Why McCain Is Getting Hosed in the Press

MTK

I don't have a problem with a little ribbing, but towelhead is taking it a little too far though wouldn't you say?

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mheisig

Hard to say. Seems like we're just drawing arbitrary lines in the sand, so who's to say? If it's as funny to me as "McRage" is to you, why not?

How about "Karl Marx Jr."?

How about "Skeletor the Socialist"?

I'm all for political humor in the appropriate context and there's no problem with humor pushing the envelope. Humor that never rises above name calling just never struck me as that funny, at least not since I was about eight years old.

Starting nearly ever sentence or comment about a particular candidate with the SNL nickname of the day makes you look like a 3rd grader and marginalizes everything that follows it, no matter how serious or humorous. It doesn't make anyone look hip or wise to pop culture, it just makes the speaker look unintelligent.

I don't care what side of the political spectrum you're on (because it's rampant at both ends), starting everything off with a nickname is about as asinine as it gets. Why not just hold up a giant sign that says, "I'm a close minded zealot who turned his brain off and is incapable of considering an issue or at least conveying humor in something that rises above name calling." It'll have about the same affect.

For as much whining as there is about all the mudslinging and dirty campaigns and call for everyone to return to the issues, there sure is a lot of petty bickering. It's pretty obvious how things degenerate to this point of unproductive nastiness when the best anyone can muster is a play on the candidates last name.

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MTK

I don't see how McRage compares to calling someone a towelhead. Not even in the same ballpark.

Who knew a stupid name could get someone so riled up. LOL that was too easy.

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mheisig

You don't see it, but let's say I think it is in the same "ballpark." So what? What if someone thinks McRage is incredibly offensive? I guess they're overreacting and they have no sense of humor, right?

It would appear the line of reasoning goes something like this: McRage isn't offensive because I say it is. Towelhead is offensive because I say it is.

This really just highlights the epidemic of lousy thinking in this country: the complete inability for anyone to get outside their own sheltered little bubble of a life and see the world through the eyes of someone else. Believe it or not there are more opinions out there beyond what shows up on The Daily Show and SNL, as hard to believe as that may be.

Funny you think I'm riled up Though I suppose operating on the same line of reasoning as before, I must be riled up because you say I am, right?

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MTK

Based on one name you sure are making a ton of generalizations and assumptions. But I guess that just highlights the epidemic of lousy thinking in this country as you say.

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mheisig

I had to assume your line of reasoning because no other contrary evidence was offered. I asked a question, your response was "I don't see how McRage is in the same ballpark as towelhead." Your statement is either one of opinion, in which case the ignorance is rhetorical ("I don't see how") , or you're genuinely claiming ignorance. I suppose a third option is that you meant it literally and you actually have some kind of vision problem that would prevent you from seeing the "ballpark" where this takes place. As far as I know you are an otherwise intelligent person, so based on the principle of charity I'm going to ignore the second and third option and assume you were making a statement of opinion. Therefore I can really only conclude that you deem "McRage" appropriate and "towelhead" inappropriate based solely on your personal opinion. As long as you're providing your opinion, I might as well offer up a contrary opinion, right? We can throw around contrary opinions that are based on nothing but personal preference all day long and never get anywhere. That was kind of the point.

If you'd like to explain how "towelhead" is different from "McRage" from a societal, cultural, anecdotal or empirical standpoint I would be more than happy to hear it. "I don't see how" simply isn't an argument.

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MTK

I didn't think it needed an explanation as I thought it was pretty obvious. Perhaps I was wrong in my assumption. Towelhead is generally considered offensive as it's commonly used in a deragatory manner towards Muslims or those of Arab origin. McRage is a joke about McCain's temper, and he has a well documented record of being a hothead. It was meant to be a joke, while towelhead is a racial and religious slur.

If you would like to offer up an opinion as to why you feel McRage is equally as offensive as towelhead, I'm all ears.

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MTK

LOL are you kidding firstdown? Just a few pages back you said

And now you're posting a clip to make your point? Wow.

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saden1

I'll go ahead and call Joe the Plumber a first class retard...hope no one is offended.

mheisig

Now see, that's the kind of thinking I can get behind!

For the record I never claimed I thought calling Obama a "towelhead" was appropriate, I merely suggested it given the apparent pattern of calling McCain names with which nobody has a problem. Either way they're both juvenile.

And I completely agree that "towelhead" does tend to be more offensive than "McRage" and for all the reasons you stated. See, that wasn't so hard, was it?

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JWsleep

What's really sad to me is that McCain prior to gearing up for this Presidential run really was a Senator who could reach across the aisle and cut through the BS. Since he tacked right in the primaries and brought on the Rovies, it's been nothing but name-calling and nonsense. The fact that we are debating over which is worse, McRage or Towel head, is well, nuts. The economy is is the tank. We've got armies in 2 very nasty parts of the world. China and India are emerging powers. Russia is resurgent. Health care is a mess. The housing market has collapsed, taking with it the equity of millions of Americans.

You can see why McCain is losing in the polls--Rovian 'business as usual' is not flying this time. And it's too late for McCain to change course. Too bad--if McCain had picked a decent centrist running mate, tacked to the CENTER (as he obviously should have in this election climate), and run an issue-based campaign, he just might have won. And I wouldn't have really minded that--it would have confirmed what has been best about John McC this last 20 some years. But he didn't. This is his bed, now he's got to lie in it. Maybe he'll pull off the big upset. But the country will be damaged from his campaign in any event, IMHO.

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SmootSmack

Ask saden what he thinks

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SmootSmack

But let's not act like Obama, or any successful politician, has had the same stance throughout their career on every issue.

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