The next MSM brouhaha: McCain’s joke about cigarette exports to Iran
I can hear it coming already: faux outrage, MSM feeding frenzy, Worst Person in the World designation, and a 24-hour cycle of cable TV teeth-gnashing over McCain’s off-handed joke about cigarette exports to Iran.
Here we go.
In 5, 4, 3, 2…
“McCain jokes about killing Iranians with cigarettes”
Presidential candidate John McCain, who once sang in jest about bombing Iran, on Tuesday reacted to a report of rising U.S. cigarette exports to the country by saying it may be “a way of killing ‘em.”
McCain, known for acerbic comments and for sometimes firing verbally from the hip, was responding to a report that U.S. exports to Iran rose tenfold during President George W. Bush’s term in office despite hostility between the two states.
A rise in cigarette sales was a big part of that, according to an Associated Press analysis of seven years of U.S. trade figures.
“Maybe that’s a way of killing ‘em,” McCain said to reporters during a campaign stop in Pittsburgh. “I meant that as a joke, as a person who hasn’t had a cigarette in 28 years, 29 years,” he added, laughing.
He declined further comment on the report.
Compare the disproportionate attention McCain’s remark will receive vs. Obama’s truly bone-headed and dangerous ignorance about asymmetric warfare and the Iran threat.
9/10 Democrat.
9/10 media.
***
Free piece of advice to McCain: Stop joking with them. They are not your friends.
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- McCain Killing Iranians with Cigarettes, Risks Killing Presidential Chances with Bad Jokes
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But of course that wouldn’t be good enough for Reuters, nor will it be for AP or any of the rest of the MSM. No surprise…
and McCain says something I can support!!
Will wonders never cease???????
You’re right about the media though, Michelle. Nobody dares challenge the Obamamessiah!!
How is such a loser in a position to lead this once great nation. Compare McAmnesty to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abe Lincoln… John McAmnesty is a FOOL! I can’t believe this country has fallen so far… we are doomed.
I wonder why the MSM always listens to Obama. He says it’s a distraction so they don’t pay any attention to it. He tells them to ignore the Republicans for making a big deal about his flip flopping and they do. I wonder how much he pays them? Or is it the kool-aide he provides them?
Michelle, you’re actually supporting John McCain?
I can’t believe my eyes.
It sure would have been nice if you could have done it without throwing in a snide little comment at the end, but hey…
Good advise, but I think he’s a bit too stubborn to listen to anyone except the person in his mirror.
Spelling error! advice.
What the Republican Party and the Nation needs is a good leader with some decent verbal skills.
We have enough comedians with the cable channels and all.
It is funny joke, and the MSM would normally be up in arms.
But they won’t because Barack Hussein Obama, a/k/a the Muslim Messiah, smokes, and any outrage on their part will draw attention to it.
Obama could confess to being the Lindburg baby kidnapper, the Unabomber, and D.B. Cooper all rolled up into one and the MSM would praise him for his truthfullness.
McCain offends them just by breathing.
I think John should talk to the media like Cheney talked to Leahy.
Yeah! That McCain and his Iranian friends!
He should stop joking with them! That’s all I see is McCain joking with our enemies. I once even saw McCain raise a glass with the North Korean friends. Yup. He’s too cozy and sharing jokes an smiling. That McCain, always joking with dictators like that. Before you know it, McCain will joke with the Syrians. He’s always joking with them. Yup.
Joking with them.
Forget that, he could be the Anti-Christ himself, and liberals would still be voting for him and worshiping him. For the record, as a Catholic, I’m reserving judgment, but he is the Messiah for Muslims and Islam is THE anti-Catholic religion. . .
Not just the MSM, Tennessee Dave.
Aren’t most liberals against smoking and want it all done outdoors? If Obama becomes Pres can we insist he not smoke in our (white) house?
If he doesn’t have the willpower to quit, is he tough enough to be President? Just asking.
Michelle means reporters, not Iranians.
