Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
Is there anything funnier than watching politicians pander? They get going and they just can't stop themselves from saying something breathtakingly idiotic. Like this little gem from John McCain while speaking at a VFW hall about MoveOn.Org's criticism of Gen. Petraeus:
"It's disgraceful, it's got to be retracted and condemned by the Democrats and MoveOn.org ought to be thrown out of this country, my friends."
Why yes, John, that's a wonderful idea. A group says something you don't like, throw their 4 million members out of the country. An ordinary person would consider that to be tyrannical and a clear violation of the Constitution; the good folks at the VFW hall in Hudson, NH, actually applauded it. Very nice.
Comments
McCain is following the Republican tradition set under Lincoln to exile those who disagree with the administration. I would be able to laugh it off if it had not happened in the past.
Posted by: Mike | September 17, 2007 9:31 AM
Didn't Lincoln start a war for the sole purpose of getting back people who exiled themselves?
At this point, I think McCain is so desperate that he's selling his soul to anybody who still wants to vote for him. Seriously, would anybody who was offended by his statement have even considered supporting him before?
I'm loving this two-year presidential campaign. If Obama can go the next year without any screwups I think he's guaranteed the win.
Posted by: Brandon | September 17, 2007 10:30 AM
And just four days before Constitution Day. What impeccable timing McCain has.
Posted by: RBH | September 17, 2007 11:25 AM
I'm sure that McCain meant it literally. No politician ever uses hyperbole for rhetorical emphasis. And I'm sure the VFW members are too stupid to recognize hyperbole when they hear it, so every single one of them was applauding the literal interpretation of the the final clause in the sentence.
Posted by: delurking | September 17, 2007 11:49 AM
delurkin -
So...when do we take politicians to mean what they say and when do we take them not to mean what they say?
Even if it were only a calculated bit of "hybebole", it speaks volumes that MacCain is reduced to such blatant and pathetic demagoguery to try and drum up support.
I'm trying to respect the guy, but he ain't making it easy.
Posted by: Dave S. | September 17, 2007 12:29 PM
I don't respect McCain either. There are many things to substantive things to criticize him for, for example the pandering to groups he condemned when the political climate was different. His positions on campaign finance reform are another.
However, it is my opinion that picking out this statement is silly. Sure, sometimes politicians are willfully evasive, so it is difficult to know if they mean what they say. But, do Mr. Brayton and MoveOn.org really think McCain is announcing that under his administration the Justice Dept. would round up MoveOn.org members and try to have them exiled? Or, does someone think he intends for VFW members to carry those MoveOn.org members to the border and literally throw them across it? I think it is pretty obvious that the statement is simply a hyperbolic expression of disapproval.
Posted by: delurking | September 17, 2007 12:47 PM
delurking wrote:
Of course not. I think that McCain was doing what politicians often do, which is get on such a roll of pandering - gotta say what they wanna hear to whatever audience you're speaking to - that they inadvertently say something that results in something quite revealing. No, I don't think that McCain, as president, would vote for such a policy. But I do think that a sizable subset of the right wing would indeed go for exiling those who disagree with them. I've heard far too many, without a hint of exaggeration or irony, argue some variation of the "if you don't love this country, why don't you leave it" argument to think otherwise. Is it a large part of the population? Probably not. Maybe 10 or 15%. But they tend to be politically active and they tend to be right wing. And I think it's worth condemning and exposing.
As for the suggestion that it was mere hyperbole, McCain himself says otherwise. He says he didn't mean it at all, that he misspoke, which is different than saying it was misinterpreted and it was meant figuratively. And it's funny, I condemn people every day for their views here, indeed for far more vile and repulsive views than the ones McCain was condemning, and not once have I ever suggested that anyone be thrown out of the country.
Posted by: Ed Brayton | September 17, 2007 12:57 PM
And it doesn't appear this was an off the cuff remark made in the heat of passion...it was a clear and deliberate statement. That he didn't mean it literally we probably all agree. That he said it at all, even as a rhetorical device, is the problem.
On another note, I've always wondered where these people thrown out of America were supposed to be thrown to?
Posted by: Dave S. | September 17, 2007 1:35 PM
The only thing more idiotic than McCain's comment are the comments of some of the people at the CBS page where the video is posted:
This guy must be one of the people McCain is trying to reach.
Posted by: Wes | September 17, 2007 1:37 PM
I donated 25 amerikkkan dollars to move-on to help get the ad in the paper. I'm not leaving. I'll give move-on another 25 bucks the next time they ask, too. Screw McCain. He used to verge on the almost acceptable. Now he's dropped off into the land of tard.
Posted by: bybelknap, FCD | September 17, 2007 3:42 PM
I wonder if we see a spike in moveon memberships?
McCain is that guy who just realized he can't swim as far as he thought he could, half way across the lake. He's desperately thrashing about, looking for a direction, any direction where help may be.
What bothers me, hyperbole or not, is the increasing use of "throw them out" or "if you don't like it, leave" in the GOP rhetoric. This was a big one slung at those of us who opposed the war in Iraq, that and we were "unpatriotic, cowards," etc.
Posted by: dogmeatib | September 17, 2007 8:11 PM
The only thing more idiotic than McCain's comment are the comments of some of the people at the CBS page where the video is posted
Oh, I think we can do even worse. Has the video been posted on Youtube yet?
Posted by: Coin | September 17, 2007 8:14 PM
I wonder if the same people who are defending McCain's statement here as "hyperbole" would be willing to cut the same slack to, say, Senator Hillary Clinton. If the Senator said that those who publicly accuse her of being a communist (and such people do exist. Gary Aldrich wrote a column for townhall.com where he did just that) should be "thrown out of the country," do you think the "McCain wasn't being literal" folks would jump to her defense. Doubt it. At best, she'd be labeled as "shrill." At worst, we'd be hearing from conservative radio talk show hosts across the land how, if elected president, the senator would seek to deport all those who are critical of her.
Posted by: daniel rotter | September 17, 2007 9:52 PM
On another note, I've always wondered where these people thrown out of America were supposed to be thrown to?
Perhaps McCain visualizes all the liberals being stuffed onto old prison buses, driven down to the nearest Mexican border crossing, and simply being shoved out.
If they're taking requests, I've always fancied a vacation in India and Nepal.
Posted by: George Cauldron | September 17, 2007 10:28 PM
Ed Brayton wrote:
"Of course not. I think that McCain was doing what politicians often do, which is get on such a roll of pandering - gotta say what they wanna hear to whatever audience you're speaking to - that they inadvertently say something that results in something quite revealing."
This is a fair point. However, I think the post you link to does the same sort of thing. For example, Ms. Cox introduces the quote with "The tape is clear. He said:",
The campaign clarifies, saying in essence, that it was hyperbole for rhetorical effect.
Ms Cox closes it with "There is, of course, a significant difference between exile and criticism," thereby rejecting that explanation.
Posted by: delurking | September 18, 2007 8:05 AM