Lies, Damned Lies, and John McCain
About two years ago I started referring to Senator John McCain (R-AZ) as a Political Bisexual. That term meant that, in my opinion, he would adopt any position on any issue in hopes that he might hit upon a winning combination that will get him elected President.
During the Presidential primary campaign of 2000 McCain was savaged by his rival's campaign, which used a combination of rumor, innuendo, and push polls delivered over the phone to poison the voters in South Carolina against him. Among the rumors was one that stated that McCain's adopted daughter a) was black, and b) was actually McCain's love child by a black woman.
Both a) and b) above were guaranteed to turn off the voters (this was South Carolina, of course, where ignorance not only lives, it thrives).
Assisted by leaders of the Religious Right, led by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, the George W Bush campaign beat McCain in the South Carolina primary. McCain dropped out of the race soon after and excoriated Bush and the religious leaders.
But then McCain's Potomac jones resurfaced. A Potomac jones is very similar, in my view, to a heroin addiction - you want it, the sting of the needle and giddy, burning rush of power as it drives straight to your head and leaves you floating blissfully.
(Not that I'd know anything about taking heroin, no sir.)
So McCain started out small, by embracing George W Bush's political stances. On everything, to the point that the Senator voted straight Administration line 90% of the time back in 2007. And he was rewarded for that - Bush attended McCain's birthday party in Arizona as thousands clamored for aid after Katrina while New Orleans lay prostrate.
He reversed his stance on the "agents of intolerance" - those religious leaders I mentioned. Falwell's dead now, and good riddance, but his stench lingers like a bad beer fart over the political discourse. Robertson's still alive and still has a tendency to jam his foot so tightly in his own mouth it takes two tractors and a come-along to extricate it.
McCain adopted the Rovian tactics that served Bush so well, spewing lies, distortions and half-truths to such a degree that even the oily Bush Regime eminence grise, Karl Rove himself, thought it was going too far.
McCain, the Political Bisexual, has not only embraced Bush's policies, he's embraced Bush's campaign tactics and has even bettered the instruction.
Lies are a sin against personal integrity, where I work lies are the one thing (apart from committing crimes) that will get you fired automatically, as it shows a lack of personal integrity.
What happened, Senator?
His "choice" of Governor Palin as running mate (which was no choice at all; she was forced upon him by the extreme right of the Party) has only helped point up what a cynical little animal the Senator has become. The Governor has views on issues so extreme that the 2000 edition of McCain wouldn't have had anything to do with her. New revelations about her governing style as Mayor of Wasilla and as Governor are very illustrative.
So it goes on, slogging towards November. And a choice is drawing closer.
Look beyond the lies.
See John McCain for what he's truly become.
McCain has sold his honor and integrity to unworthy men in hopes of becoming President.
We must deny them (and him) that victory.
During the Presidential primary campaign of 2000 McCain was savaged by his rival's campaign, which used a combination of rumor, innuendo, and push polls delivered over the phone to poison the voters in South Carolina against him. Among the rumors was one that stated that McCain's adopted daughter a) was black, and b) was actually McCain's love child by a black woman.
Both a) and b) above were guaranteed to turn off the voters (this was South Carolina, of course, where ignorance not only lives, it thrives).
Assisted by leaders of the Religious Right, led by Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson, the George W Bush campaign beat McCain in the South Carolina primary. McCain dropped out of the race soon after and excoriated Bush and the religious leaders.
But then McCain's Potomac jones resurfaced. A Potomac jones is very similar, in my view, to a heroin addiction - you want it, the sting of the needle and giddy, burning rush of power as it drives straight to your head and leaves you floating blissfully.
(Not that I'd know anything about taking heroin, no sir.)
So McCain started out small, by embracing George W Bush's political stances. On everything, to the point that the Senator voted straight Administration line 90% of the time back in 2007. And he was rewarded for that - Bush attended McCain's birthday party in Arizona as thousands clamored for aid after Katrina while New Orleans lay prostrate.
He reversed his stance on the "agents of intolerance" - those religious leaders I mentioned. Falwell's dead now, and good riddance, but his stench lingers like a bad beer fart over the political discourse. Robertson's still alive and still has a tendency to jam his foot so tightly in his own mouth it takes two tractors and a come-along to extricate it.
McCain adopted the Rovian tactics that served Bush so well, spewing lies, distortions and half-truths to such a degree that even the oily Bush Regime eminence grise, Karl Rove himself, thought it was going too far.
McCain, the Political Bisexual, has not only embraced Bush's policies, he's embraced Bush's campaign tactics and has even bettered the instruction.
Lies are a sin against personal integrity, where I work lies are the one thing (apart from committing crimes) that will get you fired automatically, as it shows a lack of personal integrity.
What happened, Senator?
His "choice" of Governor Palin as running mate (which was no choice at all; she was forced upon him by the extreme right of the Party) has only helped point up what a cynical little animal the Senator has become. The Governor has views on issues so extreme that the 2000 edition of McCain wouldn't have had anything to do with her. New revelations about her governing style as Mayor of Wasilla and as Governor are very illustrative.
So it goes on, slogging towards November. And a choice is drawing closer.
Look beyond the lies.
See John McCain for what he's truly become.
McCain has sold his honor and integrity to unworthy men in hopes of becoming President.
We must deny them (and him) that victory.
posted by Walt at 8:27 AM
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