Shocked to find out that team McCain plays the POW card again. Surely there are people with much deeper disabilities that use the internet.

I can't imagine they couldn't rig something up for him if he really wanted to use it, it's not like he has no use of his arms or hands. And eventually if they keep overplaying the injured POW card people will start to think of him as an invalid, not something he should be aiming for. But I agree a blunder, Obama's camp should be working overtime to avoid foot in mouth at this stage.

The problem is not the staff. The problem is Obama is leading the staff.

McCain is using the internet better than Obama. Obama makes a gaffe and McCain has a Web commercial on it within 4 hours. This happens day after day.

Are you guys serious? First of all, it was bloggers that culled this information from past mccain articles. Second, unlike john kerry who served for a few months and then went home to talk shit about his fellow soldiers, mccain has lasting, permanent effects of the war. He's supposed to explain to that total joke barack obama that he can't type and therefore can't be hip like the barackster with the kids, which he didn't do anyway, and he gets criticized for that??? I don't even like mccain!

That news makes today's Doonesbury cartoon look kind of tacky...

WARNING- WARNING WILL ROBINSON!!!
Change we can believe in.....discrimination against disabled Americans.

I work in special education and get so tired of those who cannot look past a physical disablity.

It's clear that the real Obamasiah has moved to the forefront of his campaign. Obama is the epitomy of the "empty suit" candidate, and now that Americans are beginning to see this for themselves, he is flailing about like an 85 year-old man with ED watching porno movies...

Oh, this is such a lie. McCain has no POW disability that prevents him from using a computer. That's just an outright lie. He can grasp a pen and write. He can stab those ugly thumbs in the air a zillion times. He can sure move a mouse.

This is just as absurd as someone who said his teeth were yellow and crooked because of his POW experience. Enough with the POW card.

I know this is off topic by why isn't the US News Media reporting about the Muslim Terrorist attack in India's capital yesterday?

Could it be that they are afraid that reporting on this would hurt Obama and help McCain?

http://www.sajaforum.org/2008/09/breaking-news-b.html

He was a POW? Why hadn't I heard that before?

Can we all just admit Obama is an idiot?

"POW card" must be the Kossack talking point du jour.

Stephen Hawking does ok with new tech, as do many people with more disability than John McCain.

Why fuck around with a computer when you have a freak like Cindy at home? Oh, you thought we were reading the articles?

If you don't like McCain why do you have a horse in this election?

Why not just take the more reasonable route and be cynical about the whole thing?

If you don't like McCain why do you have a horse in this election?

I just think that it's unfair and pretty gross to mock an injured man for things he can't do. It's not political, it's human.

But why I support McCain is because I like him much better than Obama (ok, not "much") and I reallllllly like Sarah Palin, increasing McCain's standing with me. I've made no secret of the fact that McCain was my last choice in primary but the fact is that if we're waiting around for the perfect candidate or leader we'll be waiting a long time.

It would be unfair and trivial to point out that he can't play football or do needlepoint -- things that have no bearing on being president -- but what's unfair about bringing up the fact that this man doesn't use email and the internet? The reason why is irrelevant. You're excusing the fact he can't use a computer by his military injuries. Well, ok, sorry that happened to you, but we kinda need a president who can do that. It doesn't need to be said how important being computer literate and email savvy is in the modern world. Is he going to have a 24/7 aide whose job consists of turning on his computer, typing in various web addresses, reading him emails and taking dictation? Ridiculous...

Why do we need a president that can use the internet? Seriously, describe the scene. McCain hears Russian invaded Georgia and what, googles it? Reads the NY Times online to see what they think and then gets a range of opinion off Drudge? Leaves some comments on some military blogs about what he thinks should happen in the region and then drops an email to Putin saying "wtf, dude"? And then checks in to his MySpace page before looking at his fantasy football stats?

And yes, he will actually have a 24/7 aide (many, actually) that will do things just as you describe if he does find a need for the internet.

Finally, if the Obama campaign would say what you wrote--too bad about McCain's injuries, etc. I'd have a lot more respect for them. I mean, Obama would lose the election one million percent if they did say that, but at least he'd have my respect.

Off the top of my head:

1. Congress is considering legislation on online sale of prescription drugs, open source software, copyright issues on the internet, employer retaliation against bloggers, etc. and McCain is like, "Huh?" He can't truly understand what these things are and how they work without knowing how the Internet works, even if he read a 100 page comprehensive report describing both sides of the issue.

