I really don’t care to spend the next few weeks arguing whether or not McCain is lying about his Christ/Cross/guard moment and will let others chase after things that can not be proven one way or another, but Michael Goldfarb’s defenses are becoming increasingly bizarre:
It may be typical of the pro-Obama Dungeons & Dragons crowd to disparage a fellow countryman’s memory of war from the comfort of mom’s basement, but most Americans have the humility and gratitude to respect and learn from the memories of men who suffered on behalf of others. John McCain has often said he witnessed a thousand acts of bravery while he was imprisoned, and though not every one has been submitted into the public record, they are remembered by the men who were there (one such only recently reported by Karl Rove though it escaped mention in any of Senator McCain’s books). But as Swindle said, this is a “desperate group of people trying to make something out of nothing.”
First, Orson Swindle really doesn’t have much credibility on most things, and is a particularly amusing choice when you are trying to defending McCain from these charges based on his military service, as it was Orson Swindle who was smearing Wes Clark just a few weeks ago:
“General Clark probably wouldn’t get that much praise from this group. I can’t speak for them, but we all know that General Clark, as high-ranking as he is, his record in his last command I think was somewhat less than stellar.”
Second, this is at least the second or third time Goldfarb has brought up Dungeons and Dragons. As nothing is accidental with these clowns, why this choice? Is it to build up McCain’s macho street cred by attacking the nerdy Obama and his supporters? Are the religious nuts still convinced D&D is a tool of satan? Is there some sort of anti-D&D demographic out there that is the new soccer mom? Or is Michael Goldfarb just an idiot and forgot to vary his schoolyard insults?
At any rate, I really don’t care about McCain’s war record anymore. His ideas suck. They would suck even if he had spent ten years in a prison camp and won the CMH.
dbrown
McSame didn’t follow the rules nor did Warren tell the truth about Mcsame being isolated – they admit that he was in one of the SUV’s while Obama was talking but we are to believe he never listen on the radio to Obama’s answers during the live broadcast – right. Even these liars are getting help from so-called ministers who support the lies. Typical repubic.
mapaghimagsik
His ideas suck and he’s crooked.
wingnuts to iraq
i think we finally know what the lump in McCain’s face is for… picking up radio signlas
chopper
*note, does not apply when the veteran is a democrat.
Mike
If you can’t trust a man named Swindle …
Liberal Masochist
John – you should dock each poster 10 hit points for not properly embedding links. It’s been a real mess around here lately. And yes, I was probably the impetus for your tutorial a few months ago!
4tehlulz
>>disparage a fellow countryman’s memory of war from the comfort of mom’s basement,
But it worked so well in 2004. Purple heart band-aids anyone?
Gauntlet
Elf, your life force is running out.
Don’t shoot food.
El Cruzado
He risks losing the key D&D player demographic.
On a slightly serious note, last I heard the number of people who have at least played the game in the US is well above 4 million, including sizeable parts of the US armed forces. I have to say also that living in NOVA and playing D&D you get to meet all sorts of interesting national security types.
Gauntlet 2
McCain, your electability is running out.
Don’t shoot wingnuts.
Chris
Juvenile name-calling on the official campaign blog is not respectable.
Q: is Michael Goldfarb just an idiot?
A: Yes.
cmorenc
Wingers are totally shameless about hypocritically attacking opponents on grounds they themselves egregiously violated in the very recent past (sometimes earlier in the same week). It’s as if the rules of integrity, honesty, and logic are not transitive or commutative; the same action which is considered by them a grave sin in liberalworld does not constitute one at all when redistributed to occur in conservativeworld, and grave accusations hurled from right to left cannot validly be reversed to be hurled from left to right. If challenged, they either concoct some rationale to totally deny any similarity, or else immediately change the subject to some emotionally charged tangent completely irrelevant to the issue at hand.
But you knew all that.
4tehlulz
>>I have to say also that living in NOVA and playing D&D you get to meet all sorts of interesting national security types.
That explains why the core of our new missile defense consists of d20 dice.
Should Know Better
Regardless of whether the memories are true. Or, y’now… coherent.
mapaghimagsik
>>I have to say also that living in NOVA and playing D&D you get to meet all sorts of interesting national security types.
It also explains the “torture works” mentality.
“I roll interrogation”
Krista
We get points? When the hell did this happen?
SpotWeld
As near as I can tell Goldfarb comments seem to have something to with the longstanding animosity between military miniatures wargamers and fantasy (pen and paper) role players. Generally, up until they started getting lumped together with the Harry Potter wanna-bes wargamers could pretend they were doing some sort of “historical scholarship” instead of just playing games with dice.
I mean Goldfarb seems like the type who likes pushing lead around a map and pretending he’s accomplished something?
DougJ
We are all Dungeons & Dragons now.
For me, that’s the take away of the crisis in Georgia and, more broadly, of the entire war on terror. We cannot rest easy until we have driven the Russian Islamofascists from Georgia soil.
