Patterico's Pontifications

2/28/2008

McCain: “I am a Proud . . . Liberal . . .”

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 9:08 pm



Now that’s a Freudian slip!

Text: “I will conduct a respectful debate. Now it’ll be dispirited — it’ll be spirited — because there are stark differences. I am a proud conservative liberal Repub — uh, conservative Republican. Hello! Easy there! Let me say this: I am a proud conservative Republican, and both of my possible or likely opponents today are liberal Democrats.”

Via Hot Air.

I am dispirited.

19 Responses to “McCain: “I am a Proud . . . Liberal . . .””

  1. Governor Huckabee, hang in there.

    nk (b63350)

  2. Ain’t freud a bitch?

    Scott Jacobs (d3a6ec)

  3. ho ho… This guy will be kinda easy to portray as too old for office. Hate to say it, but ageism is one of the more useful and common bigotries.

    So we have the fruitcake kid empty suit, and the halfhearted conservative Moses. God Bless America.

    Jem (4cdfb7)

  4. He’s sharp enough to turn any blatant ageism into a Reagan-Mondale moment. What is Obama going to say, that McCain is too senile to understand the audacity of hope? That’ll go over well.

    chaos (9c54c6)

  5. Face it. We’re screwed. There’s no two ways of looking at this. On the other hand, Molly Henneberg is a babe though, huh?

    Kevin (3efe14)

  6. I am almost vindicated. All he needs to do is rant about the strawberrys.

    Gbear (12ab84)

  7. Freud was a tool. People slip up and say crap they didn’t mean to say all the time. Most of the time what they accidentally say makes no sense, and we ignore it. Once in a while they end up saying something that does make sense and means something outrageous, and then it’s a “Freudian slip.” Whatever.

    Xrlq (62cad4)

  8. ageism is one of the more useful and common bigotries

    There are more over-50 voters than under plus the AARP crowd is the most powerful voting block and most influential lobbying group in America.

    Both McCain and Clinton have the advantage when it comes to Obama’s youth.

    Unless the youth group starts prematurely pulling the plug on the elderly this is the way demographics are going to be for several decades to come.

    syn (1017f1)

  9. xrlq…you are correct that it happens all the time, but, supposedly not when you are specifically NOT trying to screw up…

    I would think that McCain was NOT trying to screw up…and that is Freud’s point…which makes me scared that Freud is right about McCain…

    reff (bff229)

  10. I agree with Xrlq.

    Leviticus (b987b0)

  11. I mean, I use the phrase once in a while, but I don’t really buy into the reasoning behind it. I just use it to kid my brother when he says something goofy.

    Leviticus (b987b0)

  12. I am dispirited too Patterico, but what a relative of mine wrote me helps me get through it:
    “And I think the closer you look, the more comfortable you will become with John. He’s the real deal. And when he could have sat on his butt, and let Ernie Brace and I get caught with comm notes which would have subjected us to some harch torture at that time, John created such a scene as to warn us and bring certain punishment to himself. He stood up heroically against torture and cruel capturers while many others lay low and tried to stay out of harms way. Not John. He was a hero among heroes in my book and I shall be eternally grateful to him on a personal level So I am not totally objective for a change on the choice of our next president. But you asked. More to follow I am sure.
    Plus it was over 35 years ago and many people just want to delegate that all to history. I think some people who now question John’s true conservative credentials are tired of some of his supporters praising his military record. This is a shame because not very many can claim his extraordinary injuries and experiences.”

    The only thing that gives me hope we can through this until the election of 2016!

    Sue (4177f3)

  13. No, not a Freudian slip. A senior moment.

    McCain was thinking ahead to calling his opponents “liberals”, got tripped up.

    Notice that McCain had another such slip in the same bit — saying “dispirited” instead of “spirited”.

    What McCain really needs is some rest — he’s been going on 4-5 hours sleeps for months, and it shows.

    PrestoPundit (ff5e16)

  14. Rest…
    Perhaps McCain needs to start taking Reaganesque naps?

    Another Drew (f9dd2c)

  15. Well McCain is a conservative liberal Republican, when you think about it. He’s definitely not a conservative Republican, he’s definitely no Chafee or Snowe, conservative liberal Republican fits him pretty well I think.

    chaos (9c54c6)

  16. xrlq…you are correct that it happens all the time, but, supposedly not when you are specifically NOT trying to screw up…

    Huh? No one tries to screw up, and even when you try really hard not to, it happens. As Prestopundit noted, the cause of this error was clear: McCain was thinking ahead to what he was about to (accurately) call his opponents, and got a word out of order. Like the elder Bush’s self-description as “anti-racist, anti-bigot, anti-Semitic,” this sort of gaffe is good for a few yuks, but that’s all it’s good for.

