The full segment from The View can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w1zf3YyXRI&fbclid=IwAR3UdBsA1QJDu0BqxoFYDRQy0g-vQNwQ0COK3g-lK1G0inTlF0xnJwOJMs0
Liberal Values Defending Liberty and Enlightened Thought
Meghan McCain on Porn and Big Boobs In Playboy
March 17, 2012 — Ron Chusid
Meghan McCain on porn in a red state: ” Not to bring any particular politician into this discussion, but I always find it fascinating that the number one state per capita for downloading porn is Utah. All those pious Mormons and they’re drooling at their laptops all day.”
There’s more from McCain as she answered twenty questions for Playboy:
Q1
PLAYBOY: You’re a blogger and political columnist, as well as a conservative pundit in the liberal wilds on MSNBC. But aside from being John McCain’s daughter, why should we listen to you?
MCCAIN: Hey, I get it. People love me or hate me and there’s nothing in between. But I’ve been in politics literally my entire life. My mom was pregnant with me at the 1984 Republican convention. I was on my father’s campaign when I was 13. I’ve earned the right to be here and talk about it, and I’m not scared to get down and dirty. If people are mean, so be it.
Q2
PLAYBOY: Conservatives are as hard on you as liberals. Right-wing blogger Dan Riehl sniped that “this self-indulgent set of mega-breasts doesn’t belong anywhere near a TV studio commenting on anything.”
MCCAIN: Who says stuff like that? Some guys out there just can’t handle a woman with a strong opinion. And the quickest way to cut down a woman is to talk about her appearance. Do I care? No. Every guy I’ve ever dated and every boyfriend I’ve ever had—nobody ever complained about my body. And there are way more important things for me to do than obsess about my weight. We have an election going on, people!
Q3
PLAYBOY: You’ve dubbed the 2012 election cycle “the shitty sequel” to 2008.
MCCAIN: Can you argue with that? It’s just been so lame—so many debates, so much blather, so much oversaturation. Granted, my father is not running, so I’m biased, and we have an incumbent president, which changes things. But where’s the electricity? You’d think someone would rise up and tap the frustration and energy of the Occupy movement or the Tea Party, but it just hasn’t happened yet.
Q4
PLAYBOY: How can the GOP win in November?
MCCAIN: The Republicans need someone to excite younger people, independents, Hispanic voters and the disenfranchised. I think if Chris Christie is the vice presidential nominee we can change the weather and have a very good chance of beating Obama. I love that he’s no bullshit.
Q5
PLAYBOY: Visualize for a moment how America would be different had your dad won.
MCCAIN: Oh, Lord. You would have the craziest first daughter ever, who’d be making ridiculous headlines and hurting the administration every step of the way. That aside, I think Dad would have made an incredible president. The recession wouldn’t have been as bad as it is now. We wouldn’t be pulling troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq. I think morale in the military and in the country at large would be higher and we’d be much further on the road to recovery.
Q6
PLAYBOY: Do you have any tips for the offspring of campaigners on the election trail?
MCCAIN: Get sleep, be nice and shut up. I wasn’t always a peach to be around. I could have been nicer to the Secret Service and some staffers, and I voiced my opinion way too much. It’s really stressful, though. The day before Election Day, I almost overdosed on Xanax. I had gained a lot of weight. I went up four sizes thanks to Starbucks and Snickers. Obamamania was at its height. I ended up going to Sedona with my girlfriends. All we did was play Rock Band for days and days and eat and sleep and hang out in bed watching TV. I was done.
Q7
PLAYBOY: Say a little more about the hanging-out-in-bed-with-girlfriends part.
MCCAIN: Watch it, mister. My friends from home came over to support me, and we got in my parents’ big bed. They have this huge California king and we just stayed up eating ice cream. I’m not a lesbian, if that’s what you’re asking. I’d be the first person to tell the world I was gay. I’m not private about anything. I think you should live how you should live. But I’m strictly dickly. I can’t help it. I love sex and I love men.
