Posted on 03/03/2010 10:44:15 AM PST by rabscuttle385
My brother and I have a running conversation about whether it is a good thing that John McCain didn't become president. We both voted for him, but I decided early on, as much as I oppose every Marx-tinged thing President Obama stands for, I was glad Obama had won and McCain had lost. At least, I was glad McCain had lost.
That's because only out of ashes may the phoenix be reborn. The liberal-lite frustrations of a McCain administration would have smoldered on the Right but lit few fires, dampening the possibility of real post-Bush regeneration. From Bush's "compassionate conservatism" (read: liberalism) to McCain's compassionate bipartisanship (read: more liberalism), the nation would have continued to drift in the wrong direction. The "good" thing about the economy-crashing, military-breaking, ideologically mind-blowing Obama administration is that it puts us on a collision course that just might force Americans to bail and start over in a better way -- metaphorically speaking.
But also, McCain didn't deserve to be president, at least not under the false flag of "conservative." McCain is no conservative, a fact that stands out as he faces a serious Senate primary challenge from J.D. Hayworth, a genuinely conservative former U.S. Representative.
After all, John McCain co-wrote the bill providing, in effect, U.S. citizenship to some 20 million illegal aliens (that's why they called it McCain-Kennedy). He co-wrote the bill restricting political speech (McCain-Feingold). J.D. Hayworth opposed both. As for global-warming legislation -- sorry, "climate change" -- McCain used to lead the floor fight for cap-and-trade (initially known as McCain-Lieberman), but now even the New York Times has noticed McCain has gone mum on the issue and "is likely to keep his distance even more over the next six months due to a primary challenge from a conservative former congressman that threatens to end his Senate career after four terms." And yup, Hayworth opposes cap-and-trade. McCain opposed the Bush tax cuts; Hayworth, as he puts it, helped write them. McCain rules out enhanced interrogations and wants to close Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo). Hayworth supports enhanced interrogations, and wants to keep Gitmo open. The list goes on, but there's no need to draw a picture.
Except, maybe, for the benefit of -- how to put this? -- challenged conservative leaders. These include former Sen. Fred Thompson, and former Govs. Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney, who, contradicting everything they ever got us to think they stood for, sort of have endorsed McCain. This may burnish "the maverick" with their conservative bona fides. But it also makes those bona fides look more than a little cheap.
Or maybe they just aren't who we think they are. But does it matter? Perception does seem to be everything. In November, Hayworth was polling neck-in-neck with McCain. After Sarah Superstar held out her coattails to McCain -- who, let's not forget, personally, and through his staff, publicly savaged her -- a January poll showed McCain leading Hayworth by 22 points.
So why is McCain running scared? Because he is running scared. At least that's one conclusion to draw from an initial Web ad released by the McCain campaign that stoops to smear Hayworth as a conspiracy nut unfit to serve in the U.S. Senate for having the audacity -- I call it common sense and a little grit -- to point out as a radio host that "questions will remain" until our commander in chief releases the paperwork associated with his birth currently under state seal in Hawaii.
Questions will remain, and do remain, and despite Hayworth spokesman Jason Rose's craven dodge: "Questions were raised on the air. They have been answered." No, they haven't been answered. And that's true largely because of John McCain.
Remember when presidential candidate McCain's own natural-born creds came under question because he was born in the Canal Zone? Naturally, he released his paperwork. He should have then called on his opponent, Barack Obama, to do the same -- naturally. Such leadership would have dispelled all corrosive doubts raised and perpetuated not by "conspiracy nuts" but by the unprecedented lockdown on simple Obama identification -- birth certificate, education transcripts and more -- by the Obama machine, fueled and oiled by a compliant media.
But he didn't -- another reason McCain shouldn't have become president. Now, if conservatives could just retire him from the U.S. Senate.
Diana West is the author of "The Death of the Grown-up: How America's Arrested Development Is Bringing Down Western Civilization," and blogs at dianawest.net. She can be contacted via dianawest@verizon.net.
