A few minutes on the tire swing ?

Wait a minute, there is a generational divide on this issue, even among Republicans. So an old Republican's support is more newsworthy precisely because it cuts against the grain, whereas her opinion fits within the generational difference. What's the problem with that assessment?

Steve's picking a fight with a gurl!

Bully :-)

Well that's embarrassing for her.

Meghan, calm down and read things all the way through before you take your snap reactions public via twitter. Then again, if you want to remain in good standing with your dad's party, dial the crazy up to 11. Steve's real problem with you isn't that your young, or that you're a woman, but that you're white. He only listens to puerto rican woman now.

Wow, she's as dumb as she looks.

Score!

The point, though, is that Meghan McCain, regardless of the merit of her ideas...

What ideas? The only thing I have heard Meghan McCain opine about is that Republicans should have more tolerance toward people who might support their intolerant platform. And you can get the same message from Michael Steele, who is almost as eloquent.

Sounds like she got into her old lady's drugs

so it's only important to speak out for marriage equality if your[sic] an old man?

Bless her heart.

so I guess young women should just stfu

In your case, that would probably be a good idea, Meghan.

Meghan,
Before you further embarrass yourself, take a look at what Steve said April 23, 2009:

Now, I'm not criticizing her, or suggesting there's anything wrong with her voicing her political opinions. In fact, I'm apparently inclined to agree with her opinions.

Geez, girl, the conservatives are far more likely to be sexist than liberals. What are you doing with them? Come to the light!

I thought Tweet's were supposed to answer the question, "What are you doing right now?" In Meghan McCain's case, the answer is clearly "not much."

Steve gets to channel Jeffrey in Non Sequitur: "That's not what I said!"

Irrespective of Meghan's annoyance, Dick Cheney's opinion in this particular matter will have no influence on GOP leaders, either. He'll simply be dismissed, and his statement will be attributed to his family loyalty rather than the sacred principles of the Greedy Old Party.

Sounds like she has her father's temper. Sheesh.

I'm happy to see her speaking out on these issues, but if she thinks she has the same sway over the Republican Party as Dick Cheney, she needs to get a grip.

well.. at least she reads the wash monthly blog!

but seriously.. how hilarious (and predictable) that the daughter of a super rich white republican politician gets angry at the drop of a hat because everyone doesnt take her as seriously as the former 8-year vice president of the United States. She certainly is not hurting for the rich persons sense of entitlement and the GOP love of dynastic importance where she wants to be a party leader just because shes was born lucky.

what a boring fool...

Meghan's the one who showed up to the Correspondents' Dinner with an extra guest, and then pulled a 'Don't you know who I am?' when they didn't seat her and her guests right away, isn't she?

Maybe she ought to look for a father-daughter anger management course. Sounds like they could both use one.

Maybe she was offended by your use of the word "meaningless," which is probably accurate in terms of the specific context about which you were writing, but could be seen in general terms as something of a slight. In the big picture, it's never meaningless when someone decides to do the right thing; in the smaller picture, Meghan McCain's decision to do the right thing won't influence many other old and crusty Republicans to do the right thing.

If Rachel would have you and Meghan on her show to hash it out, that would be must-see TV...

So far, I'm not really impressed with the charity offered by your commenters, Steve. I actually think it's plausible to read your original comment as being far more prescriptive - "McCain *shouldn't* have a say in the Republican Party" - than you intended. Given that, not only do you undercut your own comment about McCain giving sound advice, but you provide a reason for McCain to be mad. That doesn't excuse the ad hominem nature of her attacks, but it does explain why she might make them, as opposed to engage on the content of the advice.

Meghan who?...
Great, another light weight political hanger-on who demands that their opinion counts with the general public because of who she is related to.

Meghan...when someone who has held a leadership position in this country states an opinions about an issue he/she generally gets noticed. That happens especially when they cross party lines. Not because he is an old white man but because HE HAS HELD A LEADERSHIP POSITION WITHIN THE COUNTRY.

Yes, if there's one thing Meghan McCain needs, it's charity.

Is there a single Republican left in America who can read more than 40 words at a time?

Seriously. Are all of them so clinically freaking stupid?

Every time they try making hay out of something someone wrote or said, all they do is ignore what was actually written or said and, instead, yank meaning and context out of their asses.

The issue doesn't even matter -- they'll just create their own reality if it allows them to either play the poor widdle victim, or project their (or their party's) complete failures and bigotry onto others.

