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Matthias Schrader / AP
Sen. John McCain
Updated 12:52 pm ET. Always one to speak -- or Tweet -- his mind, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) Monday made a joke comparing Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a monkey, something one Republican congressman charged was “racist.”
“So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space - wasn't he just there last week?” McCain said in a tweet that also linked to a story about Iran launching a monkey into space.
Some didn’t take so kindly to the not-so-diplomatic quip, prompting McCain, 76, to respond: “Re: Iran space tweet - lighten up folks, can't everyone take a joke?”
Seeing that, Michigan congressman Rep. Justin Amash, 32, shot back.
“Maybe you should wisen up & not make racist jokes,” Amash tweeted.
Not everyone on the right agreed with Amash. Conservative John Podhoretz, for example, Tweeted this: "How dare McCain say something demeaning & disparaging abt the foremost anti-Semite on the planet." And this: "So...it's defend-the-Jew-hater-from-the-war-hero day."
It’s not the first time McCain’s made a joke about Iran that landed him in some hot water. During his run for president in 2007, McCain sang about bombing the country.
Asked by a GOP primary voter when the U.S. would send an “air-mail message to Tehran,” McCain said, “That old Beach Boys’ song, ‘Bomb Iran?’ Bomb, bomb, bomb—, anyway.”
McCain’s response then as now? It’s just a joke -- "get a life.”
“When veterans are together, veterans joke,” McCain said at the time. “And I was with veterans and we were joking. And if somebody can’t understand that, my answer is, ‘Please, get a life.’”
Leave a Comment:
I am so tired of hearing the "it's just a joke" excuse for bad manners, poor judgement, ignorance and stupidity.
Get over yourself John McCain. You continue to make the United States of America look bad in the eyes of the rest of the world.
Right on!
OMG its just a joke, he's totally right, "get a life". I happen to think its pretty funny! Thumbs up McCain for being real and down to earth!
I've always though that Ahmadinejad looked more like a chimpanzee than a monkey LOL
McCain is a real patriot and awesome man. More american than anyone on this post let alone everyone put together. Great joke and nothing else.
There are Farmers commercials with a Monkey in space, is that racist?
McCain is a hero, give him respect.
so true!
So getting captured in war makes one a hero? Avoiding capture yes, getting captured, no. Stop riding McDouchebags nuts for Christ sake. What he was and what he may be are far from the same. He has degenerated to a caricature of what he once was purported to stand for. He has ridden his own war credentials into the ground.
McCain is a danger to himself and others and should be returned to Nam and put back in the box.
he is not a real hero nor real patriot. he didn't fight on the ground as real Heros did. he mismanaged several aircrafts even before regular vietnamese guy pull that "hero" down from the sky. he is a patriot of judas.
How is calling that insect Amadinejad a monkey racist?
"Stand up, Chuck, let 'em see ya." –-Joe Biden, to Missouri state Sen. Chuck Graham, who is in a wheelchair, Columbia, Missouri, Sept. 12, 2008
"I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that's a storybook, man." –Joe Biden, referring to Barack Obama at the beginning of the 2008 Democratic primary campaign, Jan. 31, 2007
"You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent.... I'm not joking." --Joe Biden, in a private remark to an Indian-American man caught on C-SPAN, June, 2006
"This is a big f------ deal!" --Joe Biden, caught on an open mic congratulating President Barack Obama during the health care signing ceremony, Washington, D.C.
So, as we can all see, Joe Biden is a very tactful and graceful orator, never saying anything inappropriate or tasteless. bwahahahahahahahah I love to cut and paste!
Well I'll be a monkey's uncle!!
And George Bush waving "Hi" to Stevie Wonder was the right thing to do?
Hey, you're not sayin' Joe's a dumb #ss are you? Cause that would be redundant.
Just more of Cheryl's tripe!
You mean he compared him to Obama?
No,
McCain was comparing him to your wife.
