Kudoes to Salon for this article. I'm a long time policy wonk but didn't realize that he had Michael Powell on his lobbyist team. Powell's tenure at the FCC was an unmitigated disaster for the American public. McSame seems to have a knack for picking the worst of all possible advisors, from Joe Lieberman to foreign policy Iran/Iraq war hawk Randy Scheunemann (see Salon 8/1/08). Phil Gramm's demise leaves Nixon's "Jew counter" Fred Malek atop his staff "economic advisors."

The Senator's laziness is equally disturbing. I had no idea he chaired Commerce and Science for six years plus serving two more as ranking member. How was he able to occupy that position for so long, yet still be blissfully ignorant about the capabilities of the Internet in building a participatory and educated citizenry? That is simply astounding, nothing less than prodigious dereliction of duty. Again, lacking rudimentary computer skills, McCain must be entirely dependent on his ideologically driven groupies, greedheads and industry shills for information. I am reminded of Dubya's statement that he "read the headlines," as if that were an adequate measure of a grasp of issues. Surely the U.S. can't afford that sort of intellectual sloth for another four years.

We're a nation that elected Teddy Roosevelt, a crusader who wrote 40 books and read a book a day, even when he was president. How can we have come to this?

At least Reagan had Bonzo the chimp to help him with all the really hard chores.

I would say that a President's ability to Google is about as important as knowing the chart positions of the Top Ten heavy metal albums on Billboard...just doesn't matter...before the Internet, people were able to do research without any problems...I trust John McCain can crack open a book, or consult with advisers who are more than happy to waste hours on a computer. The world did just fine before geek culture invaded and infested it...

If Obama feels Googling would matter more than real world research, then HE is clearly not the man for the job of President...the White House is no place for a computer nerd Commander In Chief...up off your ass from the computer and deal with things front and center...1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is declared a Pencil-necked geek free zone!

John McCain doesn't give a rat's ass about AN-Y-THING! He couldn't pick his own offspring out of a lineup. He has no use for computers or anything else. He is incorrigible.

This is why I want Obama. Lack of decent internet access really hampers me.

The best I can get is WildBlue direct satellite access. It is unreliable and noisy.

Because of that I can't send email to Yahoo customers. Yahoo does not follow Postel's Law.

Meg Whitman is another turd that should get flushed away. eBay is dependent on internet access, it is not an auction site.

I doubt that anyone with a pretense of involvement in public policy matter who still- in the year 2008- completely neglects the information resource represented by the Internet, ever had much use for the library, or for doing their own researches on any issue.

Implicitly, that means that they've gotten used to learning what they're fed, instead- along with settling into the comfort of their own prejudices.

Quote from John McCain:

"...John McCain does not compute. It's not that he doesn't go online, it is that he can't — even to do "the Google." He says Bridget and his other kids help him. "They go on for me. They get me Drudge. Everybody watches Drudge..."

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/07/25/f-vp-mallick.html

With what is in many ways the largest, most accessible library in the world potentially at his fingertips, John McCain neeeds someone to lead him around...over to the Drudge Report. And over, and over...

A CEO who couldn't use email, handle a spreadsheet, or conduct an on-line meeting would be totally incompetent.

The fact that McCain can't do these things suggests that he sees the presidency as some kind of ceremonial meeting service. And the internet as some kind of nifty toy -- for those who like that sort of thing.

He is both too old and too out of touch with the real world to be entrusted with the Presidency.

Yup that right there is why this country is screwed anti-intellectual morons. You go all have fun being stupid, the rest of us should go over here and enjoy the fruits of these "pencil-necked geeks" like the light bulb, the computer, oh and modern medicine yeah I think I enjoy that one the most.

So the rest of you idiots can go have fun with out all of the advancements of the modern world, and continue living out your roles that you played in High School. Have fun with the scurvy.

Some people take to computers easily, no matter what their age. Nonetheless, generally speaking, the younger you are the easier it is to learn how to use a computer, navigate the web, etc. So I'm willing to grant John McCain the same amount of slack I grant my older friends and relatives who aren't computer-savvy. But that slack is all used up for him, because he wants to be president. If he has a hard time with the computer, he must seek help and get up to speed, not so that he can do his own internet surfing, but so that he gets in touch with the modern world. To be a modern world leader you need a modicum of computer literacy. The fact that he is not even computer literate on a basic level is equivalent to discussing foreign policy regarding other countries without knowing where they are ... oh, yes, he's already done that, when he talked about the Iraq-Pakistan border. Gee, maybe it's not just computers he doesn't understand. Maybe he needs to go back to 5th grade and study world geography as well.

We go from a presidential candidate who invented the internet to one who doesn't know how to use it. The first one lost, the other one....?