Plant? Maybe. More likely not.
But when he starts to quote even more from the Little Red Book, I will begin to wonder.
Actually, if he WERE an M.C., one would expect him to be quoting President Ho, not Chairman Mao.
Doesn't seem like McCain has to do much to flush you out Rabs :)
It is hard to imagine that McCain thinks he could run again. He thinks he almost won, a view shared by many republicans and freepers here. He was a crappy candidate the first time. He already had the grandpa look. McCain now realizes that 2012 is the big opportunity for republicans (possibly), not 2009. 2009 was the suckers opportunity. Remember all the republicans said that Obama couldn't possibly win in 2009? till he won election day.
Isn’t it just the dufus’s way of trying to say nice things about Palin, but also say let’s have lots of possibly great candidates run in the primary and see who emerges?
I think he’s basically trying to thread the needle by not seeming ingracious to Palin, but not veering out of his RINO pen by actually encouraging her candidacy.
But he’s an idiot and it’s far better that conservatives coalesce behind a good candidate early this time—rather than let someone like him get imposed on us. Our country can’t afford making that mistake again.
I would point out that the phrase “let a thousand flowers bloom” has been around long before Mao’s speech. It was used for instance in Vannevar Bush’s commission report “Science, the endless frontier” which lead to the establishment of Office of Naval Research. Given the cold war winning technologies that came out of ONR, I would find it hard to think of them as a “communist front.”
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/29/mccain-has-kind-words-palin/
For Palin, McCain has nothing but kind words
Washington Times, The (DC) - Sunday, March 29, 2009
EXCERPT
Mr. McCain also put his former running mate in the top tier of Republicans queuing up for presidential runs in 2012 although he mentioned Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty four times, more often than anyone else.
“And, uh, who am I forgetting?” he asked. “Yeah, yeah, Mitt Romney, so many that Mike Huckabee there’s a bunch of voices out there that need to be heard,” he said, going on to urge Republicans to “let a thousand flowers bloom.”
//
http://www1.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-07012008-1556919.html
Intelligencer, The (Doylestown, PA) - Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Author: Jenna Portnoy
EXCERPT
Free enterprise with some federal dollars will plant the seeds for new technology.
“I think the way we’re going to solve these problems is to let a thousand flowers bloom ,” he said.
McDemocrat was in Hanoi. No doubt he was subjected to their daily propaganda.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1615112/posts
http://sensico.wordpress.com/2008/08/22/video-mccain-americans-wont-pick-lettuce-for-50hr/
Occums razor would suggest he used it because it is a relatively common expression in our culture that describes a situation in which many competing ideas are allowed to flourish. In this context, the obvious meaning is that he wants to see many different potential GOP nominees present what they have to offer to the primary voters so that the party can pick a winning combination for 2012.
Yes, it's true Mao came up with the expression, and used it disingenuously, but that hasn't stopped it from becoming a benign, commonplace metaphor in American culture. Just as making trains run on time isn't even just because Hitler did it, a metaphor isn't evil just because Mao came up with it.
Of course, reading a sinister meaning into benign expression, and then using it to spin all kinds of wacky conspiracy theories is much more fun that giving it the most obvious meaning, so carry on. I hope your tinfoil hat that fits well!