Litlebritdifrnt
Okay – perhaps I am being a little obtuse here, but why does being a POW simply bestow you with every quality ever needed for the highest office of the land without any other qualification. I mean having a reasoned and nuanced idea for things should qualify right? I mean, having the ability to reach across the aisle and compromise with people should work right? Personally I am not sure I want a former POW in the highest office in the land. It kind of scares me to be honest. Who the fuck knows what mind changing shit he went through while he was being tortured? (Just in case someone decides to say “when did you serve or some such tripe” me 14 years Her Majesty’s Woman’s Royal Naval Service, husband 16 years USMC). Got numerous t-shirts.
Ted
That’s a new one. But it flows.
The Grand Panjandrum
Today in a stump speech McCain was accusing Obama of flip-flopping. Steven Benen has this nice little catalog of McCain’s flip-flops. Its up to 72, and these aren’t nitpicky stupid shit.
AND McCain claims credit for the new GI Bill.
Bitch, please.
Kevin
I was thinking more along the lines of Dark Helmet
Jim
Lord almighty, what a hypocritical piece of rat shit Goldfarb is.
The Swiftboaters thought nothing, NOTHING, about impugning Kerry’s integrity and war record because of what Kerry did after the war, and more relevant to Goldfuck’s comment, they impugned Kerry’s fellow shipmates (you know the ones who actually served on Kerry’s boat, not the assholes who later challenged Kerry’s service because of politics), and I’m quite sure you won’t find Goldfuck crying foul about that. Republicans can pull that shit without getting called on it, but God forbid the Dems try it. Oh no, they are impugning the integrity of McCain’s fellow POWs.
Go fuck yourself Goldfuck, and fuck John McCain in the process. I started this political season thinking that if a Republican had to win, I would be most comfortable with McCain. I’ve since come to detest the man with his rank hypocrisy and self-righteous bullshit. He makes Romney seem like the model of sincerity.
Joshua Norton
All you have to do is look at the administration of Grant to see exactly what a McCain presidency would look like. Except for the fact that Grant was a genuine war hero and wildly popular, he had no clue how to govern and his advisers and cabinet were graft-ridden crooks and lobbyists – much like the bottom feeders that make up the McCain inner circle.
The man is as lost as Atlantis, and freely admits it. He’ll be the failed neo-cons wet dream. Not all republicans are idiots, but all idiots are republicans.
w vincentz
Ok, I need to simplify this so that my small mind can grasp the enormity.
1) John McCain went to a “Christian” church an emphasized that he was a POW and told a “cross in the sand” tall tale.
2) As a fine and worthy “Christian” (and also great “hero”), he had his pathetic ass shot out of the sky over Hanoi when he was attempting to drop BOMBS on innocent people that just happened to live there. like a “good Christian”, he was only fullfilling his patriotic calling, and thereby was willing to disregard Jesus’s advice to “love your enemies, pray for them”, “love your neighbor as yourself”.
3) The people that he was attempting to drop bombs on (KILL) fished his sorry ass out of a lake and delivered him to the authorities rather than just killing him.
4) There are REALLY people that will vote for him because he is a “good Christian” and believes that human life begins at conception. Forget about aborting them, when they certainly can have bombs dropped on them later after they’ve been born.
5) McCain claims HE suffered and should gain votes for this (despite his numerous bombing runs over North Vietnam).
6) Time for me to vomit.
libarbarian
I think harping on the “cross story” is a downright loser.
Even though it’s “not our job” to prove it didn’t happen, the fact is that given the absence of evidence and the trauma he suffered during the time under recollection, a lot of people are going to give McCain the benefit of the doubt when it comes to his intentions. They will trust that, even if untrue, it is a false memory and not a lie.
But whatever. Can’t be a “concern troll” or people won’t like me .
Martin
My guess is that this particular challenge against McCain’s POW legend is the kind of thing that really makes him erupt. That legend is what has carried him through his entire political life and if this challenge were to stick, basically the narrative completely unravels out of lack of credibility. This is what unhinges McCain. This is what Obama needs to find a way to poke during a debate.
Ted
Did you all know McCain was a POW? It’s true, though he doesn’t like to bring it up.
libarbarian
I think Dean Bartlett says it best
The Moar You Know
See: Homosexuality
It is spaketh, and so shalt be reported by the humble media servants of our liege Lord McCain.
Seth
Ahh the mom’s basement slam, always a favorite of mine.
Martin
Elitists and nerds play D&D. Real Americans throw tackles – preferably against D&D players.
Honestly, name-calling is pretty weak stuff. This is a presidential election and McCain’s staff are acting like 4th graders.
libarbarian
If your point is that we should bring it up so much that he doesn’t have to, then I credit you for living your principles.
mapaghimagsik
Interesting that the “cross in the sand” which is probably fake is a total loser, but strangely enough, the Republicans had no problem with “Kerry shot himself” and ran around with purple band-aids.
The democratic part will be destroyed by its own class.
Frank Jacobs
Uh, so now Rove was in ‘Nam? WTF?
I’d like to make a “detect bullshit” roll, please.