It's as if they all have some form of political ADD ...

You have to admire a person who misunderstands what was stated, becomes angered by their own misuderstanding and then goes on to prove that the issue that they misunderstood and felt insulted by, to be correct. That takes quite a bit of work.

I truly don't think it takes a genius to understand that any former VP, of any nation, at any time in history, holds more influence than the child of another elected government member. To then conclude that this is somehow impacted by the gender of the elected official's child is just silly.

Meghan McCain begs a very important question:

Who the fuck is Meghan McCain and why the hell should anyone listen to a single word she says?

Has she ever been elected to anything? Has she graduated with exceptional honors? Has she been lauded in her field of study for outstanding work? Does she even have a Grammy? What has she done that is noteworthy in any way?

Sorry, Meghan, but squirting out of the the particular vaginal canal that John McCain chose to occupy ten months prior is not a qualification for anything.

Now get your silver spoon fed privileged ass to work, real work, and stop mucking about Twitter and television. You're irrelevant.

Meghan McCain has never struck me as being anything other than entitled, stuck up and self-important. Sadly, she also seems to be far too dumb to realize that.

Remember right after the election when she got a spot on the news cycle with a blog entry about how she couldn't date anymore because she couldn't stand Obama supporters and anyone who voted for her dad was just a simpering fool? I was under the impression that we were going to be able to ignore her from then on, since she obviously brought no insight to the table. Sadly, I seem to be wrong.

Ah, well.

Please don't feed the animals ... the more people engage her the more she is engaged.

A recent tweet from Glenn Greenwald: "Liz Cheney on MSNBC now - can we just create some royal families and get it over with?"

It's time to stop reporting on the words and deeds of Meghan McCain.

OK, I'll bite - I think she had a point, nasty 'tweets' notwithstanding. The post from yesterday began with these words:

"It was pretty meaningless to hear Meghan McCain urge her Republican Party to come around on gay marriage."

Pretty meaningless ... to whom?

I think that is probably why she took offense. I won't defend her actions since, as I personally would've handled it differently. However, taking a public stand on a contentious social topic is taking a risk, and taking a stand that is counter to your party's platform even riskier. To have that judged, apparently, as 'meaningless' would twist my knickers, too, and describes her response.

Given the context you provided today, it's pretty straightforward what you intended. And I agree, hers is a voice that ought to be paid more attention to in the GOPosaur's den, personal conduct notwithstanding. As the continued Newt-Rush-Dick lovefest indicates, any moderate voice from that corner is likely being ignored in favor of the whackos.

I'd also like to think she is going to go away, but she is physically attractive and unafraid of making a fool of herself. That combination of attributes is absolutely irresistible to cable TV producers.

Boy, wait until she finds out that Steve was able to smuggle six hobos into the WH Correpsondents' Dinner without tickets.

Meghan McCain: a new breed of wingnut.

End affirmative action now! Fire all commentators who got their jobs because of their parents!

Ms. McCain's reactions are further confirmation that the root word of Twitter is indeed 'twit!'

MarkD: Is there a single Republican left in America who can read more than 40 words at a time?

Seriously. Are all of them so clinically freaking stupid?

This has been puzzling me too, and I've come up with a couple of hypotheses.

One is, Republican politics has for so long been the politics of resentment and anger, taken automatically to an extreme, with no governance, that they just react that way instinctively. It's sort of a Rovian-jugular-strike, Cheney-one-percent-risk knee-jerk response: at the slightest disagreement, go nuclear. In fact, if asked, they might say, why would you do less? Are you stupid?

The other hypothesis is, they know perfectly well what they're doing, but they also know that their target audience -- the base, many of whom are deep into the stupid and the anger -- responds well to it. Under this hypothesis, what rational, balanced people think does not matter. She's talking to the mouth-breathing shouters, and this is the only language they understand.

It also probably doesn't hurt that this kind of behavior gets you more exposure and more media than does a measured reaction.

Keep in mind Steve, this is a child of privilege who with a little media attention has established the "Don't you know who I am" syndrome.

so I guess young women should just stfu and be seen and not heard Washington Monthly....? Only Dick Cheney should speak out...?

Oh, no, no, Dick Cheney should STFU too.

Meghan McCain's not only dumb, but publicly feeling put-upon and sorry for herself. Bad combination.

