A Question Of Keeping A Straight Face

The WaPo features John McCain's temper and wonders about his fitness to serve; our secret sources overheard this response from McCain to the reporter:

I have never met you, but if I do you'll need a new nose and plenty of beefsteak and perhaps a supporter below...

That might be effective.

UPDATE:  Long time McCain staffer Mark Salter says this WaPo story is dishonest and about 99% fiction (McCain's name is spelled correctly...).

I have a family connection who worked for McCain and swears he walks on water, but that is only one source.

Comments

[clarice]

I was a little girl when Truman said that to Hume, and I adored him ever after.

[Danube of Thought]

And I was a little boy, and I remember it well. My parents were rabidly against Truman until that moment, but from then on they found it hard not to like the man.

[km]

Any paper that fondly remembers the presidency of Bill "Purple Rage All Through My Brain" Clinton shouldn't really have a problem with McCain's temper.

Although the reporter might still need to "put some ice on that."

[Terry]

Over at NRO's The Corner, they have posted a long e-mail from longtime McCain aid, Mark Salter, who basically says that the WaPo piece is about 99% nonsense and lies.

[clarice]

Well, the MSM sure didn't notice his ferocious temper when he was their favorite maverick Republican, did they?

[Topsecretk9]

Sounds like they are trying to pull a Bolton on McCain - remember that weirdo Townsend who Lowry illustrated was a huge problematic whack job?

[SteveMG]

OT: Chuck Hagel will announce soon his endorsement for President.

But the announcement has been delayed.

Darn, we'll just have to wait.

[bgates]

Didn't McCain basically admit that when he lost his fighter pilot job 45 years ago he got bitter, clung to his religion and antipathy to people who weren't like him? And he woulda clung to a gun if he could have gotten one away from the prison guards.

My hope, given the press treatment he's going to get over the next five months, is that McCain does hold grudges.

[ROA]

Bill Clinton:

Smackdown: Dick Morris vs Bill Clinton

From Behind the Oval Office, by Dick Morris p. 64-5:

"At about midnight, (then Governor Bill)Clinton joined Hillary, Gloria Cabe, his campaign manager, and me in a cozy breakfst room off the kitchen. My polling (for a 1990 gubernatorial reelection fight) showed that McRae offensive (Bill's ooponent) had dropped Clinton's share vote to a meage 43 percent. Generally, when an incumbent's share of the polls dropped below 50 percent in the polls, it means he is likely to lose ... Clinton's temper got the better of him. Exhausted, worried, and angry, he exploded. 'You got me into this race,' he screamed, 'so you could make some extra money off me. That was the only reason. And now you give me no attention, no attention at all. I'm about to lose this election, this primary, against a nobody' ... Clinton has a terrible temper ... In pain and facing that harsh criticism, I lost my temper too. If he was too hasty in his criticism, I was too sharp in my reply. Storming out of the breakfast room through the kitchen toward the door outside, I rallied, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you. You've just solved my problem. I'm getting shit from Atwater and shit from Lott for working for you, and now I can solve my problem. Go fuck yourself. I'm quitting your goddamn campaign, and now I am a free agent. I can be a fifty state Republican and don't have to take your shit.'

"Clinton charged up behind me as I stalked towards the door, grabbed me from behind, and wrapped his arms around me to stop me from leaving. I slipped to the floor. Hillary helped me to my feet. The moment I stood up Clinton became apologetic. 'Don't go, don't go I'm sorry. Don't go, I;m sorry,' he said as I walked out the door, slamming it behind me.. Hillary ran after me to calm me down. She put her arms around my shoulders and walked me around the grounds of the mansion. "Please forgive him," she pleaded. 'He's under so much pressure. He didn't mean it. He's very sorry. He's overtired, he hasn't slept well in days. He's not himself. He values you. He needs you,' she repeated.

"I calmed down enough to drive to my hotel, and I called Eileen (his wife) shaking in rage. Later Hillary called to tell me how much Bill wanted me back. Then he came on line to apologize ... I couldn't leave Clinton three weeks before his primary, but from then on I dealt with him in a formal, almost frosty way. I stopped calling him Bill, always adressed him as Governor, and left when our meetings were over rather than hang around and chat."

[URL=http://ronmwangaguhunga.blogspot.com/2004/02/smackdown-dick-morris-vs-bill-clinton.html/url]

[Sara]

You gotta love it:

Marine Vets Give Code Pink a Taste of Their Own Medicine

For over a year, the radical group Code Pink has been protesting in front of the Marine Corps recruiting office in Berkeley. Today, April 19, a group of Marine Corps veterans turned the tables and protested in front of Code Pink’s recruiting center just a few miles away in the adjacent town of Albany.

Even their Marine banners are pink.

[MikeS]

I understand that when McCain heard about the WaPo story he brushed his shoulder as though flicking something off of it. Then he made a gesture with one of his fingers and said, "It's not surprising that people at the WaPo are bitter, frustrated, and prejudiced."

The man has a terrible temper!

[SteveMG]

McCain may get a bit, well, upset over this: Wife's Tax Returns.

The only charge of hypocrisy comes from that leftwing CREW organization; hardly an independent group.

Looks like the reporter manufactured the hypocrisy charge himself and searched for a co-conspirator.

But it is a fair point: Release the wife's returns too, Senator.

[Elliott]

I didn't know bitterness was part of it, bgates. I thought the story was that, unlike Obama (who lived among the common people of a foreign land), McCain was your typical American tourist. You know, parachuting in, staying at a place that catered to Westerners, never leaving the resort.

[M. Simon]

Clarice,

I got to shake Truman's hand when I was on a train to Kansas City and he was headed to Independence. I was going to a Synagogue Youth Organization convention and some one said Truman was in the club car shaking hands. No one else was interested but I went back and shook his hand. Nice firm grip. There was a short line and he was talking politics with various folks. I wasn't interested in that so I went back to my seat.

I remember the Bess flap. I liked what he said.

[Bill]

I like a President with a temper. This guy had one and did all right. Even killed a guy in a duel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Jackson

[Ralph L]

I remember the Bess flap
I hope you mean his daughter, Margaret. Bess was a little chubby, but she didn't flap.

[M. Simon]

Ralph,

It was late at night or early in the moring. It was before my first cup of coffee or after my 14th.

Sometimes I get confused.

[Fat Man]

Everyone who would be President in the modern era (since national television) is a really tightly wound Type A. He will undoubtedly have a temper. The press will ignore it if he is a Democrat, and task him for it if he is a Republican.