and that voters seeking a candidate who will do that should look elsewhere.
"I think people want a respectful debate and a respectful discussion. And if they don't, then obviously, I'm not the person to be their candidate," McCain told reporters in response to questions about criticism of Clinton by Republican rivals Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney.
"Legitimate policy differences, those should be debated and discussed," McCain said. "But I don't think you should take shots at people, like imitating her voice. I'm serious, I'm not sure what you gain by doing that."
The Arizona senator's comments come days after he faced criticism for not repudiating a voter in South Carolina who called Clinton a "bitch." McCain chuckled in response to the voter's question, but didn't embrace the epithet. A few minutes later he said he respects Clinton, a New York senator and colleague.
His campaign, though, used news coverage of the incident to launch a fundraising e-mail. A spokesman for McCain said it brought the GOP candidate his single-highest day for online donations. A figure was not immediately available.
"John McCain on Saturday said he won't follow his rivals' lead in taking personal shots at Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton, and that voters seeking a candidate who will do that should look elsewhere."
It's too bad McCain isn't spry enough to think on his feet and say something like this immediately instead of relying on his campaign to put the best face on his lack of leadershop skills.
McCAIN: "I respect Senator Clinton. I respect anyone who gets the nomination of the Democrat [sic] Party."
Yeah, he really respects Hillary, and what reasons do we have to believe him?
He respects her so much that he's unwilling to denounce a derogatory term being used to describe her in his presence during a public appearance.
He respects Hillary so much that he's unwilling to allow her and the rest of her political party the right to designate the name of their party, and instead chooses to name it for them.
Yeah, this is the kind of respect that I demand from the leader of the free world, and McCain is simply oozing with it.
</sarc>
Justice and Truth in the USA - Fact Check: It's clear that MMFA lied then is summarized the topic with this sentence -
...However, the article made no mention of the fact that McCain first called the question "excellent" and then pointed to a Rasmussen poll that he said showed him beating Clinton in a head-to-head matchup before saying, "I respect Senator Clinton." ...Did McCain FIRST call the question "excellent"? Here is the transcript (from MMFA):
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do we beat the bitch?
[laughter]
McCAIN: May I give the -- may I give the translation?
[laughter]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1: Leave it alone.
McCAIN: The way that --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE 2: John, I thought she was talking about my ex-wife.
[laughter]
McCAIN: But that's an excellent question.
--------------------------------------------------------------
We can all clearly see that the FIRST reaction was this sentence:
McCain: May I give the -- may I give the translation?
Clearly, McCain was already showing that he did not think that using the term BITCH was a good idea.
So the question is, why does MMFA feel it has to tell such a blatant lie about this episode? Especially when it's so easy to check out the truth? And given the MMFA's history of lying to gin up phony "controversies" about Limbaugh, Hannity and Cavuto, this is becoming a pattern of deceitfulness.
If MMFA wants to have any credibility they need to stop lying about stuff.
I clearly have no choice but to call this one AGAINST MMFA.
First sentence from last post should read as follows:
It's clear that MMFA lied when it summarized the topic with this sentence -
they didn't claim that was the very first thing he said. they said he first said it was an excellent question before saying how much he respected her. which is the truth.
Who died and made you the credibility sheriff? It's ironic that YOU would think yourself qualified for anything having to do with crediblility.
When confronted with a question you don't understand, you call the question a non sequitur, even though the question made perfect sense. To jog your memory--Fairness doctrine.
Try being honest. McCain first said, "But, that's an excellent question" before saying,"I respect Senator Clinton."
Here's my ruling: Although this bit of horshit your trying to drop in our street doesn't quite qualify as damned liar status, trying to interpret it as anything else still makes you a liar. I must place you on a 90 day probation for attempting to impersonate a person of credibility, and another 30 days for excessive biased ruling against an orginization whose credibility is impecable.
[Waaaccck--slams gavel]
It's official- your head is so far up your butt you can't see what is right in front of you if you really don't want to. Your latest "fact check" is really hysterical.
