The Real McCain
August 26th, 2008 by Jon Taplin
An acquaintance who once worked for McCain in the 2000 campaign writes of his pain watching the “new model” John McCain, courtesy of the Karl Rove Machine.
I saw brief flashes of JSM’s ambition at times when I worked for him but he more than made up for it with his character and his exhortations to “causes greater than our own self interest.” Little did we know that that cause to which he referred would turn out to be his own self interest.To see someone like John McCain use the same tactics and ally himself with the same intolerant nitwits that he once decried is disgraceful. The people who are running the campaign and advising McCain are the same people who masterminded sleaze phone calls branding Mrs. McCain as a drug addict and referring to their adopted daughter from Bangladesh as their “black baby.” What kind of a man are you to not only tolerate these dirtbags in your presence but to employ them to do the same to your opponents? How is it so easy for this “man of honor” to forgive and forget such awful slights?I still believe that the man meant what he said eight years ago. Perhaps it was in his own ultimate interest but he did want to reform the system, take the corrosive influence of money out of politics and create an effective and coherent foreign and military policy. If we needed any additional proof that our political system is destroyed, it is John McCain. In eight short years, the lobbyists and the GOP have transformed a rebel who wanted to change the system into a lapdog who will do anything to further his own career. That’s power and the ultimate failing of our system. It will bring out the hypocrisy and political and moral compromise in almost anyone who stays involved for a great enough time. The sprit that the Vietnamese could not break was cheaply purchased by the Republican party. I’m sure that John McCain does not think of himself as a political whore but, if it walks like a duck . . .There is just a small sense of satisfaction and humor in seeing these Republican party lemmings talking about how John McCain is the greatest thing ever. They were the ones that we battled eight years ago who considered him the anti-Christ. The irony of politics never ceases to amaze me.
But the press has only one objective, to make a very close contest. And that means taling down the frontrunner whenever possible.
It’s really sad to see how cheap the press can be bought in an age when their own power is being questioned.
Dear Jon,
I bet you weren’t singing that “how cheap the press can be bought” song back in the Spring when the mainstream media was worshipping at Obama’s feet on a daily basis.
And clearly you aren’t watching CNN, NBC, MSNBC, or reading the New York Times, The Washington Post, or the Los Angeles Times. They can’t come up with enough pleasant things to say about Obama nor enough negative things to sling at John McCain.
Your indignance is laughable.
Dear Jon,
I bet you weren’t singing that “how cheap the press can be bought” song back in the Spring when the mainstream media was worshipping at Obama’s feet on a daily basis.
And clearly you aren’t watching CNN, NBC, MSNBC, or reading the New York Times, The Washington Post, or the Los Angeles Times. They can’t come up with enough pleasant things to say about Obama nor enough negative things to sling at John McCain.
Your indignance is laughable.
Then you should welcome McCain as the front runner. The MSM, will soon tear him down.
Jesus, how hard is it for Obama to STOP catering, and just pull out one or two sacred liberal cows and GUT THEM for all to see.
He could just TRASH the teacher union, “I’m for total school vouchers, total choice,” and he’d keep the evangelicals at home.
Then you should welcome McCain as the front runner. The MSM, will soon tear him down.
Jesus, how hard is it for Obama to STOP catering, and just pull out one or two sacred liberal cows and GUT THEM for all to see.
He could just TRASH the teacher union, “I’m for total school vouchers, total choice,” and he’d keep the evangelicals at home.
If you check out the George Washington University survey, you’ll see that McCain gets much more positive press from MSM. But my main point is that it’s even the Democratic leaning networks like MSNBC would like to see as much drama in the conventions as possible. Even if it’s manufactured.
If you check out the George Washington University survey, you’ll see that McCain gets much more positive press from MSM. But my main point is that it’s even the Democratic leaning networks like MSNBC would like to see as much drama in the conventions as possible. Even if it’s manufactured.
One of the most hopeful features of Obama’s career is that he has not spent 30 years or more immersed in the Washington sewer. This lack of “experience” may well mean that he can really entertain new ideas and new approaches to our problems. McCain, on the other hand, has not had a new idea in about a decade. Interestingly, Democrats.com is now circulating a petition calling for Senator McCain to take an Alzheimer’s test before the election, given his age and his obvious infirmities of mind. I support this idea. What could be scarier than another Ronald Reagan in the White House to confront the domestic and international issues facing the next President?
