"He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly."
--Proverbs 14:29
Certainly, John McCain has made mistakes on the campaign trail before. We've seen his confusion concerning al Qaeda and regarding Sunnis and Shiites, and we've been made aware of his rather erroneous views on the safety of Baghdad. But perhaps the most emblematic mistake of all was McCain's odd choice to sing along to Beach Boys' song (a shoutout to the blog's resident enthusiast) "Bomb Iran." That gaffe was potent because it played into the deepest concerns about McCain: that he was volatile, somewhat of a loose cannon, and, most of all, a warmonger.
These notions were only reinforced on Tuesday when McCain brought his latest gem of hypermilitaristic humor to the campaign trail.
Rather interesting, no? One would think that, given the political climate and the media's burning desire for a slipup, McCain's aides would be competent enough to prevent their senator from continuing this line of rather puzzling jokes. But apparently not - and this gaffe is especially dangerous because of what it reveals about McCain: that his first thought when it comes to Iranians is, well, "killing them." Troubling indeed - McCain shows more and more that he may lack the eventemperedness to serve as a peacable leader of the free world.Responding to a question about a survey that shows increased exports to Iran, mainly from cigarettes, McCain said, "Maybe that's a way of killing them."
He quickly caught himself, saying "I meant that as a joke" as his wife, Cindy, poked him in the back.
P.S.: Yay, I made a post! Now Jeremy can make fun of me...
P.P.S.: Major props for the smurf.