First, I'd like to know how this crappy "story" even passes for news? Second, how can anything derogatory or otherwise said about a nut like Ahmedinijad be questioned. Really, WHO CARES?! He's a wacko. Why would anyone make an issue about this. Lighten up. Grow up. Get a life. And to the author of the "story", find something worthy of reading to write about next time. Or go back to writing obits.
Like they say Monkey See Monkey Do. But thats giving him and all Iranines way to much class they need to eat more pig-guts!
How dare Sin. McWorthless to use such a hatefull, demeaning, racist so called joke to defame this great hero. He should be ashamed of himself. Sin. McWorthless you should go on world wide tv news and apologize for the hurt and defamation you have thoughtlessly brought on inocent apes all over the world. You ser should be dope slapped.
I see all the whiners are at it. When ever there is a chance to belittle a republican they come out in force. Instead of bitching about this insignificant rant that only the politically correct care about. The fact that this administration still hasnt passed a budget in 4 years is a joke. I supose that is Bush's fault too. Seems like the Mainstream media is running interference for all it's political cronies as usual. Keep up the smokescreen of this non-important stuff while the important stuff gets unkowingly pushed along. WAKE UP ALL U NON-INFORMATION VOTERS>
Jiminee....
And the right has been so kind to the President, correct? Never call him names, do they? Never bastardize his name, do they?
They do not make fun of his wife and daughters, right? And they support all his efforts to get us out of the mess the GOP left in 2009, right?
Those who are bashing McCain would have been bashing him if he had never told the joke just as surely as his defenders would have been lauding him.
The whole incident teaches us more about the responders than about McCain or Ahmadinejad.
Now the liberals are all butt hurt because one of their main lefty special guest speaker muslims got insulted . You guys are probably all waiting with baited breath for another univerisity speech from your hero amadonkeyhumper ..
Love all the politically correct liberals in fake outrage over McCain calling Ahmadinejad a monkey, seemingly oblivious to the fact that this holocaust-denying racist is the figurehead leader of tyrannical government that kills anyone suspected of being gay. Hey all you atheist libs, THEY'RE RELIGIOUS FANATICS! Hey all you gay marriage supporting libs, THEY KILL GAYS FOR NO OFFENSE OTHER THAN BEING GAY!
Shut your PC pieholes and realize that there really are no words that can begin to describe what a disgusting human being this little bearded Hitler is, and that if anyone should be offended, it's all the peace-loving simians of the world.
Neda lives.
Mike, your description of Ahmadinejad is spot on. McCain's comment regarding him is not appropriate for a sitting member of the United States Senate.
Great comment Mike dead on the money . Funny how these PC morons refuse to acknoledge the ape they're sticking up for persecutes their other cause the gays .Can you say Libocrits ? Ha!
So many typical leftys here. Lets focus on McCains monkey comment that was directed to a murdering scumbag A-hole who hates America and would love to do nothing more then blow the USA, Israel, and a large handful of other places right off the damn map. Lets play the racist card when it absolutely doesnt apply, typical lefty BS. Lets blatantly ignore the colossal train wreck and biggest failure (intentionally killing the USA) of a president and traitor in chief Obama, worst president in human history. Yes, I too wanted Obama to be the one, at first I did have hope that he was going to be good for us. But unlike others, I can admit to myself he is NOT that, and is in fact 100% wrong for us on many levels and not for us. So many leftys are much too stupid and even worse... much too proud with 'hope and change' still ringing in their heads that even after the last incredibly horrible four years they still choose to support a wanna-be marxist dictator instead of admitting the truth...which is Obama lies every time he opens his damn mouth, spends more taxpayer money then basically all other presidents before him almost up to Bushes first term.. combined.. and wants nothing more then to run our country completely into the ground, keeps raising the debt limit so he can spend even more money we dont have, wants to take away everything that makes the USA great including as many of our rights as he can constitution be damned, then rebuild the USA in his F'd up total big government controlled communistic vision. But lets focus on a silly monkey joke instead, ya thats it, thats the ticket. McCain was being NICE when he called that murdering POS a monkey, and it damn sure wasnt racist either nice try yet again race card spammers. You leftys will focus on anything to divert from the current horrible situation with Barry the dictator and chief and all of his goons. We are headed towards Greece and Obama is doing everything he can to speed up the process since he wasnt quite able to do it the first four years of his pure, intentional, failure. We dont need to worry about places like Iran getting nukes to kill us with, Obama will have destroyed us long before that thanks to all his supporters and his lamestream media.
