Sometimes the enemy of my enemy is his own shadow. Such can be said of a man who must walk as fast as he can towards the camera lights as his own campaign demons sneak up behind him. It is for these reasons that John McCain has my sympathy. He is not only battling the charismatic force of nature standing across the podium from him but he also has to repress the corrupting influences trying to whisper into his ear on a daily basis. These influences are black as night, drenched in oil and brimming with a confidence unique to a good con man. They know full well that they can pin Senator Vietnam down on the mat, yank his wallet and steal his lunch money. They know because they have done it before.
Back in 2000, the then honorable John McCain was fighting a trench war against Governor George W. Bush in the Republican primaries. McCain was up against the wall and likely to lose with values voters but that wasn’t enough for the nasty Neocon brigade. They didn’t just want to win over Johnny Mac, they wanted to mortally wound him. McCain is the kind of Republican that the Neocons can do without. He is a self-described maverick, a man who thinks for himself. He is brutally honest, unafraid of confrontation and always willing to speak his mind. He will stand up to any authority figure or group, no matter how loud they yell. He is an island and thus, he is uncontrollable. He is a barrier against those who wish to use the Presidency as a tool for stealing wealth. John McCain is a real threat and so, they cast every deadly aspersion possible in his direction. He was accused of siring a black baby, being a Manchurian candidate and suffering shell shock that made him incapable of taking office. He was irreligious, a hater of Christians, a secret liberal who had too many close friends on the blue team. He could not be trusted. He was broken beyond repair. He was angry. He had secrets.
Article comments
1 - Glenn Contrarian
Alex -
Every once in a while I read a blog post that is not simply well-written, but puts out information that I didn't expect, and from which I can learn. Yours is such a post.
Now I don't berate myself quite so much for having supported McCain (if only in spirit) in 2000. Yours is a cautionary tale that of those who stand up to The Man - whether it is the NeoCon Machine, a corrupt military officer entrenched in his position, or even just a schoolyard bully - not everyone survives the encounter with their career or their integrity intact.
Well done, Alex, and thanks for the lesson.
2 - Baritone
Hmmm... John McCain = Second Coming? What a guy!
B
3 - Joanne Huspek
Gawd... politics is a dirty business. Just when I was starting to feel rosy and positive, too.
4 - Clavos
Joanne,
It certainly is. It's also a major reason why the best people rarely go into politics, so we're stuck with having people who are second and third best (or worse) running the country.
5 - Arch Conservative
"so we're stuck with having people who are second and third best (or worse) running the country"
that hardly does the situation justice Clavos.
What we are stuck with are people that believe their own ambition justifies baselessly savaging the character and lives of others while and also having the character and lives of their own friend's and family savaged.
What we are stuck with is people that will look you in the eye and lie to you time and time again so that they maintain their power.
What we are stuck with is have other people imprisoned or even killed in order to obtain or maintain their power.
Let's not sugarcoat things folks. It's a mad world out there. Make you sure you brought you cup and check your soul at the door if you want to get in the game.
6 - Baritone
As bad as all the "savaging" is, it's certainly nothing new. Politics were much more heated and underhanded during the early years of the country.
Each electoral cycle, as the intensity renews, it seems that the people running campaigns and their surrogates try to push the envelope further than the last. Things get edgier, more personal and the focus on actual issues tends to diminish proportionally. And there are always loose cannons out their that, having their own agenda, put out a large part of the really off the wall stuff.
Yes, the attacks on Palin have been harsh and mostly without merit. Also, consider Corsi's compilation of baloney, "The Obama Nation" which is selling like hotcakes - (mainly in bulk sales, interestingly enough.)
While some people undoubtedly take some of these things to heart, by and large it seems to me unlikely that the election will be unduly affected by most of this crap.
B
7 - Cannonshop
An excellent point, Baritone. some of these scandals are downright silly (The Edwards baby tempest-in-a-teapot, for instance, or the Bush Sisters' little alcohol problems-something that anyone who grew up around PK's (PReachers' kids)would tend to expect...) Some proceed from silly to downright ridiculous (Clinton's BJ in the oval office? there were far more substantial issues, like the Grand Staircase Escalante coal-deal for Riaty, but the damn pols focused on something ridiculous.)
Personally, I tend to blame forty years of educational degradation and concern for "Self Esteem" issues for it-raise kids without teaching them to think critically, they'll drool and focus myopically on lowest-common-denominator pap.
8 - bliffle
Good article. Much the same is going on in the dems with the Clinton faction.
the neocons effectively neutered McCain on Larry Kings program after the SC primary when McCain mildly chastised Bush for the lurid lies Rove spread about McCain, and Bush aggressively confronted McCain and said noone could accuse him of running a dirty campaign. McCain submitted. Not a hero.
And now, for the thousandth time I'm hearing some character at the rep convention praising mccain for being so heroic against his vietnamese captors.
He missed his chance to prove his heroism against Bush.