McCain Lauds Palin, Then Calls Her Irrelevant (Captain Queeg alert)

The Wall Street Journal ^ | 2009-12-06

[rabscuttle385]

Arizona Sen. John McCain came to the defense of his former GOP running mate Sarah Palin on Sunday. But in doing so, he used an adjective that some might not consider such a compliment.

McCain was responding to a question from NBC’s David Gregory on “Meet the Press,” about whether Palin’s brand of conservatism is “what the Republican Party needs to regain power in the midterms and ultimately in 2012.” McCain responded that the former Alaska governor has “earned herself a very big place in the Republican political scene” and that he was “proud of her.”

Then came this:

“I am entertained every time I see these people attack her and attack her and attack her. She’s irrelevant, but they continue to attack her. I am so proud of her and the work that she is doing,” McCain said.

[REDWOOD99]

Check out the video. His reference to her “irrelevance” was mocking the media’s claim.

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"How should "She’s irrelevant" be taken as a compliment? "

I'm no McCain fan, but: I read this as, "Those idiots claim she's irrelevant, but then they're totally obsessed with her."

Lots of inflection gets lost in the written word.

[Tuscaloosa Goldfinch]

That’s what I understood as well.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

One of the few things I like about McCain is his dry sense of humor. Too bad to see otherwise astute FReepers jerk their knees over stuff like this.

[Man50D]

I am no fan of McCain but I am taking his side in this, he was NOT calling her irrelevant at all

His quote: "She's irrelevant". That statement doesn't leave any room for interpretation.

[Tribune7]

How should "She’s irrelevant" be taken as a compliment?

If he said it ironically like "Out of kindness, I suppose"

A Pancho & Lefty reference there.

[Chunga]

His quote: "She's irrelevant". That statement doesn't leave any room for interpretation.

Are you a public school graduate?

[ReneeLynn]

Oh geez, he was being scarcastic.

[Outlaw Woman]

He didn’t say she was irrelevant. He was mocking Dems and newsies who call her irrelevant on the one hand and then obsess about her every move.

Exactly

[babygene]

I hate McCain and everything he stands for, but...

I think he’s trying to say that she’s not in politics and she hasn’t said she’s running.

[REDWOOD99]

Whatta Maroon!

[Chunga]

Your college must have a tutoring program for reading comprehension. Check it out.

[jyoders19]

I know some of the people here will take ANY excuse to hate McCain, but if you watched the program he made the statement on this morning you’d know he was mocking the host’s leading question. McCain said if she was irrelevant why are people, like the show’s host with his leading question, continue to attack her? Because she’s not irrelevant.

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

It was meant as a “she has no power so why are they spending all their time attacking her?” She doesn’t have a vote on anything other than an Alaska election.

[Man50D]

Are you a public school graduate?

Is an insult your idea of cogent thinking?

[Man50D]

Lots of inflection gets lost in the written word.

Assuming that's the case, then he should have chosen his words more carefully.

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

[REDWOOD99]

Yeah. I got that. Shoot that statement to the one’s who didn’t.

[Man50D]

It was meant as a “she has no power so why are they spending all their time attacking her?”

The hundreds of thousands of people who line up to see her nationwide would disagree but McAmnesty is too out of touch to understand the power she is acquiring.

[spodefly]

Not to defend McCain necessarily, but I read that to mean that in the eyes of the press, Sarah Palin is irrelevant as a “viable” politician (Ivy League Law Degree, Pro-Abortion, progressive) and yet they continue to cover her and everything about her more on a daily basis that they do Obama in a year.