It's not that I think John McCain is a bumbling incompetent. I mean, he's not exactly deft or dextrous, and he certainly seems to spend more time befuddled than any major candidate in my lifetime. But I will usually give him credit for being able to assemble a coherent thought or two. But I'm beginning to wonder.
Whether he's wowing us with his revisionist history of central Europe (Czechoslovakia?), confusing the difference between Shia and Sunni Muslims, the role of Al Qaeda in Iran, or engaging us with that winning -- and peculiarly-timed -- smile, Sen. McCain hasn't exactly had much luck lately with, uh, luck.
Which is why I had to laugh when I saw this:
That, my friends, is an icon from McCain's website. It's for some uberfundraiser posse or some such thing. Give a donation of $25 or more to John McCain, and your name goes here for all time. All time!
There's just one problem. Unless I'm mistaken, those are silhouettes of the Soviet-built (and now Russian-built) MiG-29. You know, the planes the evildoers fly (and some non-evildoers too!). Johnny, Johnny...
Just for comparison, here are underside shots of the F-22, F-117, F-4 and F-15, all American fighters. Not a match in the bunch:
Here's an F-16:
Not even close. How about an F-18?
Close, but the ass-end is too narrow and the wings are the wrong shape.
And here is a MiG-29:
Bingo (apart from the shapes of the wingtips). Woopsie.
Not to mention the fact that the ACES II was the name of a -- wait for it -- ejection seat. I dunno, maybe that was an intentional, self-deprecating pun. If so, it's not terribly effective humor. "Give money to John McCain and we'll eject you! Woo!"
But the silhouette... that's pretty clear to me.
Ah Johnny... Bumbling Johnny.
EDIT: added more zoomy all-American red-blooded freedom-airplanes! Zooom!
EDIT 2: Electric Boogaloo: Maid the ACES II explanation punchier (ooh, ejection seat pun!)