- Sep 26, 2000
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_cam.../ap_ca/mccain_s_gaffes
A series of gaffes, taken in such a context, has moved McCain toward that danger zone:
? McCain was in Jordan with Sen. Joe Lieberman on March 18 when he asserted that Iranian operatives were aiding al-Qaida fighters in Iraq. Lieberman whispered to him, and McCain corrected himself: Iran was aiding extremists, not al-Qaida.
That distinction ? al-Qaida is a Sunni Muslim group while Iran is a predominantly Shiite Muslim nation ? had tripped up McCain a day earlier in a radio interview. The next month, during a Senate hearing on April 8, McCain stumbled again by referring to al-Qaida in Iraq as "an obscure sect of Shiites."
? In an interview with a Pittsburgh TV station on July 9, McCain recalled how he had resisted his Vietnamese captors by refusing to give up the names of his fellow Navy pilots. Instead, he said, he recited the defensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Actually, McCain gave the names of Green Bay Packers. At least that's what he claimed in a 1999 memoir.
? McCain has had trouble discussing the Czech Republic. In New Mexico on July 15 for a town-hall meeting he discussed energy supplies in Czechoslovakia. But that country hasn't existed since 1993 when it became the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He had made the same mistake the previous day ? and back on April 2.
? In an interview with ABC News on July 21, McCain said of Afghanistan, "We have a lot of work to do, and I'm afraid that it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border." In fact, Iraq doesn't border Pakistan.
? McCain told CBS News on July 22 that the additional troops sent to Iraq by President Bush led to "the Anbar awakening," calling it "a matter of history." Actually, the "awakening" ? in which Sunnis turned against al-Qaida ? began before Bush announced the so-called surge. His defense of the inaccurate statement, delivered in front of the cheese section at a supermarket, didn't help.
I, and many people, are convinced Reagan was suffering from the onset of Alzheimers long before he left office. For McCain, who will be older than Reagan was if he is elected, it is imperative that Americans now if the guy they could make President is suffering from early onset of dementia, or mental deterioration.
Should McCain submit to a bi-partisan psychiatric evaluation to prove his competency for the Presidency?
A series of gaffes, taken in such a context, has moved McCain toward that danger zone:
? McCain was in Jordan with Sen. Joe Lieberman on March 18 when he asserted that Iranian operatives were aiding al-Qaida fighters in Iraq. Lieberman whispered to him, and McCain corrected himself: Iran was aiding extremists, not al-Qaida.
That distinction ? al-Qaida is a Sunni Muslim group while Iran is a predominantly Shiite Muslim nation ? had tripped up McCain a day earlier in a radio interview. The next month, during a Senate hearing on April 8, McCain stumbled again by referring to al-Qaida in Iraq as "an obscure sect of Shiites."
? In an interview with a Pittsburgh TV station on July 9, McCain recalled how he had resisted his Vietnamese captors by refusing to give up the names of his fellow Navy pilots. Instead, he said, he recited the defensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Actually, McCain gave the names of Green Bay Packers. At least that's what he claimed in a 1999 memoir.
? McCain has had trouble discussing the Czech Republic. In New Mexico on July 15 for a town-hall meeting he discussed energy supplies in Czechoslovakia. But that country hasn't existed since 1993 when it became the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He had made the same mistake the previous day ? and back on April 2.
? In an interview with ABC News on July 21, McCain said of Afghanistan, "We have a lot of work to do, and I'm afraid that it's a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border." In fact, Iraq doesn't border Pakistan.
? McCain told CBS News on July 22 that the additional troops sent to Iraq by President Bush led to "the Anbar awakening," calling it "a matter of history." Actually, the "awakening" ? in which Sunnis turned against al-Qaida ? began before Bush announced the so-called surge. His defense of the inaccurate statement, delivered in front of the cheese section at a supermarket, didn't help.
I, and many people, are convinced Reagan was suffering from the onset of Alzheimers long before he left office. For McCain, who will be older than Reagan was if he is elected, it is imperative that Americans now if the guy they could make President is suffering from early onset of dementia, or mental deterioration.
Should McCain submit to a bi-partisan psychiatric evaluation to prove his competency for the Presidency?
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