You gotta love Joe Klein if only for the entertainment value.
When last I blogged about Joe Klein, I scoffed at him not recognizing a single journalist that argued that Bristol Palin's teenage pregnancy was "anything other than a private matter."
Now Mr. Anonymous is huffing and puffing about how he can't forgive John McCain for his latest negative ad addressing a vote Obama cast for "age appropriate" sex education in Illinois public schools.
From Klein's September 10 Swampland blog post, "Apology Not Accepted":
Back in 2000, after John McCain lost his mostly honorable campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, he went about apologizing to journalists--including me--for his most obvious mis-step: his support for keeping the confederate flag on the state house.
Story Continues Below Ad ↓Now he is responsible for one of the sleaziest ads I've ever seen in presidential politics, so sleazy that I won't abet its spread by linking to it, but here's the McClatchy fact check.
I just can't wait for the moment when John McCain--contrite and suddenly honorable again in victory or defeat--talks about how things got a little out of control in the passion of the moment. Talk about putting lipstick on a pig.
That there, ladies and gentlemen, is a prime example of why coddling and courting the media never works in the long run for Republicans or conservatives.
But beyond that, Klein is just plain wrong. There is some merit to McCain's ad because the legislation Obama voted for would have authorized kindergarteners to be taught about STDs, as NRO's Jim Geraghty has noted (emphasis mine):
On the sex ed bill, it's possible that Obama had the best of intentions, but the bill text did include, "Each class or course in comprehensive sex education offered in any of grades K through 12 shall include instruction on the prevention of sexually transmitted infections, including the prevention, transmission and spread of HIV." Do kids really need to know about STDs starting at age 5? Isn't it a strong argument that the "good touch-bad touch" stuff could start that early, but the nitty-gritty about exchanging bodily fluids could wait until the kids are at least a little closer to double digits?
Klein caricature by socialmedia.biz
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Maybe something in Mr. Kleins past is coming back to
September 10, 2008 - 10:25 ET by JTPhaunt him and maybe if he had this type of instruction just before the nap on the rug in K grade may have prevented it??
Just thinking out loud.. Implying nothing....
"I need more cowbell!" SNL
That there are people in
September 10, 2008 - 10:31 ET by winston smithThat there are people in this world that would have no qualms about public schools teaching their own kindergarten-aged children about STDs and HIV and a political writer who gets all worked up over a legislator's objection to it, is illustrative of the kind of social predicament this nation is in.
sleaziest ad??
September 10, 2008 - 10:40 ET by HypocriteHaterNow he is responsible for one of the sleaziest ads I've ever seen in presidential politics.
Holy hyperbole, Batman!!
Really, Joe? The sleaziest ad ever in presidential policitcs? I'm not buying it, so you shouldn't be selling it.
Sad
September 10, 2008 - 10:44 ET by SickofLibsPoor little Klein. Sitting in his non-air-conditioned den waiting for an apology that will never come.
To a five-year-old, 'exchanging bodily fluids' means trading your Juicy Juice to your friend for his chocolate milk at lunch.
It was an indiotic ad
September 10, 2008 - 10:46 ET by smartestmaninamericaMcCain's entire advertising team should be fired. Every ad I see embarasses me as a McCain supporter.
I mean, seriously, is sex education of children even an issue right now? Then why run an ad of it? Wreaks of cheap shot.
And drop the whole pig and slipstick thing. Geesh, it's just silliness. Sure Obama was dumb and insensitive to say it, but how can we make Sarah out to be so tough then freak out when someone insults her.
I vote for some more intelligent ads on the issue for a change instead of all this "gotcha" bs.
I agree to some extent
September 10, 2008 - 10:54 ET by HypocriteHaterI agree to some extent regarding the reaction to the lipstick/pig comment, I don't want the McCain/Palin campaign coming off as whiny. However, didn't Obama's campaign complain about the "community worker" slams by Palin being racist? That's quite a stretch on their part.
I think McCain's trying a little tit for tat with Obama's comment.
It better be!
September 10, 2008 - 11:16 ET by CobraMan"I mean, seriously, is sex education of children even an issue right now?"
