Posted on 12/18/2004 8:55:43 AM PST by fight_truth_decay
I can see, some years from now, a group of politicians, sitting on chairs in a circle. One of them has a few traces of white hair, and it is his turn to speak.
"Hi," he says hesitantly. "I'm John McCain, and I am a Liberal Media Acclaim Addict."
"HI JOHN!" everyone else says in unison.
"Well," John continues, "It all started for me when I ran for president in 2000. I think it was in late February, I called Christian conservative leaders like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell ‘agents of intolerance' who engage in ‘political tactics of division and slander.' After I said that, loads of reporters came up to me and said, ‘Congratulations! Well done! Nice going! Speak The Truth! Truth To Power!' I just loved it! The press corps falling all over themselves to treat me like a superstar! My press was great from that minute on.
"So I kept it up. In February of the following year, when President Bush proposed his first tax cut, I expressed doubt about whether the country could afford his tax cut. I offered the usual ruse of the tax cut. My criticism was pretty mild but I was all over the morning and weekend shows. After an appearance on the Today Show, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer confided that they had wanted to throw an after-show party for me, but their producers nixed the idea. Oh, what a rush that was!
"Then came the global warming hearings that I held in the Senate. The media loved that too! The press I got was just wonderful! Yes, the hearings were terribly biased, inviting almost no skeptics of global warming. But I didn't call the hearings with the idea of presenting a balanced picture. The media wouldn't love me if I promoted skeptics, only if I portrayed myself as a crusader. That's what Liberal Media Acclaim Addiction does to you.
"After the 2004 election, I expressed my lack of confidence in Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld. It was like shooting fish in a barrel! The media loved it! They hated the war, and probably hated Rumfeld even more. Kind of hard to blame them when Rumsfeld routinely cleaned their clocks during press conferences. Not like some of them didn't deserve it, though. Anyway, the press went wild! They loved me! I just couldn't get enough!
"But there were warning sings that my addiction was out of control. At one point in early 2004 I was seriously contemplating being Senator John Kerry's vice presidential nominee. That's why I told the Boston Herald that I thought John Kerry ‘could rekindle the same campaign magic' that I had ‘ignited' during the 2000 race. I gave Kerry effusive praise, saying that ‘he's smart, he's tough and he's experienced. He has the capability.' What a crock! Kerry was anything but that! But, hey, could you imagine the press I'd get for having been his Veep nominee? Heck, I could see the New York Times, USA Today, and the Washington Post calling for my face to be put on Mount Rushmore! And they would have done that on the front page!
"But I never went through with it. The first person I told about my idea was a very close friend who always gives me ‘straight talk.' He told me that I was nuts, that the GOP would abandon me, and Republicans in Arizona would revolt. He reminded me that I was also running for reelection in 2004 and that federal law did not allow for me to run for both Senate and Vice President at the same time. If I was Kerry's Veep nominee and Kerry lost, I would be out of power permanently. He told me that I was out of control. Well, it had some effect. I decided that I wanted to be sure that I could get loving attention from the Washington Press Corps whenever I wanted it, and I could stay in the Senate forever from Arizona. So I gave a superhuman effort and declined John Kerry when he did offer the Veep nomination.
"Unfortunately, that last part of his advice didn't stick. I ran for the GOP nomination for president again in 2008. Right before the South Carolina primary, a reporter asked me what I thought of the religious right. I replied, ‘Just a bunch of ignorant, intolerant, hypocritical troglodytes who want to turn this country into a theocracy. If you want to know more about what I think just see the stuff by Maureen Dowd, or Bob Herbert, or Paul Krugman in the New York Times.' The press loved it! I was their poster-boy for what a good Republican should be! I even got a congratulatory email from Howell Raines!
"And then the South Carolina Primary happened. You know, there are few better ways to have an ego deflated than to receive 2% of the vote.
"It was then that I realized I was a Liberal Media Acclaim Addict. It was then that I realized I had a problem. And so now I am here, seeking help."
David Hogberg, a Washington writer, hosts his own website, Hog Haven.
I have nothing kind to say about US Sen Johnny "No Brain" McCain (MORON-AZ), so I won't go any further.
Take this quarter and catch a bus downtown and have a rat chew that thing off your face !!!
LOL! So true.
The tone of this article nails McCain perfectly.
Nice sarcastic piece, but the thing is, McCain's NOT "seeking help".
