John McCain continues his slide to ethical irrelevance
I shudder to think this was why he spent five years in a Vietnamese POW camp – so he could come home and some thirty-plus years later sell out everything he used to stand for in order to gain the favor of a powerful voting bloc in his party, a bloc for which he has expressed nothing but disdain, if not open contempt, for the past few years.
According to the latest story to hit the wires, he took time yesterday to not only reiterate his long-held stand on a woman’s lack of a right to choose (in an important early Southern primary state), he even managed to squeeze in a speech to a kids’ Abstinence-Only program.
“Abstinence-Only?” That’s a whole different thing than saying “I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned,” as he did in his earlier appearance. That’s been red meat for the base for decades. But rolling over on Abstinence-Only ‘education’ is just despicable. Dastardly. Fucking stupid and yes, I’ll say it, a cowardly, craven move on Sen. McCain’s part.
I’ve always disagreed with most of McCain’s political opinions – that’s just the nature of a right-wing outlook versus a left-wing one – but I always respected the man. So the fact that I disagree with his latest positions is no great surprise and not why I’m bothering to vent.
What’s so disheartening is watching a formerly stalwart fellow, a good man, crumble from the inside. What’s gonna happen when he’s addressing NAMBLA in New Hampshire? How tightly is he going to have to hang onto his ankles to endorse their agenda? Where will he draw the line? Is there any formerly deeply-held belief he won’t auction off to win the approval of the GOP primary voters he not-so-secretly despises?
I’m afraid we’re going to find out. It’s gonna be a long time till the nomination. A looooong time. McCain should remember the advice given by Jesus in Mark 8:36, a chapter and verse the demographic he’s courting ought to be well familiar with, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?”
posted by Fang Bastardson at 7:16 AM
7 Comments:
I adore it when ethical leftwingers quote the Bible. Just reminds me that it is not necessarily a nasty document in and of itself -- just tends to be warped by the wrong people. My friend Jenn is devout AND a left wing progressive, so she's been correcting my long-held prejudices. Thanks for this quote.
7:15 AM
Do yourself a favor, old friend, and stop believing anyone in public life is decent.
12:33 PM
Bob Marley said "Politics is the devils business" so those that walk that road hold that hand.
9:17 AM
Who are you liking these days? I'm torn and curious about what like-minded lefties are thinking, even though it is obscenely early to pick which grossly overspending wannabe we're going to prefer after a year and a half of insult-trading ...I know you and Luke's mom hate Hillary, so who's up to bat in Clutter-Fangs Forum?
BTW: I quite miss the olden days of regular emailing
9:00 PM
It’s way too early to even take seriously. I’m not gonna get emotionally invested until there’s been a thinning of the herd a year from now. Right this minute, I’m ready to to take a gamble on Obama. Don’t like Kerry’s former running mate – he was a HUGE hawk leading up to and in the early going on the invasion of Iraq. Maybe not enough to disqualify him on its own, but it’s left a bad taste in my mouth even all these years later.
I think we should be watching for a late entry, after Hillary and Obama have torn each other to shreds. It would be my pleasure to cast another vote for Al Gore for President.
10:21 PM
What about Wes Clark? Is he gonna run again? I sure liked that guy.
Also, I'm with Carrie - what she said. Keep it up, Reverand Fang!
5:01 PM
Have you been keeping up on McCain, Fang? Check out www.therealmccain.com. It's a website dedicated to keeping track of Mr. Straight Shooter's Kerry-like waffling (can't believe I used that term).
Recent example: McCain apparently rejected an invitation to speak at this year's CPAC convention because they're, well, ogres (this year's gathering of paranoid, insecure, conservative white people featured panty-flashing Annie Coulter, who announced, "I think our motto should be post-9-11, 'raghead talks tough, raghead faces consequences.'") But after publicly rejecting the conservative group, the "maverick" quietly attempted to arrange a private reception.
The ol' conservative boys (and, in Coulter's case, men) didn't buy it.
11:28 AM
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