UPDATE: Have added “President Putin of Germany” and “Confuses Somalia & Sudan” at the bottom.
McCain Moments
twice
John McCain misspoke and confused his African countries while talking to reporters on the Straight Talk Express [on 7/1/08]. This time, he was bailed out not by Joe Lieberman, but by his close aide Mark Salter. “How can we bring pressure on the government of Somalia?” McCain asked, which prompted Mark Salter to correct him. “Sudan,” Salter said. “Sudan,” McCain repeated. “There’s a realpolitik side of my view of the conduct of American foreign policy.”
cross-posted at RMG
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for being honest about her mother’s condition and rightfully keeping her out of the spotlight. How classy is it for the GOP to put a failing man out on the campaign trail? That is the ultimate disrespect.
You want to use the example of a wonderful woman developing Dementia as some sort of “proof” that John McCain is old and feeble minded. Should we go searching for people who have died young of lung cancer from smoking as “proof” that Obama will not make it through his Presidency.
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p>Many of your supporters here won’t admit it but your post was in poor taste.
of lung cancer? Is it affecting his mental capacity? If you can’t provide some evidence, your comparison is baseless.
is pretty weak as well Laurel. Gaffes along the campaign trail are certainly no indication at all of onsetting dementia. This seems like it’s a cheap shot and not much more.
on at least 2 separate occasions is not a “gaffe”, it is evidence that the guy can’t get his brain cells to cooperate. But even if I agreed with you that it was a longshot gaffe, when put into context with all the other “gaffes” he’s made, a trend appears that points to diminishing mental faculties.
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p>Take it or leave the evidence as you choose, but I think it is worthy of serious consideration. After all, we’re not electing the county dog catcher, we’re electing the next Commander in Chief. McCain wants to attack Iran, a country he doesn’t even know the geographical location of or the social make-up of. That is friggin scary.
made a reference to having been in “57 states.” I have not actually heard the quotes but some of my conservative friends make reference to it on a constant basis. Despite this “evidence” I still believe that Barack knows how many states are in the United States.
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p>BTW is it okay to admit on this blog to having conservative friends?
so my answer is an emphatic “yes!”. đŸ˜€
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p>I’ve heard about that Obama gaffe too, and I have no reason to believe it didn’t happen, although I don’t have a link to anything. The difference is it seems to be an isolated goof, not one in a constellation of mistakes regarding international relations and policy.
that this country voted overwhelmingly for Ronald Reagan a man clearly in his dotage. He referred to his wife as “Mommy” didn’t he?
He was an old guy (to me, a HS student at the time), but he seemed fully in charge of his faculties and at the top of his game. At least the first go-round. I certainly don’t recall him fumbling major points like McCain is doing.
…and said he’d been to 57 states. He meant to say 47, and it was a very minor gaffe, especially when you consider the scope and number of McCain’s gaffes.
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p>However, we have lies and the lying liars who tell them in the opposition party, so the claim out there by Republicans is that Obama was referring to the 57 states of the world that are controlled by Islam. Naturally, that’s utter bullshit, but that never stopped anyone on the right from swallowing it hook, line and sinker…
about thanking “fallen heroes – and I see many of them in the audience here today”. Did he really think there were dead people there… no. It was just a mistake these guys make but Laurel wants to tie ONLY McCain’s mistakes to certain signs of dementia.
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p>As I wrote one day on this blog…
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Carol Thatcher was talking about how her mother confused the Falklands war with the war in Bosnia, much like the confusion McCain exhibited in the video examples provided. Big, big difference.
Yet he can’t keep countries, their leaders and their geography straight. These are simple basics someone who is a foreign policy ace should be able to recite in their sleep. If this is the subject he’s supposed to be good at, I hate to think of the hash he’d make of subjects he doesn’t excel in.
I’ve responded to this before from JD, that ever vigilant enforcer of symmetry, but once more cannot hurt.
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p>The 57 state gaffe occurred when Obama was talking about how many states and territories he had campaigned in. I’d presume that campaigning in a territory doesn’t differ so much from campaigning in a state and territories are even a bit like states. In any case, he made this gaffe once. It was never repeated.
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p>The Czechoslovakia gaffe is very surprising:
Some Democrats with sharper elbows than those that visit BMG have compiled video clips of McCain looking disoriented in responding to questions.
