McCain's Strange Non Sequiter Posted by Jeremy Broussard

Wednesday in a speech before the VFW in South Carolina, Senator John McCain responded to a question about a U.S. military response to Iranian-backed terrorism . . . by breaking into song.  Granted, the questioner asked him, "When do we send [Iran] an air mail message?" 

McCain paraphrased an old Beach Boys by singing "Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran,"  to the tune of "Barbara Ann".

It was just a strange, surreal moment.  His campaign quickly issues a statement, saying, "He was just trying to add a little humor to the event."

Perhaps they're comparing his remark to the joke Ronald Reagan made before a radio address 23 year ago when he "outlawed" the Soviet Union and said, "We begin bombing in five minutes."  Unfortunately for McCain, he is not yet president.  And while Reagan's statement was comically absurd, there is serious concern that we may be at war with Iran in the near future.

One week  he's telling Wolf Blitzer how nice Baghdad is when you can stroll around a market with your own infantry company guarding you . . . the next he's singing ditties about bombing countries.

Comments

[deon]

The Beach Boy parody "Bomb Iran" was something circulated on the internet a while back. McCain probably heard the song and thought it was funny. However, he should have realized that there's a big difference between posting puns on the web and a presidential candidate discussing war and peace.

[David Tomlin]

As I recall, Reagan's joke was meant to be private. It was an accident he said it to a live mike. (Or maybe he thought they were testing the mike and didn't know they were already on the air.)

[Lane Brody]

The Bomb Iran song was from 1979 and the hostage crisis when it was a popular radio song. Reagan's remark was simply a joke he said deadpan as a mike check. His attitude was taken very seriously by the USSR and it contributed to his detractors label of him as a cowboy.

Within the context of the VFW meeting and the question the answer was not a non sequiter. Probably ill advised given little things like video and the web. Perhaps a good answer for his South Carolina audience...