Forums | MacLife

Tallgeese · 2008-08-19 11:02 am

After the megachurch interviews, some left-wing blogs were suggesting that McCain was fed the questions beforehand since he answered so quickly, sometimes even before the question was completely asked.

I dismissed this, since it seemed to me less that he had foreknowledge of the questions and more that he was just shooting his standard stump speeches, despite the adulation of the media "analysts" about how great McCain's "direct, forceful responses" were compared to Obama's "overly thoughtful answers".

Turns out that McCain probably did listen to Obama's part of the interview. He wasn't in an isolated room during Obama's session; he was in his car.

McCain's campaign is indignant at the suggestion that he may have gotten a little advance on the questions:

“The insinuation from the Obama campaign that John McCain, a former prisoner of war, cheated is outrageous,” Ms. Wallace said.

McCain? Lie and cheat? UNPOSSIBLE!

That's as outrageous as the suggestion that he made up his Vietnam "cross in the dirt" story.
Oh right. He didn't make it up. He stole, er, "adapted" it from Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago.

Solzhenitsyn wrote:
Slowly he looked up and saw a skinny old prisoner squat down beside him. The man said nothing. Instead, he used a stick to trace in the dirt the sign of the Cross. The man then got back up and returned to his work

The really rich part about that is that the first ones to pick up on this were the Freepers. Har!™

bratboy · 2008-08-19 11:06 am

CONE OF SILENCE

bratboy · 2008-08-19 11:10 am

Google had a variety of suitable images, but I think I prefer this one:

JakeTheTall · 2008-08-19 11:25 am

I can't get very worked up about this story.

Except the "former prisoner of war wouldn't cheat" bit seems pretty amusing.

He's been an unfaithful adulterer more recently than he was a war hero; it'd be funny to see a rebuttal "its entirely possible this former philanderer cheated on a debate."

daemon · 2008-08-19 11:31 am

He had an accomplice!

Last edited by daemon (2008-08-19 11:32 am)

user · 2008-08-19 12:51 pm

:: insert image of The Chief and Maxwell Smart under the Cone of Silence ::

Excuse me? What did you say?

Get rid of this damn thing!

Gurlugon · 2008-08-19 1:18 pm

bratboy wrote:
Google had a variety of suitable images, but I think I prefer this one:

[pic]

lol

I hope I'm not the only person who refers to such canine headgear as a "lampshade."

bratboy · 2008-08-19 1:20 pm

Cats generally aren't as enthusiastic about sporting a satellite dish.

Daddyo · 2008-08-19 2:24 pm

If you're gonna lie you might as well tell a big one.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/warner-tod … dia-asleep

Tallgeese · 2008-08-19 2:26 pm

Is that more or less sizable than lying about the POW experiences that you're campaigning on? Or about saying "I have never missed any crucial energy vote" while in fact you've missed every energy vote?

Gurlugon · 2008-08-19 2:29 pm

The media loves dead babies obviously, duh.

Daddyo · 2008-08-19 2:37 pm

Gurlugon wrote:
The media loves dead babies obviously, duh.

QFT

bratboy · 2008-08-19 2:43 pm

That just happened, and the article accusing THE MEDIA of not responding cites to an article from THE MEDIA to back up its claim.

Daddyo · 2008-08-19 2:44 pm

Tallgeese wrote:
Is that more or less sizable than lying about the POW experiences that you're campaigning on? Or about saying "I have never missed any crucial energy vote" while in fact you've missed every energy vote?

I'm agreeing with you for a change.
How do you know if a politician is lying?-his lips are moving.
I just wanted to remind you that Obama is a stinking, lying politician also.

Daddyo · 2008-08-20 7:26 am

Tallgeese wrote:
That's as outrageous as the suggestion that he made up his Vietnam "cross in the dirt" story.
Oh right. He didn't make it up. He stole, er, "adapted" it from Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago.
Solzhenitsyn wrote:
Slowly he looked up and saw a skinny old prisoner squat down beside him. The man said nothing. Instead, he used a stick to trace in the dirt the sign of the Cross. The man then got back up and returned to his work
The really rich part about that is that the first ones to pick up on this were the Freepers. Har!™

Say, geesie-
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpoints … crossi.php

"But it turns out that this episode probably never happened to Solzhenitsyn at all, and according to a Solzhenitsyn biographer it appears nowhere in his published writing. Columbia University professor Michael Scammell, the author of Solzhenitsyn: A Biography, says the episode "never happened," and didn't appear in Solzhenitsyn's book, Gulag Archipelago, either."

