Playing Dress-Up is for Kids
Monday, April 02, 2007 at 5:21 pm
You would think at some point that politicians would learn not to play dress-up.
Most people learn this somewhere around age 12, when we stop trick-or-treating. Oh, we may dress up for a Halloween party or a football game or our job as an ostensibly straight minister, but for the most part we know that you shouldn’t play pretend games. That’s best left to children.
more insideAnd still, time after time after time, politicians fall prey to the impulse to pretend they’re someone else, doing some great, heroic thing. Classic examples are Michael Dukakis’ joyride in the tank, or President Bush’s flight-suit foray to the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln to declare that our mission in Iraq had been accomplished at least four years before it will evidently be accomplished.
The latest politician to give in to the urge to pretend is someone who should really know better — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who yesterday took to the streets of Baghdad for a leisurely stroll dressed in a light bulletproof vest. It was just McCain, his buddy Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., 100 of their closest,heavily armed soldier friends, three Blackhawk helicopters and two Apache gunships.
Now, John McCain is a genuine war hero, and he doesn’t need to prove his mettle, unlike Dukakis or Bush. But he did need pretty badly to undo the damage his mouth had caused earlier in the week, after he said in a radio interview that “there are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods today. The U.S. is beginning to succeed in Iraq.
30 Comments
Comment posted April 2, 2007 @ 9:29 pm
Playing Dress-Up is for Kids ?? Reading that while simultaniously looking at that picture of you wearing a rubber penis on your head was just…too…much!!
Bwahahaaa!
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 7:16 am
No… no… no… You’ve got it all wrong Jeff– this wasn’t a vain attempt at credibility, this was the filming of an HBO pilot featuring John McCain and his Entourage.
Thats all really. Thats all.
Sean
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 9:36 am
Jeopardy I’d like Feckless for $200 Alex.
The Answer is ZERO
What is the total number of trips that Jeff Fecke has made to Iraq?
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 11:18 am
oh sheesh do we really need to start playing the “if this is such a great war why aren’t you fighting in it game?” now, too? Cause I LOVE it when the site is taken over by 5 year old commentors who giggle and say penis and argue like they are in elementary school.
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 12:20 pm
I don’t get your point My issue is with a guy who looks like he’s never left his couch, criticizing somebody who’s not only spent time in combat, and in a POW camp, but has also made numerous trips to Iraq. Dress Up? Talk about acting like a 5 year old.
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 12:40 pm
Visit Scenic Iraq McCain’s “numerous trips” to Iraq have all been congressional fact-finding junkets. Do you honestly think his handlers would let him be in any real danger? Do you really think his visits to Iraq have given him an accurate picture of what’s going on there?
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 12:49 pm
As opposed to Fecke’s view from his couch? Or Michael Ware’s view from the Green Zone.
But, if the boss tells lefty bloggers to attack McCain, then I guess they better all damn well attack McCain.
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 4:03 pm
You have underestimated him… Master of None, Jeff Fecal is a coward, but even cowards are not completely incapable of action.
I am convinced that Fecal would, for instance, volunteer to throw molotov cocktails at US troops if he could do so without too much exposure.
Like perhaps from behind a crowd of children deep enough to absorb any return fire.
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 10:26 pm
That’s slander, Swiftee. Be convinced of what you want. I’m not the one arguing we should keep our troops in harms’ way forever.
Comment posted April 4, 2007 @ 2:59 pm
“That’s slander, Swiftee.” That’s slander, Swiftee.
Sorry, Jeff.
Welcome to the world of the “public figure”.
People can think pretty much what they like about your character and motivations, and state it as their opinion.
If Swiftee had said you DID in fact throw a firebomb from behind a screen of children, then…well, you’d still be pretty well screwed. But it’d be closer to “actionable”.
Hey, welcome to the world of all of us Conservative bloggers who’ve had to grin and bear it as legions of anonymous gutless people who now read MNMon commenters called us “chickenhawks”. If you’re going to keep doing this, you need a much thicker skin, ‘mano.
Oh, speaking of non-actionable “slander”, Jeff – do you know what the peacetime casualty rate of F102 pilots was?
Comment posted April 4, 2007 @ 4:10 pm
When it’s time to play toy soldier, count Chickenhawk Berg in The rest of his NARN buddies will fall right in line too. It’s the Bushies who like to dress up and call themselves “Northern Alliance” and “Shot in the Dark” and “Residual Forces” and all these other military-sounding names and pretend they actually ever had anything to do with the military. It’s like kids playing army. Wonder where their “fort” is? They’re as phony as McCain’s stroll through Baghdad.
Comment posted April 4, 2007 @ 11:07 pm
Why would I do that? 1. I’m sure I’m a public enough figure that it isn’t actionable (I said it was slander, Mitch, not that I could actually pursue the case)
2. You’re likely judgment-proof anyhow.
Comment posted April 5, 2007 @ 2:33 pm
Ummm… …numbnuts? “Shot in the Dark” was a Peter Sellers movie.
Your cultural illiteracy doesn’t constitute an emergency on my part, though.