We've all seen the clip. 99.999% of us can see exactly what happened. We don't need a "Talking Points Check" from you. Just because you are willfully as blind as a bat doesn't mean you are going to convince those of us who were born with actual BRAINS that we didn't see what we saw or hear what we heard.
Not even a good try this time.
The only liar highlighted by your post is you.
To comment on credibility, one must first have credibility. But at least you do prove one thing, opinions are like @ssholes, everyone's got one. You just have two is all...
BTW,
To comment on credibility, one must first have credibility. But at least you do prove one thing, opinions are like @ssholes, everyone's got one. You just have two is all...
BTW, love
To comment on credibility, one must first have credibility. But at least you do prove one thing, opinions are like @ssholes, everyone's got one. You just have two is all...
BTW, love
theaw, heck with it. darn keyboard got stuck.
Why is it everytime I see a poster with an adjective for a screen name they are always the opposite of their name? Justice and truth escape you buddy. To say media matters lied is a stretch. The responsible thing for McCain to have done was telling that questioner about the inappropriateness of her question. And he or his staff never explained how it was an excellent question given the woman called SENATOR Clinton a bitch. I'm sure you're a Bush defender. How do you feel when people call him a bitch on television and it's validated by another politician? That's never happened you know why? Because Fox News and all the other conservative apologist would have had a hissy fit. Do onto others what you would cry about them doing to you. I know the code.
I'm sure you're a Bush defender.
Actually, I'm not. I did vote for GWB over Kerry, but like a lot of conservatives I just can't stand how Bush ran the war into the ditch and pushed for open borders.
add: And let me just state for the record that just because you dislike ONE side of the political divide that does not mean that the other side is any better.
I think that a lot of my good, good liberal friends make this mistake a lot. They seem to think that since the Bush has "lied", then every Bush critic and anti-USA group in the world are ALL telling the truth. This is the most simple-minded kind of thinking that exists. "Bush lied - Therefore they must all be truth-tellers at Pacifica Radio or A.N.S.W.E.R."
What non-sense. Yeah, I have come to think that Bush is kind of dimwitted. But that does not make Reid or Pelosi "smart." In fact, whenever I get so fed up with the Republicans all I have to do is listen to some 'leading' Democrats to realize that they are not any better.
shows how much you have actually learned then. whatever you think of the democrats, and they do deserve criticism on some things, they are light years ahead of bush.
It's amazing to me that McCain and MSM think it's OK to reference Senator Clinton as a b*tch. Even more, some think that because McCain was in an audience of supporters it was more important to keep that group happy than to be a gentleman and a leader and separate himself from such comments. I have to ask myself, what if someone in that same audience referred to Mccain's mother, wife or daughter as a b*tch, would he find it difficult to denounce such comments then.
This along with so many other racially/ethically insensitive remarks by Republicans has again left me speechless. I have to ask myself what goes on in the minds of Republicans. Are they that far out of touch? Tony Snow and Mitt Romney using the term 'tar baby' and pleading ignorance. Allen calling an American citizen 'macaca' and welcoming him to his own country yet as we hear time and time again, Republicans think nothing about such remarks. When people such as Ann and Rush make obvious racial insults nothing is said in protest except they are not part of the Republican party. Who is their audience? Do millions of Democrats and liberals listen to Rush and Annie? Is that their target audience? Republicans and McCain need to realize that silence has the appearance of agreement. The only way someone knows that you don't agree is to say it, not skirt around the subject paying compliments about respect and such, SAY I THINK THIS IS WRONG!.
As the population continues to change from a 'white/male' majority this party's numbers will get smaller and smaller unless they wake up. I take that back, continue to sleep, please.
Let's not forget how these right to lifers, moraless majority, famnily with no values voters refer to children of immigrants as "Anchor Babies." Yeah they respect life alright, so long as it walks the same, talks the same and is the same color as they are.
pearlene_scott1602:
I don't think that people at MMFA really think that using the term bitch is the same as the n-word. Otherwise there would have been some criticism of the people at MMFA who called Ann Coulter a bitch. No one complained. (not even you.) If the word bitch is that bad then there should be NO exceptions, right?
