Maverick John McCain has disavowed comments from his campaign co-chair and economic adviser Phil Gramm that the nation’s economic malaise is a “mental recession” and that “[w]e have sort of become a nation of whiners.” Gramm stands by his comments, though he now says he meant that the nation’s leaders were whiners, not its citizens.
It may be hard for McCain to throw Gramm under the Straight Talk Express. First, Gramm is the person upon whom McCain is depending for an education in economics. Second, Gramm is the one making with the straight talk in this case.
On the other hand, McCain cannot throw himself under the campaighn bus, either. He is the candidate, after all. So Johnny Mac has decided to diffuse the situation with some of his trademark humor:
“I think Sen. Gramm would be in serious consideration for ambassador to Belarus,” McCain said with a broad smile. “Though I’m not sure the citizens of Minsk would welcome that.”
Barack Obama also seems to be going with humor on this one:
“America already has one Dr. Phil,” Obama quipped.
“We need somebody to actually solve the economy. It’s not just a figment of your imagination. It’s not all in your head.â€Â
Doesn’t Obama know that one of Dr. Phil’s signature injunctions is to “Get Real?” Maybe he does…
(h/t Memeorandum.)
I think it was after reading an Atlantic Monthly piece on Graham that I began to suspect I wasn’t really the Democrat I was supposed to be, after all.
he meant that the nation’s leaders were whiners, not its citizens.
Are we there yet?
Gramm is right.
Anecdotal evidence. Constant whining. I totally agree.
It’s July. When do we start hearing about the plight of the homeless under Republican administrations?
Oh. And Rockies’ front office management should be fired en masse, and their owners run out of town on a rail.
OT, I realize. But still.
WHINER!
That’s not really OT, it would open up some jobs for aspiring baseball personnel.
but seriously, we’re not technically in a recession, so what would O! call it?
O! would call it the worst economy since the Depression, assuming he can license that phrase from the Clinton ’92 campaign.
We’re whining about gas prices while we refuse to drill where there is oil. Gramm is right.
front office management should be fired en masse, and their owners run out of town on a rail.
Pleeease can’t we tar and feather them first ?
Pretty Pleeeeeeeeeease ??
…
You never let us have any fun anymore.
Solve the economy?
Oooooook
Just an idle question, but don’t we hear all the time how “consumer confidence” is down? There must be some aspect of “mental recession” involved in economic malaise, otherwise why have the dems been so anxious to slap the recession label on the current economy?
Obama…“We need somebody to actually solve the economy.
How do you solve “an economy?” Is that a calculus thingee?
God. We are such whiners we can’t even have someone say out loud that life in the US isn’t miserable.
OT, I’ll give you OT. Our cats have a pet chipmunk they keep bringing in the house. The little b*stard just ran out from behind my computer and stared at me like he was demanding peanuts.
‘…solve the economy…”
Jesus, Obama is so stupid.
Op, sorry saltlick, too slow refresh.
Ha! Someone at political punch just pointed this out:
So we’re not allowed to take Obama out back and beat on him like Odysseus whaled Thersites or Jeff beat on ‘thersites’ and just make him go away. Nuts. Oops, sorry Jesse.
Obama has the typical hubris of a big government type. as if they have the slightest hope of even understanding the economy, in detail, much less “solving it”.
Brought to us by the same mindset that will plan to make 10,000 size 7 men’s shoes and 37 size 10.5’s, ’cause they know what we want/need.
“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK.â€Â
So, which countries must I consult about how much I can eat, which car I can buy, and what to set my thermostat on?
‘cuz I’m all about getting other counties to OK my lifestyle.
– Why the hell isn’t McCain hammering Obama about the Dem obstructionism in Congress, blocking every effort to start drilling our own oil resources. Why, why, why ,why.
– I don’t think McCain is actually running for president. I see no evidence of it. Todays missed opportunity with the elitist Obama making a joke out of peoples suffering is yet another example of McCains cream-puff campaign. Obama is handing him these chances on a silver platter and McOldDuffer is asleep at the switch taking his afternoon sabbatical. Maybe they should set up the polling places at assisted living homes this fall.
Zen of comment spam, as it passes to obscurity:
“Nicotine Withdrawal on Michelle Obama – all sizzle”
When he finally HAS to debate McCain he’s going to have to pull out the Chevy Chase, State Department bit from “Spies Like Us.”
“Sorry…th…icrophone…utting…out on me…ave a…unch date…must go.”
