Hello? 911? Can I order a pizza?

So by now, I'm assuming you've heard about the brouhaha regarding John McCain's brother Joe. But, just in case you haven't, here's the lowdown...Joe called 911 when he was stuck in traffic to complain and see what the holdup was. When the 911 operator asked him if he was calling 911 to complain about traffic, Joe's eloquent reply was "&%@# you" as he hung up...he apparently has his brother's amazing speaking skills...

Anyway, as required, the 911 operator called 'ole Joe back, got his voicemail, and left a message to the effect that it is against the law to call 911 for anything not emergency-related. Joe, being the efficient man that he apparently is, got his message within a relatively short period of time and was none too happy. So what does he decide to do? That's right...he called 911 *back* to complain that "somebody just gave me this riot act about the violation of police". Seriously. How stupid does one have to be here?!

Now, I realize it's not Joe running for President. I do. However, I do have a couple of beefs about this. First - McCain (John) has always been accused of having anger-management issues, and this certainly does not help his case. This is exactly the sort of thing that people would expect from him. Not only that, but what kind of brother is that big of a jack-ass as to pull something like that? Is the McCain family trait popping up? Apple not falling far from the tree and all that?

But here's my biggest peeve about the whole thing - I was a radioman in the CG for a little over 7 years. There is absolutely nothing like having some idiot calling "mayday" over nothing, or doing it as a prank. It wastes valuable time and potentially blocks a line someone else in REAL trouble may be trying to get through on. It is no different for a 911 operator. These people are there to help save lives, not deal with some asshole with entitlement issues. Alexandria is a very large, very busy place. What if there was a mother who was trying to get help for a choking child? A wife whose husband was having a heart attack? A man who had been shot and needed assistance? Any one of those situations could be happening at any time of day, and what happens if the phone line is busy? Because traffic is too slow and we have someone who thinks they're above the law? As far as I'm concerned, he should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law...and his license should be suspended for some amount of time. See how worried about traffic you are when you're on public transportation, buddy!

It just amazes me how stupid people can be. This is certainly not limited to politicians, but it seems to show up more with them. I saw a great sticker the other day...it said:

Elect Obama and Biden - two brains are better than none.

That's what we'll get with McCain and Palin...no brains and a religious agenda. Maybe they should dress up as the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz? Or Palin could be the scarecrow and McCain could be the tin man. Can't you just see them skipping into the white house, singing about their yellow brick road?

God help us all.