Peter (4:43 PM on Wed Aug 20, 2008)

Considering that I've played D&D with members from all branches of the service, people who have had the distinction of serving in Vietnam and Gulf War 1, from Navy SEALs to USAF Comm Lts in BCGs, and have never had any trouble getting a game together at the rec center on any base I have been on from Lackland to Lakenheath, I would figure having a staffer insulting part of a prime voting block you are counting on (the US Military) would not only be counter productive, but would be down right stupid. (and I know that was a horrible run on sentence)

Russ Rogers (5:20 PM on Wed Aug 20, 2008)

And...uhm, what's wrong with Mom's basement? It's nice and cool down here. Mock D&D all you want, but when you start to mock "motherhood," that's where I draw the line! Besides, I have a Charisma Medallion that makes me +6 against taunts, barbs, snipes and double-dog dares. So there!

Let's see Michael Goldfarb make a saving throw against that.

Mike Gold (5:58 PM on Wed Aug 20, 2008)

McCain's toady is just sucking up to the Religious Right – D&D is debbil-spawn, ya' know. It's anti-Christian. God knows, the Russians probably played it before they went to Georgia.

Anonymous (5:24 PM on Wed Aug 20, 2008)

From what I can see of his writing, he seems to be trotting out the old "trapped in their parents' basement" cliche for internet posters, specifically Daily Kos, and simply attaching DnD onto it for the sake of adding punch to it. The bigger question is how Daily Kos and Dungeons and Dragons are even related!

Glenn Hauman (9:26 PM on Wed Aug 20, 2008)

McCain's just jealous of wargamers who have a better understanding of military strategy and know how to win wars better than he does. (Which is to say: the vast majority of wargamers.)

MadDPS (12:10 AM on Thu Aug 21, 2008)

I served 4-years in the Army with one of those on deployment to Iraq. Oh, and I play Dungeons & Dragons too. McCain was shot down and was a prisoner. That's a crappy situation but it doesn't make him a hero.

Magdalene (10:32 AM on Thu Aug 21, 2008)

As a mom (who's basement I would never subject anyone to live in) who plays D&D and who actually has voted Republican in the past....I really resent the disparagement of the McCain campaign towards gamers. I was leaning towards Obama and this only pushed me a little bit more to his side. Heck, I bet Obama would be a killer Cleric.

Anonymous (5:21 PM on Thu Aug 21, 2008)

I think it's great that someone that high up the food chain even knows what D&D is. Getting annoyed by this (or, better yet, letting it affect your vote) only shows how on the mark the comment was.

Oh, and wargamers are about as likely to "win a war" as D&D players are to win a sword fight.

Russ Rogers (10:07 PM on Thu Aug 21, 2008)

The more I learn about Michael Goldfarb the more I see that he is a real "peach" of a guy. Goldfarb worked for the "Project for the New American Century." This was the neo-conservative think-tank that created the blueprint for our entanglement in Iraq! In May 2007, Goldfarb was awarded a $25,000 part-time journalism fellowship by the Phillips Foundation. Goldfarb’s funded project is entitled "The Upside of Global Warming." Oofda and oy!

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Michael_Goldfarb

Cat Springer (10:48 PM on Thu Aug 21, 2008)

C'mon. If anyone even brought up D&D around McCain, he'd have ZERO idea what you were talking about. Obama MIGHT. But I don't see him for a player, either.

Anonymous (9:33 PM on Thu Aug 21, 2008)

Someone better tell the U.S. Army that wargamers are unlikely to win wars... the winner of the U.S. Army's 1941 Louisiana War Games was a basement dweller named George Patton. Better not put him in charge of anything important.
And the members of my local SCA group, DnD players all, are quite good with thier swords.

Anonymous2 (9:00 PM on Fri Aug 22, 2008)

"Oh, and wargamers are about as likely to "win a war" as D&D players are to win a sword fight."

I was in the army for a decade and you better believe military strategists do play tactical strategy games. They are called "warfighter exercises." The principles of strategy/tactical games are the same -- whether on a board or through military computerized simulation. The military just have better (and more expensive) dice.

JSG (4:38 PM on Mon Aug 25, 2008)

It seems McCain and Company are way too elitist to even consider D&D or other hobbies.

I wonder what other leisure persuits make us not good enough for the McCain crowd? Is sitting in the back yard and talking about comic books ok? How about drinking beer and playing the guitar? We already know McCain and the Republicans think they are too good to lower themselves to such lower-class activities like inflating your own tires (guess that means pumping your own gas is out too).

In the rarified air of McCain's world, you only matter if you play polo and take your jet plane to one of your ten+ houses.

dslfk (8:12 PM on Thu Sep 11, 2008)

Obama = Paladin of Hieronius

Anonymous (10:48 PM on Thu Aug 28, 2008)

Ya know, I've been a dedicated gamer for twenty years. I've been a dedicated Republican for about 14. I'm certainly more likely to identify myself as a gamer than a Republican. I've never liked John McCain, but would have voted for him just to vote against Obama. But given that not only do I not like him, but that his staff is obviously made up of ignorant socially stunted people, I think I'm going to go register Libertarian in the morning.

Anonymous (7:47 PM on Thu Aug 28, 2008)

Goldfarb's comments are just the usual Conservative appeal to people's prejudices, this time at the expense of gamers. These sorts of things are usually at the expense of immigrants or gays.

Anonymous (2:07 PM on Fri Aug 22, 2008)

http://www.cafepress.com/curiosityink/5897777