Of course, this idea is a non-starter. Instead, should McCain be elected (or selected by the Supremes) I can envision a scenario in which a stuffed mannequin, looking very much like ole’ John, is wheeled out and propped up before the TV cameras to reassure a nation in panic over massive bank failures, burgeoning terrorism, the US invasion of North Korea, air strikes on Iran, and liberals. Much as the GW Bush mannequin is handled today.
One of the most hopeful features of Obama’s career is that he has not spent 30 years or more immersed in the Washington sewer. This lack of “experience” may well mean that he can really entertain new ideas and new approaches to our problems. McCain, on the other hand, has not had a new idea in about a decade. Interestingly, Democrats.com is now circulating a petition calling for Senator McCain to take an Alzheimer’s test before the election, given his age and his obvious infirmities of mind. I support this idea. What could be scarier than another Ronald Reagan in the White House to confront the domestic and international issues facing the next President?
Of course, this idea is a non-starter. Instead, should McCain be elected (or selected by the Supremes) I can envision a scenario in which a stuffed mannequin, looking very much like ole’ John, is wheeled out and propped up before the TV cameras to reassure a nation in panic over massive bank failures, burgeoning terrorism, the US invasion of North Korea, air strikes on Iran, and liberals. Much as the GW Bush mannequin is handled today.
@Patrick
I still believe that Obama is a politician at heart. And his recent vote on the FISA bill should be an alarm bell for all those hoping for a real change.
Having said that, there is no doubt in my mind that if anyone can take the US off its current track towards global disaster, it’s Obama.
As for W being a puppet, I’m glad to see this idea getting some validity. I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist so I’ve been loathe to advance the idea that Bush is, in fact, a simpleton.
This is a personal suspicion that I’ve had for several years now but have somehow refused to fully embrace.
But if it quacks like a duck..
@Patrick
I still believe that Obama is a politician at heart. And his recent vote on the FISA bill should be an alarm bell for all those hoping for a real change.
Having said that, there is no doubt in my mind that if anyone can take the US off its current track towards global disaster, it’s Obama.
As for W being a puppet, I’m glad to see this idea getting some validity. I’m not much of a conspiracy theorist so I’ve been loathe to advance the idea that Bush is, in fact, a simpleton.
This is a personal suspicion that I’ve had for several years now but have somehow refused to fully embrace.
But if it quacks like a duck..
You’re right, Armand, but the change of the spirit of a time is never about one person even if one person comes to symbolize it. It is about small groups who come to value the same values.
Is the change in Odysseus seen when he slays the Cyclops to save his crew or when he slays the suitors with his son to save his marriage?
We are not shaped by what we will gladly win, but by what we will gladly lose for that which we win. By week’s end, Obama will be a nominee. Today, Hillary is a statesman.
When I talk to business CEOs from other countries doing business in the US, they express the same bewilderment about the shape America is in. Then they ask smugly, “How can this ever change?” as if the decline is irreversible. I tell them, “America never gets its act together until our backs are against the wall. We got ourselves into this and we will get ourselves out. That’s what we do. And we will keep on doing it. A leader comes when we need one because there are always those willing to give up something they want desperately for something they prize above all other things.”
It’s just not always the leading man. Or woman.
You’re right, Armand, but the change of the spirit of a time is never about one person even if one person comes to symbolize it. It is about small groups who come to value the same values.
Is the change in Odysseus seen when he slays the Cyclops to save his crew or when he slays the suitors with his son to save his marriage?
We are not shaped by what we will gladly win, but by what we will gladly lose for that which we win. By week’s end, Obama will be a nominee. Today, Hillary is a statesman.
When I talk to business CEOs from other countries doing business in the US, they express the same bewilderment about the shape America is in. Then they ask smugly, “How can this ever change?” as if the decline is irreversible. I tell them, “America never gets its act together until our backs are against the wall. We got ourselves into this and we will get ourselves out. That’s what we do. And we will keep on doing it. A leader comes when we need one because there are always those willing to give up something they want desperately for something they prize above all other things.”
It’s just not always the leading man. Or woman.
To be sure, an interesting quote. But I’m a little unclear about its source: did this person send you an e-mail and let you quote him or her anonymously, or did you not source this for some other reason?
To be sure, an interesting quote. But I’m a little unclear about its source: did this person send you an e-mail and let you quote him or her anonymously, or did you not source this for some other reason?
The person sent me an email
The person sent me an email