John McCain: A Man Without Principle
Published June 06, 2008
John McCain is a man without principle.
I don't like the term "flip-flop." It's a flippant word that tends to trivialize important matters. But we seem to be stuck with it, so let's call McCain's latest turnabout yet another flip-flop.
Formerly, the presumptive Republican candidate at least gave lip service to the rule of law regarding executive power. A mere six months ago, asked about warrantless wiretapping, he told The Boston Globe, "I think that presidents have the obligation to obey and enforce laws that are passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, no matter what the situation is... I don’t think the president has the right to disobey any law."
Yet this week, a McCain advisor said the candidate believes the president can authorize an intelligence agency to monitor international phone calls placed by Americans without warrants, breaking the law established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Snuggling ever closer to Bush's abusive doctrines and extreme ideology, the "maverick" is looking more and more like a mule. Since beginning his current presidential bid he's gone back on his positions on every issue on which his national reputation had rested.
The war hero who endured years of torture out of loyalty to his country and comrades-in-arms now thinks torture is quite all right. McCain supported the Military Commissions Act of 2006, which stated, "No alien unlawful enemy combatant subject to trial by military commission under this chapter may invoke the Geneva Convention as a source of rights." Translation: "unlawful combatants," a made-up category designed to obfuscate, may be tortured at will.
McCain previously enjoyed a reputation of concern for the "little guy," frequently going against Republican tax policy. He originally opposed Bush's tax plans because they cut taxes for the rich "at the expense of middle class Americans." But now, having conveniently reversed himself, he voted to extend those same cuts, apparently no longer concerned about trivial matters like budget deficits and average Americans.
McCain abandoned campaign finance reform - the issue that still has his name on it (McCain-Feingold) - when it became clear that he was going to need more money for his campaign. He abandoned immigration reform when he realized he needed the backing of the Republican party's large Nativist wing. Most egregiously, he's abandoned our troops. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America examined Senate votes from late 2001 through 2006, and awarded McCain a D on issues affecting "troops, veterans, or military families." That's worth repeating: McCain, the war hero, gets a D in supporting the troops - a grade given not by the press, or through a poll, but by the troops themselves. (Cliff Schechter has a good chapter on this in his recent book The Real McCain.)
Ironically, the only things on which McCain has remained steadfast have been continuing the Iraq war - the most blatant failure of the Bush years - and a general disdain for diplomacy and common sense. Is Iran seeking nuclear weapons? No problem - just bomb them.
A vote for McCain is a vote for an America emptied of moral authority, honor, and cash.
Jon Sobel is Blogcritics' theater editor, reviews NYC theater frequently, and writes a regular round-up of independent music releases. He is also a computer professional, musician, and small-time concert promoter in New York City. (His original band, Whisperado, can be blogcriticized at will, and you can also find him playing bass and singing in the Kings County Blues Band.)
- John McCain: A Man Without Principle
- Published: June 06, 2008
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Politics
- Filed Under: Politics: Elections and Candidates, Politics: U.S., Politics: War and Terrorism
- Writer: Jon Sobel
- Jon Sobel's BC Writer page
- Jon Sobel's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
Jon, this is so great! gosh, how I wish the Dem's had it figured out so well in 2000. Oh, well. This is awesome and Obama needs to see it; it is so perfect.
"Snuggling ever closer to Bush's abusive doctrines and extreme ideology, the "maverick" is looking more and more like a mule."
Thank you!
Karl Rove. move over we have Jon!
This version of McCain's "Bomb Iran" viewable at mccainsings.com has "topped the charts."
Mcain's "straight talk express" has been renamed the "double talk express". A video at therealmccain.com illustrates why. John McCain promises the American public, "Less jobs and more wars."
2008 McCain is not 2000 McCain.
Half the time McCain looks to me like he's waiting for someone to tell him what he's supposed to say.
Half the time McCain looks to me like he's waiting for someone to tell him what he's supposed to say.
The other half of the time he looks like he's simply looking for a place to cozy up and take a solid nap.
Thanks for pointing out these several changes of position which McCain has taken. It's nice to see that he is not hidebound by the dogmatism which has weakened other Republican candidates and is capable of rethinking positions and evolving in a more positive direction.
