John McCain made a little joke about Iranian cigarette imports and now officials in Iran are fuming . . . oops . . . fired up . . . oh, darn . . . really smoked . . . uh, cheesed off about it. Good one, John!
Here’s what McCain said concerning a report of cigarette sales from the U.S. to Iran: “Maybe that’s a way of killing ‘em.” He added, “I meant that as a joke, as a person who hasn’t had a cigarette in 28 years, 29 years.” No sense of humor in Tehran, apparently, and Iranian government spokesmen are now bristling and carping that McCain is a “warmonger,” according to a report by Reuters. No word yet, as far as I know, from the Obama camp, where the candidate is trying to kick the habit.
So, let’s compare. When the President of Iran vows to destroy the nation of Israel, that is okay, just fine, no problem. No warmongering there. When Iran trains insurgents and supplies them with arms and explosives to kill American soldiers and Marines and civilians and whoever in Iraq . . . hey, just good business, right? But a wisecrack about Iranian cigarette imports . . . whoa! International incident! Call in the Interpol PC Police!
If someone has a better term than “hypocritical, lying, terrorist-sponsoring morons” to describe the current regime in Iran, please let me know.
Now, I’m going to take a break and fire up a Camel.
July 14, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I would add the word “murderous” to your litany.
I think humor is banned in Iran.
I will take comfort in McCain’s words, and as President, will hope that he takes action and doesn’t wait for the cigarettes.
Time is short.
Maggie
Maggie’s Notebook
July 14, 2008 at 5:47 pm
I think Maggie’s right. Humor is illegal in Iran. It wasn’t the threat that bothered them. They love threats. It was the joking way he said it they had a problem with.
July 14, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Jeremy – - astute observation, my man. Perhaps the same lack of humor that gets death threats directed toward someone who draws a caricature of you-know-who.