Meanwhile, I walked into the kitchen at work today and (IIRC) Fox News had a quote by Obama saying “I’ll be the under-dog until I enter the white house.” ??????
On this I feel bad for McCain (not on many things, but this one). He probably really thinks he’s funny. You know how you have a joke in your head, but the minute it comes out, it’s just flat? This is one of those things. We’ve all been there, it happens. I just wish he would wake up and smell the coffee. Michelle’s right – the media is not and has never been his friend. Most of us have been saying that for months.
Also, I heard that Obama released his first negative ad about McCain today. Anyone want to bet on how long it takes McCain to fire back? I’ve got dibs on never…
Well now. I see this as a comment on the next to last paragraph now. Thank you AlohaGuy.
In any event, if McCain treats reporters like dirt, then this won’t work out very will for McCain in the long run. These reporters are indeed – not his friends as they were not the friends of any of the previous republican hopefuls. Some reporters are actually doing their jobs as they should. It may not be a wise thing to shut them out.
Seven years for the AP to analyze U.S. trade figures? Sounds about right for them.
Let’s see. If the analysis went back eight years to…let’s see…2000, that would include the last year of the…errrr Clinton administration.
Oooooo. Can’t have that. Better stop at seven years.
I disagree. President Bush should have LONG AGO treated the press as his enemies. He never did.
He should have taken them and the Democrats on for their biased MSM coverage (especially right after the 2004 election), embarrassed them, and put them on the defensive.
He appeased them, and look what he got. Just hate in return.
No matter what, the MSM is going to try to destroy McCain, and he should treat them as his enemy.
To me, the joke about killing Iranians with cigarettes is funny, just because of the outrage the MSM would have (but they won’t because it will draw attention to Obama’s smoking).
I think this was the big downfall of the Bush administration – reaching out to the liberals in Congress and the media and expecting them to reach out in return. I don’t think yet that President GW Bush yet understands the difference between a difference of opinion and utter, blind hatred. Sadly, I don’t think he ever will.
McCain I think is also caught up a little in that because the media has been pretty nice to him over the years. He doesn’t have all that much time to figure it out…
They will try to destroy McCain.
Watch what he said today on Good Morning America… July 2, 2008 by AP
And he has decided not to treat them as his enemy, rather as “my friends.” He’s a crazy old man like that.
We could probably export even more cigarettes to Iran with the right branding and slogan. “I’d walk a mile for a camel” would probably just make them shug and say “who wouldn’t?” It wouldn’t likely make them think of cigarettes.
Perhaps the following slogan would get their attention:
Everyone who dies of cancer while smoking Jihad brand cigarettes gets 76 virgins.
A money back guarantee right on the package couldn’t hurt, either.
I agree. I think this was the worst thing about this administration: their utter cluelessness about appeasing the MSM and Democrats.
He should have realized everything is filtered through a very liberal media (for the majority of people). The constant negativity has worn down a lot of people, especially those, like effeminate liberal men and a majority of women, who tend to be emotional and not analytical. They feel the emotional negativity from the MSM and immediately transfer that feeling to President Bush.
A lot of people have a negative feeling about the state of the country, and they have no idea why. Our economy is fine (5% unemployment, growth, we’re NOT in recession), Iraq is going great, we have destroyed much of Al-Qaeda. Part of the President’s job is educator about these things. President Reagan was great; President Bush has been a failure.
If anything, ALL the problems we are facing are due to Democrats, such as the gas prices because they refuse to drill.
If we had had a president that would have put the MSM with their liberal bias on the defensive, Republicans would be destroying Democrats right now.
But President Bush will never get it, I agree.
Not really. Islam is the anti-EVERYTHING religion.
Obama is a smoker, when he quits – really quits – then we’ll talk.
Wise_Man, We’ll see if he wins the election. It will be a test whether the Arnold Schwarzenagger, Christine Todd Whitman, John McCain “moderate” wing can influence the average “swing” voter by kissing up to the media and making a positive election battle.
