Obama wants to appoint really 'old' Supreme Court Justices?

[KSinTX]

During the now infamous CNN interview with Wolf Blitzer, the McCain camp lodged a fiery rebuke of Obama's phrase "losing his bearings" as an ageist slur against the 71-year-old Republican. In part, their response:

"First," McCain’s senior adviser Mark Salter wrote in a memo, "let us be clear about the nature of Senator Obama’s attack today. He used the words 'losing his bearings' intentionally, a not particularly clever way of raising John McCain’s age as an issue. This is typical of the Obama style of campaigning."

So, if BEARINGS = AGE, at the top of the interview Obama told the nation he wants "old" Supreme Court Justices:

"What you're looking for is someone who can apply the law when it is clear. Now there's going to be those 5 percent of cases or that 1 percent of cases where the law isn't clear. And the judge then has to bring in his or her own perspectives, his ethics, his or her moral bearings. In those cases, I want judges sympathetic enough to those who are on the outside, those who are vulnerable, those who are powerless, those who can’t have access to political power and as a consequence, can’t protect themselves from being dealt with sometimes unfairly."

And this morning Wolf Blitzer loses his marbles by asking the meaning of "bearings" in the second instance while totally ignoring the first.

M$M can't get it right even when THEY conduct their own interview!

[AllentownJake]

1. It was a shot at McCain's age

and McCain flat out called him the terrorist candidate. So Obama pointed out he was a senile old man.

If McCain for one minute thinks that Obama has any sympathy for pulling punches against Republicans because he tried is best to not attack someone to hard who might be the democratic nominee the man is sorely mistaken.

[DemsUnited]

3. 100% agree that Obama will pull no punches on McCain, but in this particular

case I truly believe he was attacking McCain's dramatic change in moral compass, not his age...

[KSinTX]

4. Don't think it was a shot at age - a shot at his moral compass

Obama spokesman Bill Burton insisted that Obama was not trying to do what McCain's campaign accused him of.

"Clearly, losing one's bearings has no relation to age," he said.

[Warren Stupidity]

13. Perhaps indirectly

but Obama was actually directly attacking McCain's bullshit image as a maverick 'independent' republican centrist. Instead McCain has lost his bearing - his direction - which is what that phrase means, it does not mean 'to lose one's marbles'. However, a senile person may indeed have lost his bearings because he has also lost his marbles, dementia may do that to a person. So indirectly, McCain losing his way might be an attack on his age.

[DemsUnited]

2. Nice catch! Obama has used this kind of phrasing before, such as

straight talk express "going off the rails", so he clearly means that McCain is losing his moral compass or "bearings", just as he said in the excellent quote you post from the VERY SAME Wolf Blitzer interview that started all this brouhaha in the first place.

Let's all email wolfie and point this out.

Though, to be honest, I'm kinda glad it happened because we now have YouTube gold of Lieberman saying "I checked McCain's bearing myself and they were all in working order..."

Heh.

[KSinTX]

5. I think I threw up a little at that image!

:puke: I couldn't get past the picture to even hear what the rest of the sound bite was about!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. They are being deliberately stupid, or else they don't know the difference between

a bearing and a marble. If Obama had intended to dis him about his age he would have accused him of losing his marbles.

These are marbles:


This is a bearing:


A bearing contains little round things that look like marbles, but they're not. An asshat like Blitzer could be expected to get the two confused.

But McCain definitely knows better. He was a Navy pilot, and he knows damn well that "bearing" is a term used in navigation (both at sea and in flight). It means the direction to or from something. So if you've lost your bearings, you don't know where you're going. Obama was suggesting (quite correctly) that McCain has got off-track. McCain and his campaign know that, and they are being disingenuous. Blitzer probably doesn't, but that's because he's a bloviating moron.

[NV Whino]

9. Okay, I'm recommending this response

Excellent (and amusing) analogy! Thanks.

[gristy]

10. Their similarities are significant, and many heard marbles when Obama said bearings

McCain will need to be a bit more careful in the accuracy of his own attacks, or it will become increasingly apparent to everyone that he's losing his bearings (marbles). Having all of one's bearings (marbles) is very important if you are going to be President, or are a senator, for that matter. I hope that if he lost some of his bearings (marbles) that he can find them soon.

[gristy]

7. I'm not following your logic

In the 2nd block quote, I don't see that Obama has said he "wants "old" Supreme Court Justices". I just don't. What he is saying in the 2nd sentence is that a Supreme Court Justice will "bring... his or her moral bearings", implying that the Supreme Court Justice will need his/her bearings, that is, not be "too old", which is the opposite of what I think you are saying.

[KSinTX]

8. If *bearings* = age as the McCain camp declared then it reads

"bring... his or her moral age" to the table. And to mature one's morals, like cheese or wine, takes time.

[gristy]

11. Ah, then the point is that if the media is to apply the "age" interpretation to Obama's usage of the

word "bearings" regarding McCain, then they would have to apply the same "age" interpretation to Obama's bearings comment regarding Supreme Court Justices, and that the latter would be ludicrous?

[KSinTX]

12. BINGO!!!

I know, silly as it seems ...

:toast: (I've gotta be losing MY marbles to try pulling off this one - posting rather than making that Mothers' Day call!)

[lurky]

14. I think the insinuation is that McCain is a little unstable.

The "going off the rails" quote reinforces this.

Is it true? I don't know, but lot of people think it is, even in his own party.

Is it nice? Not especially, but the guy's been calling Obama a terrorist, so nice is no longer an option.

Is it effective? If they start a debate about whether or not McCain is nuts, that could be devastating to McCain. The fact that people are discussing it, even to denounce the idea, plants the seed of doubt in people's minds. BUT, if it looks like they are smearing or victimizing McCain, then it could backfire badly. They have to tread carefully IMO.

I'm guessing there will be more of this to come.

[KSinTX]

15. *going off the rails* regarded Straight Talk Express derailing

Wasn't it?