Downpuppy
To repeat the obvious, nobody gives a crap about his war record. It’s about his 2008 record : Going 7 months, 18 days without saying one true thing.
Napoleon
Bingo – for this same reason I thought Gore (then Kerry) should hang Bush with the “He’s a liar” narrative, which they never tried to do. It would have sunk him, just like McSame is toast if they puncture the POW narrative.
RH Potfry
So your blog last night calls McCain’s story “borrowed” and today you say you don’t care, his “ideas just suck.”
Posturing.
SpotWeld
I see your point, but I would hasten to point out that there is an army of right-wing pundits slavering to make “Does this mean Obama hates the military” comments, and a slew of nutjobs with thier fingers on the send buttons waiting for photoshopped Kerry+Obama images to forward.
It’ll be easier for Obama to just let McCain hang himself with his own contradictory rhetoric, and simple repeat McCain’s own words against him.
DougJ
We are all 4th graders now.
Ted
It’s been a blast watching them. Overreacting and screaming about every little thing. And they don’t realize why this is a bad strategy. I love that Rick Davis is manning their “message” front. That man appears to be absolutely boiling with rage every time I see him on cable news.
Anyway, I understand why they’re so sensitive. McCain is ZERO without that history. He’s worked exactly 1 real private sector job in his entire life (a job Cindy got him at her father’s company), and it didn’t exactly work out for long.
John Cole
Yes, and now my blog, an inanimate object, is calling you a wanker.
PS- Michael D. posted the story last night.
Tzal
It just shows his total disdain for bloggers and people who frequently use the internet in general. Goldfarb is probably thinking to himself: “Bloggers are pretty low on the coolness scale, what’s even less coll? D&D players!!!!”
A lot of people still think the internet is dorky. It kind of is, but not in the same way it was back in 1995 and as Goldfarb perceives it.
dbrown
True followers of christ murder, kil, steal lie and don’t give a shit for anyone but themselves – that is, they are true American Repubics; only terrorist loving American haters follow the real words of Christ and love their enemies.
Dennis - SGMM
A long, long time ago I volunteered to serve in-country in the then Republic of Vietnam. SERE school was a part of the preparation. One of our instructors told us that everyone has a breaking point. He warned us though that once you broke you would spend the rest of your life knowing exactly what it took to break you. McCain broke. He signed a confession in which he admitted to any number of heinous acts. Not all POW’s signed such confessions but McCain did.
Martin
Because he’s a POW. That’s why! And don’t you dare question that being a POW makes you perfectly honest, competent, and physically fit. McCain would have won 11 gold medals in swimming in Beijing if he wasn’t running for President. That’s how POW that man is.
Martin
AM NOT!
w vincentz
@RH Potfry,
McCain (R-Idiot) should run on Vietnam (and his POW creds), afterall, that war was only lost because of the liberal hippies, and his Iraq “war” stances have been proven delusional.
Let’s have MORE and Bigger wars! Vote McInsane! He’ll bring blood, plenty of blood.
Sign your sons and daughters up. Enlist today!
The Moar You Know
Agreed, if only because most of my fellow citizens can’t seem to use silverware without someone barking orders at them on how to do so. They’ll believe anything.
True.
Well, in all fairness, they did fuck him up pretty good. Can’t blame them.
I’m not sure how he could do so, but I’ll say this – I know goddamn well that most of what McCain claims he went through is bullshit self-serving lies, designed expressly for him to do what he has done his entire political existence – run for bigger, better, higher offices without being questioned on what he and his buddies are planning to steal next.
As with most liars, the thing that sets them off is to have their integrity questioned. But I’m not sure Obama is in a place to do so, at least not directly, without causing himself more harm than he’d gain from such a tactic. Kind of the same handicap McCain is in with regard to Obama’s race.
nightjar
LOL! and PoTD
Martin
No, Obama can’t do it directly because you’re exactly right. He needs to do it very carefully. But McCain has a button which can be pushed – it’s just a matter of figuring out how to push it.
The Grand Panjandrum
Without toe-tapping. And THAT doesn’t suck.
For the Chicken Littles worried about Obama not hitting McCain back I suggest you go to this new website put by the campaign. He’s been killing McCain for over a week now with an attack ad on the economy and its been playing here in New Mexico for that week.
Are you better off now than you were four years ago? McCain’s going to be looking for his Christian buddies when the lions finish with his old wrinkled ass.
nightjar
R2
Ted
I still think criticizing his behavior, whatever it was, while a POW and under torture is off limits and irrelevant. Unless you’re arguing about torture as US policy, then of course it’s relevant, and McCane should be absolutely nailed on his complicity in not stopping the Bush admin from doing it. But I’ll give McCane the benefit of the doubt on the confession crap, as I’m sure being the son of an admiral earned him special attention and focus from the VC. I wouldn’t doubt he got to experience quite a few more “enhanced interrogations” than most of his fellow POWs.
nightjar
Yup. Served on The Good Ship Lollypop cruising the Mekong Delta.
John S.
