Friday, September 12, 2008

THAT'S NOT LIPSTICK WE CAN BELIEVE IN...

by the Sandwichman

John McCain on Sarah Palin's foreign policy credentials: "She knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America."

It would unduly dignify the above statement to call it a lie. Think about it. Telling a lie implies an intention to deceive the listener. But the point of McClain's claim is not to persuade people that Palin has credentials she doesn't have. The claim is too utterly outlandish.

Its purpose is to mock the presumably communicative function of language. It's function is as a metacommentary about the meaninglessness of credentials ('badges') and democratic discourse in a spectacle of succession whose outcome has been already been determined. That is to say:

Reporter: 'If you're the police where are your badges?'

McCain: 'Badges? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinkin' badges!'

Has Barack Obama formally been advised of the outcome of the election, its inevitability and of the campaign ground rules from here on out to insure that "nobody gets hurt"?

2 comments:

Shag from Brookline said...

Add to this McCain's assertion "I know how to win wars." What does he know about winning wars that the US military leaders do noe know? McCain should provide a white paper on this subject. Colin Powell knew about how to win wars. Does McCain agree with Powell on methods? Once we know how to win wars (via McCain), then we can do a cost/benefit analysis. Does McCain's experience as a POW during Vietnam provide him with the credentials to know how to win wars? At least Ike had his WWII experience when he said in 1954 that he would end the Korean War; and he did end it. But the Korean War was not won by the US. And clearly the Vietnam War was not won by the US. Is McCain looking at Iraq I with Pres. George H.W. Bush as a war that was won? Or is he basing his abilities upon Reagan's Grenada "win"? Is McCain suggesting that the US military, including its Commander-in-Chief George W, does not know how to win wars? Does McCain have a secret means of winning the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that he will reveal only if he is elected President? Is McCain emulating Tricky Dick Nixon who campaigned in 1968 with his secret plan for the Vietnam War? Teddy Roosevelt is one of McCain's heroes. Perhaps McCain's plan may resemble Teddy's military efforts in Cuba on San Juan Hill.

Shag from Brookline said...

Correction to my preceding comment:

It was during the 1952 presidential campaign (not 1954) that Ike said he would end the Korean War.

Sorry.