1972: Nixon wins in a landslide. Pauline Kael: “How could we win? Nobody I know voted for him!”
2008: Hypothetically, John McCain wins. Macintosh/Twitter/MyFace/AppleCrack users: “But he doesn’t even use Safari!”
Y’see, he’s older than a lot of candidates. He’s not a real computer guy. At an age when most of Obama’s latte-guzzling Mac-toting Twitter-tweeting audaciously-hoping e-advisors were learning how to put video on SpaceBook, he was learning how to fly an A4 Skyhawk and lead men into harm’s way. About the age most of the too-cool-for-Starbucks crowd was getting burned out on Match.com, Mac was getting his hands hammered flat by NVA goons which, lemme tell you, is hell on your texting speed.
Oh, he’s making tentative moves toward the online crowd – but to some of that particular pack of hamsters…:
His efforts have won him brutal derision from the online left.
“McCain Makes Historic First Visit to Internet,” Obama-backing satirist Andy Borowitz headlined one imagined dispatch.
“Sen. McCain said that he had embarked on his visit to the Internet to allay any fears that he is too out-of-touch to be president, adding that he plans to take additional steps to demonstrate that he is comfortable with today’s technology: ‘In the days and weeks ahead, you will be seeing me rock out with my new Walkman,’” Borowitz wrote.
Show of hands; anyone who gives a crap?
I mean, anyone who actually pays taxes and doesn’t think Che Guevara was sexy and heroic?
I thought so.
Others have been less gentle.
After a spokesperson told The Associated Press that McCain is “fully capable of browsing the Internet and checking Web sites,” a front-page diarist on DailyKos sneered: “I hope someone gave him a cookie.”
And if we were looking for someone who could out-twitter Ahmadinejad, that’d mean a whole lot to me.
But we’re not, and it doesn’t, and as a side note to anyone who docks a candidate any points for being ten years behind the online fashion curve, I’m going to refer you to www.whogivesacrapyoutriteslapnuts.com.
Consider yourself s3rv3d, pwn3d and, what the hell, v@nqui$h3d.
LO friggin’ L.
We might want a President who gets outside more often, and can actually talk to people. Not that I am willing to do that, but I’m not running for President.
…McCain is “fully capable of browsing the Internet and checking Web sites,” a front-page diarist on DailyKos sneered: “I hope someone gave him a cookie.”
I’d be more impressed if he knew how to reject those cookies. It’s one of the reasons I like Firefox more than IE.
This is the exact criticism the Left had of Reagan when he was first elected, that he was old and out of touch as compared to the young, hands on Jimmy Carter. Carter micromanaged projects and FUBAR was the usual result: Desert One, anyone?
Sorry, for an executive we don’t need someone who does the work, we need someone able to set good policy, select good help, and make sure that the help gets support to do the job. I don’t expect the head of my company to understand how to design Ka band receivers, but I do expect him to make sure I have the tools to do my job and reasonable managers to keep the job focused.
Current Mood: Old.
I’ll bet he’s not even on Twitter or Livejournal. How else is he supposed to get narcissistic and petty? I’ll bet he hasn’t even threatened to leave a forum, hung around for “one more post,” and then slinked back in and pretended that nothing happened.
If you haven’t spent 15 posts debating if Han shot first and called someone an assclown in the process, you’re not fit to run this country.
Recall a couple of years ago, when President Bush said something to the affect that he doesn’t read newspapers. The Mpls paper threw a fit over that. But then the President gets his news directly, and from credible sources. Not via some mediocrats filter.
Mitch, I love ya, but you gotta leave the Mac alone! It is by far the best computer available, period. It even runs Windows better than just about any PC.
Naaaah! Mac lovers just have to grow thicker skins. 😉
So . . . a two-thousand dollar windows box?
For the money I could buy four dell’s and just move to a new one when Vista gets hosed.
If you haven’t spent 15 posts debating if Han shot first and called someone an assclown in the process, you’re not fit to run this country.
If you think it’s actually possible that Han didn’t shoot first, you’re not fit to lead the country. 😉
I would like a guy who’s comfortable with what is/will be be the major form of communication in this country. Someone who understands the importance of net neutrality and the like.
If McCain is, that’s great. But don’t pretend it’s not important.
“I would like a guy who’s comfortable with what is/will be be the major form of communication in this country.”
I’d prefer a guy doing the job of running the country to someone trolling the Internet. Seriously, the job’s hard enough. You want to president wasting his time on Twitter? Or blogging? Ya never heard of delegating?
Troy,
It’s not the Mac bashing that bothers me… it’s being lumped in with libs because I prefer a superior machine! Go ask Rush! 🙂
Terry, you can get a superior brand new machine for as low as $600… and it comes with the best OS available, but you can install XP for less than $200 more. Then you have a new machine with both the best OS & the most popular OS. 🙂
I don’t want him trolling, but would elect someone who didn’t know about television or radio? One who couldn’t use a telephone? Basic knowledge of technology is important.
Basic knowledge of technology is important.
You think of IM and Twitter as technology?! It’s clear you’re not remotely involved in technology. They’re less “technology” than a roll of toilet paper. Chip fabs are technology. Highly optimizing compilers are technology. Self assembling nanostructures are technology. SONET routers are technology. Twitter? Twitter is at best an inefficient, overconstrained communications methodology, and frequently an egotistical waste of electrons.
Basic time management is even more important. You think those CEOs really write those blog entries? Last I checked the President’s time was even more valuable and I’d far prefer someone who would ignore the latest fad on something as ephemeral as the Internet. I’ve been on the blasted tubes since the entire hosts table was less than 5KB long and I’ve seen these trends come and go. Sorry, but Twitter and IM are the sewers of communication. Blogs aren’t much better.
The Internet is technology. You’re the one who brought up Twitter. I happen to think there are important issues involving the Internet that I’d like my president to understand.
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