When you have the cojones to use your real name, (to say nothing of substantiate the “dress up” and “toy soldier” crap) I’ll dignify your ranting with more than a written thumbing of the nose, though.
You never will, but I thought I’d mention it. You wouldn’t have the balls to face me in any forum, and you know it!
Gutless dolt.
Comment posted April 5, 2007 @ 2:49 pm
Ummm… …numbnuts. Peter Sellers? What do fighter jets and flags have to do with Peter Sellers? Or haven’t you looked at your banner lately?
When you have the cojones to put your signature on the military enlistment form, come back and talk. I’d call you a gutless dolt too, but you know as well as I do that the first half of that would be misleading in a literal sense.
Comment posted April 2, 2007 @ 4:29 pm
Playing Dress-Up is for Kids ?? Reading that while simultaniously looking at that picture of you wearing a rubber penis on your head was just…too…much!!
Bwahahaaa!
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 2:16 am
No… no… no… You've got it all wrong Jeff– this wasn't a vain attempt at credibility, this was the filming of an HBO pilot featuring John McCain and his Entourage.
Thats all really. Thats all.
Sean
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 4:36 am
Jeopardy I'd like Feckless for $200 Alex.
The Answer is ZERO
What is the total number of trips that Jeff Fecke has made to Iraq?
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 6:18 am
oh sheesh do we really need to start playing the “if this is such a great war why aren't you fighting in it game?” now, too? Cause I LOVE it when the site is taken over by 5 year old commentors who giggle and say penis and argue like they are in elementary school.
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 7:20 am
I don't get your point My issue is with a guy who looks like he's never left his couch, criticizing somebody who's not only spent time in combat, and in a POW camp, but has also made numerous trips to Iraq. Dress Up? Talk about acting like a 5 year old.
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 7:40 am
Visit Scenic Iraq McCain's “numerous trips” to Iraq have all been congressional fact-finding junkets. Do you honestly think his handlers would let him be in any real danger? Do you really think his visits to Iraq have given him an accurate picture of what's going on there?
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 7:49 am
As opposed to Fecke's view from his couch? Or Michael Ware's view from the Green Zone.
But, if the boss tells lefty bloggers to attack McCain, then I guess they better all damn well attack McCain.
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 11:03 am
You have underestimated him… Master of None, Jeff Fecal is a coward, but even cowards are not completely incapable of action.
I am convinced that Fecal would, for instance, volunteer to throw molotov cocktails at US troops if he could do so without too much exposure.
Like perhaps from behind a crowd of children deep enough to absorb any return fire.
Comment posted April 3, 2007 @ 5:26 pm
That's slander, Swiftee. Be convinced of what you want. I'm not the one arguing we should keep our troops in harms' way forever.
Comment posted April 4, 2007 @ 9:59 am
“That's slander, Swiftee.” That's slander, Swiftee.
Sorry, Jeff.
Welcome to the world of the “public figure”.
People can think pretty much what they like about your character and motivations, and state it as their opinion.
If Swiftee had said you DID in fact throw a firebomb from behind a screen of children, then…well, you'd still be pretty well screwed. But it'd be closer to “actionable”.
Hey, welcome to the world of all of us Conservative bloggers who've had to grin and bear it as legions of anonymous gutless <strike>people who now read MNMon</strike> commenters called us “chickenhawks”. If you're going to keep doing this, you need a much thicker skin, 'mano.
Oh, speaking of non-actionable “slander”, Jeff – do you know what the peacetime casualty rate of F102 pilots was?
Comment posted April 4, 2007 @ 11:10 am
When it's time to play toy soldier, count Chickenhawk Berg in The rest of his NARN buddies will fall right in line too. It's the Bushies who like to dress up and call themselves “Northern Alliance” and “Shot in the Dark” and “Residual Forces” and all these other military-sounding names and pretend they actually ever had anything to do with the military. It's like kids playing army. Wonder where their “fort” is? They're as phony as McCain's stroll through Baghdad.
Comment posted April 4, 2007 @ 6:07 pm
Why would I do that? 1. I'm sure I'm a public enough figure that it isn't actionable (I said it was slander, Mitch, not that I could actually pursue the case)
2. You're likely judgment-proof anyhow.
Comment posted April 5, 2007 @ 9:33 am
Ummm… …numbnuts? “Shot in the Dark” was a Peter Sellers movie.
Your cultural illiteracy doesn't constitute an emergency on my part, though.
When you have the cojones to use your real name, (to say nothing of substantiate the “dress up” and “toy soldier” crap) I'll dignify your ranting with more than a written thumbing of the nose, though.
You never will, but I thought I'd mention it. You wouldn't have the balls to face me in any forum, and you know it!
Gutless dolt.
Comment posted April 5, 2007 @ 9:49 am
Ummm… …numbnuts. Peter Sellers? What do fighter jets and flags have to do with Peter Sellers? Or haven't you looked at your banner lately?
When you have the cojones to put your signature on the military enlistment form, come back and talk. I'd call you a gutless dolt too, but you know as well as I do that the first half of that would be misleading in a literal sense.
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