Q8
PLAYBOY: So we shouldn’t read anything into your vocal support of same-sex marriage and the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” or how much you love Rachel Maddow and hang out with Tila Tequila?
MCCAIN: Honey, you’re nobody unless you have a gay rumor about you. I’ve been hit on by women from time to time, and it might simplify my life if I were gay, but no. Rachel and Tila are just great people. For me, it’s an issue of civil rights. Who people want to sleep with and who they want to love should not have anything to do with government politics at all. And if you see me in a gay bar, it’s only because they play the best music and my gay friends like to dance. Gay guys love me. It’s the big boobs and blonde hair.
Q9
PLAYBOY: Do you ever think twice about partying in public for fear it will show up on Gawker the next morning?
MCCAIN: Oh, I can’t live like that. I do get paranoid when I’m wearing low-cut dresses that somebody’s going to take a picture and put it on the internet and be like, “Meghan was showing off her breasts again.” But you know, showing a little cleavage can make a girl feel sexy too. Like Jessica Simpson says, if you got it, you should flaunt it once in a while. I’ve been pretty open about the fact that I like to go out and have a good time with friends. I’ve never done drugs, and I never would. So there’s that. But what am I supposed to do, stay in and read a book? I come from a family of whiskey drinkers. My brothers like to drink and have a good time. It’s America, man. There’s nothing wrong with going out and listening to music and having a little Jack and Coke.
Q10
PLAYBOY: Your mom’s family controls one of the largest beer distributors in the country. You must have had some blowout keg parties in high school.
MCCAIN: I didn’t, actually. I was very uncool in high school. When I interviewed Michele Bachmann, we bonded over the fact that we didn’t go to our senior proms. I went to this all-girls Catholic school. It was very strict. I was always challenging authority. I didn’t play sports in a world where sports meant everything. But the second I hit college, I started dating up a storm.
Q11
PLAYBOY: You once wrote, “Nothing kills my libido quite like discussing politics.”
MCCAIN: Oh my gosh. It’s so true. I went on a date, like, a week ago, and the guy just wanted to talk policy and strategy the entire time. Talk about a mood killer. I’m obsessed with this stuff, but it doesn’t put me in the mood. When I’m dating, I want to hear what music a guy likes, what he does for fun, and I want him to make me laugh. If he can make me laugh, I don’t care if he looks like Zach Galifianakis; it’s an instant turn-on.
Q12
PLAYBOY: Why do so many politicians get caught up in sex scandals?
MCCAIN: I always say repression breeds obsession. Politicians have to be goody-goodies. They put on this face of perfection and pretend they’re completely above indiscretion. But the more you deny your sexual side, the more it builds up and comes out in inappropriate ways. Not to bring any particular politician into this discussion, but I always find it fascinating that the number one state per capita for downloading porn is Utah. All those pious Mormons and they’re drooling at their laptops all day.
Q13
PLAYBOY: What’s the standout memory from your stint as an intern on Saturday Night Live?
MCCAIN: Ashlee Simpson kicking her dressing room door after getting caught lip-synching. That was interesting to watch. Mostly I remember being a sort of office slave, which was fine. I was an assistant to Lorne Michaels’s assistant, so I spent most of the day getting coffee and filling up the popcorn bucket. I think everybody should have a crappy internship so they realize what a bitch it is getting other people’s shit work done.
Q14
PLAYBOY: What’s cool about being famous?
MCCAIN: People don’t recognize me that much unless I’m with my dad. I look different without makeup on, and usually I wear beanies and big sweaters and look like I’m drunk all the time. I got good seats at the Republican convention last time and got to meet all the Palins.
Q15
PLAYBOY: Bristol Palin took shots at you and your mom in her memoir, saying, “I’ve never seen people with so much Louis Vuitton luggage, so many cell phones, and so many constant helpers to do hair and makeup.” What would you say if you bumped into her?