OT- You know how much I DON’T watch baseball? I honestly started typing, Jeff, it’s Rocky’s not “Rockies,” and, yeah he had some questionable fights, but we never really saw his front office except for Paulie.
Y’know, BBH, given your stated opinions re: campaign finance, I would’ve thought you’d be complimentary.
On Planet McCain, politics is a genteel profession. The Senate is the World’s Greatest Deliberative Body™, and Our Feerless Representatives™ “reach across the aisle” in an attempt to reach compromises that are satisfactory to the maximum number of people. Mudslinging is a no-no, and playing the “gotcha!” and “zinger” games is uncouth. The important factors in any campaign, especially for President, are gravitas and dignitas, and gentlemen and ladies give one another maximum deference and consideration, that the public might best be served.
Lisa would be very happy there.
Planet McCain is 180 degrees out of orbital phase with Planet Kucinich, both of which revolve around a pleasantly warm but dim star in a galaxy far, far away. The likelihood of any of the rest of us ever visiting either Utopian globe is minimal.
Regards,
Ric
The way McCane looks, shuffling around the stage hunched over clucthing the microphone like he’ll fsll down if he lets go, reminds me of Arte Johnson’s Old perv at the bus stop with Ruth Buzzy Laugh-in skits. It is truly painful to watch.
– With that sort of harsh opposition Obama could dress up a hatrack for his appearances.
“Manage the economy” (let alone “solve” it) is not among the enumerated powers of the President. Trust me, I looked.
– Maybe all this pragmatism flying around lately is catching Ric. But not that catching.
I doubt Gramm would go under the bus. It is a disagreement, and not one that is crucial to Sen. McCain’s campaign. It is not a disagreement that would get the electorate up in arms. Phil Gramm is no Rev. Wright.
BBH, the point is, that is the way McCain has always conducted himself, from day one. Cooperate. Compromise. Give your political opponents credit for good ideas, and expect the same from them. –In other words, an idealistic approach. It doesn’t work real well when your political opponents are con artists who take but never give.
There was never any reason to expect him to do otherwise.
Regards,
Ric
#13 MayBee:
I think I said that in the Hopey Changey post last night, that our finest hour is yet to come*; however I don’t think I am exactly that kind of someone.
*or something like that
– We know all that about McCain Ric. Why do you think we’re all holding our noses to vote for him. Even worse, why do you think people doubt his ability to lead in that jungle out there. Our enemies are anything but genteel.
– We’ve got Obama, hoplessly lost in the Progg Utopian “one world” crap, and McCain who seems to think politics is an Emily Post tea party.
– Akkkk. In the words of Mr. T. “Pity the poor fool American voter that thinks Washington is his mama.”
Nor is unbacked currency, the results of which are eventually highly unpleasant.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=as4DEc5UFopA
[…] DNC, the Obama campaign, and even Sen. John McCain jumped on Gramm for pointing out facts because they all want to be in touch with the anxieties […]
We need somebody to actually solve the economy
Dennis Moorebama !
I think Gramm is right.
Now if some of the cry baby sore losers whose guy did not win the GOP nomination could just stop whining about the fact that McCain is the nominee, things might improve.
BBH:
The thing is McCain has people claiming he is a crazy man with a bad temper and he has people claiming he is too passive. It seems to me that it is obvious that the McCain can not be both of these. Maybe it is not McCain who is off balance here.
” Why the hell isn’t McCain hammering Obama … I don’t think McCain is actually running for president. I see no evidence of it.”
Everybody watching is asking the same question… The answer is that McCain is not intended to win.. Obama has been
chosen by the people with the wealth and power to choose…. and that aint us little folk. McCain is doing his last service to his masters by kicking the can down the road and acting as the official Republican candidate.. (They cant just run nobody..) If McCain were to make any effort to win at all he might just do it… Then all of the elaborate maneuvering to put a young, unknown fellow traveler in America’s driver seat will have been for nothing..
If McCain’s numbers get too good expect a convenient heart attack around November.
Unless she’s giving him an allowance to run for office, right? ;-)
Since the other thread is near dead, here’s where I was headed. The real problem isn’t the money on the front end–the money spent on campaigns–that’s just a symptom. The real problem is the amount of money up for grabs for those who get into power and those who helped put them there. If the Feds are going to subsidize ethanol to the tune of billions a year, it only makes sense for ADM to spend a few million on an election.
Take the money out of the back end by returning the federal government to a Constitutional level and you solve a slew of problems, among them any issues of “campaign finance.”