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p>I don’t know for sure whether all this confirms or denies, or indicates or contra-indicates dementia. On its face, it doesn’t sound good.
… either he’s a natural born gaffer… or he’s got dementia. I mean… really now? Either he’s got dementia or that’s just how he is
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p>Either way, I ain’t votin fer him.
anyone’s highest priority?
most definitely.
You guys win, I lose. I keep forgetting how everything is “Different” when it’s Dem vs. REP. McCain flip-flops… Obama “shifts”. McCain is feeble minded… Obama misstated something. McCain is part of the “establishment”… Biden has “experience of 30 years in Senate”, McCain is rich (2008 income $236K)… Obama is working class (2008 income $4,200,000)… You are all correct.
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p>Go and have a love fest of dementia remarks about McCain. But please remember this when your feeble minded US Senators like Ted Kennedy and the other OLD GUYS run for reelection. I would hope you oppose their reelection efforts since they are beyond McCain’s 71 years and Biden’s 65 years of age.
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p>Dems only listed since you would oppose ANY Republican…
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p>Robert Byrd (D-WV) November 20, 1917 (age 90)
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) January 23, 1924 (age 84)
Daniel Inouye (D-HI) September 7, 1924 (age 83)
Daniel Akaka (D-HI) September 11, 1924 (age 83)
Ted Kennedy (D-MA) February 22, 1932 (age 76)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) June 22, 1933 (age 75)
Carl Levin (D-MI) June 28, 1934 (age 74)
Herb Kohl (D-WI) February 7, 1935 (age 73) )
Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) July 20, 1936 (age 72)
Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) June 18, 1937 (age 71)
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p>I don’t have the list handy but I’ll bet there are a whole bunch of Democratic US Representatives who are over 70 and thus are incredibly feeble and mentally unstable… surely suffering from Dementia. We should also immediately remove any Democratic CEO, Judge, Mayor, Governor… since we wouldn’t want them to order a chicken sandwich when they really wanted Turkey at lunch someday. How old is George Soros and shouldn’t he be locked up somewhere before he hurts himself.
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p>When you get a chance, why don’t you create a new set of criteria which we could implement for future Presidential candidates (age, religion, sexual persuasion, smoker, drinker, HIV status…). But don’t put “experience” in the list until after Obama has his day!
…among all those names, John – just as you were shown concrete examples of it in McCain in the video clips above. If you can’t do that, then you have no point. Good luck.
… it would probably be harder to find such concrete examples if for no other reason than there is more material on McCain out there because his run for POTUS gets covered more. Not that that proves anything, just that lack of supportive material may be because of a greater magnitude of feeble-mindedness for McCain or just greater coverage of McCain. If you could find the ‘harder to find’ stuff, then you could make a comparison I would suppose.
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p>Personally I find it irrelevant. If the man, for whatever reason, can’t keep his countries and terrorist organizations straight then he’s lost any credibility that he’d be a great POTUS or national security or foreign policy. That would go equally true of anyone on that list or anyone else, old or not.
If age is “go/no-go” gauge for mental capacity then let’s use it across the board. If it isn’t then let’s drop this foolishness. Besides, any “concrete” examples would be “explained” away by the pundits.
Welcome to the pundit class! đŸ˜‰
Why don’t we make some “promise” to discuss the issues and stop with the Rev Wright, Demnetia… sort of posts?
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p>My guess is the bloggers here in support of Obama could not make that promise.
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p>You?
John McCain should take, and pass, an Alzheimer’s test before election day. Reverend Wright will not be assuming the duties of POTUS if Obama wins, but the outside chance of a mentally handicapped man assuming those duties exists if John McCain wins. If he’s not suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia, it should be easy for him to take the test, correct?
“Th’ dawg dahd…dahd, dahd, dahd…’ Sen. Byrd.
If you think Burd shouldn’t be in the senate, I’d suggest you donate to and campaign for his opponent. If there’s evidence of his feeble-mindedness, show it – for some reason, I just can’t take anything you say on faith…
have the responsibility of Commander in Chief. Big diff.
Have you singularly defined the acceptance of mental dementia to be anything below the President? Are you ok with Teddy, Byrd and he other old koots to be confirming judges, okaying war (and funding), passing huge deficits… but when it comes to the President… nope. Certainly YOU know the power resides with Congress and not the President (or Governor).
than I’ll be happy to hear you report on your vote for Obama. Because if it doesn’t matter, why not?
