"steady hand on the tiller" -- WTF???

[radfringe]

near the end of the debate, mccain threw out the line about our country needing a "steady hand of the tiller"

my first reaction - "was this repackaging of stay the course?

my second reaction - steady hand on the tiller? that's sure as hell not your erratic hand, john.

mccain couldn't seem to stay still last night, he was up and down out of his chair, walking all across the stage, scribbling notes when he was sitting.

his actions spoke louder than words - when mccain was speaking, Obama sat listening. when Obama spoke, mccain was more often than not nervously pacing around the stage in the background.

there was one point, while Obama was speaking, mccain was standing behind him, looking at somebody in the audience. mccain smiled, mouthed something and tapped his chest - what was that all about? may not have been anything of importance. nonetheless, pacing in the background like that showed a great amount of disrespect and perhaps more than just a little need for attention - even if it's peripheral

[C_U_L8R]

1. a leaky boat going in the wrong direction

with this guy at the helm? I don't think so.

[eShirl]

2. he meant Republicans want to keep their hand in the till

[radfringe]

3. :spit take:... brb - have to wipe off the monitor

:spray: :rofl:

[EmilyAnne]

4. Yep. That's exactly what I kept thinking when he said that. Does he really want to conjure images

of a hand in the till at a time like this?

[undeterred]

13. That's probably what he meant.

[Orsino]

17. "Stealthy hand in the till."

:rofl:

[markbark]

5. Steady hand on the tiller?

You sure you didn't mean "greedy hand inside the till" Johnny Boy?

--MAB

[radfringe]

6. another cheap shot - WTF moment...

anyone else catch this cheap shot?

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/07/presidential.debate.transcript/

And if you do the math, those people who have employer-based health benefits, if you put the tax on it and you have what's left over and you add $5,000 that you're going to get as a refundable tax credit, do the math, 95 percent of the American people will have increased funds to go out and buy the insurance of their choice and to shop around and to get -- all of those people will be covered except for those who have these gold-plated Cadillac kinds of policies.

You know, like hair transplants, I might need one of those myself. But the point is that we have got to give people choice in America and not mandate things on them and give them the ability. Every parent I know would acquire health insurance for their children if they could.

not only was it a cheap shot at Biden, but it's misleading - to my knowledge most insurance plans do not cover things like hair replacement - it's considered elective surgery.

[thecrow]

8. Yes that was a true WTF?!?! moment for me as well.

[SammyWinstonJack]

24. Hey McOld, speaking of those "gold plated Cadillac kinds of policies"?

Isn't that exactly what you congresscritters have, courtesy of the taxpayers? Good enough for you people but not for us, eh? Slime bag, every last one of you, leeches.

[pokerfan]

7. FOUR MORE YEARS!

You want a steady hand because the last eight years have been so great.

Not very mavericky.

ETA:

http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2008/10/mccains-steady.html">Do we really want John McCain as the "steady hand" during crisis?

Over two decades, McCain has shown again and again that he is prone to jump to conclusions and make reckless calls for military action. In the midst of the anthrax letter attacks after 9-11, McCain with no evidence accused Iraq of being responsible. In the run-up to the Iraq war, McCain urged war on the grounds that Saddam Hussein would turn Iraq into a “weapons assembly line for Al Qaeda.” In the wake of September 11th, McCain called for invading Iraq, Iran, and Syria. He advocated taking military action against North Korea, despite recognizing that there would be “enormous carnage.” His response to the Russia-Georgia crisis was reckless, knee-jerk and out of line with almost every other world leader. McCain has not demonstrated the steady leadership necessary in times of crisis. Instead he shown a clear tendency to overreact, often calling for reckless action.

[barnabas63]

9. I consider myself fairly educated, and didn't know...

..what the hell a "tiller" was. How many other people had no idea what the fuck he was talking about??

:rofl:

[teamster633]

10. You have to remember that Gramps has fond memories of the age of sail.

[NC_Nurse]

11. I was struck by how unsteady he looked last night. Unfortunate choice of

words, it drew attention to his LACK of steadiness, his age and infirmity, and the nutcase he chose for VP if he should pass away.

Yikes! All in all, not the kind of message I think he was hoping to convey.

[radfringe]

15. i was waiting for him to give one of his

annoying chuckles...

maybe he should have tried winking?

his pacing around the stage was a bit of concern, fast and abrupt turns - felt like either he didn't know where to focus or he was real desperate to "connect" with everyone at all times

[Alter Ego]

12. So the guy who is going to be the steady hand on the tiller

is the crazy motherfucker who ran around like a chicken with his head cut off at the beginning of the financial crisis?

[bdamomma]

14. a steady hand that is posed to hit the button.

is more like it.

[stoge18]

16. it's just something old people say

You know, like davenport instead of couch. Ice box instead of refrigerator. Dungarees instead of jeans.

[agentS]

18. steady hand my black ass!

McCain is about as steady as the crazy chick from this movie:

[ITsec]

19. Plowing the country into the dirt... stirring up the shit. n/t

[barnabas63]

20. yeah except it's a sailing term..

...which I didn't know either.

[ITsec]

21. Yea... but for hicks like myself that plow their own garden...

I was thinking rototiller.

*grin*

[barnabas63]

23. makes more sense..

Who the hell has their hand on a "tiller" these days?

[depakid]

22. It was a "cool hand at the tiller"

which, as another DUer pointed out, was a mixed metaphor that made no sense.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4189404&mesg_id=4189404