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GRUMPY OLD MEN

Nasty McCain Now Just Yelling At People To Buy His Books

Civil War veteran John McCain served his country with “honor,” but he has no idea what “honor” even means! In a hilarious Q&A with TIME Magazine — hilarious because he’s just barking “Get off my lawn!” at the poor reporters — McCain is asked a simple, boring, “just quote your stump speech” question, and he goes absolutely crazy.

There’s a theme that recurs in your books and your speeches, both about putting country first but also about honor. I wonder if you could define honor for us?

Read it in my books.

I’ve read your books.

No, I’m not going to define it.

But honor in politics?

I defined it in five books. Read my books.

Th-that’s n-not straight talk we can b-believe in!

Jesus, if you can’t give some rote definition of honor when your entire campaign is built around your Honorable Patriotism bullshit, you should really just hang it up, let Mitt or somebody take the nomination.

McCain gets bonus Nasty Points for demanding that people buy five of his goddamned books to figure out how he might define “honor in politics,” even if you’ve already read them.

Also, he didn’t write any of “his” books — they were all written by his loyal propaganda aide, Mark Salter.

Prickly McCain Refuses To Define “Honor” In Interview [TPM]
McCain’s Prickly TIME Interview [TIME]


12:44 PM on Thu August 28 2008
By Ken Layne
10579 Views

  1. Fighting Bill says at 12:48 pm, August 28th, 2008

    The prickly guy should pick the prick LIEberman as VP. Please, God.

  2. Canmon (the Inadequate) says at 12:49 pm, August 28th, 2008

    “Read my FIVE AND A HALF books”!

  3. HIROHITO99 says at 12:50 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Hey, get off McCain’s back! At least this time he knows how many books he’s had ghost-written about his undefinable honor unlike the time when he was asked how many homes he was given for keeping Cindy high as a kite all the time.

  4. StripesAndPlaids says at 12:50 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Honor: the ability to answer every question with: did you know I spent 5.5 years in a POW camp?

  5. Too Lazy To Sign In says at 12:50 pm, August 28th, 2008

    I’ll show him, I’ll go to Borders and sit down and read the whole damn thing while sipping on my cold black coffee (to resemble his soul).

    And then, when I am done, I will put back the copy and walk away.

    But I won’t go to the library. Because that is what the Communists would want me to do.

  6. Thanatopsis says at 12:50 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Is the weight of his cheeks making him that grumpy looking?

  7. satyricrash says at 12:50 pm, August 28th, 2008

    “READING IS FUNDAMENTAL, GOD DAMN IT!!”

  8. Is Wonkette writing McCain’s material now?

  9. Some people’s personalities are not suited to the national spotlight… Thankfully Walnuts! isn’t one of them! He’s endlessly (and unintentionally) hilarious!

  10. Too Lazy To Sign In says at 12:53 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Also, judging from his interview, he isn’t above killing a few interns or volunteers to get his way.

    What with the poisoning his own food and planting terrorist carbombs and all.

  11. StripesAndPlaids says at 12:53 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Too Lazy To Sign In: “while sipping on my cold black coffee (to resemble his soul).
    ” Well played, sir.

  12. AngryBlakGuy says at 12:53 pm, August 28th, 2008

    DEFINITION: Honor - 5 and half years in a Vietnam prison.

  13. What Johhny should have said is:

    “My friends, “honor” is our ability to bomb the fuck out of anyone we want because they piss me off. I would also “honor” a booty call from my wife, Mrs. Stepford.”

  14. NoWireHangers says at 12:55 pm, August 28th, 2008

    If WALNUTS! chooses Mittens he better be prepared to acknowledge that his comb-over will look even more ridiculous next to a head of thick, luxurious, Mormon hair.

  15. Honor is pretty flowers that smell bad.

  16. Serolf Divad says at 12:57 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Senator McCain, I wonder if you could define honor for us.

    I’ve done it before.

    But could you do it again for us

    I know what it is, I’m not going to sit here and define it.

    I think you don’t really

    Yes I do.

    Betcha don’t

    I tell you what.. why don’t you define it and I’ll tell you if you’re right.

    I’m not falling for that, sorry

    What was the assignment again?

    Define honor

    Whoops! Looks like we’re out of time! What a shame, ’cause I had so much to say about honor and how I define it. Maybe next time.

  17. Lascauxcaveman says at 12:59 pm, August 28th, 2008

    I vote for “goes” as the missing verb in the “and he absolutely crazy” clause in the first graph.

    Unless we be speeking Jah-may-kin now mon.

