REACT: Obama takes the lowest of the low roads to mock McCain physical disabilities

As a political junkie, I am rather sick of the “gotcha” brand of politics – which I blame mostly on the press. If the reporters and editors did not dwell on statements that can be made to look like gaffes, the politicians would stop reacting the way they do. I don’t think Barack Obama was insulting Sarah Palin personally when he used the well worn metaphor of “lipstick on a pig.” I don’t think Palin was war mongering when she said Georgia’s inclusion in NATO could place America in potential military confrontation with Russia. She is not wrong. That is what the alliance is about.

When McCain jested about his Iran policy by singing “bomb … bomb … bomb … bomb, bomb Iran” to the tune of the old rock song, “Barbara Ann,” the Democrats tried to have it taken as a serious policy statement. It was a joke. Hellooooo. JOKE. The McCain bashers decided it was tasteless. Actually, I thought it was just funny. I did not take it as a serious policy statement.

I don’t think John McCain’s snide comment about how many houses he has any bearing on his capability to be president. His wife’s wealth is immaterial. Presidential candidates are millionaires, Obama included. Kerry married the Heinz ketchup heiress – who got the money when her Republican husband, John Heinz, was killed in a plane crash. Who is richer than the Kennedys, whose family fortune came originally from rum running during Prohibition? Al Gore was the privileged son of one of the wealthiest families in Tennessee. Even with those who claim to have risen from poverty, the rise was very early in their lives. There are no giant leaps from pauper to president in American history – at least not in modern times.

We recently had one of the worst examples of such meaningless accusations I have even seen – or could have imagined. This one deserves attention because it brings gotcha politics to a new low. The Obama camp put out an ad seizing on the fact that McCain said he cannot use emails – interpreted by Obama as evidence that McCain’s technical deficiency disqualifies him from the presidency.


In making this specious argument, Obama heartlessly ignores the fact -- well enough known that there is no way team Obama can plead ignorance -- that war prison torture has left McCain (right, after release from POW camp --note bandaged hands) incapable of typing. He also cannot raise his arms high enough to comb his hair or bend over far enough to tie his shoes. He is a physically handicapped person, whose limitations are cruelly mocked relentlessly by the left wing. Furthermore, there is no need for a President of the United States to have to write his own emails. It is almost crazy to think he should. And this mockery comes from those who idolize the wheelchair-bound Franklin Roosevelt. Such cruel hypocrisy.

In view of the well-established media bias and lust for the latest gotcha, it will be interesting to see how the press handles this outrageous breech of decency. I suspect they will largely ignore this one in favor of some contrived interpretation of an off handed remark or joke by McCain or Palin.