I Really Can't Apologise Enough For How Bad This Joke Is

From McCain's appearance on SNL. And they told me the show wasn't funny no more.

Good evening, my fellow Americans. I ask you, what should we be looking for in our next president? Certainly, somebody who is very, very, very old.

But just as important, we will need a leader of courage and principle. Someone who is willing to do what is best for this country. Even when doing so is unpopular. Such as putting an end to runaway government spending and especially, congressional earmarks, those wasteful pork barrel projects sneaked anonymously into bills by members of Congress as a favor to campaign contributors or powerful local interests.

Most of these projects are at best unnecessary, such as $15 million to the US Postal Service for a commemorative stamp honoring Tom Delay’s appellate lawyers. Whose idea was that? Or this bit of pork: $160 million to the Department of Defense for developing a device that can jam gaydar. Now I don’t know if this is anti-gay or pro-gay or if such a device would even work. But I do know this: jamming gaydar is not a federal responsibility. That’s something best left to state and local governments.

All I can say is that I am ashamed to find the idea of jamming gaydar as funny as I do. On the other hand, is finding a method for jamming gaydar necessarily the best use of US military spending? Might it not be more cost effective to instead simply develop a stealth bummer?

I'll get my coat.

In all seriousness, though, I agree with Kevin Drum, it's impossible to believe this was an even remotely good move by McCain. SNL is generally geared towards at least a young-ish audience. Admitting straight off the bat that you would make a very, very, very old president is a reminder to all the twenty-somethings that you might be a good sport, but that you would make a very, very, very old president. How the Hell is that going to help him in the long run? All you've done is remind hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people that you were already walking when Hitler got hold of the Sudetenland. Measured against that, the fact that you know this isn't really an indication of anything beyond the fact that senility hasn't kicked in to the point where you've forgotten your birthday (although telling Shia from Sunni is apparently still something of a stumbling block).