Friday, October 05, 2007

John McCain, Recycler

John McCain is a believer in recycling, especially when it comes to his own jokes. We’ve all heard the one about the former drunken sailor resenting the comparison to Congress. Yesterday, he told another joke:

Republican John McCain said Thursday that as president he would appoint Alan Greenspan to lead a review of the nation’s tax code — even if the former Federal Reserve chairman was dead. “If he’s alive or dead it doesn’t matter. If he’s dead, just prop him up and put some dark glasses on him like, like ‘Weekend at Bernie’s,’” McCain joked. “Let’s get the best minds in America together and fix this tax code.”

He used the same line eight years ago. According to a 1999 report in Salon:

Asked if he agreed with Forbes, McCain said that as president he would not only reappoint the chairman but “if Mr. Greenspan would happen to die — God forbid —
I would do like they did in the movie ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’: I’d prop him up and put a pair of dark glasses on him and keep him as long as we could.”

3 comments:

Micah Tillman said...

I'm still confused by McCain's going from a "guy everybody loves" to a guy who nobody is going to vote for. He seems to have made unfortunate move after unfortunate move.

Anonymous said...

Really, who would you trust *more* than dead Alan Greenspan? Live Alan Greenspan? I think not.

Anonymous said...

While telling the same joke over and again might show a lack of social grace, it's not a the big problem. However, eight years is a long time in between to have come up with a new line. It's an indication of how stagnant his message is.

His "unfortunate move" is his stance on the war. It shows how stubborn he is and that's exactly what we DON'T need.

Can anybody tell me why Greenspan retired? He's around now more than when he was working.