Pretty meaningless ... to whom? -GuFromOhio

Everyone. That's the entire point.

She's not influential in the least. Her qualification for mucking up the airwaves are expressly limited to what womb she sprung forth from, and last I checked, we don't have, want, or need a royal family.

Where were her indignant tweets when Caroline Kennedy was being baselessly blasted by the Republican party for being an unaccomplished legacy?

Clearly, her thoughts on the influence of a politician's offspring are limited to how much it hurts her own feelings. If they are grooming her for national office, as I suspect they are, she's going to have to grow thicker skin.

uuhhh, no Megan, if it was your brother saying what you are, it would be the Republican Party thinking it had meaning. They're the ones leaving you and your ideas out, not Washington Monthly.

And I was just starting to like her too.

This Meghan McCain sounds like a bit of a shrew.

Cheney was making this a wedge issue in 2004.
He can stfu and go away NOW.

Actually, I think she's more miffed about the statement that these kind of statements seemed a "bit more important" when uttered by Steve Schmidt, though she's not addressing that. I personally think it takes some moxie for her to speak up on these matters when it's clearly in opposition to Republicans and conservatives stand on this. I also suspect that the Cheney reference and her "old man" response might actually be reflective of some feelings she has about her own father. But lastly, let's not forget she's only 24-years-old.

i say this with some guilt, but i actually kind of like Megan McCain's campaign she's been on. Her use of her "celebrity" last name is no different than hollywood or musician lefties doing the same and I've always defended that as making a positive use of whatever tools one is given. McCain has been bold about telling the larger party what they dont want to hear, and substantively it is hard to disagree with her on much of it.

She does, however - as not only this incident but others as well have shown - need to get a thicker skin if she is going to be out on this campaign of heresy. The irony is that she and Steve actually agree on much of her "agenda." Yet she reacts to him the way she reacted to Coulter calling her fat.

What Steve said, unpleasant as it may be to hear, was objectively true: Megan's views on gay marriage are meaningless to her party. Steve could not have known just how true it was, as Steve went on to suggest that Cheney saying it would be more meaningful -- we have seen now that Steve was incorrect. Cheney said it on Sunday; Steele (on behalf of the Republican Party) essentially disowned Cheney's position by this morning. As it turns out, the party line is too well established for anyone - Cheney, Schmidt, or Megan McCain - to "meaningfully" impact it in the foreseeable future.

But I second the Benen-McCain joint invitation to the Maddow show. I also second the view that if Megan means what she says on all of these issues, she should really make her point by switching parties in a very public and high-profile way.

(by the way, Steve, did you write her back and tell her that its nothing personal, that you and Hilzoy had just gotten together and declared this a "fight with anyone named Megan" theme week?)

bleh--
Excellent analysis, and I'd have to lean toward your first explanation since there are so many examples of the push-it-as-far-as-you-can mentality of the modern GOP.

The other part, IMHO, is that the GOP has spent the past 30 years or so helping create our current soundbite culture -- they saw elections as marketing campaigns, in which catchy phrases (Contract with America! Morning in America! The War on Terror!) replaced substantive discussion, focus-group-tested labels replaced policy, and fantasy replaced reality.

That's not to say political campaigns aren't similar to marketing a product. But the GOP took it to the extreme (as they do most things any more).

It's fascinating ... in a "makes me want to puke" kind of way. :-)

Don't you know by now that when we don't all prostrate ourselves before a rich conservative it's only because of the inherent racism and/or sexism of the left???

Dear, dear, Megan - self importance had become a heavy burden, hasn't it?

I see she inherited her father's thin-skin and penchant for analytical thinking.

Her use of her "celebrity" last name is no different than hollywood or musician... -zeitgeist

Except that Bono and Sean Penn, even the righties like Kelsey Grammer, have earned their celebrity status through their acting or music.

Meghan has not done anything except be born to a McCain, unless you count the hilariously awful childrens' book, which realistically and literally would have not happened if her Dad weren't John McCain.

That's not to say political offspring cannot become more influential. Ron Reagan is a good example of that.

But right now, she's irrelevant, and for her to think otherwise is a byproduct of her entitled, wealth-drenched lifestyle.

Pretty meaningless ... to whom? -GuFromOhio

Everyone. That's the entire point. - doubtful

Hence her reaction, because she's not 'everyone.' I won't claim to know anyone's thoughts, or try to defend the indefensible, but standing up against your party on this topic is a pretty big deal for any Republican. Chris and winddancer got it right - thicker skin is required to swim in these waters.

