Wednesday, August 11, 2004
John McCain - Party Whore
Let me start by saying this: I disagree with almost every position of John McCain's. It's not for nothing that he is a Republican. Nevertheless, I have always respected him as an exemplar of the honorable, dedicated public servant - more interested in what is right (in his eyes) than what is politically expedient.
That's who John McCain used to be.
McCain still talks the talk, but he no longer walks the walk. Just a few days ago he called the "Swift Boat Veterans" anti-Kerry smear-job dishonest and dishonorable, comparing it to an equally heinous ad the 2000 Bush campaign ran against him. He then called on George Bush to disavow the ad. Bush, of course, made the decision not to do so. McCain's reaction? Go out on the campaign trail with Bush, give him on-stage hugs and laud him for "great moral clarity" and making "the hard choices."
(Pablo Martinez Monsivais -- AP)
McCain has misplaced his own "moral clarity." He seems so focused on preserving his party cred, his viability as a future Republican candidate for President, that his sense of honor, or even of propriety, seems to have fallen off the back of the campaign bus.
That's who John McCain used to be.
McCain still talks the talk, but he no longer walks the walk. Just a few days ago he called the "Swift Boat Veterans" anti-Kerry smear-job dishonest and dishonorable, comparing it to an equally heinous ad the 2000 Bush campaign ran against him. He then called on George Bush to disavow the ad. Bush, of course, made the decision not to do so. McCain's reaction? Go out on the campaign trail with Bush, give him on-stage hugs and laud him for "great moral clarity" and making "the hard choices."
(Pablo Martinez Monsivais -- AP)
McCain has misplaced his own "moral clarity." He seems so focused on preserving his party cred, his viability as a future Republican candidate for President, that his sense of honor, or even of propriety, seems to have fallen off the back of the campaign bus.
