Juan Cole: John McCain is a Coward
Published by Haseeb October 10th, 2008 in 2008 Election, McCainSouce: Balloon Juice
By JUAN COLE
I am glad higher profile bloggers are beginning to recognize what I have been saying for days. John McCain is a coward:
He ever swaggered on for a couple days about how he was going to ‘take the gloves off’ when he met up with Obama in Nashville. But when the two of them were there in each others physical presence … nothing. By a myriad of gestures and reactions Obama owned him.Nor is it a matter of shifting off the tactics, because as soon as McCain made his hasty retreat from the stage at Debate #2 he was right back at it. In every other aspect of life, high and low, refined and unlovely, we have a word for that kind of behavior: cowardice.
And now Obama can lightly taunt McCain with that very cowardice, his inability to just say it to his face. And if my take on the inner workings of McCain’s mind at the moment is right that should simply unhinge him even more.
John McCain is not man enough to own his shit. John McCain will not openly confront Obama with his smears and lies and innuendo. John McCain will not come out and talk about Ayers, he has to be asked. That is why he goes to places like Fox News, so he can be asked. What a coincidence.
John McCain is a coward.
John McCain would rather hide behind his wife and Sarah Palin than say it himself.
He would rather produce 2 minute ads that his campaign will never pay to air anywhere, and hope that the tire-swinging media will bring up the topic so he doesn’t have to do it himself.
John McCain just wants to throw shit out there, and “raise questions” about Obama, and hope his supporters connect the dots, because he is too much of a coward to directly push this toxic stew. He would rather hide behind right-wing bloggers, surrogates, and scummy websites staffed with wingnut welfare recipients like the NRO and the Weekly Standard.
John McCain had 90 minutes to bring this stuff up to Obama, to his face, and passed.
John McCain is a coward.
*** Update ***
Joe Biden is right:
“All of the things they said about Barack Obama in the TV, on the TV, at their rallies, and now on Youtube and everything else,” Biden said — referring to McCain and Palin tying Obama to Weatherman bomber Bill Ayers and accusing him of “palling around with terrorists.”“John McCain could not bring himself to look Barack Obama in the eye and say the same things to him,” he said to cheers. “In my neighborhood, you got something to say to a guy, you look him in the eye and you say it to him.“
Coward.
*** Update #2 ***
And the nonsense starts. No one is debating that John McCain at one time exhibited great bravery in Vienam that I don’t think I would have possessed. How that changes what he has done the past few weeks, inciting his supporters to call Obama a terrorist while refusing to engage Obama directly on the matter, hiding behind surrogates and their sleazy innuendo, not mentioning the subject even though the gloves are “off” yet hoping upon hope that someone will ask him about it, is beyond me. It was one thing with Kerry- what McCain is doing now is dangerous, and he won’t even own it. Take that 2 minute commercial you released on the web, and pay for a national airing. If you want it out there, have it out there with your name on it and with your money backing it. Say something at the next debate. Own it. McCain is acting like a coward, and what he and his campaign are doing is a disgrace. Period.
And you can take extra special pleasure in the fact that Mr. Pent Up Jammies is chucking out the phrase keyboard commando.
More McCain handiwork.
I am a disabled Viet Nam vet with PTSD. I respect the fact that McCain served this country and suffered as a POW. However, he also has to have a more severe form of PTSD than I do with what he went through for 5 1/2 years. One very real symptom of PTSD is violent outbursts of anger. It is common knowledge in Washington that McCain has displayed his temper and anger on many occasions. He calls this being a maverick. I call it being a mean spirited foul tempered jerk. Do we want someone like that leading the country, or someone more stable like Obama? I am also concerned that McCain might have Stockholm Syndrome from being held captive for so long. Just what is his hidden agenda? We already have seen lately some of his party’s socialist type actions with the bailout and other deals. What is next? I don’t want to find out.
I disagree with Prof Cole here (and I rarely do). McCain knows he will be pilloried and called awful things if he attacks Obama too hard and is seen as “vicious.” If he did, then he’d be criticized a lot more by the media. Instead, he doesn’t take those low-hanging fruits.
McCain got a lot of jabs in, like the “this guy” statement that made a lot of people angry, along with his assertion that Obama is surrendering to terrorists. He’s keeping the heat up and attacking in ways that are more effective. Even CNN is correcting the racist protestors, saying “Obama is a Christian” (they stopped using “allegedly” a long time ago), so McCain knows that route of attack won’t work. If it did, I’m sure he would use it more, but he noticed Palin only makes headlines anymore when she uses the ‘terrorist’ word.
One thing I should point out, that seems more important than this “McCain is a coward” angle. (If you want real evidence of cowardice, read the front-page Rolling Stone article on him: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain Devastating.) Palin’s bashing of Obama seems more important; he “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist.” He is “palling around with terrorists.” Note the plural noun, is she trying to make americans think of ones overseas?