MCCAIN: I did bump into her at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, actually. I saw her across the room. That girl biffed it fast, totally took off. All that stuff she wrote was a total lie. I have, like, one Louis Vuitton purse. She’s just young and confused and was thrust into all this. The media aren’t kind to her. But once someone signs up for Dancing With the Stars, it’s hard to sympathize.
Q16
PLAYBOY: When can we expect Keeping Up With the McCains to air?
MCCAIN: Never! Hell would freeze over before I would do a reality show. I’ve been offered everything you could possibly imagine, and it just doesn’t interest me. You certainly won’t see me dancing on TV. I’m the worst. I have, like, two moves—the hair flip and the shoulder move and that’s it, baby.
Q17
PLAYBOY: And you’re still single?
MCCAIN: Oh my God, I love being single. I can do whatever the hell I want all the time. I have no one to check in with. When you’re in a serious relationship, you kind of have to check in before you go out with your friends or do whatever. I think I’m a bit of a commitment-phobe. Or maybe it’s just that I haven’t met the right guy. Dating’s okay, but guys can be weird. They think if they Google you and talk about stuff you’ve said, they get to make out with you at the end of the first date.
Q18
PLAYBOY: What’s up with your Hunter S. Thompson obsession? Wouldn’t he have hated your conservative views?
MCCAIN: I love, love, love Hunter. I read Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail in high school and loved his take on politics. I love the way he wrote with such disregard for authority and the status quo. I’ve been considering getting his quote “Buy the ticket, take the ride” tattooed on my body, but I haven’t decided. I told my friend, and she said it sounds really sexual, so we’ll see. But trust me, Hunter and I would have been fast friends. He was on Late Night With Conan O’Brien once and he was drinking whiskey and shooting guns. I appreciate both those things. We would have understood each other.
Q19
PLAYBOY: What’s your firearm of choice?
MCCAIN: I’m a big fan of Remington shotguns. They’re accurate and powerful and great for skeet shooting, which I love. My brother’s trying to convince me to get a revolver. A single girl can never be too careful, he says.
Q20
PLAYBOY: How often do you talk to your parents?
MCCAIN: Oh, every day. My mom calls me in the morning and wants to gossip about something. My dad watches every single thing I do on TV and will call either to talk about why some supercommittee failed or to say, “Oh, Meghan, why’d you say that?”
I’ll just attribute her comment on the recession not lasting as long as being a result of having an unrealistic view of the abilities of her father. I do have a question regarding her answer to question 8. “Gay guys love me. It’s the big boobs and blonde hair.” Is that really what attracts gays? That sounds no different from straight guys.
Meghan McCain Wants To Kick Obama’s Ass
November 22, 2010 — Ron Chusid
Liberal writers have often been pretty soft on Meghan McCain. After all, we don’t blame her for backing her father and it is good to see a Republican comment on how the social policies of the GOP risk losing a generation. McCain would be best off writing books such as Dirty Sexy Politics as opposed to getting more directly involved in political battles. She now states she desires to become a political strategist and “kick Obama’s ass the next election.”
McCain’s lame attack on Obama isn’t going to go over well with many liberals who have so far limited any criticism of her, and I have my doubts that any major campaigns will really see her as an asset.
The 10 Hottest Liberal Women
June 2, 2009 — Ron Chusid
Earlier today I noted that Playboy had a really vile article on line on conservative women. At Right Wing News John Hawkins has responded with his list of the 10 Hottest Liberal Women, avoiding the factors which made the earlier Playboy piece so disgusting.
While the list avoided being offensive as Playboywas, Hawkins did once again demonstrate what we know about the conservative movement. If you criticize their most extremist views, no matter how otherwise conservative you are, they will call you a liberal. Therefore Meghan McCain made the list at number five. I’ve noted the conflict between McCain and other conservatives in posts including here.
Apparently someone forgot to tell Meghan McCain that she’s now a liberal before she decided to pick a fight with Steve Benen. Actually I think that Meghan misunderstood what Steve was saying, but you can check out the link if interested in finding out more about this little blog war.