  18. Johnny Zhivago says at 12:59 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Fighting Bill: Sorry, but according to MSNBC McCain HIMSELF said he’s leaning towards Wilford Brimley.

    Although I agree that Joe Lieberman would be a hillarious choice, may I still put a word in for my old boss Carly Fiorina? I have absolutely no doubt that no one could fuck up the McCain campaign more than Carly could.

  19. grendel says at 1:01 pm, August 28th, 2008

    NoWireHangers: Is that like Cherokee hair? Do they sell Mormon Hair Tampons?

  20. thefrontpage says at 1:01 pm, August 28th, 2008

    I could define Honor Blackman.

  21. Texan Bulldoggette says at 1:01 pm, August 28th, 2008

    NoWireHangers: Not to mention McCain is like 5′5″ tall & Mittens will tower over him. The Mormon is also easier to look at; Walnuts is pretty much in pre-rigor mortis stage at this point.

  22. Also, I read ‘Why Courage Matters’ by faux John McCain. I can’t say it was an illuminating book, as ’twas exclusively about courage in war amidst violence and whatnot. So, I’m thinking they should fire machine-gun bursts at the Rep. convention, aimed above head height, so’s they can get their honor on.

  23. ManchuCandidate says at 1:02 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Honor (from wiki) is the evaluation of a person’s trustworthiness and social status based on that individual’s espousals and actions.

    Honor (from McCain) is bending over and taking it while your rival slams your vicodin addicted wife’s generous adoption of a Bangladeshi baby then hiring all the scum who fucked you over to attempt to do the same to an upppity negro celebrity while mouthing platitudes about real honor.

  24. Johnny Zhivago: You’re kidding. Wilford? Really? What kind of name is Wilford? Did his parents hate him?

  25. Cape Clod says at 1:03 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Can’t wait until his first press conference as President.

    “Talk to my aides about how the economy is doing”
    “Read my books if you want to get an idea about my attitude toward China”
    “Israel and the Palestinians? I spent 5 and a half years in prison.”

  26. el_chupacabra says at 1:04 pm, August 28th, 2008

    oh Hopey. it would be so timely and ass kicky if you defined honor in your roman rock concert speech thing. oh, it’s tee’d up, maing.

  27. grendel says at 1:04 pm, August 28th, 2008

    TGY: Walnuts! would crash off the stage (a la Bob Dole) and be taken prisoner

  28. EnBuenOra says at 1:05 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Wait, does this mean that Oldest Living Confederate woman wasn’t a Widow?

  29. RuperttheBear says at 1:05 pm, August 28th, 2008

    scene: a suburban bedroom. “Hello Kitty” posters adorn the walls, and clumps of masturbated-into kleenex litter the floor. Running footfalls are heard, getting closer. The door opens, and a journalist with Time (Chrissy Morrow), visibly distraught, pauses a moment and then, convulsed with sorrow, throws himself sobbing on bed

    Chrissy: Oh, John McCain, how could you! continues sobbing. Maternal June Cleaver figure appears at door, one hand on the doorframe and a concerned look on her face.

    June: Chrissy? What is it honey?

    Chrissy: John McCain. . . he was . . . PRICKLY WITH ME! more sobbing.

    June: Oh, Chrissy, that’s what happens when you let politicians do the buttsex with you for years and then try to ask even basic questions. They lose respect for you.

  30. Anonymous Office Zombie says at 1:05 pm, August 28th, 2008

    And to think I thought Bush was scary and irrational. McCain’s like some kind of rabid bear.

    If you happen to encounter a John McCain in his natural habitat, don’t get too close, don’t make any sudden moves, don’t make eye contact, and for the love of god, do not ask any direct questions.

  31. Mumble Softly says at 1:06 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Damn liberal media bias, always making John “the angry dwarf” McCain look, sound , and smell angrier than he really is (which is quite a feat by the way.

    FOR SHAME , the elderly man is a hero, veteran , pow, and a senile-crippled-invalid. Why dont you leave him alone and let him go back to his “stories” on the tee-vee.

  32. chadamir says at 1:10 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Whats the deal with his sons? Why wont he talk about them? Is it like how he doesn’t bring out his adopted daughter?

  33. NewAlgier says at 1:14 pm, August 28th, 2008

    I can only imagine what Saddam Hussein would be doing with the wealth he would acquire with oil at $110 and $120 a barrel.

    What’s that legal term? Clean hands? Begging forgiveness for patricide because you’re now an orphan? Or perhaps just being a douchebag who can’t understand that $120/bbl and the Iraq invasion are somehow, indefinably, tenuously linked in a very complicated way.

    Tool.

