Back in 2006, Michael J. Fox did an ad for Obama supporter Sen. Claire McCaskill, where he was showing the effects of Parkinson’s Disease and asking for people to vote for Claire, because she’ll give away more taxpayer money for embryonic stem cell research than Jim Talent would. Rush Limbaugh talked about the ad on his radio show, and mimicked the movements of Fox while discussing it. If you remember, this threw the left a conniption fit.
It’s debatable whether Limbaugh was mocking Fox, or if he was imitating him. I really didn’t see any malice, but others do. So be it.
Recently, Obama was talking in Pennsylvania at a place called the Schott Glass. While talking, he brought up John McCain. At about 12:20, he strikes a pose that could be interpreted as him imitating McCain. You can hear people laughing.
In my opinion, Obama is clearly doing an impression of John McCain, mocking the way he stands, and the people find it funny. Here is a quick comparison:
Obama as McCain
McCain as McCain
To me, it’s pretty clear he is making fun of the way Sen. McCain stands. Now, here’s why McCain stands like that:
John McCain’s capture and subsequent imprisonment began on October 26, 1967. He was flying his 23rd bombing mission over North Vietnam, when his A-4E Skyhawk was shot down by a missile over Hanoi.[30][31] McCain fractured both arms and a leg, and then nearly drowned, when he parachuted into Truc Bach Lake in Hanoi.[30] After he regained consciousness, some North Vietnamese pulled him ashore, then others crushed his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayoneted him.[30] Lieutenant Commander McCain was then transported to Hanoi’s main Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed the “Hanoi Hilton”.[31]
Although McCain was badly wounded, his captors refused to treat his injuries, instead beating and interrogating him to get information, and he was given medical care only when the North Vietnamese discovered that his father was a top admiral.[33] His status as a prisoner of war (POW) made the front pages of major newspapers.[34][35]
McCain spent six weeks in the hospital while receiving marginal care.[30] Now having lost 50 pounds (23 kg), in a chest cast, and with his hair turned white,[30] McCain was sent to a different camp on the outskirts of Hanoi[36] in December 1967, into a cell with two other Americans who did not expect him to live a week.[37] In March 1968, McCain was put into solitary confinement, where he would remain for two years.[38]
In mid–1968, McCain’s father was named commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theater, and McCain was offered early release.[39] The North Vietnamese made that offer because they wanted to appear merciful for propaganda purposes,[40] and also wanted to show other POWs that elites like McCain were willing to be treated preferentially.[39] McCain turned down the offer of repatriation; he would only accept the offer if every man taken in before him was released as well.[30]
In August 1968, a program of severe torture began on McCain.[41] He was subjected to rope bindings and repeated beatings every two hours, at the same time as he was suffering from dysentery.[30][41] Further injuries led to the beginning of a suicide attempt, which was stopped by guards.[30] After four days, McCain made an anti-American propaganda “confession”.[30] He has always felt that his statement was dishonorable, but as he would later write, “I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine.”[42][43] His injuries left him permanently incapable of raising his arms above his head.
Obama is disgustingly out of line here. His mocking impression of McCain’s physical impairments are beyond disrespectful. They are an outrage. But to the left, they are funny.