If John McCain Had Won The Election
April 27, 2009 — Ron ChusidWhat would things be like if John McCain had won the 2008 election? Walter Shapiro takes a look back at the imaginary first 100 days of the McCain presidency:
Asked about his testy relations with Congress during his lone prime-time press conference (which scored near-record low ratings) in late February, McCain retrieved one of his musty jokes from mothballs as he cracked, “To quote Chairman Mao, `It’s always darkest before it’s totally black.'” The beleaguered McCain congressional relations team printed up T-shirts, which they still periodically display on trips to Capitol Hill, with the inscription, “Is it totally black yet?” It is ironic that McCain, the first president elected directly from the Senate in 48 years and a legislator known for his willingness to work with Democrats in the quest for compromise, is well on his way to becoming the most veto-prone president since Harry Truman, casting 13 during his first 14 weeks in office.
Even if McCain had won the White House with a clear majority –– instead of becoming the second successive Republican president to take office after losing the popular vote –– he probably would have been hard-pressed to find common ground with congressional Democrats on the economy. The ideological fault lines have been deep, from the size of the economic stimulus package (McCain’s original $420 billion proposal prompted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to brand him “President McCheap”) to the administration’s laissez-faire attitude toward a looming General Motors bankruptcy and the almost certain dismemberment of Chrysler (the Detroit Free Press headlined, “McCain to City: Drop Dead”).
There’s a lot more, including what became of Sarah Palin and Meghan McCain:
Sarah Palin was, in theory, supposed to be McCain’s emissary to the Republican right. Instead, the Tina Fey lookalike spent most of her time negotiating with the tabloids, as the breakup of Bristol Palin’s engagement to Levi Johnston made OctoMom seem publicity-shy. In contrast, Meghan McCain has played against type, avoiding any unplanned appearances in the gossip columns, limiting herself to tweeting about visiting Girl Scout troops at the White House and announcing plans to write a book (all the proceeds will go to charity) about how young voters naturally gravitate toward grandfatherly presidents.
Defending Karl Rove’s Right To Read Twitter
April 21, 2009 — Ron ChusidIt’s not often I defend Karl Rove, but I really don’t understand what Meghan McCain is complaining about in her latest post at The Daily Beast. She says it is creepy that Karl Rove follows her on Twitter. Her Twitter page invites people to “join today” to follow her. Yesterday she was bragging about having 25K followers.
This has nothing to do with our opinion of Karl Rove. I certainly prefer Meghan McCain’s vision of where the Republican Party should be moving in over that of Karl Rove. McCain seems upset purely because Rove is reading what she says on Twitter. If Rove was snooping on McCain’s private email it would be a different matter. We know that Karl Rove is interested in Republican politics. I would think that Meghan McCain would want all people interested in GOP politics to think her stuff on twitter is important enough to follow. Twitter is not the place to post things which you don’t want certain people to read.
Meghan McCain Receives Book Deal
April 10, 2009 — Ron Chusid
Meghan McCain has created some interest in the blogosphere with her criticism of Ann Coulter and the direction the Republican Party is going. She has now received an advance for her book which is in the high six figures. The New York Observer writes:
While we haven’t quite nailed down what Ms. McCain’s book will be about—no one at Hyperion nor Ms. Brophy returned calls this afternoon—if her recent columns for Tina Brown and Barry Diller’s Web site The Daily Beast are any indication, it will probably have something to do with the future of the Republican party, and how it must change to attract the votes of modern young people.
Ms. McCain has flexed her essayist muscles on The Beast in pieces like Why Republicans Don’t Get the Internet and Looking for Mr. Far Right. Mostly, she’s used the site to wage a few battles, as in My Beef With Ann Coulter and her response to Laura Ingraham’s jibe about her being a ‘plus-sized model’, headlined, Quit Talking About My Weight, Laura Ingraham. She’s also used it to prop up some friends, like Louisana’s First Lady Supriya Jindal and G.O.P. “hottie” Aaron Schock.