But I second the Benen-McCain joint invitation to the Maddow show. I also second the view that if Megan means what she says on all of these issues, she should really make her point by switching parties in a very public and high-profile way.

Seconded!! Always like to see Steve on RM or KO, and it could be a useful and informative discussion. I'll take a smart, forthright twenty-something Republican moderate, even a thin-skinned one with whom I disagree, over any wingnut gasbag any day.

The ONLY reason Meghan is out and about is because John wants to run for reelection in Arizona. He has a bad image among the kooky-arizona republicans because he lost the elction because he was too liberal. Regular voters will not vote for him, because he is too conservative and sold his independence to win a primary election.

Hence, he has sent out his daughter because people think kids reflect their parents opinions.

In McCain's case this is false. He is merely an rather reactionary opportunist.

Can you and Hilzoy argue with someone NOT named Meg(h)an?

I read the tweets. As well as Jesus'General's responses, Kos's reponses, and maybe a few more. Too funny.

... Her use of her "celebrity" last name is no different than hollywood or musician lefties doing the same ...

Actually, it's totally different. Polar opposite, in fact.

Actors and musicians become famous because they actually work at it. Often, but certainly not all of the time, they have earned that celebrity by making a good movie, album, whatever. That's not to say their opinions are worth anything -- just that they became celebrities because that's part of their jobs.

Meghan McCain has earned nothing when it comes to politics. Zip. Zilch. Nada. It's not her degree. It's not her job. She has never held office or a position of influence anywhere of importance.

She is not "famous" because she's put in the work or earned it—she's famous because of who her daddy is. She's the political equivalent of Paris Hilton.

Again, this is not to say her thoughts are without merit, and she's certainly free to express them as she sees fit. In fact, I see no one trying to stop her from doing so.

But let's be honest: If she were Meghan McCain of Des Moines Iowa whose father was a truck driver, no one at a national level would give a shit what she thinks.

.

Meghan McCain, Megan McArdle and Megan Fox.

Shorter Meghan McCain: I AM still big! It's the GOP that got small.

M McCain's immaturity and vanity are enormous.
I thought America had a revolution to do away with aristocratic priviledge.
Guess not.

# Hey Washington Monthly, so it's only important to speak out for marriage equality if your an old man?

All that education and she still spells like a troll -- "your" when she means "you're."

I'd be curious to find out who the hell Meghan McCain thinks she's influencing with her opinions, especially her opinions on gay marriage.

Granted, nobody likes to hear that their opinions are "meaningless," but in her case - speaking out on an issue directly opposite to her party's platform, influencing nobody and whose few admirers for her stand seem to be indies and dems - the term is apt. No one whose opinion needs to be changed on the issue of gay marriage will change their opinion because MM spoke up. Thus, her opinion on this topic is meaningless. Fine to hear, I suppose, but not changing the opinion of anyone who matters, or the opinions of anyone who can change the opinions of anyone who matters, or changing the opinion of anyone who could change the opinion of anyone who can change the opinion of anyone who matters...

Just because the cable news nets - who never met a pretty blond with blue eyes whose opinion they weren't just DYING to hear - give her a platform, doesn't mean the world is paying attention to what she's saying, only that she's saying something. Maybe she should be mre miffed that so few of her fellow Republicans share her or Cheney's opinion on the subject.

Meghan McCain has earned nothing when it comes to politics. Zip. Zilch. Nada. It's not her degree. It's not her job. She has never held office or a position of influence anywhere of importance.

She is not "famous" because she's put in the work or earned it—she's famous because of who her daddy is. She's the political equivalent of Paris Hilton.

I disagree in three respects (this responds to some degree to doubtful as well).

1) Actors and musicians may have built their name through work, but that work has little to nothing to do with politics, so it is still the transference of celebrity itself, not of the underlying work. Although I do have particular respect for Bono, who at least has done a lot of homework to be reasonably up to speed for someone whose day job is not policy.

2) On the other hand. McCain has had a lot of exposure to politics, has worked on campaigns (her father's, true, but given his prominence that actually is better experience than most) and actually probably knows that arena better than the actor/musicans who are activists on the side.