What I was asking is very simple Laurel. Either make this “AGE” thing a requirement for all these EXTREMELY important offices, or drop it. Don’t selectively pick the Presidency. Be credible.
However, I think if you’ve been on BMG long you know that I don’t hesitate with critical evaluations of any candidate, young or old, rep, dem or indie. If I think they’re dangerous to the public good for any reason I try to speak up. It is all I can do as an individual citizen. Well, and vote.
My suggestion was in line with removing this “subjective” nature of whether something is truly relevant or not. I tire of the it’s bad that your guy does something but it’s not bad that my guy does the same thing. There is no winning of issues like this, just tireless arguing. So I was trying to say “Is age relevant? If so, let’s apply it equally. If not, then let’s BOTH stop using it as a stick against older Politicians”.
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p>Ties are boring or/and I can remember the expression “ties are like kissing your sister” which now seems so wrong.
were not fooled by lies into entering the Iraq War based on lies.
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p>Perhaps, yes, Republicans are all demented.
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p>I’ll accept that.
I watched my grandmother spend over a decade in a nursing home completely unaware of her surroundings. A once vibrant woman was reduced to a shell of her former self, unable to recognize any of her loved ones or recall any of the wonderful times we had as a family.
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p>And now that Margaret Thatcher is suffering from the same cruel disease, you use it to score cheap political points against McCain?
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p>You are a horrible, disgusting person with absolutely zero class. BMG should be shamed that they allow this thread to continue.
Me by pointing out the truth, or the GOP by trotting this guy out there to fail in public? As I said above, Carol Thatcher, the fmr PM’s daughter, is the classy one because when she recognized what was happening with her mother, she made sure dignity was maintained by not allowing her to be put into situations she could no longer handle. The GOP should take a lesson from her and choose someone else fast, rather than use up McCain like a public commodity.
You have no medical proof McCain suffers from dementia, only some theory you cooked up in your head.
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p>People of all walks of life misspeak all the time.
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p>I hope people remember this thread the next time someone complains about Replublican “smear tactics.”
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p>BMG has certainly hit a new low with this thread.
It is not a “BMG thread”, it is my thread that I posted on BMG. If McCain is elected and it turns out I’m right about his dementia, will you also take responsibility and see that he is removed from office before he starts WWIII?
Is that likely? It’s more likely that WWIII will be caused by something other than the President forgetting something, isn’t it?
for example where Iran is (although he wants to bomb it) and who its neighbors are and what flavor of Islam it backs and what external groups it does and doesn’t affiliate with is kinda important if you don’t want to accidentally cause a conflagration. But feel free to think otherwise. This is all just a silly game after all. We’re not talking American lives or anything.
we could make that judgment for ourselves – but the manner in which he allowed reporters a quick peak at his records speaks volumes about what he’s trying to hide in those files. Will you ask the campaign to put this rumor to rest with a full disclosure? Or even ask them to get McCain tested for dementia or Alzheimer’s?
…of coke spoon bubba and purple owwie john-boy.
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p>Don’t make demands of others that you’re not willing to demand of your own.
Clinton’s “cocaine addiction” is nothing more than the fever dreams of some rabid freeper – and you demean every recipient of the Purple Heart when you demean John Kerry for his. Way to show your support of the troops there, sport.
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p>The fact is, before we elect the oldest president ever, we have a right to know more about his medical condition. If that casts a bad light on your candidate, that’s too bad for you – blame your party for having such a weak slate of losers that McCain ended up on the top of the heap…
I’ve never made these (alleged) “smears” before. It’s not my general forte.
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p>I used it as a device to point out the ABJECT IGNORANCE of this entire diary.
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p>So, as I said before: Don’t make demands of others that you’re not willing to demand of your own.