I don't think it's true that "no one complained." It's a losing battle, however, to argue against calling Coulter names, since she's a professional mud-slinger. Her goal is to goad people into that behavior, and she's good at it.
However, there's no comparison to calling Coulter names and calling a bonofide presidential candidate the b-word. Coulter lives in the gutter, trash talking her opponents for a living. Our candidates are supposed to be above that. McCain missed a great opportunity to show that he was better than the name callers.
We have accepted over the past couple of decades a continual coarsening or the language to the point where words like B****, F***, and others are almost a part of the normal lexicon. H L Menken would be spinning in his grave, if such a thing were possible. Surely McCain may have reacted differently if he thought faster on his feet in a situation like this. We think it is horrible that someone would say such things about a presidental candidate and yet the same and worse is repeated endlessly in modern "music", in the hip-hop culture, by trash talkers in sports. I think there is a certain hypocrasy in condemning this type of languge in a political setting and yet letting it ride in society as a whole. And I fear a lot worse things will be said by both sides politically between now and November 2008.
Exactly why is it that someone is always compelled to bring up hip-hop in cases like this? McCain chuckles at a woman who calls Hillary a "b*tch," and you jump to hip-hop and sports personalities? This supposed "hypocrisy" you're attempting to point out doesn't exist. Who exactly is this "we" who is "letting it ride" in pop culture, but condemning it in politics? Is MMFA supposed to balance out the McCain articles with coverage of 50 Cent? Are the people who comment here among the accused, simply because they didn't append every post with an equal-time condemnation of rap music?
I'm sick to death of this ridiculous "hip-hop" non sequitur that is reflexively blurted out everytime a white person gets called out for saying something offensive. You don't seem to be presenting this non sequitur as a defense--at least overtly--but since you went out of your way to mention of H.L. Mencken, I'll remind you of Mencken's unapologetic use of the words "n*gger" and "c00n." His writings are full of racial epithets and casual misogyny, so I sincerely doubt he would be spinning over McCain's endorsement of the b-word.
And I'm sick and tired of walking down the street and every other word I hear is a word that would have gottem my mouth washed out with soap. The coarseness of the language is such that words like B****, F***, etc flow out of peoples' mouths easier than Hello, Have a good day, etc. One of the reasons I visist this site is that the language is much more civil than Free Republic and many others. You don't like me picking on hip-hop or rap, well la-de-da, you may have to get used to it.
With that in mind, have a great week (and do work at getting a little thicker skin).
Strange that you would accuse me of having thin skin immediately after you've just gone off on an off-topic rant about the coarseness of language in hip-hop and sports.
"You don't like me picking on hip-hop or rap, well la-de-da, you may have to get used to it."
Well, if you're compelled to drag hip-hop into the discussion whenever a white person uses an offensive word, then you'll just have to get used to me calling you on it. Your immature defiance and your pledge to continue "picking on hip-hop" only reveals your true ideology. You could have just as easily went off on a rant about the language in mob movies or rock music, but you specifically chose hip-hop and sports. Hmmm...wonder why.
If you're walking down the street and that's all you're hearing, I'd suggest finding a nicer place to spend your time.
That is not the normal manner of communication where I live and I'm sure the same goes for a great many other places in America.
oscar, i am going to have to object strenuously to the term "la de da".
Hey Oscar, it wasn't the hip hop group that whined and complained about "political correctness" stifling free speech (as in the right to insult people freely and corsely).
Soundl like Oscar and the rest of the R bunch are invoking the Fairness Doctrine? - but only when it suits them.
We think it is horrible that someone would say such things about a presidental candidate and yet the same and worse is repeated endlessly in modern "music", in the hip-hop culture, by trash talkers in sports. Oscar
Just because someone else says it does NOT make it right! When my kids were little they would say 'so and so does it'. Our response would be, 'would you jump off the cliff just because someone else jumps off a cliff?'. The answer would always be 'no'.
THE POINT, 'don't be a follower, be a leader, take people where you want to go'.
If McCain want to lead this nation he can't use your excuse "nasty language is already in our culture" he has to lead by example "I will not allow such language in my presence'. NO EXCUSE!