I seriously doubt it at the national level. The MSM is never going to give ANY Republican positive coverage if he is running against a Democrat.
What they don’t understand: Whatever a Democrat WANTS you to do, you should do the opposite. Whenever they get hysterical, e.g. the Axis of Evil speech, the Swiftboat Veteran heroes, the Obama is a Muslim truth, you are on the right track for winning an election.
Because of the MSM’s skewed coverage, negative ads are a necessity to educate the average voter. The Democrats despise negative commercials by Republicans. Hello, does that tell you anything, Senator McCain?
I really hope that McCain fights for this election by taking on the media and Democrats. People are scared to death of Obama, especially the more they get to know him (which they won’t from the MSM). Negative ads would work wonders.
That is so true. For example, does anyone know why India has almost no Buddhists today, despite the fact that it was the birthplace of Buddhism and Buddhism is a uniquely Indian religion? The following says it all:
That is from Rhoads Murphey’s A History of Asia.
When will we ever learn about the true nature of Islam? Whenever you see a Muslim in America, the first thing you should think of is that this person wants to destroy my culture and civilization.
Obama may be sane enough to tell a joke in private but he is such a tightly wrapped control freak, despite being a gaffe machine, that we won’t know. McCain despite the frustration that he generates is a fundamentally sane person. The most telling armchair shrink criticism of Nixon I read was that he once tried to tell a dirty joke when he was with friends and he couldn’t. McCain, like Truman, is a political animal but also a human being. Many people will be reassured by this and angered by the effort to use it against him.
There may be a humor gap between the candidates that can be exploited.
Gabe #26 You are correct as I see it. Afterall, the God of the Christians, the only true God and the God I have my faith in, sacrificed Himself to save mankind, while allah, the god of the muslims, sacrifices others to destroy mankind. allah is the real satan who kills, steals, and destroys.
I’m all for sending them fried chicken too.
is it just me, or does it seem like MM has been posting more articles that are a little nicer to Juan McAmnesty than in the past? Perhaps the boss will hold her nose and pull the lever/touch the screen for him.
I’m reserving judgment, but he is the Messiah for Muslims and Islam is THE anti-Catholic religion. . .
Clearly quite a few Catholics didn’t get the memo:
http://www.romancatholicsforobama.com/
Incredibly I think this same group tried to defend Obama’s vote against aiding the surviving babies of failed abortions.
If we really want to kill em send them Harry Ried and Nancy Palosi.
Thanks for the link Gabe, did you see this load of Sharia fun in their promotion site for Obama?
Terrorists (see previous posts on this) and Muslims trying to institute Sharia in the US… for Obama! 2008!
On July 9th, 2008 at 1:20 am, alamedaman said:
It’s just you.
On July 8th, 2008 at 9:50 pm, Rob said:
Just compare him to Obama. Last I checked Lincoln wasn’t on the ballot.
Since 1979, Iranians or Iranian funded and controlled terrorist groups have invaded the US embassy and held our diplomatic staff for 444 days, took Americans, journalists and a British minister hostage in Lebanon killing William Buckley, bombed the US embassy in Lebanon killing 17 Americans, bombed the US barracks Beirut which killed 241 Americans on a peacekeeping mission, bombed the Khobar Towers killing 19 Americans, hijacked an aircraft and murdered Robert Stethem and dumped his body on the tarmac, bombed a Jewish center in Argentina murdering 85, their proxy Hezbollah has started several conflicts with Israel, including the summer war which left hundreds dead, and they are still holding kidnapped Israli soldiers. They still have a bounty on the head of Salmon Rushdie for writing a book that they didn’t like, they have provided the Shiite death squads in Iraq with training and material as well as the Sunni death squads that go after the Shiites with the objective of creating as much bloodshed in Iraq as passable. They have also been supplying shaped charges, explosive formed penetrators and shoulder launched anti-aircraft missiles to kill coalition troops. They Chant ‘death to America’ on a daily basis in their “schools” and Mosques, they continually threaten to wipe Israel off the map, they have mined the Strait of Hormuz, they publicly lynch girls for being “disobedient”, they publicly lynch boys for being homosexual, they publicly lash women for the “crime” of being raped, they stone women to death for infidelity, they censor their news, They beat a Canadian journalist to death because she wrote unflattering stories, they murder political dissidents, invented the suicide bomber, kidnapped British sailors and holding them hostage, kidnapped American aid workers and held them hostage, have repeatedly tried to undermine US currency and are building a doomsday device to wipe a sovereign country off the map and commit genocide….