“Take the money out of the back end by returning the federal government to a Constitutional level and you solve a slew of problems, among them any issues of “campaign finance.â€Â
– Of course that would be the better solution. But that requires the will and impetus, and the question is, is it doable. Its been my experience in life that long standing, well entrenched large problems are best tackled in increments of the doable, or you get nowhere, vastly so in particular, when it has anything to do with Washington.
– OnT, Gramm is not backing down. He restated that he stands by everything he said, but did mention he was referring to the leadership in Washington, and that means the Dem led Congress in specific, not the American people.
– In the mean time, at least for now, he remains McCains chief economical advisor.
#37 Ouroboros:
That sounds like shadow government conspiracy thinking to me.
Is it doable? Sure. Would the beneficiaries of increased government power actually do it? Yeah, you’re right, most likely not.
But I’d rather see the step be abolishing a department or two rather than going down a path that doesn’t acknowledge the real problem. Get rid of something useless, like Education.
“Now if some of the cry baby sore losers whose guy did not win the GOP nomination could just stop whining about the fact that McCain is the nominee, things might improve.”
Not possible since McCain is a whiner just like his Democrat opponent.
I’m voting for the troops, don’t give a shit about McCain.
We need someone to solve the economy??!?
Why is the subject of every discussion about Barak Obamba not totally centered on the fact that he is a slobbering fucking dipshit? Say what you will about Jimmy Carter, but the guy was not an ostensible half-wit when he ran against Ford (or Reagan for that matter. I cannot believe the Pubs are not running on the obvious fact that the guy is simply dumber than a bag of cold dog shit.
I agree. Cold, um, dog shit. Yes.
Either that or he thinks we are.
#43 ccoffer: …running on the obvious fact that the guy is simply dumber than a bag of cold dog shit.
All I learned about negotiation with bullies was in junior high and elementary school – that is, there is no negotiation if you do not have the threat of causing pain. Sen. Obama seems to have missed that extra-curricular activity.
“Why is the subject of every discussion about Barak Obamba not totally centered on the fact that he is a slobbering fucking dipshit?”
Obama will let you learn the liberal’s pain over the last 8 years. Thats some healing.
Didn’t read the Denver Post today, eh? Bastards! Under a democrat administration electricity would be Free! And Green! Generated by legions of the unemployed, rubbing the wooly sweaters of coeds!
With amber rods?
Syn:
McCain is not a whiner. The man is an honest to God war hero. Now you do not have to like him or vote for him for that matter but he is not weak and he is not a whiner.
But there are a lot of whiners out there on both sides of the aisle and all they do is bitch bitch bitch.
And not for the last time do I wish the Republicans had a candidate in this race..
Hey! We don’t discriminate here!!
Swen:
They do and his name is John McCain. He is the guy that Republicans voted for. He is the guy that beat Fred! and Rudy and all the rest. I can remember when Bush won in 2000 and the Democrats started whining that they had been robbed. They weren’t. They just lost. And now 8 years later McCain looks to be the nominee because he won. He did not steal it. So if we really want to see Obama defeated maybe we should put at least as much energy into attacking him as we do our own candidate.
The thing is McCain has people claiming he is a crazy man with a bad temper and he has people claiming he is too passive. It seems to me that it is obvious that the McCain can not be both of these.
Why not? Remember, these are the same people who manage to believe that Bush is simultaneously a drooling chimp who can’t tie his own shoes, and a criminal mastermind of the caliber of Fu Manchu or Professor Moriarty.
#40 Mikey NTH: “That sounds like shadow government conspiracy thinking to me.”
Oh it is… I cant look at O! that I don’t get the feeling I’m not watching a political campaign so must as an elaborate stage play.. meant to convince the masses that they actually had a part in selecting him.. I wouldn’t call it ‘shadow government’ though.. In this I think the politicians are the errand boys.. Whores selling themselves. Left to their own device about the only thing they re capable of coordinating is a vote on their own pay raise. Think bigger.
They may be whores – probably are – but to think that they are mere puppets taking orders from shadowy masters, taking orders with a robotic reflex, is sheer conspiracy thought. If so, how did we get past the control of the J.P. Morgans and the J.D Rockefellers a hundred years ago?
I mean, if they are selling themselves to, then who is that? Thus you find ‘shadow government’, and all that is opposed to you is part of a coordinated plot.
Human history is an argument against coordinated large scale plots – the best plots have only one conspirator.