It better be as Obama SUPPORTS this type of public education to little kids. Do you really WANT some teacher confusing your 5 or 6 year-old child about the "meaning" of a loving embrace as opposed to a sexual embrace? I know I don't. Children that age can not differentiate between two similar yet distinct behaviors, yet Obama (and yourself as well, apparently) believes that a complex subject like human sexuality is appropriate material for young and impressionable minds to ponder without distortion or confusion.
Let the kids be kids and stop treating them as adults, they have enough pressure on them already and they don't need to be forced into a world they are unprepared to inhabit or even understand; the world of human sexuality.
Obama: My job is above my pay grade
smia... The team McCain
September 10, 2008 - 11:58 ET by bigtimersmia...
The team McCain has put together are brilliant, they have been more than swift with their reactions with ads that show Obama for the fool he is.
I thank them, I think Steve Schmidt has a lot to do with the communications area...no matter who, they have been more than delicious for me...
Politics is a blood sport...and the McCain team is winning...it is about time.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
How embarrassing
September 10, 2008 - 12:25 ET by DontFeedTheTrollsMcCain's entire advertising team should be fired. Every ad I see embarasses me as a McCain supporter.
For an alleged McCain supporter, you don't seem to support a single thing he does or says, I'm embarrassed to say.
D
Keep the ILLEGALS out, join NumbersUSA to send free faxes to your reps.
"McCain's entire
September 10, 2008 - 12:34 ET by ckc1227"McCain's entire advertising team should be fired. Every ad I see embarasses me as a McCain supporter."
So, as a McCain supporter, you're embarassed by all those ads that call into question Obama's judgement? Yeah, McCain should probably stop running those ads. I mean, is Obama's judgement, or where he wants to take this country really that important?
If I had to guess, you're more of an Obama supporter than a McCain supporter.
Legal water
September 10, 2008 - 10:51 ET by KC MulvilleWater finds any opening and pours through it until empty. Legal reasoning is the same way - any opening, no matter how small or innocent, opens the floodgates. In law, it doesn't matter what you meant to say. What matters is what you said. Note that when Anthony Kennedy wrote the opinion in Lawrence v. Texas, he assured us that it would not be used to justify gay marriage. That assurance lasted about four months, when Massachusetts used the Lawrence case to justify gay marriage.
That's why we never take lawyers' assurances seriously. The question here is not about what Obama assures us will never happen. The question is why that broad language, K through 12, was inserted in the first place?
If we've learned anything about liberals, it's that they exploit broad language to the fullest degree. So when you see liberal lawyers laughing it off and assuring us that they wouldn't possibly do anything wrong, all we have to do it remember Lawrence v. Texas. They'll use it, in any way they can.
Why did McCain indulge
September 10, 2008 - 10:51 ET by fitzfongWhy did McCain indulge these self-important windbags in the first place? When you apologize to scum like Joe Klown, they start to believe that the apology is owed to them.
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan
fitzfong.blogspot.com
They also always seem to
September 10, 2008 - 10:52 ET by motherbeltThey also always seem to "forget" to mention that "age-appropriate sex education" for 5-year-olds includes teaching them that it's perfectly natural for some kids to have two Mommies or two Daddies, instead of one of each. Thus begins their indoctrination in the concept of same-sex "marriage."
No! The bill didn't 'allow', it required.
September 10, 2008 - 10:56 ET by c5thenThe use of the word "shall" means must, not if you want to.
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.
Mandate
September 10, 2008 - 11:04 ET by KC MulvilleThat's a good catch, c5then.
You could, however, interpret it as "if it's taught at all, it must include" ... but that doesn't mandate that the class must be taught.
Then again, as I say, legal language is like water. If there's any way in hell that someone can argue for mandating sex-ed to kindergarteners, they could use this.
You're right
September 10, 2008 - 11:14 ET by c5thenIt was part of the Education bill, so only those schools that recieved or wanted to recieve federal $$ needed to comply. It's only the poor and middle calss that the liberals can indoctrinate and screw up, the [evil]rich can affors to send their kids to private schools where they don't pull this kind of crap.
