Thomas Sowell vs. John McCain: Blowing up the "straight talk express"
Thomas Sowell is easily one of the ten most brilliant writers/pundits on the face of the planet. He'll maek you laugh, he'll make you cry, but above all he'll make you think. And today, he hammers the Hell out of John McCain:
We have been hearing for years that Senator John McCain gives "straight talk" and his bus has been endlessly referred to as the "straight talk express." But endless repetition does not make something true.
The fact that McCain makes short, blunt statements does not make him a straight-talker.
There are short, blunt lies — and he told a big one on the eve of the Florida primary, when he claimed that Mitt Romney had advocated a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.
Even the Washington Post, which supports McCain, said that the Senator "has distorted the meaning" of what Governor Romney said, that Romney "has never proposed setting 'a date for withdrawal.'" During Mitt Romney's ABC News interview that Senator McCain twisted, Governor Romney was asked by the interviewer whether he agreed with President Bush's veto of Congressional legislation setting a timetable for withdrawal, and whether Romney as President would veto similar legislation.
"Of course," was Romney's reply. There was no ambiguity.
Confronted with his lie on Wednesday night's debate, McCain blustered and filibustered in a manner reminiscent of Captain Queeg in "The Caine Mutiny," when he was caught in a lie during a navy inquiry.
When confronted with any of his misdeeds, Senator McCain tends to fall back on his record as a war hero in Vietnam.
Let's talk sense. Benedict Arnold was a war hero but that did not exempt him from condemnation for his later betrayal.
Being a war hero is not a lifetime get-out-of-jail-free card. And becoming President of the United States is not a matter of rewarding an individual for past services.
The Presidency is a heavy responsibility for the future of the nation, including generations yet unborn. Character and integrity are major qualifications.
The passing years and a friendly media have allowed Senator McCain's shortcomings in the character and integrity department to fade into the background.
McCain was one of "the Keating five" — Senators who used their influence to try to protect a failing savings & loan company, which also became the subject of a corruption investigation.
During the 2000 primaries, the Associated Press reported Senator McCain's joking about people with Alzheimer's.
This went beyond bad taste because (1) it was known at the time that Ronald Reagan was suffering from Alzheimer's and (2) the media to whom McCain was pandering hated Ronald Reagan.
It is especially ironic now to see McCain wrapping himself in the mantle of President Reagan.
With the momentum of his Florida primary win behind him, going into the "Super Tuesday" primaries, John McCain has now been restored to the position of front runner that the media gave him at the outset.
Other Republicans are jumping on his bandwagon. This may have less to do with McCain's own qualities than with the prospect of getting Cabinet posts or Supreme Court appointments as rewards for their political support.
It may all look like a done deal. But the McCain-Kennedy bill giving amnesty to illegal aliens looked like a done deal two years ago — until the public realized the truth behind the spin and brought that sell-out to a screeching halt.
Super Tuesday may be the voters' last chance to bring the so-called "straight talk express" to a screeching halt.
It should be called the "sell-out express" because McCain has sold out not only with amnesty for illegal aliens but also sold out the First Amendment with the McCain-Feingold "campaign finance reform" bill that was supposed to take big money out of political campaigns, but blatantly has not.
McCain also sold out on judicial nominations by making his own side deal with the Democrats, undercutting Republican attempts to stop Democrats from filibustering judicial nominees instead of voting them up or down.
This is quite a record for someone running as a straight talker.
John McCain's "straight talk" has always been BS; a snowjob for Republicans in the hopes they won't notice the knife he just plunged into their backs. But the Republican base has been aware of his shenanigans for far too long. Ever since he lost in SC in 2000 John McCain has had it out for the Republican party, and he's trying to remake the party in his image instead of allowing the party's main platform mold him into a better Republican.
Lying comes naturally to him. He lies with an arrogant ease, and if challenged, expect to see that "spark" from him -- the infamous McCain temper. In fact his temper is so much of an issue for many voters that Team Romney assembled a top ten list for his outbursts, complete with cross-referenced reporting of the incidents.
See John McCain can spin himself anyway he wants, but he can't change the fact that the base is well aware of his predilections for working with Democrats, his temper, and his conceited audacity. If it's one thing John McCain has is an ego in believing he is the "only conservative" in this race.
Senator McCain, you have no concept of what the term means.
