An Excellent Question

From The New York Times:

When presidential candidates appear at public forums, passions about the field are often on vivid display. Monday, Senator John McCain received a question from a woman in Hilton Head Island, S.C., that was blunt and harsh.

“How do we beat the bitch?” the woman asked.

Original DVD cover.

Mr. McCain was obviously uncomfortable, trying to deflect the vitriol with humor and offering to give a translation. But he did not condemn the questioner, instead calling it an “excellent question.”

He then addressed the question without any apparent doubt as to whom it referred.

“There was a poll yesterday,” he said, “that shows me three points ahead of Senator Clinton in a head-to-head matchup. I respect Mrs. Clinton.”

I think he respected her back in 1998, too. From Salon:

During the last few months, many established media outlets have decided to report innuendo and rumor about the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal, as long as they have a source they can cite (at least anonymously), or another media player has reported the same.

But this new standard in the practice of journalism seemingly does not extend to other political figures, at least not media darlings like Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Earlier this month, at a Republican Senate fund-raiser, McCain told a downright nasty joke making fun of Janet Reno, Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chelsea Clinton.

Chelsea was an 18-year-old kid at the time.

Salon feels its readers deserve the unadulterated truth. Though no tape of McCain’s quip has yet emerged, this is what he reportedly said:

“Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?
Because her father is Janet Reno.”

The joke may be crude, but it pales in comparison with the published details surrounding the presidential sex scandal. McCain’s two-liner conveys some interesting insights into what he considers humorous (lesbianism, a young woman’s physical appearance), particularly since it was delivered to a Republican crowd. Remember, this is the party that champions pro-family values.

John McCain is misogynistic, homophobic, and mean to kids. And his mother hates Mormons. I wonder which one of them is going to kick a puppy on national television.