The McCain Refrain

The following was originally posted on August 24, 2004. Strange how nothing has changed except the direction of the country--to the left. When I originally wrote this, I would have accepted the argument that McCain was a "moderate", but even then I thought it was a stretch. I've had two people tell me today that I'm nuts to call McCain a liberal. Well, read this and the other considerations I add and tell me he's not a liberal...

Mike Tyson was once a millionaire. Mike Tyson was once the Heavyweight Champion of the World. Mike Tyson was once feared. Earlier this month, hope of him ever becoming the first two again all but vanished due to the fact that he was no longer the third. A handpicked fighter named Danny Williams, a British heavyweight who tends to cry before fights, dismantled Tyson in a bout ending with a fourth round knock out.

The lesson? You can't keep trading on your heroism if you stop acting like a hero. Unfortunately, I have to apply this lesson to one of America's true war heroes: John McCain.

Like you, I learned of the Arizona senator's experiences as a guest at the Hanoi Hilton and was deeply impressed by his bravery and steadfastness. And I was more than glad that he was on my side of the political aisle. John McCain was everything a conservative could want in a politician save his own admissions of womanizing and partying too hard in his youth. But over the years, he has spent much of his capital among conservatives by being what liberal journalists love to call "a maverick." His involvement in the Savings and Loan scandal as the lone Republican member of the "Keating Five," his strange and bitter feud with POW/MIA activists and his most recent sponsorship of campaign finance law have left many conservatives hurling the dreaded R.I.N.O. (Republican In Name Only) epithet his way. And it was the campaign finance law that has him knee deep in the latest controversy over the Swift Boat Veterans for truth TV ads.

Debate over the past few weeks between liberals and conservatives has been almost like a song with debaters from the right singing a few verses of evidence from the Swift Boat Veterans followed by a refrain from the leftists about John McCain's denunciation of the group as "dishonest and dishonorable." Does he not realize that he is largely responsible for the unprecedented prominence of the so-called 527 organizations in this election? Water runs down hill no matter what and money finds its way into campaigns no matter what. His insistence that Bush denounce the ads does nothing to hide this fact.

Moreover, his weird friendship with John Kerry is beginning to smell all the more fishy. This isn't the first time he and Senator Kerry have joined forces against fellow veterans, with McCain playing the part of attack dog. He had some nasty run ins with POW/MIA activists back in the 1980s sitting on a committee chaired by John Kerry. Many of us have been puzzled by his support for Kerry--some have even rejected the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth on McCain's word alone--but recalling their past exploits together, it now make a little more sense. John McCain has spent his political capital with conservatives to gain the favor of the left, earning himself even more coveted capital as a "moderate." It makes me wonder if someone wants to be Secretary of Defense in a new administration.

John McCain will always be a war hero. John McCain served his country better and more deeply than most in this country's history. John McCain had integrity. The latter is no longer true, so the former no longer mean enough anymore. Mike Tyson can no longer trade on his fearsome persona, and John McCain can no longer trade on his heroism. His bank account is empty in my opinion.

Added: Now the McCain account has gone into debt. He's moved on to cap and trade solutions for global warming, class warfare over tax cuts and trying to position himself as superior to his competiton by claiming to have sacrificed for "patriotism, not profit".

McCain is a liberal plain and simple, and his nomination will be lowest point in GOP history since Lincoln got shot.

My mind is clean.