I used to know a different John McCain, the guy who proposed comprehensive immigration reform with Ted Kennedy, the guy--a conservative, to be sure, but an honorable one--who refused to indulge in the hateful strictures of his party's extremists. His public fall has been spectacular, a consequence of politics--he "needed" to be reelected--and personal pique. He's a bitter man now, who can barely tolerate the fact that he lost to Barack Obama. But he lost for an obvious reason: his campaign proved him to be puerile and feckless, a politician who panicked when the heat was on during the financial collapse, a trigger-happy gambler who chose an incompetent for his vice president. He has made quite a show ever since of demonstrating his petulance and lack of grace.I disagree with one thing. I'm not sure he was ever an honorable man. Perhaps when he was being the independent maverick, that was also a calculated image that he thought, at that time, would gain him the most traction. How does someone with real integrity lose it so completely?
Ralph
"a trigger-happy gambler who chose an incompetent for his vice president"
ReplyDeleteMore telling than choosing "an incompetent" was that he chose someone he didn't even know. Before, his close adviser was former Senator Phil Gramm - the poster child of a person without integrity. Now he's thrown his lot with Senator Mitch McConnell - another leader on the road to nowhere. While we think of the term "Maverick" as as someone who thinks his own mind, it really refers to an unbranded calf that can be claimed by anyone - an orphan with no direction.