“I Have Geologic Time Frame”
But Says Age Is Not An Issue
John McCain remembers the Alamo.
Richieville News Service – SOUTH BEND
Senator John McCain tried once again today to dull the controversy surrounding his remark that it would be fine with him if American forces stayed in Iraq for 100 years. “I have a geologic time frame,” he said, speaking to reporters at a campaign stop here. “One hundred years to me is like a half a second to most people.”
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee suggested that voters stop comparing 100 more years of war in Iraq to the five that have already taken place and instead take a broader view of time, as he does.
“When you get to be my age, you have a different perspective on things. Everything slows down,” he said, while sitting in the small lounge area of his campaign bus, The Straight Talk Express. “One hundred years, even a thousand years doesn’t seem like much. Anything lasts over 10,000 years, then I start to notice. The Carboniferous period, now that was long.”
The senator admitted that servicemen and women who are serving their third or fourth tours in a war zone might not share his perception of temporal reality. And he acknowledged that his position on the war is a hard sell with voters.
“You know, I have trouble just understanding the speech of young people,” he said. “To me, it all sounds like a high-pitched whine.” But he was adamant that the American people would change their views, given enough time.