Yeah, we need someone who recognizes them for what they are and who won’t sit down and talk with them without pre-conditions.
John, loose lips sinks ships.
That old adage still goes beyond the military and stupid silly quips.
James Greenidge
Queens NY
A Thompson man who is forced to vote McCain so no one can say I didn’t stand in front of Obama’s wallet-grabbing tank.
Papa, let’s sweeten the deal:
Everyone who dies of cancer while smoking Jihad brand cigarettes gets 76 virgins, and a sweet Members Only jacket once worn by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (armpit stains certified as authentic by the Phattwa Council).
Al-la-la-la-la-lahu akhbar! ☻
we should have leveled Iran years ago.
No, they didn’t. And – at their own peril – they risk violating one of the major teachings of the Church. It is a sin to support, facilitate, encourage, or otherwise endorse abortion. If you look in Church history, that’s always been the case. The pagan cultures in which early Catholicism operated endorsed much of the same behaviors as most on the left today: abortion, infanticide, sexual promiscuity. Contrary to popular belief, the Church was – then and now – counter-cultural and passionately so.
In voting, not voting for a pro-abortion candidate is one of the non-negotiable issues.
These “Roman Catholics” (read: CINOs), have many other issues, stemming from a liberal interpretation of Catholic theology. Which is why they feel justified in voting for Obama.
They’re wrong. Like every other person who supports the horror of abortion, they’ll have to answer for that behavior eventually.
On July 9th, 2008 at 2:21 am, Bill Grant said:
You did see the snide comment at the end of Michelles’ post, right?
Don’t kid yourself. This is not about “being nice”. Her agenda here was to ’show yet again’ what a ’stoopid rube’ Mr. McCain is… and the entire entry was little more than a buildup to her final jab. The only reason for it being posted in the first place, more than likely.
She is right about this, though:
Obama IS bone-headed and dangerous. Ms. Malkin knows this in her head but still allows her blog to be used as a tool for divisiveness because her heart is bitter.
Perhaps at some point she will realize how critical the stakes are at this juncture, and her heart and mind will start to work together in sync again… I continue to hope.
Irish Rose said:
I don’t believe so, I-Rose. I think Michelle pointed out that it’s the MSM that’ll have a field day running with “stoopid rube McCain” on this.
What you perceived as a “snide comment”, I view as sage advice that McCain direly needs to heed. He’s played footsie with the media so long that he’s still convinced they “like him, they really like him”. He should have wised up by now that they are not his friends. And if he doesn’t wise up soon, then “stoopid rube” will be an understatement. You don’t honestly think the MSM is on his side, right, I-Rose?
On July 9th, 2008 at 8:39 am, purplepeep said:
No.
And “sage advice” aside, I doubt that Michelle is either.
IR: I’m really sorry that not all of us see the world through your glasses. I think we all agree Obama would be disasterous for the USA and in fact some of us see Obama as being exactly what Satan has ordered up for dinner for the USA. The issue is that some of see McCain as being another dish on the same menu.
McCain clearly has not done anything to win the hearts and minds of conservatives.
Lastly:
I’m not sure you are in a position to judge MM’s heart.
“You don’t honestly think the MSM is on his side, right, I-Rose?”
Now you just gotta pass that bit of info along to the senior Senator of Arizona, I-Rose.
Great point from Matt Yglesias…if an Iranian leader made a joke about his country’s exports killing American or Israeli civilians, we would not take it lightly.
