Posted on 02/08/2008 9:10:55 AM PST by Cinnamon Girl
You don’t even know him. But you rage against him like he’s the neighbor who has his illegal lawn guy use a leaf blower to blast all his trash into your yard. You think you can feel your blood boiling when you hear him talk. You use words like “traitor, liar, egomaniac…” But you don’t even know him.
Such passion can be rechanneled, if you allow yourself take a second look.
Sure I had some biting nicknames for him. I had all kinds of complaints against him. He’s still wrong about some things. But when it started to dawn on me that, not only was he likely to win the nomination, but that he was our best chance of winning, I decided to reconsider my assessment of him.
For starters, his personal military experiences, his POW experience, is remarkable. I had never bothered to familiarize myself with it because I had written him off as a jerk a while ago. But he is amazing, and his suffering as a POW has motivated him to fight for freedom by serving this country in many ways.
He can’t lift his arms above his shoulders. He has been physically humbled. People declare him an egomaniac, but this is mostly people who have never even met him. Long lists of senators and governors and military men have expressed their personal admiration, their friendship, even their love for him. People who actually know him say that they like and admire him. Not every one, but many people, who have worked closely with him and known him for years.
To me, that says something. I don’t know him. But here are many people who do know him, saying that they like him. Joe Lieberman is willing to further ostracize himself from his party by campaigning for him, dedicating so much time to help him.
Maybe he does use bad language and get mad sometimes. Gary Bauer, who campaigned against him for the presidency said the only time he saw him get really angry was when he heard about the calls to voters in South Carolina suggesting that it was somehow wrong that he has an adopted a black child. Gary Bauer supports him and likes him. If you are willing to take the time to do the research, you will find that many of the claims against him are false, and that some of the complaints against him aren’t really significant in the scheme of things. That isn’t to say that he doesn’t have some very mistaken positions on certain issues. That is to say that he is better than you think.
He is better than just better than Obama or Hillary. Think about it. If his heart was really with the democrats, what is stopping him from switching parties? Think. He really did work with Ronald Reagan. Why?
So many people who have come out in support of him have been dismissed. People long admired. Are they all really wrong? It’s such a long list it’s crazy to bother putting it here. But two in particular made me think. Victor Davis Hanson and Nancy Reagan. Professor Hanson is a brilliant military historian, an expert on the subject of war. Who did he identify as the best possible leader for the United States right now? And then there’s Nancy Reagan, an elderly lady, yes, and living a private life. All the more reason to consider that something about him must have appealed to her at some point, having known him in a way that we don’t, and she decided to share her feelings with someone.
I think if he really was crazy, or unstable, he wouldn’t have the many friends he does have, and he wouldn’t have had the many early endorsements from fellow politicians that he received. His kids seem to like him.
And speaking of his kids, two of his sons are in the military. This isn’t discussed much, but he does say that it concerns him greatly who would be their Commander in Chief. This is, after all, a time of war. And a time to face the threat of Islamic terrorism head on. This is a threat that you have not even heard Obama or Hillary enunciate.
So before you start typing out your list of grievances against him, which have already been hashed over ad nauseam, take a second look. Investigate for yourself—did he really say that? How did he actually vote? Has he ever lied to me? Or has he only said things that ticked me off sometimes?
Rabbi Eliyahu Dessler zt”l teaches in “Michtav mei’Eliyahu” (called “Strive for Truth” in English) that love will flow in the direction of giving. So if you want to love someone, give to them. By giving to him in any way you can, you will grow to love him.
If you could hate him without even knowing him, then you could love him.
And you know you want to.
An acquaintance said the other day that he ask his son in the Air Force who he wanted for Commander in Chief. His son said, "John McCain."
read later
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You forgot the barf alert
Oh my...I hope you’ve got your flamesuit on...
I get to know him a little better every time I buy a pack of cigarettes. He’s got my money, he won’t get my vote.
“You Could Learn to Love Him if You are Willing to Give Him a Chance”
Battered Base Syndrome....”BUT HE LOVES ME!!!!” as we hold yet another steak to yet another black eye that we received from “walking into a door.”
I thought I’d commend you for a thoughtful and well-written article before the nay-sayers get in here!
I’m a Fred guy, but anyone who thinks Hillary or Obama would be better than McCain is loony.
Pphhhttt.....sheesh...give it up already...
“Hate?! Wow...strong words. We don’t hate him.”
I hate him.
LOL
Great Post!!! Keep it up!!!
Remember only way McCain = Hillary if 83% = 9%.
Just to clarify, those are ACU ratings and not AC’L’U ratings!
Cheers!
Love is a two-way street. Wouldn’t it be easier for him to make a move, than millions of us?
The CPAC speech was a tepid invitation, at best.
Time to be a party maverick with my vote.
Delusion is treatable with the new meds available.
I am the great and powerful “HIM”! Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain...
Nicely written. However, I have investigated his actions and found him wanting. The Gang of 14 is enough all by itself to disqualify him for me.
From what I heard of it, his speech was a half-attempt to “patch together” the Republican Party by flipping on a few issues (at least in word). I really didn’t pick up sincerity or a real desire to change - just a desire to get votes.
So - I still am a “No Sale”. I don’t hate the man. I just cannot vote for him as President.
McCain/Feingold
McCain/Kennedy
His outright lies in the campaign (i.e. Romney thought we should set a date for withdrawing troops - uh, no he didn't), and his unethical behavior in WVa.
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