The McCain Comedy Show

Via The Washington Post:

Sen. John McCain hasn't had good luck joking about Iran. But he tried it again Tuesday. Responding to a question about a survey that shows increased exports to Iran, mainly from cigarettes, McCain said, "Maybe that's a way of killing them."

He quickly caught himself, saying "I meant that as a joke" as his wife, Cindy, poked him in the back.

Here's the video:



Cymbal crash, snare drum. Enjoy the borscht, McCain will be here until November 6th.

Now, jokes are jokes, and one shouldn't get too worked up about them. Yet, this is the second time that McCain has mined Iran for his stand-up routine. Invariably, the punch-line involves killing Iranians (See: "Bomb, Bomb, Iran"). Perhaps humor is his way of dealing with a thorny problems--like Iran's heightened influence in the middle east, or its nuclear ambitions (a debatable point), or the missiles the country tested yesterday, or its demagogic leader--yet it is a tad worrying that McCain, a man who might yet be president, continues to crack jokes that envision civilian death.

It's one thing to declare that you're not interested in public diplomacy with Iran. And another to continue with the macabre knee-slappers.