    ObDisclaimer: I made a similar goof myself in a candidate forum in 1992, when I meant to say “do the crime, do the time and pay the victim,” but ended up saying “do the crime, do the time, do the victim” instead.

    Xrlq (b71926)

  17. Why conservatives must now support McCain

    Several weeks ago, I posted an essay entitled: “Adios McCain”, in which I declared that I could not support his nomination as the Republican candidate for president. My inspiration for this essay was the news that Juan Hernandez, an open borders activist and former aide to Mexican President, Vicente Fox, had been named as McCain’s senior advisor for Hispanic Outreach, an appointment which I felt-and still feel is outrageous. Since that time, McCain has all but wrapped up the Republican primary. Unless something happens soon to give credence to the recent New York Times article about a supposed romance with a lobbyist, McCain will be the Republican nominee for president. Assuming he is, it is crucial that conservatives put aside their differences and support McCain for president.

    The New York Times article certainly served to bring conservative support to the Arizona senator from many who had sworn never to vote for him. Yet, there are still those conservatives who, because McCain is weak on illegal immigration and certain other issues, are still saying they will not vote for him. In my view, that would be a terrible mistake.

    Let’s take it issue by issue. There is no doubt that McCain has angered many of us over his lack of support for stopping the violation of our borders. He has spoken disparagingly of those who have demanded that the law be enforced. Lately, he has made statements to the effect that he is coming around to our point of view. How convincing is he? I remain skeptical.

    Yet, we know what either a President Obama or President Clinton will do-nothing. The Democratic Party relies on courting Hispanics (both present and future citizens) as voters. The Democrats are notorious for not supporting any law enforcement agency-let alone the Border Patrol. With McCain, there is hope that we will achieve at least some of our objectives-if we hold his feet to the fire.

    When it comes to the War on Terror and our efforts in Iraq, only McCain offers hope that we will prevail in those ventures. Both Clinton and Obama will bring the troops home-incrementally perhaps- but they will abandon the effort to win the war in Iraq, even though we are now winning. McCain is strong on this point. He is committed to destroying Al-Qaida, prevailing in Iraq and defeating Islamic terrorism. This issue alone justifies a vote for McCain. It is simply the most defining issue of our time.

    Similarly, what will happen to our military under Obama or Clinton in an age of international Islamic terror? It is obvious that either would drastically reduce the size and capability of our Armed Forces. As a precedent, we only have to look at the last two Democratic presidents- Carter and Clinton. Both decimated the military, which necessitated a build-up by Reagan and GW Bush to correct the problem. Even now, we still need a further build-up of our military. Only McCain will do that.

    Thirdly, is there any question but that Obama or Clinton will further a socialistic agenda for America? The difference is only in degrees, but a Democratic presidency, coupled with a Democratic-controlled Congress, means greater government control, more spending, increased taxes, and increased socialism in our daily lives-in total contrast with what made our country great.

    In addition, one of the most important considerations is the make-up of our federal courts-especially the Supreme Court. In all likelihood, the next president will appoint at least two new Supreme Court justices. If the president is Clinton or Obama, one can only expect more people like Ruth Bader Ginsburg (an ACLU attorney). True, McCain could disappoint us on this one, but the only chance we have of getting more Thomas’ or Scalias on the Supreme Court is through McCain.

    Along those lines, don’t overlook the Federal Appeals Courts and federal judgeships. When I was an active DEA agent, I saw first-hand the damage to law enforcement that was done by Carter and Clinton-appointed federal judges, who would routinely sentence convicted drug traffickers to short prison terms or even probation. Many are still on the bench. Obama or Clinton would flood the federal bench with hundreds more lenient judges. Every day, we hear more horror stories about lenient judges who turn vicious criminals back onto the streets. If we allow the Democrats to appoint those judges, then we have no control in correcting the situation.

    Is this an enthusiastic endorsement of John McCain? No. I have spelled out my problems with the Arizona senator in strong terms. As I have said before, I have great respect for his military record but object to many of his positions as a senator. The bottom line, however, is this; McCain, barring some unforeseen development, will be the only one standing between a President Obama or President Clinton.

    If McCain becomes president, we must continue to pressure him to do the right thing on issues like illegal immigration. He should be pressured to jettison Juan Hernandez from his staff and enforce our immigration laws. However, if we stay home in November, we have only ourselves to blame if liberals take over this country-at a crucial and dangerous time in our history. The stakes are simply too great. We must support McCain in November. If we stay home and allow Obama or Clinton to become president, we have no one but ourselves to blame.

    gary fouse
    fousesquawk

    fouse, gary c (5a08be)

  18. Conservative (noun): what a liberal pretends to be in order to get elected.

    James (6ca648)

  19. Leave Grandpa Simpson alone!!!

    Chris Crocker (923596)


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