McCain sings the Beach Boys

April 22, 2007 9:33 AM

Went to a dance, looking for a man, found John McCain, he was singing Bomb Iran. (Warnings: Single link YouTube Newsfilter)
posted by PeterMcDermott (43 comments total)

Op Ed? I think not. SLUT is surely more apt.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 9:40 AM on April 22, 2007

Single-Link-to-Outdated-Political-Pablum-on-Youtube

Sloppy dude. Sloppy.
posted by allen.spaulding at 9:43 AM on April 22, 2007

we'll have fun, fun, fun til khamenei takes the t-bird away ...
posted by pyramid termite at 9:44 AM on April 22, 2007

McCain's action here is disgraceful, but I have to admit that his version of the song is catchy as hell. Every time I read about it, I end up singing it in my head, over and over again.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 9:45 AM on April 22, 2007

God, I'm so tired of this "gotcha!" game, where momentarily embarrassing videos of candidates being their stupid human selves become the most important thing people use to decide who to vote for (John Edwards hair video, I'm talking to you). McCain is clearly trying to pander to a "get tough on Iran" crowd and makes a shitty joke about bombing people. Ok, we get it. Hammering it home again and again is not political discussion.
posted by mediareport at 9:45 AM on April 22, 2007 [3 favorites]

OK, I didn't notice that it had been uploaded a couple of days ago. Ah well, I hadn't seen it anyway.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 9:47 AM on April 22, 2007

The campaign finance bill was McCain's Pet Sounds, and this campaign is his guest appearance on Full House.
posted by box at 9:48 AM on April 22, 2007 [4 favorites]

Sorry, Peter, that was more a general annoyance, not directed at you perse. But it's really striking to me how much this kind of episode is replacing thoughtful discussion about the candidates. It's not a good trend.
posted by mediareport at 9:54 AM on April 22, 2007

Please refer all single link YouTube post complaints to the poster of this single link YouTube post.
posted by The Deej at 9:55 AM on April 22, 2007

Memo to John McCain: The Guy Who Wrote "Barbara Ann" Is Iranian
posted by niles at 9:55 AM on April 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

mediareport: Don't you think it's important to understand how a candidate actually feels about things? I don't think he would have said it if he didn't actually think bombing Iran would at least be fun (which is, in a way, more disturbing then simply thinking it would be a good idea).

Plus, how do you think these things look overseas. When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad panders to holocaust deniers or talks about "turning the page of history on Israel" (otherwise translated as "wiping Israel off the map") people freak out. How do you think the leaders of Iran are going to view "jokes" like that? Do you think it's going to make them more interested in ending their nuclear enrichment program?
posted by delmoi at 9:56 AM on April 22, 2007 [3 favorites]

[I meant per se, but probably used it wrong; I hate self-grammar corrections, but that one is really bugging me, carry on]
posted by mediareport at 9:57 AM on April 22, 2007

Yeah, well, the difference is that with the Edwards video, his hair actually looks a little better when he's done.

With the McCain video, when he's finished, he still looks like an ass.
posted by veggieboy at 10:02 AM on April 22, 2007

mediareport writes 'Sorry, Peter, that was more a general annoyance, not directed at you perse. But it's really striking to me how much this kind of episode is replacing thoughtful discussion about the candidates. It's not a good trend.'

S'OK mediareport, I didn't take it personally. Not that I necessarily agree with you though. I like to see politicians screwing up. I like to see their flaws and foibles. It makes them more human to me, and I don't think that that prevents serious discussion of policy or candidates.

I wonder if this is a difference between British and American media, where traditionally you've been more respectful of your politicians -- although I suppose since Murdoch established residence over there, that's changing pretty rapidly -- and not in a good way either.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:03 AM on April 22, 2007

Oh yeah, mediareport, I totally get what you're saying: this clip is irrelevant because it doesn't engender a serious national discussion about the matter of annihilating (another) sovereign country in a move which would undoubtedly trigger a much wider (world) war. I mean, he was only being his "stupid, human self", right? It was just an attempt at levity! Hahaha! Sure made me laugh! And it made McCain seem more "normal" and "human" to me! I'm so glad he screws up like I do! What a regular joe!
posted by inoculatedcities at 10:13 AM on April 22, 2007 [2 favorites]

My buddies and me are getting real well known
Yeah, the bad guys know us and they leave us alone
I get around
Get around round round I get around
From town to town
Get around round round I get around
I'm a real cool head
Get around round round I get around
I'm makin' real good bread...

Wah wa ooo
Wah wa ooo
Wah wa ooo
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:19 AM on April 22, 2007

I don't know, PeterMcDemott, the McCain thing got pretty good play in the U.S. media. It obviously had the advantage/disadvantage of being up against wall-to-wall coverage of the Virginia Tech shootings, but it did get mention.

I agree with you, mediareport, that there's a lot of gotcha B.S. floating around. God help me, even Bush doesn't deserve ALL the shit he gets (some of the malapropism guff, for instance, is a cheap shot when there are so many more substantive things to criticize him for).

But I think this is really fairly substantive, especially if you look beyond the video clip to realize that he's pandering to an audience who wants to go out and bomb Iran! I think it reveals the kind of voters he's hoping to attract and, god help us all, the kind of voters that exist in the U.S.
posted by veggieboy at 10:23 AM on April 22, 2007

Forgive me, PeterMcDermott, for botching your name.
posted by veggieboy at 10:24 AM on April 22, 2007

No fan of McCain, here, but the rhetoric on this strikes me as a bit overhyped.