  34. Fighting Bill says at 1:14 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Johnny Zhivago: I’ve been waiting to hear more about Carla from the inside. She’s slick as batshit as a TV surrogate, though it only takes a few minutes to realize she’s a soulless piece of crap. What she did to her company is what McCain would do to the country, so it’s a good fit.

  35. If his wife cuts him off for another off the cuff ‘trollop’ remark he’s gonna need that book money. Poppa can’t buy Ferragamo loafers with his own money.

    Don’t worry that he can’t define honor, he can’t define victory either. He also isn’t really sure of the definition of “respectably run campaign” either. So there’s alot of stuff that’s up in the air at the moment.

    http://thesebastards.blogspot.com/

  36. Lascauxcaveman: There’s a poster for bubble tea at a restaurant near me that shows a smiling Asian woman drinking said beverage over the exhortation “LET ME CRAZY!” Therefore, I must assume that crazy is now a verb, though this use of it should have actuall been “and then he crazies”.

  37. Doglessliberal says at 1:21 pm, August 28th, 2008

    I so much want him to lose it in a debate. We need him just to get red in the face and go batshit one time. Hey, America, here’s the “experience” candidate! He is INSANE.

  38. floraway says at 1:21 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Isn’t it just “McNasty”?

  39. Sussemilch says at 1:22 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Can’t stop looking at those cheeks. His fat face makes James Earl Jones look skinny.

  40. I’m a fuckin’ hero and a patriot, goddammit! *throws empty beer can*

  41. McCain has realized that the jig is up on his horrible, misdirected campaign and is just trying to profit from it personally as much as he can while the spotlight lasts. Big sale on Truck Nutz Divot Toolz!

  42. Doglessliberal says at 1:24 pm, August 28th, 2008

    floraway: he really does have that mean-streak-disguised-with-”jokes” thing going on. A nasty bully. You can imagine how he treated the less popular guys in high school and at the Academy.

  43. mookworthjwilson says at 1:25 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Servo: When do we get to hear the story about how his nose was bit off by a Saigon whore?

  44. Hopey don't play that game says at 1:26 pm, August 28th, 2008

    “Honor is me not tossing your salad like the gooks did to me so many times…”

  45. freakishlystrong says at 1:27 pm, August 28th, 2008

    RuperttheBear: You, my friend, deserve a star, a gold one!

  46. Godot: This bit of strikethru humor did not go as planned…

    Preview Post plz

  47. mookworthjwilson says at 1:28 pm, August 28th, 2008

    TGY: It’s his middle name…but Allen Brimley don’ sell oats or encourage people to get involved with some sort of medicare fraud scheme…

  48. grendel says at 1:28 pm, August 28th, 2008

    mookworthjwilson: Cindy is not from Saigon

  49. smashtheduck says at 1:29 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Stupid reporter. Now you’re on your way to gitmo. But, hey, at least you’ll have five and a half books to read on your lil vacation.

  50. freakishlystrong says at 1:29 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Doglessliberal: Shit, look how he treats his benefactor..

  51. V572625694 says at 1:31 pm, August 28th, 2008

    He’s had a free pass from the press for eight years because he boosted their sniveling collective self-esteem by chatting with them as if they were actual humans and not celebrity-chasing attention whores who want to substitute their individual and collective wisdom for the will of the people. Now he’s going to find out what happens when he doesn’t pander to them. Uh-oh, Juan Mc-5.5, you kicked over the hornets’ nest, and they’re gonna sting you good!

  52. freakishlystrong says at 1:33 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Well, in better news, according to NOAA we won’t have to worry about the Florida vote!

  53. AngryBlakGuy says at 1:34 pm, August 28th, 2008

    …Honor is the name of the Vietnamese lady-boy whore that took his (anal)virginity. Sweet, sweet Honor!!!

  54. JeffGoldblum says at 1:35 pm, August 28th, 2008

    This shit is all going to be hilarious until he wins by 1 point. God damn I hate this country.

    Thats right, I’m getting real dark on all your asses.

  55. Godless Liberal * says at 1:36 pm, August 28th, 2008

    I wonder if Meghan defined honor in her book as well. If so, she should be pissed that he didn’t demand the reporter buy hers as well.

  56. Elitist Republican Tard says at 1:38 pm, August 28th, 2008

    AngryBlakGuy: John McCain was held by a Vietnamese lady-boy, then he got honor.

  57. mookworthjwilson:
    I’m waiting for the story of his sexcapade with a 13-year-old boy at Pattaya Beach, Thailand, courtesy of his Tailhook buddies.
    Say, doesn’t Mittens have a property there?

