Contributed by: filbert Friday, September 12 2008 @ 05:34 PM CST
Yep. The day after 9/11, as part of its “get tough” makeover, the Obama campaign is mocking John McCain for not using a computer, without caring why he doesn’t use a computer. From the AP story[*3] about the computer illiterate ad:
“Our economy wouldn’t survive without the Internet, and cyber-security continues to represent one our most serious national security threats,” [Obama spokesman Dan] Pfeiffer said. “It’s extraordinary that someone who wants to be our president and our commander in chief doesn’t know how to send an e-mail.”
Well, I guess it depends on what you mean by “extraordinary.” The reason he doesn’t send email is that he can’t use a keyboard because of the relentless beatings he received from the Viet Cong in service to our country. From the Boston Globe[*4] (March 4, 2000):
McCain gets emotional at the mention of military families needing food stamps or veterans lacking health care. The outrage comes from inside: McCain’s severe war injuries prevent him from combing his hair, typing on a keyboard, or tying his shoes. Friends marvel at McCain’s encyclopedic knowledge of sports. He’s an avid fan – Ted Williams is his hero – but he can’t raise his arm above his shoulder to throw a baseball.
Emphasis is Goldberg’s.
So . . . the reason McCain doesn’t use e-mail is because the North Vietnamese maimed and tortured him to the point that he physically can’t. And this is somehow worthy of dismissive quotes from Obama spokesmen, and even of an Obama campaign advertisement.
You know, I really want to get past politics-blogging, at least for a little while . . . really, I do.
But apparently Obama is “for the troops”–that is unless one of them happens to stand between Obama and political power. Then it’s classic Chicago machine gutter politics as usual. Change, folks. Change. And Hope, too.