Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Turns Out "60 Minutes" is a KEY Scholarly Source

I was on the Joy Cardin show, on Wisconsin Public Radio, this a.m. Quite a few callers. You can listen, if you want.

I claimed that it would be easier to make John McCain look like a war hero than it was to make George Bush look like a war hero. And I claimed that, since the Repubs HAD made John Kerry, who has a Silver Star, look like a coward, Barack HUSSEIN Obama had better look out.

And I said that John McCain could claim that he had had tougher moments, like when he was tortured and wouldn't sign the form denouncing the U.S. the North Vietnamese put in front of him.

A caller, clearly outraged, called in and said that John McCain HAD in fact signed such a form, and that it was on "60 Minutes."

I admit, I brushed this off, because my real claim is simply this: John McCain is MORE of a war hero than George Bush. Barack Obama is LESS of a war hero than John Kerry. So, the Repubs will use ads saying that Michelle Obama has "never been proud of America," and Reverend Wright, and "bitter white foks", and so on. If they could do it to John Kerry, they can clearly do it to a guy whose middle name is "Hussein."

The caller is no doubt correct; my example is no doubt wrong. I won't use it again.
But who cares? I think you have to agree that McCain's military service is more than Bush's, and Obama's is less than Kerry's. If the Repubs could "swiftboat" Kerry, they will "bitter-God Damn America!-Never proud" Obama.

So, I get an email from the caller. He was apparently mad that I didn't take him more seriously. He said:

Dear Mr. Munger,
I was the caller this morning who refuted your assertion that John McCain had not recanted despite years of torture. When I told you that he had called himself a war criminal and signed a confession to that effect you said, "well, we've heard that from one person, Bill, and we'll never hear it again". That you can rise to a position of prominence at a university such as Duke and not know the rudimentary biography of the Republican candidate for President is lamentable at best. Watch the interview McCain gives to Mike Wallace(60 minutes) and see him say it in his own words.
Here's to knowing your subject matter. (Name)


Wow! I shouldn't be a Duke prof because I don't watch "60 Minutes"?

(UPDATE: Last paragraph above edited, after the fact, in acknowledgement of KPC friend "Prison Rodeo"'s comment-remark that I was, in fact, being an ass. Mea culpa; you are right.)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ease up a little on the bitter, Munger. E-mailer overstates the importance of the slip, to be sure, but your response above is hardly proportional to his message.

Anonymous said...

Good save. And I'd be the last one to say you ought not be a Dukie prof (in fact, IMO you're one of the few that *are* qualified...).