U.S. Sen. McCain compares Ahmadinejad to monkeyFebruary 5, 2013 - 14:32 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Senator John McCain raised eyebrows online Monday, Feb 4, when he compared Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to a monkey that the Islamic republic recently launched into space, Middle East Online reports. "So Ahmadinejad wants to be first Iranian in space - wasn't he just there last week?" said a message on McCain's official Twitter feed, followed by the headline and link to a recent story: "Iran launches monkey into space." The comments by the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, a strong advocate for tougher sanctions on Tehran for its nuclear program, followed Ahmadinejad's claim earlier Monday that he is ready "to be the first man in space" under Iran's ambitious program which aims to send a human being into orbit by 2020. The slur by McCain, the senator with by far the most Twitter followers, with nearly 1.8 million, elicited swift condemnation on Twitter. "Wow, way to elevate political discourse," tweeted @heyitsurban to McCain. Another user, @manolo_loop, wrote: "@SenJohnMcCain is racism funny?" About 50 minutes after his original "monkey" tweet, McCain posted a follow-up. "Re: Iran space tweet - lighten up folks, can't everyone take a joke?" The episode was the second off-color attempt at humor by the veteran U.S. senator in as many weeks. On January 22, he joked at a press conference about the prospect of a Senate colleague being held hostage in Afghanistan, just days after a hostage drama in Algeria left dozens of hostages dead including three Americans. Minutes later he quipped he was looking forward to interrogating Senator John Kerry in his confirmation hearing to be the next secretary of state, saying U.S. authorities would use "waterboarding to get the truth out of him." Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. Aram I supports Karekin II’s “patriotic position” Catholicos of the Great House of Cilicia Aram I has expressed support for the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. |