The problem lies in the beatitudes.
See, if you pronounce it the Bee – AH – ti – tudes (from Latin “beatus”, meaning “blessed”) then you believe that blessed are the meek, the peacemakers and all that other pussy shit.
Here in America, we pronounce it the BEET – i – tudes. As in blessed are those that beat the shit out of all Muslims, homosexuals and all the other heathens looking for a fight.
Accept Jesus or get your monkey ass kicked.
Just Some Fuckhead
You are in the hall of the Straight Talk Express with passages in all directions. A huge gold farb bars the way!
w vincentz
@ dbrown,
I wouldn’t call them “true” followers if they lie, kill, steal, cheat. Perhaps in their twisted minds they can justify. Looks like the “evangelicals” are all for it.
The question needs to be asked…who would Jesus BOMB?
Louise
I wonder if there’s some way to create a narrative (outside the blogs, where it is already known) that the Big Talking Heads in the media and their campaign reporters have not only been snowed by the McCain “charm” but that the McCain camp laughs at them daily for how gullible they are.
I mean, we know it’s true, but if those folks thought the average viewer thought so, they might, in their defensiveness, actually fact-check and call McCain on his shit.
It’s the only way I can imagine they would ever do so. Idiots.
JL
Whether or not McCain cheated, made up stories or whatever during the Faith Forum is irrelevant. He went on stage and lied about being in a room and joked about his ear up against a wall. That was a lie. A car is not a room. According to repubs and Clinton’s affair, it was not about the affair, it was about the lie.
Limbaugh's Pilonidal Cyst
I too served in Viet Nam and nearly was awarded a CMH* myself.
*Casket with Metal Handles
Karl Steel
On a slightly serious note, last I heard the number of people who have at least played the game in the US is well above 4 million, including sizeable parts of the US armed forces.
Anecdotal evidence: my brother (a doctor) just returned from Iraq and said there’s a fair amount of D&D going on among the troops to pass the time. So the question is: why is Goldfarb against the troops?
EL
SpotWeld, on this
Ah, but the beauty of this one is where the initial question of plagiarizing the “cross in the sand” story came from… the right-wing nut jobs on Free Republic! See the 2005 thread here.
Ninerdave
and he’ll keep doing that until someone calls him on it. Why wouldn’t he?
w vincentz
CMH= chronic mental handicap
Jake
I don’t think there’s a clean way for him to do so without having the press absolutely crucify him for it.
The best he can do here, IMO, is to continue to harp on the notion that he doesn’t have any issues with McCain’s biography, but he has plenty with his policies. He did this during the primary, I think he needs to come back to it. It’s essentially a polite version of:
Which is pitch-perfect.
lurker
More McCain BS — Announcing his vp on the day after Obama’s convention speech so he can “own the weekend,” as if Obama and his vp can’t have plenty of their own, competing events and as if all of America is just glued to their teevees all weekend long.
harlana pepper
Wow. That is some pretty lofty shit.
As for the D&D reference, he’s just trying to throw our own meme of the Cheeto-stained, right-wing zealot blogger living in his mom’s basement, back at us. That’s all it’s about. Cause they can’t come up with anything original on their own.
John Cole
Oh- CMH is the Congressional Medal of Honor.
Guys in my unit used to call it the Coffin with Metal Handles because it is awarded posthumously a great deal.
harlana pepper
The fact that we’re even having to have this discussion in these times is very discouraging. Why is it necessary to have a ‘religious forum’ on candidates?? I can’t believe this is where we are, right now, with the world destroying itself. Perhaps faith is definitely something the ‘Leader of the Free World’ will need, but why are we taking the time to pick apart their beliefs, when it’s doubtful either one of them would be quite so gone on Christianity if it were not politically expedient for them to be so.
jake
Republican + POW = Because shut up, that’s why.
Xenos
Most of the kids today are playing card games like Magic or Yu-Gi-Oh instead of rolling little polyhedrons. And have you every tried playing the Pokemon card game? That shit is a lot harder than the old Advanced D&D I played in middle school back in the day.
Alan
I have always considered spiritual moments to be very personal. So I have no doubt McCain would hold moments such as this dear to himself. And that’s why we’ve never heard this particular story up until now, during the heated moments of a Presidential campaign.
Conservatively Liberal
Damn right, it is bullshit that they think they can dump that kind of crap on Kerry, his shipmates and Democrats in general and then they use the lame assed defense that McCain was a POW so his integrity is not to be questioned and anyone who does is scum. The fucking Swiftboaters set the gold standard for how politicians who were formerly in the military (and their fellow service members) are to be treated. They started this shit about questioning the character and statements of former service members who run for office. If they want anyone to blame, they can look in the fucking mirror. They lowered the bar, and now they are whining now that it is coming back to bite them in the ass. They opened the lid on this sewer and now they are complaining about the fumes. Boo-fucking-hoo.
If you dish it out, you damn well better be tough enough to take it. The Republicans obviously can’t take it, especially when it’s the truth.