The interest in McCain’s book is clearly influenced by relationship to her father, but I sure can’t blame her for taking advantage of the publicity and making something out of it. I hope that she is also successful in changing the Republican Party, but that will be even more difficult than selling a book.
Republicans Need Constitutional Amendment To Expand Presidential Choices
March 25, 2009 — Ron ChusidThe Republicans have two problems with regards to finding someone who sounds rational to take the 2010 nomination. First the two Republicans who have made the most sense lately are unlikely to win the nomination and secondly neither is constitutionally eligible.
I”ve already noted sensible comments from Arnold Schwarzenegger in posts such as here. These ideas make it unlikely he could win the nomination. He might have a shot due to his celebrity status except he is note eligible due to not being a natural born American citizen.
While I’m not seriously proposing her as a candidate, Meghan McCain is also making far more sense than most of the Republicans around. Even if the Republicans would nominate her, which is far less likely than Schwarzenegger, she is too young to be eligible. She was interviewed by Larry King. Here’s a portion:
King: Do you consider yourself a moderate? Are you moderate liberal?
McCain: I consider myself a progressive Republican. I am liberal on social issues. And I think that the party is at a place where social issues shouldn’t be the issues that define the party. And I have taken heat, but in fairness to me, I am a different generation than the people that are giving me heat. I’m 24 years old. I’m not in my 40s, I’m not in my 50s and older.
King: Therefore, you must, based on what you said, disagree with your father? … Do you discuss it?
McCain: We have a very big generation gap between me and my father. Yes, we discuss them. He’s very open-minded. I was raised in an open-minded home. I was raised a Christian, but I was raised open-minded Christian — one to accept people, love people, not pass judgment. …
I believe in gay marriage. … I personally am pro-life, but I’m not going to judge someone that’s pro-choice. It is not my place to judge other people and what they do with their body.
I do give Meghan some slack for her presidential vote in 2008. We really can’t expect her to have supported anyone other than her father, and she did back John Kerry in 2004. Still, I wish she hadn’t ended the interview by attributing some of her attitudes to “having a maverick as a father.”
Conservatives vs. Meghan McCain
March 15, 2009 — Ron Chusid
Meghan McCain has come under tons of criticism from the right wing since she criticized Ann Coulter. Most of the attacks have centered around trivial matters such as her weight. McCain responded yesterday.
Michelle Malkin wrote today about what she sees as The Trouble With Meghan McCain. To her credit Malkin did avoid criticism based upon her weight. That, after all, is a trivial matter. Instead she attacked Malkin for her choice of comedians.
Malkin argues “The trouble with Meghan McCain is that, like her father, she has no fixed ideological principles — conservative, liberal, or otherwise.” I really haven’t paid very much attention to Meghan McCain’s writings until all the controversy in the past week so I’m not sure if this is a fair criticism or not. I am interested in seeing McCain’s response.
It is possible that, if we were trying to view Meghan McCain as a serious political pundit, this might be an issue. It is a different story if we try to see her as a typical young woman with a Republican background who just happens to be the daughter of their last presidential candidate. In this sense McCain might have some lessons for them as to why the Republicans are turning into a regional party of the south and Mormon belt, and why young people are abandoning them in tremendous numbers.
Is the problem that McCain has no principles, or that she will not adopt the extremist principles which are required of anyone staying in the Republican Party? The Republican Party has been driving out their moderates and taking on an extremist philosophy which even Barry Goldwater was highly critical of in his later years. Maybe they don’t mind that John McCain’s daughter doesn’t accept their extremism, considering they also see John McCain as a heretic, but in addition we saw two of Barry Goldwater’s granddaughters back Barack Obama this year, along with many other Republicans.