3) Even if it is the same celebrity as Paris Hilton, hey, I was thrilled to accept Paris Hilton's Funny-or-Die video about the "old white dude" as part of the campaign last summer. One of the best political spots of the entire campaign!

GuFromOhio: "Taking a public stand on a contentious social topic is taking a risk, and taking a stand that is counter to your party's platform even riskier."

What is she risking? She doesn't hold an elected or appointed public position. What would she lose if every other Republican in the country decided to disagree with her?

I kind of like Meghan McCain. She makes alot more sense than the vast majority of republicans. Here's hoping they don't pick up her style because she could really help them pull their heads out of their asses. On this particular issue she jumped the gun a bit and did what republicans do and cherry pick or nutpick one item and then use that as your entire caricature to try to then rip up. It is pretty extreme to conclude that Steve hates women, young people and minorities and only respects old white men. That was pure garbage. Now go to your room Meghan.

I kind of like Meghan McCain. She makes alot more sense than the vast majority of republicans. Here's hoping they don't pick up her style because she could really help them pull their heads out of their asses. On this particular issue she jumped the gun and did what republicans do and cherry pick or nutpick one item and then use that as your entire caricature to try to then rip up. It is pretty extreme to conclude that Steve hates women, young people and minorities and only respects old white men. That was pure garbage. Now go to your room Meghan.

Hey Steve,

Look on the positive side.......even Republicans are reading you. You're getting all around exposure! ;-)

Steve, I'm sure you didn't mean to insult her but you did say, "It was pretty meaningless to hear Meghan McCain... ." I don't think you would like it if someone said that your words are meaningless.

If Meghan is irrelevant, having never been elected to national office, how much less relevant is Steve Benen, picking fights with legacy kids with a few ill-chosen words?

Maybe if Steve had never dragged her name into the article in the first place this whole silly business wouldn't even be an issue. The only reason for him to do so is to capitalize on her growing fame. Who's foolish now?

Steve, I'm sure you didn't mean to insult her but you did say, "It was pretty meaningless to hear Meghan McCain... ."

Nice job lopping off the rest of the post, thus eliminating any context.

+1 Concern Trolling!

If Meghan is irrelevant, having never been elected to national office, how much less relevant is Steve Benen, picking fights with legacy kids with a few ill-chosen words?

I'm sure that made total sense before you posted it.

Last I checked, this was Steve Benen's job. He's paid to give his opinions on the topics of the day due to his education and professional work experience.

Meghan McCain's qualifications are being born from a vagina of privilege.

Not quite an apt comparison.

Gotta go with the dissenters on this one. However intended, Steve's application of "meaningless" was callous. No one likes being told something they did in good faith was meaningless.

I also distance myself from the 'who the fuck is Meghan McCain' crowd above. Ms. McCain is a human being, an American citizen, and a Republican who, on this issue, has taken a public position that's deeply unpopular among her GOP compatriots.

I probably don't agree with her on anything else, but I believe in giving credit where it's due. This is an area where every voice counts. Dick Cheney may well be more influential among the hard-core wingers, but it doesn't makes what others contribute "meaningless". Never that.

writer of article has missed the point. Who cares about influencing people that are already staunch republicans - that 21% of the population isn't going to win many elections across the nation. The goal is draw people who don't call themselves republicans to the party. Cheney has no more (actually probably a lot less) influence than Meghan McCain towards that goal.

Ms. McCain is a human being, an American citizen, and a Republican ...

So is my father, yet he's not invited in TV all the time to share his thoughts. And he's smarter than McCain, has been a republican longer, and holds views much more contrary to modern GOP "thought" than she does.

So why is he not asked on Good Morning America, Morning Joe, The Daily Show, or others?

Oh, that's right. His daddy wasn't famous.

.

I also second the view that if Megan means what she says on all of these issues, she should really make her point by switching parties in a very public and high-profile way.

Oh, zeit, I think you're missing the point of Ms. McCain's heresies. This haplessly un-self-aware child is not a Democrat yearning to break free. This child shares her father's hatred of the fringe right elements that continue to hold the GOP captive. She recognizes -- not, one suspects while listening to her, because of any kind of critical thinking skill; more likely because it's been carefully explained to her -- that when the Republican party reemerges, it will be as a socially moderate entity. She's doing what she can to help position the McCain family (of which she may be the last one standing by the time the GOP comes back) to be leaders in a fiscally conservative, socially tolerant new party.