Yup, and whatever they try to copy from the left and turn against them always ends in a lame assed disaster that only makes them look like the tone-deaf idiots they are. Just like the goat-fest with the low IQ trolls in the other thread, these idiots try to turn what you say to apply to you. I think it has something to do with the mentality the right has of turning the strength of their opponent against them (which, in the case of the poor goats, is pretty disturbing). That, or their limited mental capacity places their lack of creativity on display for everyone to see.
The D&D references are funny to me though. It speaks of a 80’s mindset regarding gaming, the internet and nerds. This pretty much describes the people who are running McCain’s campaign, out of date and out of touch with current life.
Since they are hung up in the 80’s, maybe we can talk about the Keating Five just to make them feel like they are reliving the ‘good ol’ daze’. Let’s discuss how honorable a former POW can be when there is lots of cash involved.
Dreggas
Goldfarb is a lvl 20 fucktard. That’s all there is to it, change one letter and he’s a gold fart. As for the D&D crowd Mr. Goldfarb really needs a clue. D&D isn’t just a nerds game anymore and I will gladly shove my dice and +5 steel toed boot up his ass.
RH Potfry
I know Michael D. posted it, but thought, perhaps mistakenly, that it was still your blog and the opinions presented herein were generally ones you supported.
The wanker was obviously wrong.
Dreggas
What makes this even funnier is those “nerds” are running the show in a lot of ways now.
John Cole
I hope Michael D. never posts his preferences in men, because then I am going to have to spend the next 6 years explaining to morons like you that I am not, in fact, gay.
RH Potfry
Damn. A boy can dream, though, can’t he?
Corner Stone
How dare you! He is so POW he would have won ALL the gold medals!
“This is going to take a portion of my cunning… no, All my cunning!”
Corner Stone
Does anyone understand trampoline as an olympic event? Seriously?
We did this constantly when we were kids and never thought twice about it. Had one friend who couldn’t stay on the damn thing. Always laughing his ass off as he bounced erratically from side to side until he fell off.
Corner Stone
You forget that Cole is a Republican in his deepest of dark hearts. His statements do not need to be consistent, nor sensical. He just needs to stay manly, tough and strong.
SpotWeld
Think of it as competitive diving, but without the water.
Martin
I think I know how to do it. Rather than attack McCain on his war record, attack him on his conservative cred. Obama needs to remind the nation that McCain approached Kerry, the flip-flopping Vietnam coward, to be VP and all of the gay abortion tax-raising defeatist goodness that goes along with the Democratic party.
…and just 4 years ago.
Jeff Fecke
Lieutenant John Martini: Mazes & Monsters is a far-out game. Swords… poison… spells… battles… maiming… killing!
Daniel: Hey, it’s all imagination!
Lieutenant John Martini: Is it?
Martin
They were talking about it on the radio this morning. Even the sports commentators don’t understand it. They couldn’t figure out what some of the rules were.
That the top Chinese athlete is named Dong Dong was just too much for them.
Corner Stone
Speaking of olympics – those Chinese gymnasts are 13 yrs old at most. I’ve been talking to the Derb and they are not quite on his radar yet. Obviously pre-16.
colleeniem
Sorry, I haven’t read a lot of the above posts, so forgive me if I’m repeating:
But, speaking with the short time I have had had within the military-industrial complex, I am willing to bet that a not insignificant number of those people coming up with the spooky, crazy, bad-ass kill people shit played some D&D in their day.
This a purely speculative thought, good only for a blog post, but…why does McCain hate our troops?
hamletta
I think the whole “Cross in the Sand” thing is stupid. Maybe he borrowed it, maybe he didn’t—who knows what kind of lies you tell yourself during/after an ordeal like that.
And the legends about this sort of thing far pre-date The Gulag Archipelago. Those Christian fish doo-dads supposedly harken back to the Roman Empire, when persecuted Christians would trace the fish symbol in the dirt as a secret signal to each other.
Or that’s the urban legend, anyway. So modern American Christians permanently attach shiny ones to their cars to signal to each other, since they’re persecuted and all.
The twits haranguing about this at dKos need to stop right now, because it feeds into the American Krazy Kristian persecution complex, and undermines what Obama accomplished in that forum.
colleeniem
Okay, after reading all the comments, my point has been made earlier and better than I.
I concede defeat.
Nellcote
Are you kidding me, Orson Swindle is his character witness? The same Orson Swindle who’s charity was laundering money for Jack Abramhoff! Which came to light during a hearing of McPOW’s interior committee.
Plumb Bob
Pretty simple, guys.
“D & D,” as in “You’re living in a fantasy role-play world.”
How difficult was that?
Next time, try complaining about something that’s not painfully obvious, ok?
srv
Finally, proof you are a Beauchamp, as there is no such animal. My models of the congressional sandbox tell me so.