The day that "politician" became a career choice is the day we started losing the Republic. Let's get it back! Alan Keyes '08.
"Back in 2000, after John
September 10, 2008 - 11:02 ET by Jerry"Back in 2000, after John McCain lost his mostly honorable campaign..."
Honorable = running attack ads against a conservative
"apologizing to journalists--including me--for his most obvious mis-step: his support for keeping the confederate flag on the state house."
Here is Franken-Klein's twisting of words into a McCain bash, now that McCain is on the "other" team. Arguing to keep a STATE matter in the STATE's hands is neither arguing for or against the flag issue.
"Now he is responsible for one of the sleaziest ads I've ever seen in presidential politics"
I guess the "Bush is responsible for the dragging death.." commercial was pretty even handed.
"so sleazy that I won't abet its spread by linking to it"
No need for you to see with your own eyes, we've already done that for you.... TRUST US.
RIGHT Joe, we trust you to give us the straight story... as in straight out of the democrat handbook.
When asked if he went to war with Iraq to derail the impeachment vote: “I don’t think any serious person would believe that any President would do such a thing." - President Clinton (Dec 1998).
The only reason snakes like
September 10, 2008 - 11:23 ET by Chris NormanThe only reason snakes like Klein praised McCain before was because he was causing problems for George W Bush and they love any Republican who seems to have a self-loathing of the GOP. Now McCain is the standard bearer, he's just another Republican enemy to Klein and the other liberal vipers in the pit.
McNotObama '08
Klein, Obama and other
September 10, 2008 - 12:16 ET by TEKlein, Obama and other anti-family leftists want to get into the bedrooms of other peoples' children through the use of public schools and their so-called "sex education" indoctrination programs. Once in the schools, these anti-family leftists indoctrinate other peoples' children on the tenents of the Democrat party and its base of pagans, atheists, feminists, tree huggers, earth worshippers, race baiters and fundamentalist homosexualists.
Proof of support for Kindergarden Sex Ed
September 10, 2008 - 12:23 ET by krkrollhttp://www.youtube.c...
http://www.youtube.c...
http://www.youtube.c...
He must have voted for it before he voted for it.
Hypocrisy, Lies & Distortion
September 10, 2008 - 13:43 ET by bacaloveInteresting article on Joe Scarborough that has been kept quiet by the MSM!
http://www.truthalliance.net/Archive/tabid/67/a...
Lest, we forget, there would have been no need for a Surge if Bush & Co. had not taken the U.S. into a Phony & Pretend War on Terrorism while the Real War on Terrorism in Afghanistan where Bin Ladin lived, was ignored! And if we do not Wise up this might happen in the future!
http://www.youtube.com/v/PdJUCU1UH2w
In a cleverly pre-emptive strike, McCain is falsely accusing Obama of wanting to teach children sex education because they knew Newsweek will be soon coming out with an article on Sarah Palin! "Judge Warned Palin About Emotional Child Abuse."
nice try KOS troll
September 10, 2008 - 17:14 ET by wizardjr"Lest, we forget, there would have been no need for a Surge if Bush & Co. had not taken the U.S. into a Phony & Pretend War on Terrorism while the Real War on Terrorism in Afghanistan where Bin Ladin lived, was ignored! And if we do not Wise up this might happen in the future!"
What a bunch of babbling BS. Were you born yesterday? If not what is you excuse for ignorance of the history of attacks by the ragheads? What is your excuse for ignorance on military/political strategy for taking control of the Middle East? What is your excuse for ignoring the obvious? Perhaps you'd recommend sitting around the campfire with the Islamic terrorists and singing Kumbaia? I'm sure they'll be greatly entertained in sawing your head off while you keep negotiating with them.
Joy=Joe, Joe=Joy....??
September 10, 2008 - 17:08 ET by wizardjrJoy Behar, Joe Klein
Joe Klein, Joy Behar
I'm confused. Which one is which? Is the one with long hair Joy? It's so hard to tell them apart.
Hmm...
September 10, 2008 - 17:19 ET by Indiana JoeHave you ever seen them together?
"... smells like... victory." - Robert Duvall