John McCain is my Senator. Mine in the sense that he was elected by my state of Arizona. He was great in his prime,
but now it is his time
to RETIRE!
The other day Senator McCain proved that he is getting too old to be in public office. He started showing signs of Alzheimers when he said that the Bush administration deceived the American people about the war in Iraq. McCain claims that the Bush administration made it sound like the war would be a "day at the beach".
I distinctly recall speaches by President Bush and Secretary Rumsfeld where they talked about the long hard road ahead. I wasn't deceived. I can see that people easily swayed by the media would have been deceived. The media portrayed the war effort as a day at the beach until they realized it wasn't.
Instead of bashing a man who has given his life to honorably serving the United States, I'd just like to write a letter to him:
Dear Senator McCain,
John, please don't run for President. Please retire to a nice home in some ritzy neighborhood in Phoenix. Get a summer home in Montana, and please enjoy the last days of your mortal sojourn. You deserve it. Don't let the stress of being president send you to an early demise. Don't give in to your lustful desires for power. I'll take you golfing instead and you are guaranteed to defeat me. I'll give you lots of sunscreen too and nice broad-brimmed hat. I'm just worried that your conservative priniciples will be completely eroded if you have to submit yourself to one more lobbiest or campaign contributor. Retire while you still have a somewhat positive reputation. Throw your support by someone young, dashing, prinicpled and ambitious like Mitt Romney. That is the best legacy you could leave us.
Sincerely,
Your humble constituency
8 comentarios:
Good post!
I think your being entirely selective and slanted in your facts, too much of a Fox news diet perhaps?
Robert, for you, not for me, broaden your range of information sources, and get more points of view. You show flashes of understanding and depth now and then, but this is juvenile cheerleading for your icon in the white house.
David,
I'm always glad to see that you have checked in with my blog. I appreciate having someone who doesn't always agree with me speak their mind. It keeps me focused on the roots of my principles and a little spirited debate never hurt anybody. Also, thanks for recognizing my "flashes of understanding and depth now and then". I'll take that as a compliment.
This might surprise you, but I am not a FoxNews guy. I only have basic cable and FoxNews isn't on it. I listen to 620 AM KTAR on the Radio here in Phoenix, which is a very moderate news and talk station. The conservative stations in the valley consider it almost a liberal station. ABC news is the affiliated news network.
I admit that I get most of my news from the radio, but I also have five or six websites that I browse the headlines on regularly and only read the stories that interest me.
My opinion of John McCain is very much my own. A couple mornings ago I heard that little segment where McCain said that the Bush Administration misled Americans by making the war sound like it was going to be easy. I couldn't believe it! Has he not heard the same speeches that I have heard over the last five years?! At no time have I ever received the impression from President Bush or any of his staff that this military campaign would be easy or quick. Now that aircraft carrier landing bit was (looking back on it) over the top. It did seem to be a declaration that things had gone better than anticipated. Perhaps that mission was accomplished, but the war was far from over.
As far as being a Bush cheerleader...I admit that I do like the guy. I'll have to dedicate another blog entry to enumerate the reasons why. I am not a blind disciple of the FoxNews channel nor of the Republican party. I am almost libertarian, except that I believe in legislating morality, so I guess that makes me a conservative. By legislating morality I mean that I look at the issue and I ask myself, "Does this lead to the perpetuation and prosperity of society or to its destruction and demise?" Now that is a strong litmus test!!!
David, it seems apparent that you have fallen victim to the common liberal criticism of conservative thought...you all automatically suspect blind devotion to FoxNews. I've had many discussions with conservative associates whose conversation seems to emanate directly from the script of the latest Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity show. I am embarrassed for them. So to do liberals have their talking-points that many of their ignorant followers spew out like it was original thought.
I can't stand Rush Limbaugh. He has "flashes of understanding and depth" but I can hardly see them as they are eclipsed by the greatness of his ego. I used to really like Sean Hannity, but I don't feel uplifted by listening to him anymore. I listen to a couple of boring local guys who do a good job keeping their perspective neutral. Sometimes I wonder if they even have a perspective.
Robert, you are my favorite whatever political label you want to call it, you are sincere and real, so I don't care where on the political spectrum you fall on. I sensed what a genuine human being you are the first time I wandered in here, so I have returned.
620 AM KTAR is owend by a very conservative consortuim out of Salt Lake City, and yes there are many comentators of the left that I can't stomch either. Your news diet might be heavy on the commentating side, and slim on the journalism side. Perhaps less "hot" medium (TV and radio) and more print would be good. At any rate the sources you sight indicate you stay pretty much within your zone of comfort. You might want to consider some newspapers and journalistic periodicals, some of which can be read on line.
That's all I'm saying, have a great weekend.
Jeez David, you must think I have a lot spare time!
KTAR is owned by Bonneville Communications, which was or is owned by the LDS Church. I know the programming director at KTAR and trust me, they seek moderates. Other than the occassional public service announcement, the LDS Church doesn't seem to be very controlling of that station.
My other news sources: I also review the headlines and sometimes read the stories at azcentral.com which is the online version of the Arizona Republic which tends to be leftward leaning. I look at the website for the East Valley Tribune for my local Mesa, AZ stories. I read the Drudge Report and about half of the stories there. Matt Drudge seems to link to stories on both sides, but seems to lean a bit to the right side of the political spectrum.
"I'm just saying," that's the in phrase up here these days, are they saying it in Arizona too?