(That and she's bored out of her mind and has zero ability to fashion a life for herself that's separate from her parents' money, access to power and protective bubble. Not much to admire there.)

I think the point here is that among people her age (like me) this is not considered especially progressive. It's considered normal. Her being okay with gay folks has says more about the live-and-let-live approach of my generation than it does about her political leanins.

And hot damn, how the hell did John McCain have such a hot, juicy daughter?

Let's not be too hard on Meghan. She's young and had an exceptionally sheltered life, but at least she's trying to be an independently thinking person. she reads the Washington Monthly, so she is at least seeking out a diverse range of opinions. And it's easy for someone new to the public scene (which I contend she is, as a result of her being only recently released from the highly managed involvement in her dad's campaign) to overreact to public criticism.

She's the political equivalent of Paris Hilton. -Mark D

Amen.

Ms. McCain is a human being, an American citizen, and a Republican who, on this issue, has taken a public position that's deeply unpopular among her GOP compatriots. -Lionel Hutz

Sure. And there are millions more just like her who don't have the last name 'McCain.' Are they relevant to political discourse? Especially in comparison to Dick Cheney?

Again, I ask why is she relevant? Who is listening to her? What claims to expertise in any field does she have?

Zeitgeist argued for her relevance because of her experience with Daddy McCain's campaigns, but I have a hard time believing the osmosis argument, and I'm especially sensitive to fostering dynasties, which we already do too frequently in this country. It's not enough that she's simply around politics to make her a relevant expert anymore than the assumption she holds honorary military rank by virtue of fatherly interaction (although that argument can be made for John...).

Furthermore, what has she done to put her money where her mouth is? It's easy to get on television and say you support something, but as Joe Biden says, show me your checkbook. That's my rebut to Z's argument. A lot of the activists in Hollywood do more than espouse beliefs, they support them.

Right now, in my humblest opinion, she's an irrelevant panderer who is only on television because of her heritage. We throw around relevance and name people 'experts' far too easily these days, and I think we'd do well to use an extra bit of caution in giving credence to people who are trying on politics as a fashion accessory.

I'm sure the people who spend years studying and working their way up the political ladder get tired of the nepotism, especially when the beneficiary has such a paper thin resume.

And hot damn, how the hell did John McCain have such a hot, juicy daughter? -soullite

Who said he did? Coulda been Cindy's concubine car dealer...

Let's not be too hard on Meghan. -JoesephP

No, let's do. She wants to be a relevant political commentator after all...could you imagine yourself saying not to be too hard on Rush or Olbermann?

But what do I know, I'm just an irrelevant blog commenter.

Hopefully this could be written off as a simple misunderstanding by Meghan McCain as she misinterpreted what Steve wrote. As for Meghan McCain--I'm just happy to see a Republican who has any influence (although regrettably less than Dick Cheney) trying to get the Republicans to pull back from the extreme right.

oh christ i cant believe i'm spending time defending meghan mc cain. . . anyway, here goes.

doubtful, i dont know that anyone is saying she is an expert at anything. she has a point of view that is at least interesting in the sense that it challenges her party, something those with more more seasoning and influence seem unwilling to do, and she has a megaphone.

yes she has that megaphone by virtue of her last name, but then again a lot of people with no apparent reason for deserving them have megaphones (Coulter?) heck, presumably you and i - without havign to prove our credentials - post here in part because we hope it makes a difference, if only to one person out there (or maybe just to our own blood pressure).

but having worked on campaigns, i dont believe her claim to knowledge is solely about osmosis. a lot of political kids dont get involved, or do so in the smallest way possible. she (and others who actually make some effort) do learn. my experience on campaigns is that it is hard to really be in the thick of them an not learn anything.

we can disagree with, disrespect, disparage what she has to say of course, but doing so solely on the basis of her being from a Vagina of Privilege (Mark D, that was hilarious) is no better than assuming her words are right on that same basis. No VoP discrimination, in either direction. :)

Spoiled little rich girl, gets all in a snit and twits to the world what a twit she is.

Boy, wait until she finds out that Steve was able to smuggle six hobos into the WH Correpsondents' Dinner without tickets.

Those weren't hobos -- that was the RNC.

Those weren't hobos -- that was the RNC.

