Oh No You Just Di'int

Remember, Coach Z only takes sides against dumbasses so let's not get all political.

Did McCain really say this? Really? Am I the only person that finds this really scary even if it's "just a joke." You think airport security would find it funny if I started joking about bombs? Neither does the Middle East.

PITTSBURGH (Reuters) - Presidential candidate John McCain, who once sang in jest about bombing Iran, on Tuesday reacted to a report of rising U.S. cigarette exports to the country by saying it may be "a way of killing 'em."

McCain, known for acerbic comments and for sometimes firing verbally from the hip, was responding to a report that U.S. exports to Iran rose tenfold during President George W. Bush's term in office despite hostility between the two states.

A rise in cigarette sales was a big part of that, according to an Associated Press analysis of seven years of U.S. trade figures.

"Maybe that's a way of killing 'em," McCain said to reporters during a campaign stop in Pittsburgh. "I meant that as a joke, as a person who hasn't had a cigarette in 28 years, 29 years," he added, laughing.

[Coach Z] Hahahahahahaha, I'm laughing my ass off. Well-timed and appropriate comments. Diq.

He declined further comment on the report.

At a campaign meeting in South Carolina last year the Arizona senator, asked if there is a plan to attack Iran, began his answer with a variation on the lyrics of a well-known pop song, Barbara Ann.

"You know that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran?" he said, then sang "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" before discussing what he considered Iran's serious threat to Israel and international security.

[Coach Z] Awesome. I bet the Iranians laughed themselves to death over that joke. Oh sorry. They were too busy smoking their Marlboros and engineering nukes to laugh.

Tension is high between the two countries over Iran's nuclear program, which Washington says is aimed at making an atomic bomb but Tehran says is for generating energy. There has been media speculation of a possible U.S. or Israeli military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason; Editing by David Storey)