Posted by: McQ on Wednesday, May 03, 2006 David Ignatius has a piece on John McCain entitled "A Man Who Won't Sell His Soul". In it he says: [McCain] says liberals need to understand that he's not a man of the left, or even the center. "I haven't changed. My record is the same on all issues, which is that of a conservative Republican. Not a liberal Republican, not a moderate Republican." But in the next breath, he lists all the positions he has taken that have made him the darling of centrist Republicans and Democrats, from torture to ethics reform to climate change.Unless "conservative Republican" has been redefined, McCain's assertion is nonsense. We noted this the other day, but since when would a conservative say this? "He [Michael Graham] also mentioned my abridgement of First Amendment rights, i.e. talking about campaign finance reform... I know that money corrupts... I would rather have a clean government than one where quote First Amendment rights are being respected, that has become corrupt. If I had my choice, I'd rather have the clean government."Throw Constitutional rights over for "clean government", whatever that means. And in McCain's world it means such things as the abomination known as McCain Feingold. McCain has always cultivated the "maverick" image when it suited him. But when it finally becomes inconvenient, such as when he's pursuing the '08 presidential nomination, he's quick to claim he's the ultimate company man. And this, speaking of the presidency: "I don't want it that badly," McCain says. "I will continue to do what is right. I will continue to pursue torture, climate change. If that means I can't get the Republican nomination, fine. I've had a happy life. The worst thing I can do is sell my soul to the devil." He explains: "Every time I did something because I thought it would be politically helpful, it turned out badly." As an example, he cites his waffle during the 2000 South Carolina primary, when he said flying the Confederate flag at the state capitol was a state issue.McCain, who'll be 72 in '08, has been pursing the presidency since the '90s and he wants us to believe he doesn't want it that badly?" Who in the world does he think he's fooling? He states that he will 'continue to do what is right' yet in the very next sentence he questions his own decision to do exactly that in South Carolina. John McCain believes what is "right" should come out of Wahington DC and not the states. He was right in SC, but politically it hurt him. And that makes his statement about not doing "politically helpful" things because they turn out badly a crock of you know what. McCain is one of most calculating of all politicians and right now he has calculated that being a 'conservative' is politically useful. He will continue to claim that until the time he determines such a description is no longer politically useful. Don't let his claim fool you: he wants the presidency and he wants it badly. And people who badly want that job scare the stuffing out of me. If for no other reason, I don't want a man who's willing to toss constitutional rights out of the window for "clean government" anywhere near the White House. Should he become the Republican nominee for '08 I'll happily do all I'm able to do to frustrate his effort. And should the final choice be Clinton or McCain, I'll be actively campaigning for "None of the Above". |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| TrackBacks | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Return to Main Blog Page | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Comments For This Post | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Previous Comments to this Post |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Add Your Comment | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
| Vicious Capitalism |
Buy Dale's Book!
|