Tasty.

to all the people saying 'at least mccain is reading political animal' - i wouldn't count on it. isn't there software that can notify you whenever your name is mentioned in the blogosphere? or, failing that, an old-fashioned clip service? (i'm sure daddy could pay for that out of his political war chest.)

your pal,
blake

oh christ i cant believe i'm spending time defending meghan mc cain. . . anyway, here goes. -zeitgeist

You know I'm only harping on this to put you in that position, right? ;)

Steve, given that Meghan McCain is a somewhat lonely voice of reason (well, maybe just not-batshit-insane) in the Republican universe ,minor though she may be, maybe it would have been effective to communicate with her directly that you didn't actually mean the offense that she took rather than include it in your blog and let all of us take shots at her. Now this looks like a petty blogosphere dustup, where you might have actually had someone you could engage with on some topics Not that I think she's an especially worthy voice, but of all the conservative commentators, she's one of the less offensive in that she looks to a less-divisive-and-nasty GOP.

'She is not "famous" because she's put in the work or earned it—she's famous because of who her daddy is. She's the political equivalent of Paris Hilton.'
Actually, she's the exact equivalent of George W. Bush !

"Hey Washington Monthly, so it's only important to speak out for marriage equality if your" able to spell you're ?

Did you write you're blog post to show that your not intimidated by M McCain ?

Meghan McCain's qualifications are being born from a vagina of privilege.

This is far and away the funniest comment I have read in a long time.

zeitgeist, you made the point far better, thank you.

m asked, "What is she risking? She doesn't hold an elected or appointed public position. What would she lose if every other Republican in the country decided to disagree with her?"

Losing her wingnut welfare day job and becoming even more irrelevant! Hell, a paycheck is a paycheck, especially in these troubled times. mark d nailed it: "If she were Meghan McCain of Des Moines Iowa whose father was a truck driver, no one at a national level would give a shit what she thinks."

"If she were Meghan McCain of Des Moines Iowa whose father was a truck driver, no one at a national level would give a shit what she thinks."

1) hey, back off Des Moines Iowa! :)

2) can we really be sure of this? I mean, what if her father was an unlicensed plumber from Pennsylvania or wherever the hell Sam-Joe is from?

I mean, I think "meaningless" is a word that anybody would object to when used to describe his or her statements and opinions. What Cheney said has no more meaning than what McCain said: it has the same meaning. It does carry more weight and it could potentially have greater effect.

I can see why she was unhappy. I don't think there was really any evidence for a gender motivation and I don't think she had to take it there, but I also don't think it's that completely crazy that she was unhappy with how you dismissed her points. If you want statements like hers to carry more weight with the party, calling them meaningless probably doesn't help.

I don't think there was really any evidence for a gender motivation

There wasn't. And when she, with even less evidence, accused Steve of devaluing the opinions of minorities as well as of women (the hell?), she stepped into spittle-flecked rant territory. She was just turning over furniture and throwing things at that point.

She was just turning over furniture and throwing things at that point.

and you just know she has, too, don't you? ten bucks says she got a full genetic dose of the family temper.

1) hey, back off Des Moines Iowa! :)

Hehehehe ... best corn in the nation! Too bad the whole state smells like pig poop. Which a cousin says smells like money. Not sure where he gets his cash, but mine doesn't smell like that. :-)

2) can we really be sure of this? I mean, what if her father was an unlicensed plumber from Pennsylvania or wherever the hell Sam-Joe is from?

Touché ... :-)

Here's the deal for me (and thanks for those who liked my previous post):

1. She -- and anyone else -- has every single right to her opinion.

2. She -- and anyone else -- has a right to express that opinion the way they see fit.

3. Gender, age, etc., have nothing to do with my shots at her. At all.

4. My shots are her revolve around one fact: Her opinion should not be given extra weight simply due to her last name. And yet, they are.

And that last one is what Benen was getting at: It's great she's a voice of reason on gay marriage. Congratufuckulations for not being a bigoted jackass, Meghan!

But compared to a guy who was VP for eight years (and probably acted more like the P for that time), Sec. Def. for four, and who has been a GOP player for a while, her opinion is pretty much meaningless. That's not a shot. That's a fact.

To be honest, most of my (and others') ire should be aimed at a media. They are the ones that continually give people like McCain, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, and numerous others, all kinds of attention -- not due to their accomplishments, but due to their names.

It's stupid. Just ... dumbity dumb dumb dumb.

To be fair, Hilzoy is a confirmed, unapologetic misogynist.

You can't blame Meghan for assuming you are, since he is.