  58. Godless Liberal * says at 1:38 pm, August 28th, 2008

    “Define ‘honor’”

    “Last night, after three beers, I looked over at Cindy with a twinkle in my eye, and then I was honor like white on rice.”

  59. JeffGoldblum says at 1:41 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Godless Liberal *: Thank you for invoking the most terrible image ever. Show some restraint, it’s still pretty early on the west coast.

  60. At least he knows how many books have been written for him.

  61. HIROHITO99 says at 1:43 pm, August 28th, 2008

    JeffGoldblum: You sound like Michelle Obama when you diss the Land of the Crying Jesus-Eagle like that.

  62. Doglessliberal says at 1:44 pm, August 28th, 2008

    freakishlystrong: this one seems to say the LA vote issue will be moot. But there ia another one behind Gustav already, Hannah, that might take care of FL.
    http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at2+shtml/144513.shtml?5day#contents

  63. nietzscheprojectile says at 1:45 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Serolf Divad: aaand finally….”I know you are, but what am I?”

  64. Manofsteel says at 1:46 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Moderator: Mr. McCain, your word is…”honor.”

    McCain: Could I get a definition, please?

    Moderator: ‘You can read about “honor” in all five of John McCain’s books.’

    McCain: What’s the origin?

    Moderator: John McCain.

    McCain: Are there any alternate pronunciations?

    Moderator: It’s sometimes pronounced MAH-ver-RICK.

    McCain: Ok…ok. “Honor”…..(gulps)….F-I-V-E…A-N-D…A….H-A-L-F…….Y-E-A-R-S. Honor.

    Moderator: That is correct.

  65. botlrokit says at 1:47 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Godless Liberal *: DINGDINGDINGDINGDING

    WINNAR!

  66. AnnieGetYourFun says at 1:48 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Lascauxcaveman: I like to think of it as standard black English, as in “I’d go shopping with her more often, but… well, bitch crazy.”

  67. freakishlystrong says at 1:54 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Doglessliberal: Ya, that’s Hanna on the right and Gustov on the left, Hanna’s a filthy Republican…a friend of mine said “Florida looks like the crack in a Hurricane’s ass..”

  68. KevoTron says at 1:57 pm, August 28th, 2008

    “Yes, I can define honor. But you know there was five and a half years when nobody asked me to define honor because they were too busy being really mean to me. FIVE AND A HALF YEARS ALAN!”

  69. Doglessliberal says at 2:01 pm, August 28th, 2008

    freakishlystrong: poor Florida. The people should all leave and let it return to the wetlands and flora and fauna that actually belong there. AngryBlakGuy, you can stay there if you promise to be kind to the enviroment and your local panthers, if there are any left.

  70. Doglessliberal says at 2:03 pm, August 28th, 2008

    KevoTron: you know, if time in captivity counts as experience and a qualification to lead the USA, there are a lot of innocent men who have been recently freed from prison around the country–one a month or so in VA after 17 years for something he didn’t do. I bet he’d be real happy to sit in the Oval Office.

  71. WadISay says at 2:03 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Memo to the McCain Staff: In the future, do not schedule interviews with the Senator during nap time.

  72. freakishlystrong says at 2:09 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Doglessliberal: I live here as well, and it pains me what they’ve done to it. I searched for years for a house, because I wanted an original Florida home, mine was built in 1950, when there was a tangerine grove there.

  73. The question must be asked: Has John McCain read any of John McCain’s five books? (I think we ca guess the answer to that - he’s a busy man.)

  74. btwbfdimho says at 2:13 pm, August 28th, 2008

    AngryBlakGuy: Sure he’s the guy holding his hand on this picture
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Vietcapturejm01.jpg

  75. iwillsavethispatient says at 2:14 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Doglessliberal: The A-Team for President? Oh, the high-jinx we’ll get into, trying to get BA into Air Force One.

  76. “Where’s that fucking intern with my Metamucil?!”

  77. Doglessliberal says at 2:17 pm, August 28th, 2008

    freakishlystrong: my husband and I love visiting for our annual trip–we spend our time at Spring Training games and then wildlife refuges/national parks. Nothing like baseball, sun, roseate spoonbills, and manatees.

  78. can (I’m apparently too busy to spell “can” correctly)

  79. Doglessliberal says at 2:19 pm, August 28th, 2008

    iwillsavethispatient: they couldn’t do worse than what we’ve had for the past 7.5 years.

  80. KittyKatMan says at 2:21 pm, August 28th, 2008

    What part of “POW” don’t you understand, punk!!

