What happened to that oh-so-clever slogan of Country First? McCain is putting his political aspirations first, again.
From Katrina vanden Heuvel at The Nation:
Emphasis added.Lincoln ran for office in 1864, when there was a good chance he wouldn't have a country to lead. FDR ran for office in the middle of the largest conflict in human history--twice. We can have a debate this Friday.
Instead, McCain is going to "suspend" the democratic process? And this from a man who prides himself on his Commander-in-Chief skills? How is calling quits amid a crisis as severe as 9/11, in human security terms, a measure of his leadership strength?
Bush and McCain, linked again at the hip, are telling this nation which seeks confidence and hope: You have nothing to fear but the end of fear itself. McCain has bailed out from the responsibilities demanded of a Presidential candidate who claims to be a leader. Bush looked like the dog in that never-to-be-forgotten National Lampoon cover with dog, gun pointed at his head. Propped up at single digit ratings delivering a speech, the worst President in our history was sent out there to scare Americans and prop up a man he smeared two election cycles ago.
The people of this nation don't need more showboating, fearmongering and ducking for cover. They need a plan which will treat Main Street with dignity, respect and equity. McCain's desperate sprint to Washington only exposes how the pinstripers in pitchforks are scared. (As CNN's Anderson Cooper reported tonight, McCain has missed more votes than any other senator this year.)
There is blame to go around. The Nation's special forum on the bailout this week lays out ideas about how to extricate this good country from a financial disaster with bipartisan parents. But McCain's low road showboating is nothing but a way to put his political fate ahead of his country's in order to divert and distract attention from his failing campaign. We deserve better.
This should cost McCain the election, but the public is so stupid that many won't see through this bit of dumbass political posturing. Sad, that.
4 comments:
When I got home yesterday I flipped on the news and McCain's "postponement proposal" was just breaking news. Within minutes Sen. Lieberman was on air defending the decision as if we had only hours for McCain to act before the damage to the economy became irreversible. Of course, the pundits were quick to point out the nearly double digit lead Obama had taken as well as continuing ill-timed bad or embarrassing news for the McCain campaign as possible motives. I then considered - what if the news had been that Obama wanted to suspend the campaign? Was it just a partisan gut reaction I was having? I agree that it does appear to be a cynical ploy on the part of the McCain campaign, but what was really surprising was that in the aftermath the reaction is not split along the usual party lines. And Bush's speech only seemed to heighten and deepen that political fracture among the Republicans within Washington. I suppose we'll know if you're right about the public's reaction when we see the new numbers.
THis is a total gimmick. If McCain was more concerned about serious Senate business, then he never should've entered the presidential campaign.
This is the most crucial time ever for a presidential debate. McCain's announcement makes it appear trivial and it's the exact opposite!
What about all those years he spent in Washington?? Didn't he see this coming? And now his "wisdom" is so desperately needed--to do what, exactly?
Maybe he is flying that pastor in the recently publicized Palin video to the East Coast to seek out the witches that have been causing the financial meltdown?
Hmmm, maybe the witches could actually do some good!
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