Now that is a very intelligent response...You have all the brilliance of McCain also. Good day!!!
For some reason, despite the malcontent actions by leftists, many Republicans roll over and surrender when the democrats nominate a judicial appointee. I do not believe it to be a Constitutional belief, but the actions of weak kneed surrender monkeys. Thank God Jesse Helms fought them, but he had little support.
Very good post...thanks!!
McCain may very well have killed off the GOP for good.
quite frankly i don’t care what some syndicated columnist from illinois feels about mccain
McCain is Obama in slow motion he believes the same drivel the Dubmcrats do. He just does not have the nerve to say it but his actions scream it!!!
All of his good friends across the aisle are very grateful for it too.
“No, thanks to people like you who refused to support a conservative candidate in the primary”
there was a conservative candidate in the primary???
Fact is if Mclame had not won the primary it would have bee Romney or Huckaby....not much better IMHO.
I can assure you that the vaunted Tea Party has zero chance of winning.
I stand by my statement. Justifying not voting, based on what you said, is foolish.
You gambled with everyone’s freedom, and you gambled with our future. And you believe all this tyranny will not affect you or touch you? Why? Because you live in Texas? You are, if not a fool, fooling yourself.
Can you name three true Conservatives in the Republican party? Listening to the posts on FR there are few, if any.
No third party will take the Whitehouse.
McCain and his Cindy are like borderline senile Boris and Natasha. Just take a look at Cindy and daughter posing with tape across their mouths. Yuck!
We could have survived Romney and Huckabee much better than we can Obama and McCain.
I don’t care what you stand by....The fact is this country has woke up to the likes of Obama and McCain and is in the process of a monumental leap forward. And it would not have happened if folks like you had continued to elect the lesser of two evils. We had eight years of Geo. Bush and he got an entirely new entitlement program that we can’t fund. When will enough be enough for you. If you are not for a conservative then you are the one who is foolish. A half ass liberal isn’t any better than a whole liberal...just slower!!!
Personally, I saw the tide early on. Obama was going to overtake Hillary back when Hillary had the media amen chorus and when it was time for my state to have its primary, McCain had all but wrapped up the GOP nomination so I crossed the aisle, held my nose, and voted for Obama over Hillary. It was exactly the opposite of what Rush was asking listeners to do.
Why did I do it? Because I knew under McCain, we’d get 60% of Obama’s socialism but with a Republican label. Under Hillary, we’d get 90% of Obama’s socialism but with Slick and Eva Braun running the show, it would have been packaged and sold far better and been harder to defeat.
While Obama was the most objectionable of the three, I knew he would overplay his hand like the egotistical rookie that he is. And while it would suck big-time to live under Obama’s socialism, the GOP would coalesce to fight him and he would ultimately cause a massive shift against his policies.
In the general election, I didn’t vote for either McCain or Obama. It wouldn’t have mattered as my state would have backed McCain over a Muslim socialist anyway so I was free to vote my conscience (Constitution Party).
But, thanks to Obama, we now have tea parties and throw-the-bums-out marches that we wouldn’t have had under McCain or the Clintons. Something ironic about the Community Organizer In Chief causing the citizenry en masse to organize against him.
Of course I voted for McCain and regardless of how much I despise him, no matter who else was on the ticket, I would do it again. I will never sit home and not let my vote count. That’s how we got Fidel the 2nd in the WH now.
Haly Barbour,Duncan Hunter,Jeb Hensarling.
What makes you think all the people who stayed home would have voted for McCain. Some of the independents if forced to vote would have voted for Obama.
I despise McCain, but I did vote for him and Palin.
So, a few folks on FR are not to blame when McLame lost by millions of votes.
I respect your opinion...I don’t however agree with it. Have you forgot Romneycare and that was Huckabe mushing all over Michelle Obama. A person I believe is a true America hater like her husband, you know reverend wright.
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