Phoenix Woman
Actually, Joshua, Grant would still be a better president than McCain. This has been obscured by generations of vengeful pro-Confederacy historians who want to win on paper what was lost on the battlefield, but Grant put an end to the “spoils system” and created the first modern Civil Service. Up until his administration, all government offices, not just the chief administrative posts, were filled by political appointees. This was not only a system ripe for abuse, it also guaranteed that there was next to no institutional memory, as the outgoing office holders weren’t about to be nice and train the political opponents replacing them.
The deeply racist Woodrow Wilson, who purged black employees from the Civil Service during his tenure, is the one who is generally and falsely given the credit for these reforms, but the credit belongs to Grant.
srv
Oh, and D&D is all you lily livered leftists talk about.
charlotte
I think Goldfarb has a crush on Joan Van Ark. That’s how with it, on top of things, and cool he is. The more he mouths off — does he use a Wang, I wonder? — the better! Tool to the tooliest degree.
And greatest thing I’ve read all day: “His ideas suck.” Yes indeedy, they sure do. As does his campaign staff.
The full benefits of vodka take between 48 and 72 hours to kick in. Keep up the good work.
The Other Steve
Whose complaining?
We were mocking.
John Cole
The Fat Guy apparently thinks I was unaware of the Michael D post just below this, as well.
I tell ya, these guys are sharp as tacks.
Marshall
Not much doubt about that – you can see them in the Catacombs in Rome, and I have heard of the sign being found in other archaeological contexts.
Puma
Funny… I know a LOT of military folk who play D&D and other tabletop rolelaying games… and they’d probably love to stomp this guy into the ground.
kth
I think Yglesias laid the smack down on Goldfarb better than anyone:
AdrianLesher
Orson Swindle is blessed with a Dickensian name which reveals his true character.
Look further, and you see this:
“Swindle is also on the board of Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW), an independent political advocacy group that seeks to eliminate waste, mismanagement, and inefficiency in the federal government. Throughout its history, CAGW has been accused of fronting lobbying efforts of corporations to give them the appearance of “grassroots” support.[3] In part, this is because CAGW has accepted donations from Phillip Morris, the Olin Foundation, the Bradley Foundation, Microsoft, Merrill-Lynch, and Exxon-Mobil. CAGW also has ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.[4] While CAGW describes itself as non-partisan, it has endorsed John McCain[5] for president and donated $11,000 to his campaign or groups controlled by him.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_Swindle
And this:
“The question is: What is lobbying and what is campaign intervention?” said Frances R. Hill, a University of Miami law professor who specializes in charitable organizations. “The difficult issue that arises with these kinds of relationships, especially in election years, is whether a candidate for public office is benefiting improperly from an organization’s activity.”
Formed in 1984, CAGW has long promoted McCain’s image as a taxpayer advocate. Since 2006, the nonprofit’s board of directors has included Orson Swindle, who also works on veterans issues as a volunteer for the McCain campaign.
CAGW has a lobbying arm, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste, that has twice supported McCain for president. Its PAC has donated $11,000 in cash to McCain or a PAC under his control since 2004 — 20 times as much cash as it has given any other candidate, records show.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/30/AR2008053003121_pf.html
KevinD
The only time I ever played D&D was in the Army, until I went to Germany and discovered the land of good bier, no drinking age, and girls who liked you instead of the part-time asst manager at the Chess King.
Ditch Digger
They should just lump all bloggers in with Comic-Book Guy. Err, scratch that, Comic-Book Guy would technically be a “Small Business Owner” and as such the salt-o’-the Earth entreprenuer and subject to the Estate Tax.
L. Ron Obama
It would be irresponsible not to.
cain
The only people dishing out is us bloggers and commentators. No high level democrat is on the attack at all. Maybe we could get Ferraro back and she can start doing some attacks on McCain. We need to get these more insane people to work for us.
cain
bago
Martin
Wow, someone who served with McCain as a character witness. These veterans for truth show up everywhere, don’t they?
You don’t need to dig up dirt on this guy. After the smears against Kerry there’s no reason why the public should trust any veteran any more than some random person they could pull off the street. I hate that it’s come to that.
EL
From a Politico article April 4th, 2008, via Andrew Sullivan:
Funny how he suddenly remembers otherwise.
Kaldis
an aside, billmon has a really informative post on the Russia/Georgia fight over at GOS.
Wonk
Late to the game here, I know, but I just had to respond to this:
Apparently, “the military” loves them some Obama, because he’s gotten more contributions from them than McCain.
McCain was 3rd behind Obama and Ron Paul.
And that’s only counting donations above $200.
Just a gut feeling, but I think it’s probably safe to assume that Obama’s probably beating the pants off McBush in the under $200 category, too.
Kevin
Are you Beavis, or Butthead? Looking at your website, it is difficult to tell.
Delia
Um, never heard it before now? He’s been talking about it nonstop for months. He doesn’t talk about it just like he doesn’t talk about being a POW. Every time somebody asks him about his faith he goes straight to this story, like a wind-up toy. Only it’s not about his faith at all. It’s about the putative Vietnamese guard’s faith. It just throws everybody off the track, because, if you’ve really been paying attention, John McCain is not a religious man, but he doesn’t want the gooper hordes to notice.
