Letterman, McCain and Oliver Stone's "W."

David Letterman finally had the much-anticipated appearance by Senator John McCain on Thursday's CBS Late Show. ... Just in case you've been hiding under a rock, here's a recap of the back-story: A couple of weeks ago, McCain was scheduled as a guest, but called an hour and a half before taping to cancel because he had to rush back to Washington, because the economy was "cratering" (and he was "suspending" his campaign). As Dave found out during the taping of that night's show, though, McCain didn't actually rush back to Washington. He took time to stop by for an interview with Katie Couric [video of the Letterman segment including the live feed of McCain preparing for the Couric interview; couldn't find a link to the McCain-Couric video itself], and in fact stayed the night in New York City and even gave a speech the next morning at the Clinton Global Initiative. As a result, Letterman has spent the last three weeks ripping McCain and Palin, incessantly but artfully. The only way to get Letterman to let up was to reschedule the appearance [video]; Letterman took the opportunity to probe questions relating to some shady-but-tangential associations in McCain's past and the fitness of Sarah Palin to be President should something happen to McCain, among other topics.

On Friday's show, Letterman still threw in some barbs at McCain and Palin, but shifted his ire to the current President. He played a promo for the Oliver Stone film W. with a bit of a change to the movie ratings disclaimer. (transcript below the fold)

I haven't yet found the video clip on the CBS website, but here's the transcript:

[graphic]: The film advertised has been rated PG-13, Parents Strongly Cautioned, Some Material May Be Inappropriate for Children Under 13 [scrolling graphic plus voiceover]: Sexual References, Brief Disturbing War Images, Ineptitude, Boorishness, Unwarranted Smugness, Disinterest in Facts, Overconfidence, Reluctance to Read, Laziness, Lack of Truthfulness, Ethical Lapses, Inattention to Detail, and Mild Language

Yeah, I think that about says it. Come to think of it, it's been a while since I heard the pundits "doth protest too much"-ing about how "President Bush is not stupid." Well, ya know, I went to see W. this afternoon, and it brought me back to one inescapable point. Dubya may not be "stupid" or even "dumb" — after all, he is quite clever in many respects, and he was at least smart enough to bluff his way through two Ivy League degrees — but he is whatever word you want to use for "not real bright" and quite literally good for nothing. Dubya is King Midas' evil twin. The fact that McCain would pledge to not only continue, but amplify Bush's policies, and then make the bizarrely irresponsible selection of a running mate whose only qualifications were that she was a complete unknown on the national scene and that she's as dim as Bush but twice as ideological, leaves me speechless. For most of the last 8 years, I have taken it as an article of faith that America would be much better off today if John McCain had won the 2000 Republican nomination — even if McCain had won in November — but after the last month and a half, I'm not at all sure.

Technorati tags: Letterman, McCain, Bush, Oliver Stone, W the Movie

Click below for more...