  81. lawrenceofthedesert says at 2:23 pm, August 28th, 2008

    thefrontpage: Thank you so much; I thought I was the only Wonketteer to remember Honor Blackman. FYI, everybody else, she was a famous actress during the Puritan era, when people had names like Cotton, Patience or Honor. All the Puritans had English accents, and she was no exception — but I must say, she looked a lot better in those clothes than most, sort of like Kelly McGillis in “Witness.” After Honor made a James Bond movie, she was burned as a witch.

  82. Cogito Ergo Bibo says at 2:31 pm, August 28th, 2008

    “Read the damn books! I’m sure the writers, ahem…I answered that somewhere.”

  83. WALNUTS! was just afraid he would get the definition wrong and that it would come back to haunt him. Which he would have. And, it would have. This was the only option open to him, besides the classic “look over there!” and run away tactic. But if he expects the voters to READ BOOKS he’s even more out of touch than I thought.

    He’s a PR train wreck, but he has the octogenarian pity vote on lock. He’ll magically be even in the polls, still.

  84. grendel says at 2:37 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Need…. new… snark… c’mon Wonketeers, get up from your godless liberal drunken debauchery and write something…

  85. TIME Magazine: “Senator, would you kindly give us your definition of Honor?”
    McCorpse: “Fuck. You.”
    TIME Magazine: “How would you define Integrity?”
    McCorpse: “Get the fuck outta my face!”
    Cindy (appearing at the front door): “I found you epsom salts, dear.”
    McCorpse: “Get your skinny ass back in the house!” *turns back to reporters* “…and didn’t I just tell you to get the fuck outta here!?”

  86. kellygrrrl says at 2:38 pm, August 28th, 2008

    now, now! Don’t be a Whiner! Gotz to keep that sense of humor!

  87. Outstando says at 2:50 pm, August 28th, 2008

    This is like a serial killer who leaves clues to reveal the inner workings of his sick mind.

    If you look on the nightstand of my seventh house, you will find a book. Turn to page 189 for my thoughts on the definition of torture, in which I argue that I was not tortured. I will show you torture.

    Dude, Brad Pitt better not open that box.

  88. S.Luggo says at 3:20 pm, August 28th, 2008

    McCain’s press people are now saying that it was actually Eldon Smith who gave the TIME interview.

  89. Too Lazy To Sign In: when you are drinkin’ the cold coffee leafin’ through those books, try to spill something in there, drop some crumbs as a little present for the loser who buyz it.

    Or, if you have a cold, sneeze on it a few times.

  90. bloodsprite says at 4:07 pm, August 28th, 2008

    definition of HONOR:
    -A holding, or group of holdings, forming a large estate, such as the land held by an Earl.
    OR
    -The privilege of teeing off first on a hole, usually given to the player who scores the lowest on the previous hole.

    Take your pick

  91. gurukalehuru says at 4:56 pm, August 28th, 2008

    I’ve got a theory here:
    a. McCain’s being unusually testy lately, even for John McCain.
    b. Haven’t seen any of those famous “tracking polls” for a few days, after a popular vp pick and, so far, a well choreographed, exciting dem convention
    c. Conclusion: Our man Barry has opened up a huge, perhaps insurmountable, lead.

    It might be wishful thinking, but I’m holding to it until I’m proved wrong.

  92. Question: since Slater wrote all his books, does this mean Slater was also the one who got shot down in ‘Nam?

  93. MISTAHCOUGHDROP says at 5:18 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Drilling for Dollars, that’s John McCain. But has he written a best seller? I’d love for him to star in my music video. It’s about fast cars, chicks, intersections and going everywhere.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqAcIpGY8Nw

  94. gurukalehuru: No, you’re right. Gallup has Barry up by 6 today. The surveys were taken before last night. McCain knows he’s fucked with a cactus.

  95. Hominidx says at 6:28 pm, August 28th, 2008

    Oooo that McCrotchety!

  96. donner_froh says at 7:14 pm, August 28th, 2008
  97. pbannister says at 6:21 pm, August 31st, 2008

    Wonkette used to be this delightfully satiric look an Washington - what happened? Hadn’t visited Wonkette for a while. Now what I find here is nasty and insanely partisan. Kind’a sad.

    “Define honor” - to a reporter, in a sound-bite, on the fly? Not really material for a one line answer, so not a very good question. Imagine you had thought about and carefully written down your views on a meaningful subject. Now imagine some (obviously lazy-ass) reporter asks you about that same subject. Right. We can expect well-written and carefully-researched work from THAT reporter.

    Or not. Would you blow off that reporter? Why not?

    A little less rabid would be nice…

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