Wednesday, October 8, 2008

That (Old) One!

One of the oddest moments in the debate last night was when McCain referred to Obama as "that one".

It was jarring to hear, and easy to assume he meant "that (black) one".

In a campaign characterized by a secret racial code, "even Jesse Jackson won South Carolina"-Bill Clinton or "he's not a real American"-Sarah Palin, its easy to jump to a racially charged conclusion.

I'm not sure I actually believe that McCain meant to call Obama "that little n*****" on a national stage, so what is the alternative explanation for this awkward rhetorical moment? Again, it comes back to his age. It is possible, that that was just a really old person thing to say.

And man, did he look old. And short and shriveled and slightly crazed (like when he would get up to meander while Obama spoke, was he walking around in circles? where was he going?)

McCain's age (and robotness, let's not forget) is often dismissed by the pundit class as not being an actual serious detractor. All evidence points to the contrary. He confused Sunni and Shi'ite muslims, he confused Somalia and Sudan, and now he's walking around the stage of the debate like a patient in a nursing home.

I might be young and insensitive, but he also might be just too freaking old to be the president.

3 comments:

danya said...

j-tron needs to go back to standing on his lawn yelling at cars with the rest of the septuagenarians.

Josh H. Egogropes said...

cool post. kinds of sounds like something this awesome guy george ho said, do you know him?

i read your blog!

Josh said...

lest we forget, he also mistook sarah palin for a qualified running mate.