And then there are those who say that Barack Obama would make America just like Europe. You know I could really go for that. More vacation time, shorter work hours, health care for everyone, free education (students don’t graduate from college deep in debt), quality child care, pensions and the list goes on. I am 68 years old and can’t even retire. I work two jobs just to make ends meet. Oh, there I go whining again.
Hannah- and it’s all FREE!
Hannah, your work has paid the taxes, which provided the military, which kept the Europeans safe, so they could provide themselves all those bennies. I’ll bet you get a thank-you card from them every year around April 15th.
“Hannah, your work has paid the taxes, which provided the military, which kept the Europeans safe, so they could provide themselves all those bennies.”
Sounds like they’re pretty smart.
Mikey,
Why do you (and many people) find it easy to believe that someone like a George Soros could spend huge sums of money to support a the candidate of their choice while simultaneously spending huge sums to torpedo a candidate or politician that doesn’t suit them, but then have a hard time believing that several such men might act in concert to take the who thing to another level? It makes good business sense.. The American Presidency.. The most powerful position of our or any other time. With a word or a pen he can shift vast sums of money from the government coffers into privately owned corporations.. KBR and no bid contracts come to mind. Why would the very wealthy and powerful individuals or multinational corporations risk letting a President be chosen through the whim of the people.. many of which know very little about any issues and look no deeper than the candidate’s race, gender, party or religion..or in this case, hopeyness and changiness ? Why wouldn’t a tight cabal of the elite and connected work both sides of the aisles, pick a suitable person, someone agreeable to their larger goals that could be easily sold to the public and simply install him in the Presidency? Why risk getting a ‘DAVE’ candidate elected that actually has a conscience, isnt playing the politics game, isn’t a career politician and sees his 8 years as a chance to fix a lot of things that need fixed…? Of course the American public might be bummed when they were excluded from the process so they’d need to go through the motions culminating in a preordained result.. Let the public believe they chose the candidate. I’m not suggesting some huge Illuminati secret society nor am I suggesting that politicians are robots simply taking orders.. just greedy, vain, egotistical, immoral, unethical, whores that are well compensated for supporting the positions they support.
Simply put I think there’s just too much wealth and power in play in a Presidential election to run a straight game and risk it all on a roll of the dice… A rigged game is just good business.
Sounds like they’re pretty smart.
In much the same way that a beef cow in a feedlot is “smart”, you mean?
Oh. Mikey for real your nature is noble and true I think but for George Soros’ decision to build a secretive marxist network of networked marxist secrecy to coincide so neatly with the ascendance of a perfectly focused-grouped community organizey piece of shit nobody is way too much of a coinkadink I think.
hannah.. You like my lazy son that only have two job.. I have four job.. I drive taxi.. I telemarket Verizon wireless services.. I am customer service for Dell computer and work nightshift at 7-11 on 47th St. I work 28 hours every day, 8 days a week and take only one day off a year for Ganesha’s birthday.. You lazy Americans just need more jobs. Now quit whining! Thank you verymuch…
I considered myself to be a Republican, and I didn’t vote for the SOB. Nor will I on election day.
[…] we can’t have THAT in a […]
Ouroboros – I sincerely believe that a George Soros can spend a lot of money electioneering. I will note how successful he has – and hasn’t been. what I sincerely do not believe in is conspiracy thinking. Are there conspiracies? Of course there are! Are there these massive over-arching conspiracies with a shadowy cabal pulling all of the strings of governemnt and being the real power? No – I don’t buy it. Why? It is simply too complicated and the world is simply bizzare enough that it can’t hold together like that. It leaves out the egos and drives and choices of people – 300,000,000 in this country, that are going to screw up the best laid plot. There is no chance or bad luck involved and that is just baloney.
Again – pick a suitable person? So all of those primary votes were all manufactured and didn’t actually reflect what happened? Is that what you really believe happens? Do you think the entire American system is just a curtain to hide the control of a shadowy group?
I’m sorry, I cannot believe that.
That’s why I disagree with conspiracy thinking.
well, Mark, a lot of other Republicans did vote for him in the primaries. You don’t get to define Republican in such a way that it reflects only your beliefs, you know. Sometimes your prefered candidate wins, sometimes he loses. That is how it works.
Huh?
We do all the hard and dirty work, they sit on their lazy asses and bitch that we’re not doing it the way they’d like. If that’s “smart”, you need to grow up.
“We do all the hard and dirty work, they sit on their lazy asses and bitch that we’re not doing it the way they’d like.”
exactly.
“If that’s “smartâ€Â, you need to grow up.”
Or let someone else’s ego do the dirty work while I work on making my place nicer. “efficient” then.