Stewart makes McCain squirm with pointed questions about Bush's competence

[BurtWorm]

It was a wonder to behold! :applause:



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eat-the-press/2006/07/25/mccain-dodges-stewart-que_e_25764.html

McCain Dodges Stewart Question On Bush: "How Much Safer Can The World Afford To Have Him Make Us?"

Huffington Post | Rachel Sklar | Posted Tuesday July 25, 2006 at 02:30 PM

Yesterday on the "Daily Show" Jon Stewart interviewed Senator John McCain and immediately had him squirming with his first question: "President Bush has been very clear that, through his leadership, he has made the world safer. My question to you is simply this: how much safer can the world afford to have him make us?" McCain dodged the question repeatedly — prompting Stewart to actually say , "Don't dodge the question!" — before returning to the party line on Iraq, emphasizing the importance of the mission rather than addressing the specifics of the administration's handling of the war. In a (perhaps unwitting) show of candor, though, McCain said that he thought the administration knew that they had made mistakes (Jon: "They just won't publicly say "), and that the President had said as much in "some pretty good speeches." But throughout he failed to address Jon's initial question or any other issue other than whether the country should stay in Iraq. Interestingly, though McCain failed to comment on whether Cheney was an "idiot" for not recanting his original "the insurgency is in its last throes" comment, but later in the interview said that "It's an insurgency now, insurgencies are very tough."

After the initial grilling, Stewart and McCain had a more lighthearted interview in which McCain made what seemed like a deliberate reference to "tubes" a la brilliant Internet pioneer Senator Ted Stevens, and Stewart pounced: "When you listen to your colleagues, your esteemed colleagues...do you ever think to yourself, 'Where are these people from?' Privately, can you pull Senator Stevens aside and go, 'It's not literally tubes." (Laughter and applause as McCain tries not to laugh.) Said McCain: "I wouldn't want to disillusion him," which cracked Stewart up: "That may be the greatest answer I've heard on this."

McCain claimed to still be optimistic about what could be achieved in Washington, citing immigration as an example, and expressing hope that the two parties could work together: "We need to raise the level of debate, we've got to stop accusing each other of being disloyal...I'm serious about this! We've got to have a respectful debate and dialogue on these issues." Said Jon: "I appreciate that! believe we will see that happen... when there's peace in the Middle East."

[AX10]

1. And McCain thinks it's all fun and games when in reality...

Jon let him have it BIG TIME!

I look forward to Wesley Clark crushing this politcal pigme in 08'! :kick:

:rofl:

[rusty charly]

5. mccain was just disgusting

he blatantly avoided EVERY question

i thought, if this is the way he's going to handle himself with the press, the "straight talk" moniker is going down the drain- fast.

i still felt stewart didn't do anything like "blasting" and was actually quite a softball. told mccain his answers were "good". giggled helplessly with mccain's non-answers. it was not amusing.

[BurtWorm]

9. Clearly he was fed jokes and one-liners to prepare for an "easy interview"

and got ambushed.

[ret5hd]

2. What is the "tubes" reference? Musta missed that one.

[BurtWorm]

6. Here's an account

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usted234827169jul23,0,3096417.story?coll=ny-nationalnews-print

Internet 'tubes' bear jokes at senator's expense
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

July 23, 2006

JUNEAU, Alaska - Sen. Ted Stevens' credibility when it comes to high technology seems to be going down the tubes.

Web sites and TV comics have made the 82-year-old senator the butt of jokes and satirical songs in recent weeks for describing the Internet last month as "a series of tubes" and for speaking of sending "an Internet" instead of an e-mail.

Most of the wisecracks portray Stevens as an old man who doesn't really get the technology over which he wields influence as the chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.

Stevens uttered the remarks June 28 while trying to make the point that Internet businesses were clogging up the Internet and slowing down individual users' communications.

"They want to deliver vast amounts of information over the Internet, and again, the Internet is not just something you dump something on," he said. "It's not a big truck; it's a series of tubes. And if you don't understand, those tubes can be filled. If they're filled, when you put your message in, it gets in line, it's going to be delayed by anyone who puts into that tube enormous amounts of material."

[Gidney N Cloyd]

12. If Stevens had just said "it's LIKE a series of tubes" it actually

would have been an acceptable analogy.

[BurtWorm]

13. He made himself hateable with the Bridge to Nowhere

and now, everyone assumes the worst of him. Serves him right.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

15. Sure, he's a prick but

I'm just saying if it were one 82 year old guy trying to explain a tech concept to another old guy or whatever, it wouldn't be a bad analogy.

[BurtWorm]

20. I'm agreeing with you. Maybe he was making that analogy.

But the media smelled his blood in the water after Katrina, and they're only too willing to mishear what he says.

I haven't actually seen the performance so I don't know if he was trying to make sense or exhibiting total cluelessness. My point is the media have their Ted Stevens story and that's the Ted Stevens we're stuck with till we're entirely rid of him.

[Master Mahon]

7. See you tubes link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSsWqeBEahY&NR

[skipos]

8. delete

delete

[JAYJDF]

3. Just watched it on Youtube. Is anyone any better than Jon?

He can man handle anyone on any topic.

[Master Mahon]

4. Let him go on licking Bush's butt

right on to defeat in 2008!
Keep up the good work Mickey!

[skipos]

10. McCain the pretend moderate would do ANYTHING to get elected

nt

[Beausoir]

11. Including letting Karl Rove smear his own daughter.

McCain is filthy. Shameless.

He let the Rove slime machine take aim against his own daughter and did nothing about it.

[rniel]

14. I really hope those democrats out there

Who are still big on McCain because he's a "Maverik" and "Moderate" get a load of this bullshit. He's going to tow that Bush line. No matter how hard and heavy it gets till it ruins him.

[Libby2]

16. I turned Stewart off, for the first time.

I'm so sick of seeing McCain on his show.
Jon has the right to have whom he chooses on his show, but I'll be damned if I'm going to watch it.

[BurtWorm]

19. I wonder if he'll be back.

He may be. He may think it's worth a few minutes of squirming to be able to fool enough people into thinking he's just a regular guy, as good-humored, down to earth and real as any liberal. He's going to need to get back some of that "straight-talk" luster he's lost carrying water for the Bushists. But he didn't do himself any favors last night avoiding saying anything at all about what incompetents these assholes are.

[warrens]

17. If anything, we need about 39,000 charges of GOP treason

It won't even begin to even things up, but there is no way we should even think of letting the scumbags off the hook. They ARE traitors, putting their lust for power, money and protection for their corporate masters WAY above the welfare of our country. Not to mention that lying to congress about a war thingie.

[samsingh]

18. i don't think Jon went far enough

[Solly Mack]

21. Anyone that can call an illegal invasion and other war crimes "mistakes"

isn't any better than Bush.

Call Iraq what it was - an illegal invasion. Call it what it is - an illegal occupation.

And call war crimes - war crimes...not mistakes

If the truth hurts, oh fucking well

[rusty charly]

22. mccain: "if we had to do it over again..."

you know what, miss mccain?

you DON'T GET TO DO IT OVER AGAIN!

that's the problem with killing people. you don't get "do overs"

y'all just f*ckt up "Big Time" and you just have to OWN IT!

[Solly Mack]

23. Yep. You own it.

and you're held accountable for it...in a sane world.