McCain was clearly mimicking the sentiments of folks who, like the questioner, were calling for bombing Iran. As in "this seems to be a chorus I'm hearing a lot these days".

To take that and suggest McCain was being, oh, any number of things that are being inferred from the incident, probably says more about his detractors than about McCain, himself.

That said, McCain is a flip-flopping panderer with an anger management problem and a weak moral compass when it comes to war - extremely frustrating for someone who was himself a POW. But all that's amply demonstrated by much better, more indicative, episodes than this one. My two cents.
posted by darkstar at 10:27 AM on April 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't know, PeterMcDemott, the McCain thing got pretty good play in the U.S. media.

Gawwd, it probably got loads of attention all around the world. My only excuse is that I'm full of cold/chest infection so I haven't been paying attention as closely as I might have been.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:35 AM on April 22, 2007

Christ, what an asshole.
posted by trip and a half at 10:43 AM on April 22, 2007

For a moment there I thought mediareport was complaining about political Captchas. What a great idea that would be. Imagine if there was some sort of easy web dev ajaxy way that we could be sure that politicians were human beings and not bots intent on stealing our cycles for nefarious ends.
posted by srboisvert at 10:44 AM on April 22, 2007 [1 favorite]

I don't feel at all bad for politicrats in DC or fame-whores in Hollywood getting played by the media for our general amusement.

They use the media to play us all the time.

Goose ∴ gander.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 10:48 AM on April 22, 2007

damn. that worked on preview.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 10:49 AM on April 22, 2007

SLOE See ya!!

Something tells me scissorhands2 is bitter.
posted by katillathehun at 10:56 AM on April 22, 2007

.^..

feeling the OCD.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 11:04 AM on April 22, 2007

Sorry.

Not the best of the web.
posted by jason's_planet at 11:11 AM on April 22, 2007

God, I'm so tired of this "gotcha!" game

and of course, if he is elected president, he will be able to persuade the iranians that he is a peaceful, reasonable guy who wants normal relations, right?

what he did was grossly stupid and irresponsible
posted by pyramid termite at 11:13 AM on April 22, 2007

There's nothing new under the sun. I have a 7" somewhere of 'Bomb Iran' from the late 70s. By Vince Vance and the Valiants. And yes, it's a take on "Barbara Ann". Maybe McCain was just remembering that?
posted by stinkycheese at 11:18 AM on April 22, 2007

I remember Rush Limbaugh playing a Bomb Iran song to the tune of Barbara Ann years ago. Maybe that's where McCain heard it.
posted by The Deej at 11:23 AM on April 22, 2007

maybe he got the idea here

you know you live in troubled times when you can't tell the parody from the real thing
posted by pyramid termite at 12:01 PM on April 22, 2007

McCain Starts a Band
posted by homunculus at 12:25 PM on April 22, 2007

You mean it's NOT "dressed up like a douche"?
posted by davy at 12:27 PM on April 22, 2007

joking with the same motherfuckers who sent his ass to NV to get shot out of the sky in pursuit of a similar dick-waving power projection mass-murdering tactic.

probably says more about his detractors than about McCain

that he would even appear at a forum where the audienced laughed about "sending airmail to Tehran" puts McCain beyond the pale.
posted by Heywood Mogroot at 12:31 PM on April 22, 2007

The Secret War Against Iran

Have We Switched Sides on the War on Terror?

Crackdown on the Secret War Against Iran
posted by homunculus at 12:33 PM on April 22, 2007

I'm referring to a(n old, politically motivated) mondegreen.
posted by davy at 1:29 PM on April 22, 2007

For a reason: "Git 'r' done!"
posted by davy at 1:31 PM on April 22, 2007

John McCain
John McCain
JOOOOOOOOHHHN McCain
John McCain

John?
McCain.
John?
McCayayaain!
posted by The Straightener at 1:38 PM on April 22, 2007

stinkycheese is right - that song is from the Iran hostage crisis era. Republicans were a lot more subtle in those days, weren't they?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:03 PM on April 22, 2007

Heywood, I'd suspect it would be nearly impossible to find any group of Americans which didn't share some critical flaw - folks that wouldn't be inclined to laugh at some off-color, unwise or inane joke.

If politicians were only allowed to speak to people who were reasonable, the whole campaign season would last a couple of hours and cost only the price of a cup of coffee while they sat down to chat with their barber / stylist.

In any event, McCain is cratering as we speak. Of the relatively weak $12.5 million he raised in Q1, over a tenth of it came from his home state. To put that into perspective, Romney raised $600k from AZ, about half of McCain's take (a huge amount for a non-native-son).

Johnny-boy's going nowhere.

Meanwhile, via Tom Spratt, McCain could expand his repertoire of Beach Boys covers with two more:

1. "Help Uganda", sung to the tune of "Help Me Rhonda", and
2. "Be True to Kabul", sung to the tune of "Be True to Your School".
posted by darkstar at 3:31 PM on April 22, 2007

Except Kabul is pronounced "KAH-bul", sorta like "cobble." Nice try though.
posted by davy at 5:08 PM on April 22, 2007

And anyway, Uganda's not in the news; try rhyming something with Darfur ("DAR-FOUR", apparently both syllables are accented somehow). Of course you could always stretch it and rhyme something with Sudan ("SU-dan") or "Chad" (pronounced, oddly, "CHAD").
posted by davy at 6:36 PM on April 22, 2007

Picky, picky.

At the very least, we could have "Good Munitions", sung to the tune of "Good Vibrations"...
posted by darkstar at 1:26 AM on April 23, 2007