2. Efficiency. He quickly needs to check the current population of country X, where country Y is on a map, that big 2004 NYT article he read about Z. So, now he needs to either look through stacks and stacks of papers somewhere in the office or call someone and wait for them to get back to him. Even if this takes 10 minutes each time because there are people at his beck and call, it's a huge waste of time and resources for him and his staff. In addition, what happens if there's an emergency and he is left completely helpless?

3. He needs a blackberry for the same reason any corporate executive needs a blackberry. Isn't it better to read an email about a quickly developing issue than to be briefed about something so complex verbally? You absolutely need to take a few minutes to re-read and think, otherwise the conversation will go like this... "So did you say this happened in 2005? Ok. And who was Richard Smith again? Ok. And he called Bob? No? Ok, so Bob called him? Ok, got it. Did you say this was 2004 or 2005? Uh-huh."

Yelena, you have to be kidding. When you have a staff like that everything is in easy-to-read hardcopy. Presidents and senators don't have time to google stuff like the rest of us. I suspect if you're into the esoteric minutiae being on staff is better than the elected position.

I don't doubt that every report is given to the president in hardcopy. What I'm saying is that as a computer illiterate he will be forever searching for that hardcopy among all the other papers on his desk. And what about travel. There is a big security issue traveling with sensitive documents vs. simply accessing the report on your email. And speaking of sensitivity issues, I can think of a few security problems with giving one or more staff members access to the president's private email.

I think the McCain campaign is in pretty good shape if their line of attack is "McCain can't use a Blackberry, so how can he be President?"

It's amazing how the Obama campaign is utterly falling apart.

Now you're really reaching. Paper documents are many times more secure than email. I say this as a professional in that business: If an organization (shady company or government) wants to look at your email it's a trivial thing. I worked for the government for almost a decade, and one hard and fast rule is never, never send classified documents by email.

Yelena, the president isn't a middle manager at some corporate office somewhere with a desk full of papers being shuffled around. Anything he needs is taken care of for him. Any opinion he desires is delivered to him in person, not via the internet. Your arguments are a reach.

Bill Clinton sent two emails during his time in office (and yes, the internet was already around by then). George W. Bush was frequently criticized for not reading a newspaper (same concept as the internet, the president doesn't need it) which I defended on the same grounds as McCain's internet usage here:
http://www.alarmingnews.com/archives/000389.html

bryan: Stephen Hawking's literally cheeky method of data input is too laborious for the rapid communication required of a major politician. As a famous scientist, he has the luxury of taking as much time as he needs to publish his works. But even his physical disabilities would be irrelevant to top public office, because like queens never had to walk outside the palace, a president today need not touch a keyboard.

Yelena, don't be an idiot. I suggest you read about the economic concept of "comparative advantage." It explains why McCain, Obama or any other politician wouldn't bother typing their own documents or sending their own e-mails. Even if they had an absolute advantage in secretarial duties (typing 200 wpm and speed-reading), the opportunity cost is too high, namely that they wouldn't have time to perform their normal responsibilities.

Do you think a President McCain would really be typing his own memos, or sifting through documents to find his information? No, he'll have aides who'll skim through documents and give him briefings. That's why any president has, you know, morning briefings during which information is fed to him.

Remember "The American President" when they're trying to find the state flower of Virginia? Complete rubbish. Even in the real world's pre-Internet days, a staff member wouldn't take anywhere near that long, let alone the 10 minutes you foolishly envision, to find out such information. And with today's Google ability, there would be some aide just hanging around with a laptop for the specific purpose of digging up general information.

"Is he going to have a 24/7 aide whose job consists of turning on his computer, typing in various web addresses, reading him emails and taking dictation? Ridiculous..."

Actually, he will have numerous aides to do exactly that. A president has the vast resources of federal spending at his disposal, whereas Stephen Hawking is constrained by a scientist's budget when it comes to hiring help. I retract and amend what I said earlier: you need to stop being an idiot. Do you truly have no concept of the manpower that a major politician has at his disposal? Even junior members of Congress have entire staff to draft memos, perform research and assist with policy decisions (oftentimes make the decisions), and of course manage appointments.

K: "George W. Bush was frequently criticized for not reading a newspaper"

Liberals' hypocrisy is revealed even more. By their logic of McCain being antiquated for not sending his own e-mails, Bush should be hailed as a modern man for eschewing outdated print news.

Eric: you're absolutely right on paper. Physical documents' security can be controlled and verified.

Oh, and nobody's mentioned yet that it's fact that John often dictates things that Cindy McCain types for him? Yes, including, gosh, E-MAILS!