I had a strange thought while reading this: I wonder if it's a habit he developed while a Prisoner of War? He had to get in good with the Commies in order to survive. Did he sell out his fellow prisoners in the same way he does now with the Bush administration?
The Senator I despise most in the U.S. Congress is McCain. The example by which all the other opportunists mold their behavior.
Toppling this guy would be comparable to toppling Daschle. Has this not been a Presidential year, he would have been a prime target.
I have no respect for this man. None.
McCain's been seriously working on the '08 nomination for at least the last year if not four.
Let me enighten you about "Sen" McPain. He was a sub standard A-4 Attack pilot that was let slip through the US Navy Pilot Training process because he was an Admiral's Kid and Grandkid. He "graduated" from the US Naval Academy(can you say affirmative action) at near the bottom of his class again because of substandard preformance(see a pattern here?). I think that he caught that SAM maybe because of again substandard preformance. His fellow POWs pretty muct though that he was a pain in the ASS all during incarceration and now he is that was as a US Senator from AZ. He all through his life has been a "Coat-Tailer". During the Navy he was a "coat-tailer" because of who he was related too and he got onto the US Senate because he was a "coat-tailer" to US Senator Goldwater(he was his US Senate military aide). I stand by ready to be flamed by all of you McPain Kool-Aide drinkers out there!
The only thing this article gets wrong is that the Liberal Press's habit of playing McCain like a used banjo began much earlier than 2000.
The press slips little bouquets of warm publicity to influential people, and if they are accepted, they slip them another. Soon it becomes habit forming.
The press has done this very successfully with the Supreme Court. As a result, SCOTUS is extremely reluctant to offend the press, and only do so when they are backed into a corner.
Hogberg suggests that Alcoholics Anonymous is a good analogy. Another useful analogy is Pavlov's dogs. Reward behavior you like and punish behavior you dislike, and pretty soon the dog is doing exactly what you want him to do.
It works for human beings, too, if you don't think it's a bit shameful to have outside handlers controlling your behavior. McCain loves it.
How's McCain's temper problem doing these days?
Umm...that's "MAVERICK" Senator John McCain.
An additional note along those lines: McCain was such a lousy pilot his fellow pilots nicknamed him "Ace." Not because he shot down five enemy planes, but because he managed to crash five of his own planes. It's probably an all-time record.
Assuming all that you say is true, he served more than admirably..... But I wouldn't vote for him in a Republican primary if he were running against a real Republican.
Benadict Arnold served admirably up to a point too.
As long as all he hears is praise and encouragement the little sniper does just fine.
McCain I'm convinced is one of the biggest morons out there. He gets Monica'd upon by the liberal media and honestly believes that the American people adore him just as much. Run for 2008 Johnny. You and Hillary are about to get a rude awakening!
How as serving as a phuckup and endangering other peoples lives he served with, serving admirably? I never understood this thinking that everyone who serves, serves admirably. They don't. John Kerry and Al Gore are two prime examples!
A strange, but VERY interesting thought!
Excellent post.
If McCain runs for president against Hilary in 2008, I will just stay home on election day. If someone holds a gun on me and tells me I have to vote for one or the other, I will reluctantly vote for Hilary.
Just as the MSM envisions it. Either way, they win.
BUMP Right ON
The US "Senate" plot thickens!
btt
"I decided that I wanted to be sure that I could get loving attention from the Washington Press Corps whenever I wanted it"
You have to be emotionally stunted to REQUIRE ATTENTION from a bunch of sharks. Always requiring approval from certain people comes from a person's own GUILT!
Does anyone know when McPain comes up for re-election and do we have anyone to run against him? That's the only way to get rid of that assssholllllll.
You missed the boat.
He was reelected last month.
McCain to MSM: "I swallow"
McCain reminds me of the maniacal little boy in a classic Twilight Zone episode.
The townspeople were so afraid of his powers, that everytime he said something evil or stupid, they would all cower and say " It's good that he said that."
I think a lot of people are afraid to criticize McCain because of the apparent POW shield.
I wonder- do all POWs get the shield or just those that love to criticize Republicans , the current Commander in Chief and the current SecDef ?
McCain's shield seems to have special powers for trashing the aforementioned- during a time of war.
Is it pro rated-for instance, does Jessica Lynch get maybe a year to shoot off her mouth and have the media fall at her feet and applaud every word ?
Has the statute of limitations run out for POWs from WWII ?
Why doesn't Congressman Sam Johnson of Texas get the shield ?
"In the Vietnam War, Johnson flew F-4s. While flying his 25th combat mission in 1966, he was shot down over North Vietnam.
