McCain unloads on Obama at the NRA meeting:

“Earlier today, Senator Obama made a few remarks I would like to respond to. I welcome a debate about protecting America. No issue is more important. Senator Obama claimed all I had to offer was the ‘naive and irresponsible belief’ that tough talk would cause Iran to give up its nuclear program. He should know better. I have some news for Senator Obama: Talking, not even with soaring rhetoric, in unconditional meetings with the man who calls Israel a ‘stinking corpse’ and arms terrorist who kill Americans will not convince Iran to give up its nuclear program. It is reckless to suggest that unconditional meetings will advance our interests. “It would be a wonderful thing if we lived in a world where we don’t have enemies. But that is not the world we live in, and until Senator Obama understands that reality, the American people have every reason to doubt whether he has the strength, judgment, and determination to keep us safe.”

The speech is live, and will be viewable throughout the weekend, from my buddies at www.nranews.com.

UPDATE: Mike Huckabee had the brain fart to end all brain farts when he made a joke about someone pointing a gun at Obama at the NRA convention.

Ironically, the joke was fine when he just said the noise was “Barack Obama… he just tripped off a chair. He’s getting ready to speak and…”

Stop there, Governor. Everyone’s laughing. Everything’s fine. Return to the text. Get back to the text. Get–

“somebody aimed a gun at him, and he dove for the floor.”

Minor, nervous laughter if anything at that point.

A momentary lapse of the tongue shouldn’t be enough to keep someone off the ticket, but it probably will be enough. A McCain selection of Huckabee in a race against Obama would get this joke played and replayed about as often as “macaca.”