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p>If you can’t deal with it. Too bad. You can stuff it.
was a brilliant man but he was prone to verbal gaffes. People misspeak and people misspell. ErnieBochIII comes to mind. That doesn’t make them of unsound mind. Some of McCains mistakes are a little more concerning but in the end I think this is a non issue. I would hope that when McCain or Obama become president they will surround themselves with wise men and women who will make sure that the “gaffes” are kept to the minimum.
with Bush, didn’t it? If the person who chooses the WH crew (your know, “the decider”) is suffering from dementia, what kind of people do you suppose he might surround himself with? Cheney, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Gonzales, men named Scooter…
I’ve said it already, but this thread is pretty ridiculous. I don’t care how many videos you bring up or how horrifying the gaffes are (and as somebody who is far more interested in foreign policy than domestic, I do find those statements horrifying), you have offered absolutely no proof that Sen. McCain is suffering from dementia. This is a smear post and not much else. You could have easily had a great post criticizing McCain’s “experience” had you kept the videos and criticized him on those alone. Instead, your hypothesis of dementia is ridiculous, unfounded and (some would say,like Mr. Weebles) offensive. Could you possibly realize that and maybe even apologize? Or at least admit that the way you set up this thread is misleading and dubious at best?
Obviously I disagree with you. The hypothesis is sound. You are of course free to decide for yourself whether the evidence supports the hypothesis. You are free to find it offensive. What I find offensive is the cultural taboo of suggesting that an elderly man who has repeatedly made grave mistakes on weighty subjects might be suffering from senile dementia. It’s like the old social rule of only whispering the word “cancer”. This is a presidential candidate we’re talking about. We can’t afford to let baseless social norms keep us from evaluating the man from this legitimate angle.
the hypothesis is sound? Who says it’s a legitimate angle? You? Just because you say so and it’s your thread? I’m sorry but just spouting something like this with absolutely no evidence is just wrong. Let’s be clear: I wasn’t suggesting that you were either right or wrong. What I find bothersome is your utter lack of evidence, of actual proof for your “hypothesis”. You failed to cite any of the actual symptoms of dementia and match them up specifically to what you view as “evidence”. So here, I did it for you:
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p>http://familydoctor.org/online…
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p>http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medline…
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p>On the latter link, lets take a look at what it says:
emphasis mine
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p>and here is from the former:
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p>
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p>If McCain’s been making the same mistake regarding the Czech Republic and Slovakia for years, that’s not dementia. If McCain either misspoke or actually thought Iraq and Pakistan bordered each other, that’s no indication of dementia either (it does indicate something, that’s for sure). Same with the Putin comment.
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p>Did you do any research to see if Alzheimer’s runs in his family? Has McCain had a stroke recently? That’s the kind of information I would look for if you were going to make a legitimate hypothesis. Social norms be damned, lets get some quality, fact-based ideas and I’d be fine.
wanting some solid medical information on the guy. the problem is that when he released over 1000 pages of his medical records at the start of the campaign, they were given to a select set of reporters to look at for all of 3 hrs. that is not enough time to find everything that might be in the records, or even to determine whether some of the records might be missing. and the reporters weren’t allowed to make copies. and they didn’t know whether these were all of the medical records, or some. the doctor that spoke for mccain is a medical doctor, not a phychologist or phychiatrist, so may not have been competent to speak on something like dementia. and in any case, if mccain didn’t see him for that, he would have nothing to report to us, would he?
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p>so you see, all we’re left with is mccain’s public performances. why don’t you try calling the campaign, see if they’ll tell you if alzheimers runs in the family? i’m sure they’ll be really happy to let you do the work you’re snapping at me for not being able to provide.
HE WON! Unlike ‘The One’, MCain actually has enough delegates going into the convention to take the nomination!
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p>We do not HAVE super Delegates to overide the decisions of the voters. we do not HAVE ‘apportionment committees’ to award delegates to candidates who do not appear on the ballot the way the DNC did with Michigan.
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p>Unlike Obama – McCain was able to CONVINCE ACTUAL VOTERS TO VOTE FOR HIM. So you see, we can’t autocratically CHOOSE somebody else the way the party of ‘Count Every Vote’ can.
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p>I know that’s hard for Democrats to grasp, but that’s how we do business.
Here in WA, party chair Esser infamously gave the win to McCain. You do have super-duper-delegates, you just don’t acknowledge them.
What’s the big deal. Dementia is common to even younger Presidents and contenders. Consider that Bill Clinton didn’t remember having sex in the White House! John Edwards…
… Republican.