I haven't read the book but it sounds like just another case of mistruths circulating the web.

bratboy · 2008-08-20 8:14 am

The story's been around longer than that:

"The story about Alexander Solzhenitsen and the old man who made the sign of the cross was first told by Solzhenitsyn to a group of Christian leaders and later recounted by Billy Graham in his New Year's telecast, 1977. It has been retold subsequently, most publicly by Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC)."

Ribtorus · 2008-08-20 8:45 am

Drawing a cross in the dirt with a stick was also from DeMille's "Sign Of The Cross" (1932), with Fred March and a naked Claudette Colbert. I bet that cross-in-the-dirt story has a longer hstory than McCain or Solzhenitsen.

Last edited by Ribtorus (2008-08-20 10:11 am)

Tallgeese · 2008-08-20 10:07 am

Daddyo wrote:
Say, geesie-
http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpoints … crossi.php

"But it turns out that this episode probably never happened to Solzhenitsyn at all, and according to a Solzhenitsyn biographer it appears nowhere in his published writing. Columbia University professor Michael Scammell, the author of Solzhenitsyn: A Biography, says the episode "never happened," and didn't appear in Solzhenitsyn's book, Gulag Archipelago, either."

I haven't read the book but it sounds like just another case of mistruths circulating the web.

Huh. I figured that since a far-right and a far-left gave the same story and used different sources it could be considered valid.

Although, whatever the source, it has been circulating before McCain claimed it as "his" story.

bratboy · 2008-08-20 10:10 am

The whole notion that it originally came from Solzhenitsyn (before McCain said it) was also thanks to the right, apparently.

Colonel Panic · 2008-08-20 12:44 pm

The idea of the cone of silence was to allow secret communication, not prevent it.

Ribtorus · 2008-08-20 12:59 pm

Once it ruined the Chief's desk.

ScifiterX · 2008-08-20 1:38 pm

Actually with the exception of daemon everyone's description of this is pretty off base. If the cone of silence was used by someone it would be Obama and considering McCain pulling the HAL-like eavesdropping it ended up being as effective as the Get Smart cone of silence.

Hank Rearden · 2008-08-20 11:25 pm

Ribtorus wrote:
Drawing a cross in the dirt with a stick was also from DeMille's "Sign Of The Cross" (1932), with Fred March and a naked Claudette Colbert. I bet that cross-in-the-dirt story has a longer hstory than McCain or Solzhenitsen.

I'd actually bet that Christians in tough situations have been doing that sort of thing - crosses or fish - for centuries. So, it wouldn't surprise me that it would be encountered in the Soviet gulag AND in Vietnam. From what I know, the catacombs of Rome are sprinkled with various images, so millennia is probably more apt.

Jdude · 2008-08-22 10:05 pm

I have Solzhenitsyn's book right in front of me. While I am not going to read the entire damn thing to verify the quote, I'll post a scan of the appropriate page if someone knows where it is at.

Tallgeese · 2008-08-22 10:06 pm

Jdude wrote:
I have Solzhenitsyn's book right in front of me. While I am not going to read the entire damn thing to verify the quote, I'll post a scan of the appropriate page if someone knows where it is at.

Actually, it looks more like it was a speech that got attributed to that book after a few pastors used it in their books.

Forums | MacLife

#1 2008-08-19 11:02 am

McCain's "cone of silence"

Solzhenitsyn wrote:

#2 2008-08-19 11:06 am

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#3 2008-08-19 11:10 am

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#4 2008-08-19 11:25 am

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#5 2008-08-19 11:31 am

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#6 2008-08-19 12:51 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#7 2008-08-19 1:18 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

bratboy wrote:

#8 2008-08-19 1:20 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#9 2008-08-19 2:24 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#10 2008-08-19 2:26 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#11 2008-08-19 2:29 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#12 2008-08-19 2:37 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

Gurlugon wrote:

#13 2008-08-19 2:43 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#14 2008-08-19 2:44 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

Tallgeese wrote:

#15 2008-08-20 7:26 am

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

Tallgeese wrote:

Solzhenitsyn wrote:

#16 2008-08-20 8:14 am

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#17 2008-08-20 8:45 am

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#18 2008-08-20 10:07 am

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

Daddyo wrote:

#19 2008-08-20 10:10 am

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#20 2008-08-20 12:44 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#21 2008-08-20 12:59 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#22 2008-08-20 1:38 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#23 2008-08-20 11:25 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

Ribtorus wrote:

#24 2008-08-22 10:05 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

#25 2008-08-22 10:06 pm

Re: McCain's "cone of silence"

Jdude wrote:

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