Publius II
We have been hearing for years that Senator John McCain gives "straight talk" and his bus has been endlessly referred to as the "straight talk express." But endless repetition does not make something true.
The fact that McCain makes short, blunt statements does not make him a straight-talker.
There are short, blunt lies — and he told a big one on the eve of the Florida primary, when he claimed that Mitt Romney had advocated a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq.
Even the Washington Post, which supports McCain, said that the Senator "has distorted the meaning" of what Governor Romney said, that Romney "has never proposed setting 'a date for withdrawal.'" During Mitt Romney's ABC News interview that Senator McCain twisted, Governor Romney was asked by the interviewer whether he agreed with President Bush's veto of Congressional legislation setting a timetable for withdrawal, and whether Romney as President would veto similar legislation.
"Of course," was Romney's reply. There was no ambiguity.
Confronted with his lie on Wednesday night's debate, McCain blustered and filibustered in a manner reminiscent of Captain Queeg in "The Caine Mutiny," when he was caught in a lie during a navy inquiry.
When confronted with any of his misdeeds, Senator McCain tends to fall back on his record as a war hero in Vietnam.
Let's talk sense. Benedict Arnold was a war hero but that did not exempt him from condemnation for his later betrayal.
Being a war hero is not a lifetime get-out-of-jail-free card. And becoming President of the United States is not a matter of rewarding an individual for past services.
The Presidency is a heavy responsibility for the future of the nation, including generations yet unborn. Character and integrity are major qualifications.
The passing years and a friendly media have allowed Senator McCain's shortcomings in the character and integrity department to fade into the background.
McCain was one of "the Keating five" — Senators who used their influence to try to protect a failing savings & loan company, which also became the subject of a corruption investigation.
During the 2000 primaries, the Associated Press reported Senator McCain's joking about people with Alzheimer's.
This went beyond bad taste because (1) it was known at the time that Ronald Reagan was suffering from Alzheimer's and (2) the media to whom McCain was pandering hated Ronald Reagan.
It is especially ironic now to see McCain wrapping himself in the mantle of President Reagan.
With the momentum of his Florida primary win behind him, going into the "Super Tuesday" primaries, John McCain has now been restored to the position of front runner that the media gave him at the outset.
Other Republicans are jumping on his bandwagon. This may have less to do with McCain's own qualities than with the prospect of getting Cabinet posts or Supreme Court appointments as rewards for their political support.
It may all look like a done deal. But the McCain-Kennedy bill giving amnesty to illegal aliens looked like a done deal two years ago — until the public realized the truth behind the spin and brought that sell-out to a screeching halt.
Super Tuesday may be the voters' last chance to bring the so-called "straight talk express" to a screeching halt.
It should be called the "sell-out express" because McCain has sold out not only with amnesty for illegal aliens but also sold out the First Amendment with the McCain-Feingold "campaign finance reform" bill that was supposed to take big money out of political campaigns, but blatantly has not.
McCain also sold out on judicial nominations by making his own side deal with the Democrats, undercutting Republican attempts to stop Democrats from filibustering judicial nominees instead of voting them up or down.
This is quite a record for someone running as a straight talker.
John McCain's "straight talk" has always been BS; a snowjob for Republicans in the hopes they won't notice the knife he just plunged into their backs. But the Republican base has been aware of his shenanigans for far too long. Ever since he lost in SC in 2000 John McCain has had it out for the Republican party, and he's trying to remake the party in his image instead of allowing the party's main platform mold him into a better Republican.
Lying comes naturally to him. He lies with an arrogant ease, and if challenged, expect to see that "spark" from him -- the infamous McCain temper. In fact his temper is so much of an issue for many voters that Team Romney assembled a top ten list for his outbursts, complete with cross-referenced reporting of the incidents.
See John McCain can spin himself anyway he wants, but he can't change the fact that the base is well aware of his predilections for working with Democrats, his temper, and his conceited audacity. If it's one thing John McCain has is an ego in believing he is the "only conservative" in this race.
Senator McCain, you have no concept of what the term means.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 4:16 PM
1 Comments:
thank you. McCain is dangerous. He may think he is Teddy Roosevelt, but such delusions should be held privately. This man is near treasonous in his approach to the immigration. If he is nominated, I will skip any further contributions to the Republican party until this nut-job has "moved on".
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