Here’s a pretty amazing claim from a McCain staffer: John McCain invented the BlackBerry. Yes, that’s right, the senator who doesn’t know how to use email invented the BlackBerry, a device known for letting you check your email on the go. Move over, Al Gore, there’s a new “inventor” in town! Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a top McCain policy adviser, waved his BlackBerry around and talked about McCain’s work as a senator, telling reporters Tuesday, “You’re looking at the miracle that John McCain helped create.” His argument was, like Gore’s, that by working on bills that dealt with the telecommunications industry, McCain helped facilitate conditions that allowed the BlackBerry to exist. I’m pretty sure that’s not the definition of an inventor. When asked for comment, Obama’s campaign spokesman Bill Burton said: “If John McCain hadn’t said that ‘the fundamentals of our economy are strong’ on the day of one of our nation’s worst financial crises, the claim that he invented the BlackBerry would have been the most preposterous thing said all week.” Oh snap, Bill Burton! [Comcast; Thanks, Matt!]