Dave
It's nice to see that he is not hidebound by the dogmatism which has weakened other Republican candidates and is capable of rethinking positions [some call this "forgetting what he previously said"] and evolving in a more positive direction. [namely that direction is adopting the party line dogma which he previously challenged]
Does McCain really understand the Iraq War?
Rachel Maddow (MSNBC): "So, I guess those guided tours [Senator McCain took] of Iraq didn't come with flashcards."
...th, th, th, th, that's not a change we can believe in folks...
From what I can tell McCain gets the key point that the Iraq war is no longer a war as such and that the rules are different in a post-war situation.
I think McCain would be much more likely to rely on military leadership in a situation like Iraq, which based on reports of what went wrong after the active phase of the war would have solved just about every problem we've had in the last 4 years.
Read Michael Yon's new book. It will open your eyes. And be happy, it makes the Bush administration look even worse than you imagined.
Dave
yawnnnnnnn...same old left wing garbage
It will be extremely interesting in the campaign and debates to see how McCain both embraces and shuns Bush, and both defends and condemns the crappy congresses he's been a leading part of during the past eight years.
He may need to "rethink and evolve" a little bit faster.
Jon,
McCain and Obama both have all the principles of a chippy hustling a trick. You'll get my take on Barry Obama once the political editors release my latest piece.
But I'm voting for Barry Obama. For me that will mean a trip to either J-lem or Tel Aviv to register as a voter. But it will be worth it.
John McCain might as well just paint himself yellow run around and call himself Banana Man, cause thats what he's doing.
Somebody's baking brownies
somebody's eating brownies, with little green specks in them, sounds like...
From what I can tell McCain gets the key point that the Iraq war is no longer a war as such and that the rules are different in a post-war situation.
Anyone who's been paying attention gets that. We need someone who both sees reality and might conceivably have a good idea what to do about it.
We need someone who both sees reality and might conceivably have a good idea what to do about it.
Jon, the first problem is seeing reality, the second is owning up to seeing it, and admitting it openly. Once you get to that point, the hard part is that there is not a lot to be done about it. There are no win-win solutions for the US of A.
#15 - "There are no win-win solutions for the US of A."
Getting rid of our 1950s mentality about ourselves and the world around us, and moving into the realities of the 21st century might become win-win for us.
Pretending to be a super-power while living on credit and begging the Saudis for oil is denying reality, but I see McCain buying it because stasis as long as he lives is all he really is hot for.
McCain has no clue. He has no plan. He is not a thinker, not a strategist, and he has no place in his life for thinkers and strategists, which guarantees that he'll lose the general election. Good thing, too, because he'd be as big a disaster as GWB if he stumbled into the presidency somehow.
Has anyone found out where Barry "empty suit" Obama was born? Does ANYONE know ANYTHING about him?
Jeff, a brief moment of research produced this from the Barack Obama page on Wikipedia...
"Obama was born on August 4, 1961, at the Kapiolani Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, to Barack Obama, Sr., of Nyangoma-Kogelo, Siaya District, Kenya, and Ann Dunham, of Wichita, Kansas, who was largely descended from pre-revolutionary British settlers to the United States, although her great-great-grandfather Falmouth Kearney emigrated from Ireland in the mid 19th century."
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I couldn't agree more... thanks Mr. McCain for your service to the country, but I still don't see how that qualifies this crazy old man for the presidency... This crazy old man's policies would be a disaster for America... he would be worse than King Bush... no way in hell I can vote for him... he favors continued colonial occupation of Iraq, he would likely expand and get into more wars in the middle east further bankrupting the country and killing our brave fighting men and woman and for no good reason... he would continue tax cuts for the rich, you known tax cuts for the people who are most well off or tax cuts for people who don't need them... and he would continue this free trade madness that would continue and escalate the exodus of jobs from America thus hurting myriad of American citizens... this man sponsored a Global warming bill then voted against his own bill!! how f*cking crazy is that??? And as a veteran himself, he votes against the new GI bill that hurts current and soon to be veterans.. wtf??? today come to find out, he now favors spying on Americans even though previously he was against it and it is illegal... also I can't think that spending 5 plus years as a POW did not do some major damage to this man's brain and decision making ability... the only word I can think of to describe this man and his polices is INSANE... America, please do not vote for this old man