Conservatively Liberal
I’m friends with Beavis and Butt-Head, and Sir, that moran is no Beavis or Butt-Head. More like Bill or Ted. Or just Napoleon Dynamite. About that speed (I think they call it impulse speed). Beavis and Butt-Head are way too intellectual for a comparison.
That’s like comparing our Chimp in Chief to Einstein. What an insult!
To Einstein.
Mike G
…one such story only recently reported by Karl Rove though it escaped mention in any of Senator McCain’s books
You can’t get much more credible than that.
TenguPhule
Fixed.
Ninerdave
I know shit’s out of control with regards to making shit up in this election, but can we at least have a moratorium on people whose name is Swindle?
Bedlam UK
I find it funny that they use the D&D reference to put down Obama as if gaming is still as nerdy as it was in the 50’s for McCain.
The fact is such D&D spin-offs like World of Warcraft/Age of Conan/Everquest etc have millions of players, and thats just PC gaming.
The average age of the gamer is 18-35 (prime voting block)
This is a massive base to target, McCain ‘the internet wizzzard’ should get his raggity arse into Wow (like William Shatner !), not sneering at the gamers.
Obama should be happy to get a free gift voting block from the wacky world that is McMuddled.
Kilo
Yeah sure. Let’s wait for the candidates to square off over their comparative Cheetos tax rebate plans.
Conservatively Liberal
I read that Obama is letting people text ‘VP’ to his campaign and those that do will be among the first who will be told who his VP pick is. What a brilliant way to gather cell phone data and tie it to people they can ask for donations! Everyone talks about how the pollsters are missing out on the ‘only uses a cellphone’ voter and how they are not being accounted for. This is a great way to dive into that demographic and mine it for all it is worth.
Obama’s campaign is on top of this, like just about everything else so far. Contrast that with the shotgun mentality of the McCain campaign. They just keep blasting at everything in sight and Obama just coolly keeps plugging along, not allowing himself to be distracted from the task at hand.
Organization versus chaos, that pretty much sums it all up for me. Obama campaign showcases his effective organization skills and solid implementation of a plan. McCain’s campaign is all over the place, kind of like their candidate. They are belligerent and confrontational, yet very disorganized as they really have no central plan or theme (as Bobby Jindal recently showed).
When the cheerleaders in the McCain campaign and the politicians in Republican party can’t even voice something that resembles some kind of a plan or theme to rally around, you know they are fucked up royally. It really warms the heart to see them asshats in such a mess. I hope they keep it up right through the election. Heck, I hope they keep it up until the Republicans are about as popular as LaRouche.
Now that’s a plan! ;)
zuzu's petals
McCain’s memories of Christmases 1968, 1969, and 1970 take up three very detailed pages of Robert Timberg’s 1995 book “The Nightingale’s Song.” Nary a word about a Christian guard or a cross in the dirt.
If you have an Amazon account you can search inside the book here:
The Nightingale’s Song.
The stories are at pages 171-174.
myiq2xu
Turning “win” into “whine” is a plan?
Cernig
I’m a DnD player (and GURPS) and I support Obama
Regards, C
jake
Flat Tax Abs.
Conservatively Liberal
You really don’t have much of a life other than getting your thrills taking shots at the opinions of others just to see if you can get their goat, do ya Mikey? It’s almost like you seek it out just to get some badly needed attention, almost like a child who can’t get their way so they have to try and make everyone else as miserable as they think they are. Well, I will bite this one time and respond seriously to you. Mind that you are not getting my goat, but rather I am feeling generous in that I have some free time to waste and I might as well point at you and laugh derisively for some entertainment. I hope that’s ok with you. ;)
You can say whatever you want and it ain’t gonna bother me one bit because just like anything I or anyone else says here or anywhere else online, it just don’t matter. But you seem to take a perverse delight in seeking out abuse rather than making any kind of serious point. Oh, you had a few fair posts way back but that Mikey is long gone, leaving the goatfucker you are behind. You don’t engage in any kind of serious discussion or just put out an opinion and if someone disagrees with it leave it at that. You are not interested in discourse, you are only interested in seeing how much attention you can get and how disruptive you can be. Frankly, you are a total waste of time. Good thing I have time to waste!
Now you just survive by trying to get somebody’s goat by saying stupid shit to elicit retaliatory comments. Heck, you can’t even come up with a original retaliatory line of attack, instead just lazily cribbing mine instead. I have a damn good reason to call you a goatfucker Mikey. Because you live to get someone’s goat online, it’s what thrills you. You are no substance, you are about as fluffy as it gets. You will not get my goat Mikey, but I sure will have fun at your expense as much as you allow me to. After all, it is what thrills you. Right GoatBoy? :)
Go back to SwampDaughter’s Cornfluence and post your drivel there. They seem to revel in the vapidity of your endless stream of bloviating and pointless anti-Obama rants, much like you do in writing them. Isn’t that enough to keep you happy or are you feeling doubtful because you know that they are just as full of shit as you are? In turn, you feel the need to reassure yourself that you are not full of shit by posting everywhere you can to see if people will validate you. The problem for you is that places like this, where people march to the beat of their own drum and are quite capable of thinking and speaking for themselves, few are receptive to your ‘message’, if you want to call it that.
