Does military experience or experience as a P.O.W. qualify one to be President of the United States?
I dunno. Maybe to a small degree.
Do impulse control and the ability to lead effective diplomacy qualify one to be President of the United States?
No.
But, if you don't have impulse control and can't be an effective diplomat, you're automatically disqualified from the office.
Senator McCain, you're not fit for office.
This latest attack from the VOC (Vast Obama Conspiracy) comes from Mississippi Republican Senator Thad Cochran who tells an alarming story about the instability of John McCain.
One of John McCain's Republican colleagues says he saw the presumed GOP presidential nominee roughly grab an associate of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and lift him out of his chair during a diplomatic mission to the Central American nation in 1987.
Violent temper. No impulse control. Mentally unstable.
Just the guy we want in charge of the most powerful military ever assembled.
Cochran said he saw McCain, who has a reputation for being hot tempered, rough up an Ortega associate during a trip to Nicaragua led by former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan.
Remember, this is a REPUBLICAN.
"McCain was down at the end of the table and we were talking to the head of the guerrilla group here at this end of the table and I don't know what attracted my attention," Cochran said in an interview with the Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss. "But I saw some kind of quick movement at the bottom of the table and I looked down there and John had reached over and grabbed this guy by the shirt collar and had snatched him up like he was throwing him up out of the chair to tell him what he thought about him or whatever ...
'whatever.' It sounds like McCain was ready to inflict physical violence on this guy. At least Bush only gives awkward massages.
"I don't know what he was telling him but I thought, 'Good grief, everybody around here has got guns and we were there on a diplomatic mission.' I don't know what had happened to provoke John, but he obviously got mad at the guy ... and he just reached over there and snatched ... him."
If McCain is willing to risk his own life to indulge his violent temper, how many American lives would he risk if Ahmadinejad really pissed him off?
Cochran stands by his story:
Asked about the incident, Cochran spokeswoman Margaret McPhillips told The Associated Press: "I think his quotes in the Sun Herald speak on that issue."
Now we know the reason for this quote:
McCain sought to smooth things over with Cochran this year after the Mississippi senator said the idea of McCain as the GOP presidential nominee sent a chill down his spine.
Audio of Thad Cochran discussing John McCain
Original story about John McCain here.
Update: McCain calls Thad Cochran a liar.
Update II: Cochran's 'clarification about John McCain is priceless:
"I think Sen. Cochran went in to as much detail yesterday as is necessary to make the point that, though Sen. McCain has had problems with his temper, he has overcome them. Though Sen. Cochran saw the incident he described to you, decades have passed since then and he wanted to make the point that over the years he has seen Sen. McCain mature into an individual who is not only spirited and tenacious but also thoughtful and levelheaded. As Sen. Cochran said yesterday, he believes Sen. McCain has developed into the best possible candidate for president."
Can you feel the sarcasm dripping off the page?