He spent nearly seven years as a prisoner of war, half of that time in solitary confinement.
Fellow POW Capt. James Mulligan, USN (Ret.) recalled the day Johnson was allowed to return to a joint cell.
He walked into the room with the two other detained American officers,
"stood at attention with tears in his eyes, and said simply, 'Lieutenant Colonel Sam Johnson reporting for duty, sir'...after he had not talked to or directly been with an American for three full years."
Johnson recounts the details of his POW experience in his autobiography, Captive Warriors. "
A decorated war hero, Johnson was awarded two Silver Stars, two Legions of Merit,
the Distinguished Flying Cross, one Bronze Star with Valor, two Purple Hearts, four Air Medals, and three Outstanding Unit Awards." ( Take that John Kerry )
How come the media never followed Rear Admiral Jeremiah Denton asking him to comment on everything from baseball players using steroids to how he would run the military, like they do with the media annointed King of the World, John McCain ?
" As a naval officer, Denton graduated from the Armed Forces Staff College and the Naval War College,
where his thesis on international affairs received top honors by earning the prestigious President 's Award.
In 1964, he received the degree of Master of Arts in International Affairs from George Washington University.
In June 1965, he began a combat tour in Vietnam as prospective Commanding Officer of Attack Squadron Seventy-Five.
On July 18, 1965, Denton was leading a group of twenty-eight aircraft from the USS lNDEPENDENCE
in an attack on enemy installations near Thanh Hoa, when he was shot down and captured by local North Vietnamese troops.
He spent the next seven years and seven months as a prisoner of war,
suffering severe mistreatment and becoming the first U.S. military captive to be subjected to four years of solitary confinement.
A Commander when he was shot down, Denton was recommended for and promoted to the rank of Captain while a prisoner. He was confined at several prison camps in and around Hanoi,
frequently acting as the senior American military officer in the camps.
Denton's name first came to the attention of the American public in 1966,
during a television interview arranged by the North Vietnamese in Hanoi.
Prior to the interview, torture and threats of more torture were applied to intimidate him to "respond properly and politely.
" During the interview, after the journalist's recitation of alleged U.S. "war atrocities,"
Denton was asked about his support of U.S. policy concerning the war.
He replied: "I don't know what is happening now in Vietnam, because the only news sources
I have are North Vietnamese, but whatever the position of my government is,
I believe in it, I support it, and I will support it as long as I live." ( Take that again, John Kerry )
Throughout the interview, while responding to questions and feigning sensitivity to harsh lighting,
Denton blinked his eyes in Morse Code,
repeatedly spelling out a covert message: "T-O-R-T-U-R-E".
The interview, which was broadcast on American television on May 17, 1966,
was the first confirmation that American POWs in Vietnam were being tortured.
Denton was released on February 12, 1973, when he again received international attention as
the spokesman for the first group of POWs returning from Hanoi to Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines.
Denton was advised that as the senior POW onboard, he might be expected to say something on behalf of the group upon arrival.
As he stepped from the plane, Denton turned to the microphones and said:
"We are honored to have had the opportunity to serve our country under difficult circumstances.
We are profoundly grateful to our Commander-in-Chief and to our nation for this day.
God bless America."
There are two McCain wannabees--Senator Coleman (mn) and Senaor Hagel (Neb). If McCain falters they will take over.
McCain's been seriously working on the '08 nomination for at least the last year if not four.
Well, he has a losing record, a "flip-flop"-ing history like Kerry, and Conservatives despise him; and did he not have skin cancer or something? We don't want our President to drop dead on us, do we? And there's plenty of time to revisit his closet. Good luck Senator, we'll be there in '08 with all the ammunition you've been supplying to us lately.
Anybody have that 2000 campaign amazing McCain grimace/scream picture?
What an awesome post!
It's Johnny MeAllTheTime MeCain once again!
If someone holds a gun on you at election time, we have a problem . . .
Not me. I'd not only vote for Hilary, or Jackson, or Kerry or just about any other Democrat I thought had the best chance of winning, I'd also actively campaign for her or any of then.
I choose to take the bullet!
Well at least we agree: No John McCain as President.
That's a great find, prairie. I'm amazed the Village Voice printed it.
Zell Miller's "Spitball" analogy went right over your head too, now didn't it?
2%? He wouldn't even get that.
Just a little tidbit out of my dirt file. Lots of folks were surprised to see that out of the Village Voice
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