Mendelson's Memos: Craig Ferguson once again sums it up best (You don't suspend democracy!)

Friday, September 26, 2008

Craig Ferguson once again sums it up best (You don't suspend democracy!)

"Not for 9/11, not for Pearl Harbor, not for the Nazis..."

Scott Mendelson

5 comments:

Kyle Leaman said...: Craig Ferguson completely misses the point and apparently has no ability (or simply no desire) to come up with legit analogies. Seriously, McCain "suspending" the campaign is in no way analgous to "suspending democracy". What a complete misread of the situation. How could the Nazi's suspending of democracy in any way equivalent?

It may be a legit complaint to say he took the interview with Katie, but his major point is so over the top and so anti-intelligent I am shocked that you would lavish any praise of it whatsoever.; September 26, 2008 at 3:05 PM
Scott Mendelson said...: Frankly, it's a slippery slope that scares the hell out of me. I believe it was that slippery slope that Ferguson is concerned about.

For the record, I believe Ferguson was making reference to the fact that we didn't suspend elections during World War II during our fight against the Nazis. We wasn't specifically comparing McCain suspending his campaign to the Nazi government suspending all elections in the 1940s and what not.

McCain didn't just say 'I think we need to concentrate on this now and I'll be canceling my campaign stops for the next few days'. He made a grandiose statement saying he was suspending his entire presidential campaign and basically goading Obama to do the same (after Obama called him first to discuss a bipartisan statement and action in response to the crisis).

So basically, McCain was attempting to bring a halt to both presidential campaigns for an undetermined amount of time right before the election. Whatever his reasons, it was a genuinely disturbing idea, a first step in, yes, suspending democracy.; September 26, 2008 at 3:15 PM
Kyle Leaman said...: "So basically, McCain was attempting to bring a halt to both presidential campaigns for an undetermined amount of time right before the election"

How does suspending his campaign stop the November election? If any thing, its more akin to pulling out of the election than stopping an election. I don't buy that anyone beging intellectually honest thought McCain really meant to have both campaigns suspended for an "indefinate" amount of time, as some sort of ploy intentionally or unintentionally to delay democracy. Thats just plain overreaction.

If Obama had a close family member pass away and he "suspended" his campaign for an indefinate amount of time to alloy for grieving, no one would accuse him of politics or for "suspending democracy".

If a major political figure passed away and both campaigns stopped for a weekend out of respect, or a major terrorist attack occured and both campaigns stopped for a time, no one could accuse them of attempting to delay democracy.

There was never any talk of delayed elections, but merely delayed debate.

BTW, the elections that took place in New York on 9/11, were suspended because of the event.; September 26, 2008 at 5:24 PM
Kyle Leaman said...: That town hall meeting offer that McCain offered Obama over the summer; doesn Obama's refusal to do them constitute him skirting or delaying democracy?; September 26, 2008 at 5:26 PM
Kyle Leaman said...: "So basically, McCain was attempting to bring a halt to both presidential campaigns for an undetermined amount of time right before the election"

How does suspending his campaign stop the November election? If any thing, its more akin to pulling out of the election than stopping an election. I don't buy that anyone beging intellectually honest thought McCain really meant to have both campaigns suspended for an "indefinate" amount of time, as some sort of ploy intentionally or unintentionally to delay democracy. Thats just plain overreaction.

If Obama had a close family member pass away and he "suspended" his campaign for an indefinate amount of time to alloy for grieving, no one would accuse him of politics or for "suspending democracy".

If a major political figure passed away and both campaigns stopped for a weekend out of respect, or a major terrorist attack occured and both campaigns stopped for a time, no one could accuse them of attempting to delay democracy.

There was never any talk of delayed elections, but merely delayed debate.

BTW, the elections that took place in New York on 9/11, were suspended because of the event.; May 13, 2011 at 10:44 AM