McCain says "we could kill Iranians with cigarettes".

Another reason for favoring Obama is his middle name Hussein, which is also the name of the third Shiite Imam who is highly respected in Iran.

El Oh El Iran, el oh el Haaretz and el oh el McCain. I like his humour for one!
Dunno what's supposed to be nuts about that joke. :D
 
Great, so in two years he can talk about how he wants to liberate the people of Iran with bombs.

Anyway, the "joke" does not make any sense unless he's hostile to the people of Iran. The religious fanatics in charge are much less likely to smoke.
 
I thought it was funny.

At a time when tensions are running high between the US and Iran, the Republican nominee is making stupid jokes that can only exacerbate the situation. McCain may or may not be a neocon nut job but it is hard to see what group besides this would see this joke as anything but horrible war mongering that will reasonably enough make the Iranians even more distrustful of the US.

Do people like you who think this sort of thing is funny have the slightest ability to empathize with the people who will be killed when McCain's "jokes" are used to raise tensions to the point of war.

The thought that the US finds itself in a situation where a man so phenomenally insensitive to the international repercussions of his words could be elected to the presidency is sad.

By the standards of what a regular guy might say there is admittedly very little to be worried about. Regular guys make stupid, inappropriate jokes all the time. But they are not trying to be the primary international representative of the US. McCain is and it is amazing that he continues to fan the flames of war with his stupid rhetoric. If he is so friggin gung ho to see Iranians die I wish he'd make it clearer that those are his own sentiments and that he doesn't represent me or the vast majority of other Americans that don't want to kill Iranians.

ETA: I wonder if McCain feels the same about all Iranians including the ones who took part in candlelight vigils in honor of the 9-11 victims. Some how the Republican Party has been taken over by social conservative, pro-war nutjobs whose xenophobia is scary. For a moment it seemed like McCain might not be one of them. He is working hard to disabuse people of that idea.
 
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At a time when tensions are running high between the US and Iran, the Republican nominee is making stupid jokes that can only exacerbate the situation. McCain may or may not be a neocon nut job but it is hard to see what group besides this would see this joke as anything but horrible war mongering that will reasonably enough make the Iranians even more distrustful of the US.

Do people like you who think this sort of thing is funny have the slightest ability to empathize with the people who will be killed when McCain's "jokes" are used to raise tensions to the point of war.

The thought that the US finds itself in a situation where a man so phenomenally insensitive to the international repercussions of his words could be elected to the presidency is sad.

Nope. What's sad is paragraphs like the ones you put out here. Oh wait, would that be an ad hominem? Rightfully so! What planet do you live on to have missed things like this that you have a fit over a joke?

People these days.
 
Nope. What's sad is paragraphs like the ones you put out here. Oh wait, would that be an ad hominem? Rightfully so! What planet do you live on to have missed things like this that you have a fit over a joke?

People these days.

So your thought is that when we are on the edge of war with a country that is being fired up to hate Americans, the American leaders should be making jokes about killing the people in that country?

It is not that hard to get Iranians fired up to hate Americans given the US interference in Iranian internal affairs and the horrible results for Iranians of that interference. What is hard to devise are diplomatic strategies that will serve the interests of both countries and turn down the tension between the countries. McCain's jokes suggest that he has no such diplomatic skills and that he is not interested in them.

Perhaps you don't care that much about the Iranians and the Americans who are likely to be harmed by warfare between Iran and the US. You might consider then that a US/Iranian conflict will drive oil prices through the roof and potentially set off a massive worldwide depression. Maybe then you'll be a little more motivated to see value in a candidate that isn't fanning the flames of war.
 
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Some people are so humor-impaired it's embarrassing.

This joke will have no effect at all on US-Iranian relations.
 
About as funny as "My fellow Americans, I've just signed legislation outlawing Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes".

.
Yep the USSR is still ticked off about that one.
 
Soft power in a soft pack.

Come to where the flavor is, come to Marlboor Country. (Now, how do you say that in Farsi? ) I am all about jobs for Virginians.

DR
 
As someone who strongly opposes the GOP right wing authoritarian militarists and who will not even consider voting for McCain I thought it was funny. I feel like such a big man reading this thread. Stop being so overly predictable and hysterical people.

I'm not even addressing the idea that a joke could start a war and you know that angle is not why it's news. It's news because of the headline possibilities of "Crazy Ol' McCain wants to kill Iranians with cigarettes."
 
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Some people are so humor-impaired it's embarrassing.

This joke will have no effect at all on US-Iranian relations.
Agreed, but it was a really stupid thing to say. He's giving his critics exactly what they want.

I'm starting to wonder if politicans are even capable of making jokes without botching them. Seriously, Kerry's "stuck in Iraq", Huckabee's "laying in a warm bathtub and slitting their wrists", and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
 
About as funny as "My fellow Americans, I've just signed legislation outlawing Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes".

But that's sort of funny. McCain's crack is dumb and impolitic. It doesn't make any sense, people! And it confuses Joe Sixpack Marlboro Muhammad for the Iranian leadership.
 
John McCain can kill an Iranian with a cigarette?! Wow. He may be the new Chuck Norris.
 

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