It is one thing for a political party to think they are adhering to a consistent philosophy. It is a problem for that party when their views become so narrow and out of touch with reality that many of their supporters leave the party. When a generation is becoming lost to them, they must seriously question if they are in danger of going the way of the Whigs.
Meghan McCain is certainly not a flaming liberal. If conservatives desire to have any chance of building a majority party which has the support of the young they would be far better off listening to her objections as opposed to attacking her weight or choice in comedians. The Republicans received Meghan McCain’s vote in 2008 because her father was on the ticket. They can hardly expect to win the youth vote if this is the only way many young people (or rational people of any age) will have anything to do with the GOP.
Palin Pick Harms Republican Ticket In The Supermarkets
September 4, 2008 — Ron Chusid
John McCain, realizing he was behind in the race against Barack Obama, gambled by trying to shake up the race by choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. The good news for McCain is that by making the announcement on the Friday after the Democratic convention, McCain did manage to turn media attention from Obama to his campaign. The bad news is that most of this coverage has been unfavorable as the media reported on both personal scandals and her abuse of power in office. In failing to properly vet his running mate, new questions were also raised about John McCain’s own competence.
I’ve discussed how Sarah Palin is far less qualified for national office than Barack Obama, her dishonesty, her extremism, and some of the scandals in many recent posts. While these issues are far more important, the media has concentrated more on her seventeen-year-old daughter’s pregnancy and upcoming shotgun wedding but has also discussed the more relevant issues. While hits from Google searches on Palin have increased traffic here, the vast majority of voters will not read blog posts on Palin. Far more voters, especially the working class women which the campaign hopes Palin will attract to the Republican ticket, are likely to see the cover of US Weekly at their local supermarket. They will see the cover above, which is far more damaging to the Republicans than any of the facts on Palin I have discussed in recent posts.
The McCain campaign is also taking legal action to prevent The National Enquirer from publishing a story alleging that Palin had an affair with her husband’s business partner. The Enquirer has been both right and wrong on such stories in the past and I have no idea as to which it is in this case but Palin should be given the benefit of the doubt on this one until there is some evidence presented. Curiously it was the McCain’s decision to threaten legal action which resulted in coverage of this story by the mainstream media. I do find it interesting that the conservative blogs which immediately accepted the charges against John Edwards as true, and which ignored John McCain’s adultery, have immediately proclaimed that The National Enquirer is wrong when they accuse Palin of adultery. The Enquirer is also writing about Bristol Palin’s pregnancy and has claimed that Palin went public on the story only because they were planning to expose the pregnancy.
While I believe that the stories on Palin’s family are far less important than Palin’s extremist right wing views, AP does note the contradiction shown in their protests against media coverage of the family:
For two days, the chorus from Republicans on TV news and in the halls of the convention has been resounding: Back off and let the Palin family be. “That’s out of bounds,” said Minnesota’s Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty. “There’s no need to be intrusive and pry into that.”
Yet Wednesday found the following scenes unfolding:
Sarah Palin‘s pregnant, unmarried 17-year-old daughter and probable future son-in-law stood in a nationally televised, politically packaged airport receiving line to meet and greet the Republican candidate for president.
The extremely cute and bubbly Piper Palin, 7, made her debut on her mother’s behalf, appearing in a video on John McCain’s daughter’s blog. “Vote for my mommy and John McCain,” she said, giggling as Meghan McCain grinned.
Bristol Palin and her 18-year-old boyfriend, Levi Johnston, were expected to appear together as part of the GOP political narrative at the convention Wednesday night, according to the young man’s mother.
Huh? The Republican message about the Palin offspring comes across as contradictory: Hey, media, leave those kids alone — so we can use them as we see fit.
If you doubt this scenario, consider this: On Wednesday morning, a teenage boy from Alaska stood in a receiving line on an airport tarmac, being glad-handed by the potential next president of the United States — because he got his girlfriend pregnant. TV cameras were lined up in advance. The mind boggles.
All of this occurred before the Republicans used Palin’s baby as a prop during the television coverage of Palin’s speech.
