Looking for Astronauts
For a man who’s suffered through some of the things he’s endured, John McCain is in remarkably good health. And all the health care he’s ever received has been government-provided health care — either through his father the admiral, or then later as an active duty military man, and then even later as a veteran and a government employee. Under the circumstances, it’s a bit odd that he rails on the campaign trail against the evils of government-run health care. The Des Moines Register asked him about this and he freaked out:
You know that’s an interesting statement, isn’t it? And I have never been an astronaut, but I think I know the challenges of space. And I have never done a lot of things in my life that I think I am familiar with.
It reminds me of The National’s song:
On the merits, this is pretty non-response. The issue isn’t that there’s an unbridgeable phenomenological gap between McCain and normal people with private sector health insurance. The issue is that McCain’s critique of liberal health care plans — that it would result in some terrible government-run boondoggle — is belied by his own experience. To take McCain’s space analogy further, the issue isn’t that he’s talking about outer space without ever having been an astronaut, the issue is that he’s grumbling about the perils of living in a breathable atmosphere even though that’s what he’s been doing his whole life.
UPDATE: Here’s the video of McCain talking:
Weird stuff.
35 Responses to “Looking for Astronauts”
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October 1st, 2008 at 10:25 am
In McCain’s highly qualified and ironic defense, it’s likely that his government health care has always been of a much higher quality than everyone else’s, because he first was well-connected, then he was famous, and then he was powerful. Of course, for his comments to make sense, he would have to acknowledge that he always received special treatment. It’s at least remotely possible that the old McCain, pre-2007, might have actually said this. The new McCain certainly wouldn’t.
October 1st, 2008 at 10:29 am
If McCain disavows ever inhaling we know for sure he’s a lying bastard. I think he sprinkles window pane on his corn flakes.
October 1st, 2008 at 10:33 am
Perhaps he is on the beer heiress health care plan.
October 1st, 2008 at 10:37 am
Ask him: Why do you risk your health by staying in an inferior medical plan when you can clearly afford better?
October 1st, 2008 at 10:42 am
Yeah, the problem is the only response that would support his policies is that his lifetime of government-provided healthcare has served him poorly. Aside from that probably not being true, for somewhat obvious reasons it is not something a candidate in his position should be saying.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:13 am
On the merits, this is pretty non-response.
On the merits, there’s nothing pretty about this non-response. It’s really quite ugly.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:16 am
(Hoyt Axton)
Well, I’ve never been to Spain
But I kinda like the music
Say the ladies are insane there
And they sure know how to use it.
They don’t abuse it,
Can’t refuse it,
Never gonna lose it.
Well, I’ve never been to heaven
But I’ve been to Oklahoma
People tell me I was born there
Lord, I really don’t remember.
In Oklahoma or Arizona
What does it matter?
October 1st, 2008 at 11:19 am
Just chiming in to endorse continued The National blogging.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:26 am
It just galls me how he maintains continued belief that his five years of true suffering make it so his other 67 years of an entitled life cannot dare be questioned. This clip just shows that he spouts diversionary double-talk whenever those entitlements come into question because he believes he knows what is best for everyone else despite never having lived like everyone else. Blindspots galore.
October 1st, 2008 at 11:55 am
As Rich says above, the important difference here is not gov’t vs. non-gov’t healthcare, but Rich Important Person Healthcare vs. Not. Whatever the merits or demerits of a national healthcare program, there’s no point in pretending that this division won’t still exist.
October 1st, 2008 at 12:04 pm
Didn’t he attack Obama for having opinions about Iraq without actually having been there?….
October 1st, 2008 at 12:24 pm
McCain has been looked after most of his life:
Son and grandson of navy poobahs, born in the canal zone with hot and cold running flunkies;
legacy appointment to Annapolis;
married big money; and
government job for 26 years
He feels ENTITLED to be president and his POW experience doubly confirms this in his own mind.
How dare some uppity elitist son-of-a-food-stamp-mom take it away from him?
Throw your toys out of the pram, Johnny. No worries, someone will pick them up for you.
October 1st, 2008 at 12:42 pm
“For a man who’s suffered through some of the things he’s endured, John McCain is in remarkably good health.”
Do we actually know this? Last I heard, he released a tiny fraction of his voluminous health records for a couple hours once, and that’s all he’s deigned to share. (Or was that Cindy’s tax records? I think those are completely secret, but I forget.)
October 1st, 2008 at 12:52 pm
More telling, I think, than the content of his answer is his sarcasm and contempt as he totally misses the point. The clip from this same session that Josh Marshall posted at TPM is even more disturbing. Asked about dishonest claims in his campaign, he seems to be intentionally menacing and intimidating his questioner as he makes his denials. You get a sense of what those colleagues of his who are troubled by his temperament are talking about: not just anger, but violence.
What’s his deal? Why’d he bring his A-is-for-Asshole game to a quiet little sit-down with some Iowa editors? I look forward to whatever write-ups the session produced.
October 1st, 2008 at 1:15 pm
OK, kudos to the next reported who asks Mr. McCain “Senator, what, in your view, are the challenges of space?”
Because I have no damned idea, on an operational level, what the challenges are that NASA has to overcome and I’m betting he doesn’t, either. In that case, he’s just displaying a dismissive ignorance and contempt for expertise (How complicated could it be? It’s only rocket science).
October 1st, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Obamba should use the “I have never been an astronaut, but I think I know the challenges of space” line in the next debates if McCain tries the “you don’t understand Afghanistan because you’ve never even been there” attack.
October 1st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
But he was a prisoner for five years and didn’t have any healthcare. POW! POW! POW!
October 1st, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Of course, for his comments to make sense, he would have to acknowledge that he always received special treatment.
Alternatively, he could say that the VA etc provide good care at boondoggle prices.
That would probably not play any better, though.
He does best to change the subject.
October 1st, 2008 at 3:23 pm
This clip shows him answering that query in an even more awesomely non-answer way: “Its a cheap shot, but I did have a period of time where I didn’t have government health care, I had it from another government. So, look, I know what its like not to have health care in America.” I wish his smirk came across in the quote…makes me want to hit him. Totally, totally irrelevant.
October 1st, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I’m glad to hear The National getting some coverage. It’s a welcome relief from politics.
October 1st, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Just a minor quibble: Even though it is in the argument’s interest, I don’t think anybody really wants to back the claim that McCain’s continued ability to breath warrants “remarkably” good health. McCain’s high secrecy over his medical record, bouts with cancer, and current poor dietary habits (grilled meat, donuts, and soda seem to be the only food ever mentioned near him) all point to a drastically less than ideal health situation for an applicant to one of the most stressful jobs in the world.
Furthermore, it seems to me like the combination of his health record combined with his VP pick are yet another example of a sad, delusional, power-hungry man whose claim of “Country First” now takes on monumentally farcical proportions.
Anyway, thanks for yet another taste of the endless hypocrisy and delusion that has become John McCain.
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