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p>I think John McCain does suffer from dementia. In fact, I think most, if not all, Republicans suffer from dementia. I think the damage to the brain is a symptom of this dementia (not the other way around, as is probably the case with Madam Thatcher) I think the combination of upward-failing people, including George Dubya, and deep seated neuroses (not to mention deeper seated psychoses… I’m looking at you Larry Craig) have resulted in this dementia… How could they not? The moralizing, high-minded rhetoric of ethics, honesty and law-and-order is so deeply at odds with the actual immoral low road they’ve taken it’s hard to see how they can escape dementia… indeed, isn’t the split of mind and reality sorta the definition of dementia? And isn’t dementia the reason ordinary Republicans have not repudiated people like George Bush? It’s not like they haven’t been told what’s what… George Bush promised to “restore honor and dignity” but has delivered the most underhanded, incompetent, scandalous and disreputable administration in recent memory. Can felonious behaviour, and high-falutin rhetoric exist in the same narrative for long without causing decline in cognitive function? Can one person accuse himself repeatedly without, in fact, losing his mind? Can your deeds be at distinct odds with your words without consequence for how your brain handles itself?
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p>You wonder why McCain can’t keep facts straight?? Maybe cause he can’t reconcile his life as he lives it with the campaign as it is…
I wouldn’t typify all republicans as demented, but I think you raise an interesting observation about the current crop that is in power and seeks to stay there, and those who know they’re being duped but vote for them anyway.
… you’ll have to back up your (implicit) claim that I’m somehow in breach of the “Rules of the Road”.
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A zero for suggesting that Clinton may have been suffering from dementia because he didn’t recall having sex with that women? What’s the alternative explanation, perjury?
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p>McCain dementia? Here’s your argument. McCain might, because of his age, have a greater liklihood of experiencing some form of dementia in the future.
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p>Obama, because he smoked, and is black, might have a greater liklihood of having lung cancer.
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p>The press had equal access to complete medical records for each candidate. Vote your conscience; it’s rather pointless to prolong this trollish thread, since there’s no end point, but rather idle speculation based on anecdotes and nearly irrelevant probabilities.
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p>Interesting though, you look at the Rick Warren event, where McCain supporters call a win, and Obama’s supporters call a tie, which of course means McCain won. You saying that Mr. Obama had his ass handed to him by someone suffering from dementia?
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p>Clinton is done. He’ll never hold office again. I know that makes you sad because your rage remains unsated… but you’re going to have to come to grips with that.
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p>
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p>Um, no. My argument (and I assume that it is Laurels, but you’d have to ask Laurel to be sure) is that McCain, in the present, EXHIBITS speech patterns, is often confused and conflates ideas in a manner that is entirely consistent with slowly decaying cognitive functions; i.e. dementia. I further contend that he’s so wrapped up in the deeply mendacious thought processes of the Right that he has no choice. And yes; I’m saying that about YOU, also: It’s a clear sign of dementia to attempt a defense of the indefensible.
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p>Just in case you didn’t get it, here it is again: neither McCain, nor YOU, can escape dementia because it’s at the very core of the present day republican ideology.
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p>You can’t be both for and against scandals and scandalous behavior without being demented. It’s just that simple.
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p>You can’t vote for a liar who promises honesty when you’ve been told repeatedly that he’s lying without being demented.
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p>You can’t wear a purple heart band aid and say you support the troops without being demented.
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p>You can’t be a former POW who’s been tortured and stand with George W. Bush without being demented.
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p>You can’t profess a belief in Jesus Christ and condone torture without being demented. Nor can you expect Jesus Christ will have much mercy on you if you actively despise mercy. That too is deranged.
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p>You also can’t profess a belief in Jesus Christ and work tirelessly to make the wealthy wealthier. That too requires dementia.
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p>You can’t troll airport men’s rooms for anonymous sex while promoting an anti-gay policy without being demented.
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p>And you can’t expect us to take your high moral tone all serious after you’ve launched a defense of the GOP. That’s clearly being demented. There is no sane excuse for much, if not all, of the behavior of most of the party you profess to admire and for whom you presumably vote. You simply have no right to expect sanity once you’ve embraced the Republican party platform. Yes, it is that simple.
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p>Seriously, dude… If you walked into any doctors office or hospital or health clinic or what have you and say: “I have a friend who always says one thing and does the exact opposite. What’s more, all my other friends support him and keep pulling him out of the messes he gets himself into. I don’t know what’s wrong”… the doctor is going to tell you that your friends are DEMENTED!
really gonna get fun in here for the next couple of months huh?