Apples and oranges Oscar. One has nothing to do with the other. Stop making excuses. Everytime a R does something nasty their defense is, yeah well you do it too, or Bill Clinton did it first and was worse, or I know you are but what am I.
PuhLeeeaaase.
And I was waiting for someone to throw hip-hop into the discussion. Righ,t rap decides who the next president is, rap is responsible for the debacle you like to call Hurricane Katrina, rap has 3,000 plus American lives lost and thousands more in harms way. Please don't equate entertainment with policymaking. Please also remember some of the biggest movies in hollywood, some I'm sure you supported, have also used the word bitch and worse. Hypocrisy? Buy yourself a mirror for Christmas.
This bi*tch statement is as almost as bad to me as what the reprehensible Don Imus said. And McCain is proving why he would be wrong for America. He had the perfect opportunity to make a statement that calling the former first lady and a current senator a B is not acceptable. It is also a shot at women in this country, just becuase someone is an intelligent assertive women, they are a B? Nice McCain.
As for AP, get the story right and quit helping the msm candidate.
I agree with you. McCain could have scored big points by handling this right, but it shot right over his head.
well, my father always immediatelly let me know the some words i used to describe others were not acceptable. immediately !. I knew exactly what he meant and i also knew if the reaction was anything less, it was tantamount to acceptance. Mr McCain would have been better politician if he immediatelly stopped the woman and corrected the terminology.
Imagine that a Democrat at a campaign event for someone running against Kay Hutchison or Olympia Snowe or Susan Collins referred to her as a "bitch." Would John McCain and the mainstream media act like this was acceptable, or that it was a debatable question? NO -- the Democrat who made the remark would be forced by the media outcry to apologize, and every Democratic office holder in the country would have to respond to media queries along the lines of "do you disavow this hate language against Senator Snowe?" After that Jack Kingston in the House and John Cornyn in the Senate would introduce resolutions condemning anyone who would dare insult a Republican candidate, and Democrats in Congress would vote yes in an attempt to be "bipartisan."
Why even respond to someone who thinks it's perfectly ok to use profane language against someone he doesn't like? There's just no point- I don't engage in shouting matches with illiterates, because they aren't productive. Responding to sad little trolls like Ripper just encourages them.
He's given us the extent of his political analysis. He thinks Hillary Clinton is worthy of the comment directed at her. That tells me all I need to know about him. Not someone worth listening to.
Aw, go easy on Ripper. Someday a girl will say "yes" to him (once he gets over his fear of women) and then he'll understand that they don't have cooties.
This would be a good time for McCain to select a running mate; Ted Nugent. I wouldn't hurt.
If Nugent is busy on tour, I imagine David Duke has a lot of time on his hands nowadays, and everybody likes a good ol' southern boy, right?
He has so much respect that he nearly doubled over with laughter when the real "bitch" made the comment about HRC. And Hastert cannot understand the political divide and uncivil discourse? I guess the unbridled laughter and implied superiority of that group is indicative of the problem on the right.
McCain clearly thought the comment was funny and tried to impart a joke (IMO) by offering to translate. This clearly showed a lack of respect for Hillary. Then McCain had the audacity to say CNN owed him an apology -peshaw!! I guess he was for it before he was against it.
The clear tack to take in this situation would have been to admonish the bitch for making such a remark. McCain showed a lack of spine, a lack of honor and a lack of what a true gentleman is.
To try and sugarcoat this and justify it is just as repulsive as what was said in that context. Imagine the outrage if someone had asked "so how do we beat the old Bastard?" in reference to McCain.
P.S. What ever little respect I had for the plip-flopping phony McCain, I lost. And you know his advisers are telling him this won't hurt him.
I agree with you, Pearlene and a host of other posters 100%. The visciousness directed at Hillary is unwarranted. I would agree w/ conservative apologists if the criticism coming was policy related. But none of it is. Every snarky, snippy or just plane base remark I've heard about Hillary revolves around her mannerisms. I'm sorry conservatives, baseless attacking won't win you the presidency. As our great president once commented, "Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice, shame on . . . You can fool me once. . . uh, It's not nice to fool people." It went something like that anyway.