You are one sad sack of a human being. Sad.
Times up!
Tim Williams
I am not quite as old as John McCain (who is?) but i first voted back in the day against Nixon and i’ve been voting against evil ever since, and i am down with the internet and all, but I somehow completely missed that whole Dungeons and Dragons thing. It is something like Pokeman, eh?
PeterJ
Actually an expert on trolls has diagnosed myiq0.8xu. He’s a masochist who gets his rocks off being abused by us.
The expert also gave some advice on how to deal with him; we should all ignore him like a fart in polite company.
Conservatively Liberal
That must be the problem, I laugh when people fart. I guess I am not prim and proper…lol! ;)
myiq2xu
You probably think it’s a love call
John Harrold
Pretty much everyone I know who plays D&D are either graduate students in or have PhDs in chemical engineering. Seriously, those kids who grew up paying role playing games grew up and most of them don’t live in their mothers basement.
myiq2xu
BTW Goatse, spittle-flecked ranting is the typical of you freeper types.
Liberals use cogent argument.
I’ll give you a hint: “rebuttal” doesn’t refer to getting sloppy seconds off your
boyfriendgoat.How much does Turdblossom pay you for ratfucking, anyway?
jake
Point of order: We’re not polite company. We’re the sort of company that smells a fart and reach for our Bics to see if we can light that sucker.
Doug H. (Fausto no more)
From the same guy who gave us:
Ratfucker, heal thyself.
Snail
Yawn.
Conservatively Liberal
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!
Yes GoatBoy, and we all know that you are incapable of that so you are no liberal. You just come in here to verbally masturbate but with your limited vocabulary and intelligence, I would bet that you must be one frustrated little weenie.
Yup, and GoatBoy burns nicely. Still smells like goat shit, but he still burns nicely.
Elroy's Lunch
Why is that everytime I hear the “give you a hint” phrase I’m pretty certain that teh stupid is being served up?
bootlegger
The better line of attack, for those of us among the Fighting Keyboards, is not whether or not McCain’s story is true but that he uses it to deflect attention from his own personal religious beliefs, which he never seems to share with those who have his nose up their ass. This should be the point of attack.
I never got the whole D&D thing but can’t imagine it being some kind of insult.
Dan
D&D is possibly the finest game ever invented and I hate to see it become collateral damage in a presidential campaign. Goldfarb probably was brought along to a group once or twice, quickly established himself as one of those jerks who randomly kills NPCs and was never invited back. He seems like he’s still working out his adolescence.
naked lunch
Axelrod could shut them up pretty quick by saying “Sen Obama did NOT make propaganda tapes and give military info to Communists”.
Wonder how that would go over.
bootlegger
They’d say “people will say anything under torture”. Oops.
Dreggas
Noi it’s nothing like pokemon. It doesn’t even compare LOL. In fact such a comparisson is fighting words.
Dreggas
No kidding. We grew up and moved on and made something of ourselves. If anything RPG’s were one of those catalysts that said “Anything was possible”. It’s the Goldfarbs still fapping in their mom’s basements who are just jealous.
Foodforthought
Looks like John Cole has played WAY too much Dungeons & Dragons. Perhaps the radon in your mom’s basement is a little too high, John. You ought to get that tested and then get a grip.
Conservatively Liberal
Maybe the right is so hung up on ‘living in Mom’s basement’ because that is what they do and they think everyone does so too?
Typical Democrat
McSame, Rethuglican, Nazi.
There, now I am at the vanguard of Democratic Thought.
Pathetic.
Zifnab
At least McCain’s campaign was forced to apologize.
Deacon Blues
Wups, careful there, Zifnab – they’re going to lose the all-important GURPS bloc with talk like that!
Jelperman
If I worked for a candidate with a track record of making up fanciful stories that took place a long time ago in a dungeon far, far away (like the Cross In The Dirt), the last people in the world I’d insult would be D&D players.
Not that it matters, McCain is about to fail his saving throw against losing elections.
Notorious P.A.T.
D&D!! PLease! Now if you’ll excuse me, World of Warcraft should be done with its tuesday update. Gotta finish my warlock quest!
Seriously though, some of the most fanatical Warcraft players I’ve ever met were ROTC guys.
Sasha
VIN DISEL on screen. Ripped and dangerous; Riddick ramped up to eleven. Caption appears:
VIN DISEL
Dungeons & Dragons Enthusiast
DISEL: Make your saving throw vs. despair.
STEPHEN COLBERT joins Vin onscreen. Caption appears:
STEPHEN COLBERT
20th Level Arch-Pundit
COLBERT: Vote for the natural 20.
Title Card:
Boost America’s Stats. Obama in ’08.
VOICE-OVER: I’m Barack Obama and I [pause then clatter of dice] approve this message.