@CWBOU812:
Obama cannot spend a dime...Congress spends...
Your rant is a lie.
What's funny is that OLE FOOL almost could have been President and you tired Republicans are willing to VOTE for anybody just because YOU don't like seeing an African AMerican President......I say just CHECK OUT now since you think you're future is so BLEAK!!
Those type of JOKES.......coming from a Politician.......are on the lines of WORLD WAR III.....time to retire McCain......its always easy to know if you said something offensive if you just reverse it onto YOU being said by someone else.
Wow monkey is racist now. Should have used donkey as Jacka$$
As far as I'm concerned, you can't insult Ahmadinejad enough.
McCain being constantly called a war hero is a bit troublesome and his excuse about being with a bunch of veterans and laughing about what's-his-name in Iran is not worthy of a U.S. Senator.
The war hero part, though, might be arguable. He wrecked two aircraft, got shot down with a third one over North Viet Nam, spent some terrible years in captivity, and comes how a war hero. Better than John Wayne I suppose, but not by much.
Hello all,even you,Cheryl,,lmao
Well that's it,Mclame should be in a nursing home,,AZ the gate way to tea bagger heaven.
Seems to me that Ole Mclame is looking like a monkey man himself.Time for this old coot to just die already
mccain haters, my guess 2/3 of these posts were in that category, update today there was a msn poll which says 63+% (253,000+ say the joke was not racist) disagree with you. i repeat your posts said much more about you than mccain. get a life tune in to the economy, deficit, debt, entitlement solvency and tell those you elected to do the same.
Tom...
Sorry, the righties do not believe in polls! That was their big rallying cry in October 2012!
Wow, you don't say? I would bet more than 63% of those polled are white and find Iraq more distasteful than racism. Doubtful there where many Iranians polled or people of color. White people don't find many things racist at all.
The N-word was made up by a majority and is used widely by a majority of whites even today and none of them would answer that the word has any racial implications at all if polled. These polls are not scientific and are not meant to be seen as reliable by any standards.
For those who do not see this for what it was, good for you........ Kudos for you to be able to have your head so far up your behinds you can smell your supper from the inside.
I bet you are the same people that use the terms like "Indian giver", "Jew them down", or @!$%#rig and have no idea its racist.
I am not against racism so don't bother starting with me. I reserve the right to hate whomever whenever for no reason at all, and firmly stand by the rights of others to hate me for no cause as well. I am not an atheist because that would indicate I am against fairy tales about a GOD and since there is no God I can't be against theism. So there isn't even a fear of a deity to stop me from hating pigmentally challenged people.
Oh sure I have "white friends" and co workers I get along with and even respect, but would I ever break bread with them on my own time, not a chance. As for Israel, worst people on the face of the earth and if one towelhead wipes out the Jewelry store owners, so be it.
Oooh Das Racissssss! hahahaha I know.
I am so fed up with all the pandering to freaking Israel. Call me an anti Semite if you will but I am just not fond of the ideology that one ethnic minority is called by a God to be the chosen people. I am not fond of the thought of Iran having the nuke, but that is not our problem unless it can reach the US. Screw Israel and the camel they rode in on.
As for those of you not seeing the racism in the monkey reference, poke larger eye holes in your pillow case and eat a Kosher dong.
F the Jews.
I agree!