There is absolutely no difference.
Rusty, you’re just hopelessly lost in a bizarre relavtivism that makes the 9-11 terrorist attacks and D-Day interchangable events.
What? That doesn’t make sense.
Hypothetically, if Iran were exporting clove cigarettes or alcohol and someone within their government said “maybe this is a way of killing Americans or Israelis,” we’d all be having heart attacks.
McCain’s comment isn’t worth getting riled up over because it’s obviously patently ridiculous, but we wouldn’t give Iran that same benefit.
And I know America > Iran in every way imaginable, but, to be fair, we’re the ones who invaded their neighbor. They have more reason to fear us than we do to fear them.
Ahhh…finally a thread about cigarettes….oh, wait.
Dammit!
(puffs furiously on her cigarette)
You’re kidding, right? To you, cigarettes are equal to suicide bombers and missile attacks on civilians?
The difference is, if an Iranian leader joked about cigarette imports from Iran into the United States killing Americans, we’d all say, “Yes, you are right. It is true.” Maybe then we would cut off these exports.
The problem with Rusty, like Hussein Obamna, is against ANY military action against Iran EVER. 1) You can’t joke about Iran; 2) You can’t threaten Iran, 3) You can never attack Iran. To him, Iran getting nukes is a far better scenario than the United States ever joking about Iran or attacking Iran.
No, I explicitly mentioned exports like clove cigarettes and alcohol. Something enjoyable, legal, and harmful.
Then why would you be so upset about a funny joke about killing Iranians with cigarettes? They ARE killing Iranians.
I think it is your gut appeasement reactions to enemies: We must never upset them ever.
No. The joke doesn’t bother me that much.
But would it bother you if an Iranian official running for Prime Minister said the same thing about Israelis or Americans? My best guess is that it would.
Nope, it wouldn’t. Ahmadinejad’s rhetoric is about nuking Israel and the Great Satan, in case you haven’t heard.
Talk about straining the gnat and swallowing the camel…
And McCain’s rhetoric is to “Bomb, bomb, bomb. Bomb, bomb Iran.”
So, uh, that’s the same thing?
Not even close. But thanks for playing.
I guess the difference would be that we have the capability to bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb Iran. Of course, Iran has no capability to nuke Israel since they don’t have a nuclear arsenal.
The difference is obvious. I stand corrected, AK.
Yet… although their missle test today proved they could reach Tel Aviv and all American bases in the region with a missle laden with a warhead of their choice. Meanwhile they continue enriching uranium in mass quantities. I’m glad you have so much faith in our Iranian friends, have you looked into moving there anytime soon?
Rusty:
You never fail to side with an enemy of America. NEVER.
I guess having your head up your a** does have some benefits… to America’s enemies, that is.
You do realize that Iran is attempting to create a nuclear arsenal, don’t you? Or are your ears and eyes so covered with feces that you can’t see or hear anything but the inane drivel you think up?
I’m not siding with an enemy. Iran is an evil country whose human rights record is absolutely shameful.
That being said, when we make comments about bombing Iran, we mean it. When they do, they don’t.
I call BS, Iran means exactly what they say. They are just really good at fooling toons like you who see them say in one breath that they want nuclear power for energy and the next talking about wiping Israel off the map and destroying the Great Satan (ie you and I).
The U.S. will let Israel destroy Iran, we will merely open up the airspace over Iraq for them to have a clear run at it.
Let’s hope. I was fifteen when my friends and I saw our nation shamed by the Iranian hostage crisis. It was devastating for us to see Americans paraded on tv night after night, blind-folded and bound by Iranian “students.” It was the first time we saw our nation powerless to act, and the first time we felt disgraced by our so-called President, the perpetually inept Jimmy Carter.
I never wnat another generation of young Americans to feel the kind of shame and helplessness we felt back in 1979, and I think what ever happens to Iran as a result of the current crisis will be twenty-nine over-due.