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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.’”
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The last of the white rich bigots, living in fantasy land. Ten to Fifteen years
from now all the crazies will either be dead or the civil war of common sense
will already have taken place. Will move back to the USA (3rd world country)
when the 81% of democrats and independents get the intestinal fortitude to
stands up to big $ and stop being their slaves.
Once a real leader emerges the entire country needs to rally behind, an enema will
need to be performed... Watching the country of USA abusing immigrants as
slave labor...
Looks like when is was young 1936, back then it was the Irish, Italians,
Jews, 1960’s was African Americans, now it is Latino’s of all backgrounds, I am
old but not brain dead.. Glad we stayed in Japan just come back to the US to see how terrible the country has become every other year.. God Bless America as it surely needs it....
McCain is incorrect about Iran's leader acting like a monkey. Primates will attempt to protect their children not hide behind them. The Iranian nuclear facility was built in a highly populated area. They are also more capable of cooperative behavior. However,chimp males do beat the trees and display to show their worthiness to breed or lead.
Are you surprse about McCain. He is showing what the GOP is about. It is going to be very hard for the GOP to clean there act up as long as you have people like him.
James it is not just the Republicans it is also the Democrats and Obama has shown his true colors by siding with the One World Government Order through NATO defining when America sends troops to destabilize governments. I might also add that he signed off on S1867 which expanded the rights of the Presidency to empower him to snatch anyone they want off the street and imprison them indefinitely without a trial. Both parties have played into the hands of the big world banks bid for world domination. They all need to go and a courageous third party needs to be put into our government and repair the damage done to the Constitution. Don't be fooled by Obama he could care less about the little guy and if he succeeds in getting the guns you will see how quick America descends into an all powerful police state.
He called the wrong monkey, we have our own.
Yeah your correct, she gave birth to you.
Well, lets see. Science has classified humans as simians. The simians (infraorder Simiiformes, =Anthropoidea) are the "higher primates" familiar to most people: the Old World monkeys and apes, including humans, (together being the catarrhines), and the New World monkeys or platyrrhines,
So, I guess McCain was correct in his assertion and it can't be racist if it is true...can it? Perhaps he was correct in stating that those who are complaining should get a life. Its fiunny if a comedian makes the most horrible racists statements in the world, but sinful if a Republican makes a joke.
Stinking monkeys, some of them just don't have a sense of humor
I don't get it - have people been comparing Arabs to monkeys on some racial, intelligence, or appearance basis? When did this happen? Where is all the "racist" ranting coming from? Watch the Ben Carson speech a few times. What a bunch of whiners. Always some reason to point fingers and accuse. You Libs are all a bunch of haters.
McCain scored a few points in my book. Why does everyone have to get all political?
LMAO...Ask the esteemed and highly honored and well spoken of Former Governor of Alabama, Demoncrat George Wallace of what he thinks about that. Oh he's unfortunately dead..Or the 18 thousand Slave owning Plantation owners of the Southern Demoncrat party who defined the north and started the Civil War to keep their Slaves...Yes the Demoncrat party is a party of racists, racism against whites is the currently in vogue which was caused by the racist white Demoncrat slave owners of the South...The Demoncrats are such a party of deceit and phony shock...You really want to know what the Demoncrats did to the black people..especially Clinton,,go to www.Examiner.com and look for the story titled "New Study confirms economy was destroyed by Demoncrat Policies" they set up the poor black people to fail....and Obama is got the blood on his hands a well, he is a traitor against the black people and you see that clearly after reading the story...
McCain still insulted all monkey's when he called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a monkey and needs to apologize to monkeys. That would be like when ya see a chimp slap it's slap.
Hey, Art , Samantha , and fiesty. You monkeys sound so racist. I know more blacks that use the "N" than anybody. Why are you fools so concerned about what he said. I bet if he was any other color than
white these stupid remarks would not be said. Like you all are perfect little angels. You know Richard Pryor was known for joking about whites and his audience was mostly white. Yep , us crackers are all racist while the Black Panthers creep through the night and want us eliminated. So collect your welfare check while i work extra hours to pay for it.
McCain has a false sense of being just a bit better, smarter, bigger, more important, more intelligent, more wise, more sophisticated and far more important than he really is. He really is no more smart than he was back in the academy when he had no respect for his peers and did and said just as he pleased. He's become a train wreck in recent years and can't seem to pull his face out of the camera's nor out of his a***.
or.......if the media hadn't been using this to mud-fling Ahmadinejad would have never heard of this in the first place! Good Job media :) Blowing up everything out of proportion before "he" does.
I don't know if his attempt at a joke means he is a racist, but McCain is not much of a zoologist if he mistook a male donkey for a monkey.
I'm with McCain and Podhoretz on this one. I made the same joke myself and I'm a Christian too. Mahmoud hates us so we don't care for him. Compared to what Mahmoud does to us I think McCain's joke was pretty tame. I think he would've said the same thing whether he was iranian, blue, black, white, yellow, or orange, so it's definitely not racist. Everyone should loosen their ties and lighten up.
I'd like to think of myself as a moderate, but I'm certainly no GOP supporter. That said, this is a complete non-story/non-issue. First of all, monkey is a derogatory, racist term for black people. Not Arabs. The people who are saying this is racist and "getting offended" are showing their true inner bigotry by lumping Arabs and blacks together in their mind. I've never once heard the word monkey uttered toward an Arab as an insult. Maybe the people decrying racism should look at themselves in th mirror. Also, I remember when racism used to mean hatred and bigotry towards a certain people because of their...well...race. Now it seems making fun of someone of another race is racism. Let me as this...if he called an Israeli Jew a monkey, would it be offensive? What if it was someone from India? If you say Yes, you are an idiot, and if you say No, then why is it so offensive for Arabs?? Arab =/= black. Which also confuses me as to why the KKK is even being brought up.
it is about time we start calling what the ememy is and their leader. mcain has stones when other are to pc. it is ok for the enemy to call names to us and israel butnot us. sure, lets crawl back into a box and lift the lid sometimes to see what is happening out there. remember, that was ron pauls foreingn policy. we need more boad remarks against are enemies.
you the man, sen. mccain. tell it like it is. to hell with all of the pc world !
what makes me sick is when someone is pc, you they never no where they stand nor do you. they go with the flavor of the day. when you are not pc, everyone knows how you stand and pc people don't like that and think that is out of date beng the calender say its 2013.
Who Cares, hes trying to find a way to kill us and your upset? Really? Who cares what they call him. Yeah hes a Monkey look alike so ? What you going to do. And he looks like my neighbors dogs ass too So!!!!! I bet your Mom looks like him too.!! So!?
Shame on McCain. All monkeys should be offended.