Our paper here is well know as left leaning, "The Minneapolis Star Tribune," many call it "The Red Star Tribune," but still I get many of my favorite right leaning columnists through it, David Brooks, George Will, William Safire, and a host of others that get carried if their column created a buzz in their regular syndication.
I understand your time dilemma, I don't know how you find the time to write some quality stuff on your blog, "I'm just saying," Beware TV and radio, it could be comparable to not having time to eat right, fast food versus real nutrients.
Anyway, if you'll pardon the pun, it's food for thought.
Would you be willing to start an "Arizona fo Mitt" blog?
Greetings…
Let’s look at the predictable sequence of these exchanges between Robert and David and see if we can discern any patterns that we can apply to the topic at hand…
1) Robert states a position on an issue in an earnest, heart-felt manner…
2) David responds, not with a counter-argument, but with an indictment on Robert’s character (too ethnocentric, blind sycophant of Fox News, etc…)…
3) Robert responds politely (and specifically) in spite of the blatant insult he has been offered…
4) David concludes with some condescending plea for Robert to expand his feeble intellectual horizons, reform his unsophisticated, provincial world-view, and all without ever offering any counter-argument of substance… indeed, in this case, the topic was ignored entirely.
What manner of discourse is this? Even a cursory examination of previous Robert/David exchanges will expose the recurrent nature of this pattern… is this an isolated dynamic or can we find precedent elsewhere? Where have I seen this before? Wait, it’s coming to me… aha, eureka! It is precisely the method used in almost every liberal (non)argument against Bush administration policy. Need examples? Pre-war intelligence = Big Lie… Iraq war = Criminal… Patriot Act = Fascist power grab… Tax reform = Corrupt cronyism… George Bush = Dolt, Figurehead, Racist, Conspirator, Theocrat, Mass Murderer, yada yada yada, ad nauseum! Ignore the topic, impugn the speaker, and assume a mantle of superiority… (not an earned superiority through force of argument mind you, just a smug, condescending façade… presumably based on some “broader perspective”, often referred to, but never demonstrated)… this is the formula that plays out time and time again from the current Left’s “intelligentsia” and parroted by their loyal “sophisticates” like David. David won’t acknowledge any of this for a second, nor does he even recognize that he’s being insufferably arrogant… he’s like a fish unaware of the water in which it is immersed.
Lest I be misunderstood, let me be clear; this is not an exclusively “Liberal” tactic… this is just one of many tricks torn directly from that ancient, unwritten book known as, “Politics as Usual”. This particular formula is used when no credible counter-argument is forthcoming, and is utilized by all points on the political spectrum. Like most “non-arguments”, its’ purpose is not to inform, but to discredit… to gain legitimacy in the larger marketplace of ideas, it relies on repetition rather than rectitude. So, how does all this apply to the topic at hand?
I consider Robert’s disgust at McCain’s actions completely justified, and this from an entirely impartial, non-partisan perspective. When a person, elevated to a position of influence through the auspices of the public trust, cynically exploits a gross media misrepresentation for political gain, it should be condemned by every thoughtful citizen regardless of their political inclinations or affiliations! This “day at the beach” notion is a product of precisely the kind of “Politics as Usual” tactics I described above… how did we arrive at a point where, in direct contradiction to the consistent message coming from the administration, McCain can say such things and be taken seriously? It’s the old media “bait and switch” routine… here’s how it works. Let’s take the most notorious of Bush’s speeches, the dreaded “Mission Accomplished” speech, and compare what was said to what we have been repeatedly told we heard.
What Bush said:
“Admiral Kelly, Captain Card, officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed.”
What the media told us we heard:
The Iraq war is over! We are victorious!
The very next words out of Bush’s mouth:
“And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.”
What the media told us we heard:
Nothing. The significance of that statement, and all that it implies, was and continues to be given no emphasis at all… as far as this speech is concerned, it may as well never have been uttered.
What Bush said:
“You have shown the world the skill and the might of the American armed forces.”
What the media told us we heard:
The Iraq war is over! We are victorious… and it was easy!
What Bush said:
“America and our coalition will finish what we have begun.”
What the media told us we heard:
The Iraq war is over! We are victorious… and it was easy!
What Bush said:
“The war on terror is not over, yet it is not endless. We do not know the day of final victory, but we have seen the turning of the tide.”
What the media told us we heard:
The Iraq war is over! We are victorious… and it was easy!
The rest of the speech consisted primarily of praise for the valor and courage of the soldiers, the justice of the cause, and an optimistic vision for success in the future… a historically consistent formula in the tradition of every war President, from Washington to Lincoln to Roosevelt, to now George Bush. I’ve just finished re-reading the transcripts of the speech several times over, trying to find that misleading “day at the beach” message, but to no avail… it’s not there. Of course, it didn’t paint a gloomy picture, nor did it offer a prediction on the strength of the insurgent opposition… in the current liberal lexicon, this is the equivalent of a “lie” (as is any perspective with which they disagree).
There are several “Politics as Usual” tactics going on simultaneously here. The first is for the “out-of-power” party to take any optimistic assessment of the situation by the “in-power” party and put it out there as an unqualified prediction of what the future holds, disregarding all caveats as unnecessary background noise. The second is to repeat these in-power “predictions” anywhere and everywhere, at every opportunity, repeat, repeat, repeat, until it becomes so familiar that “everybody knows it”… the trap has been “baited”. As these artificial “predictions” inevitably turn out to be inadequate, partial, or downright wrong, the manufactured controversy is trotted out and it’s time for the “switch”… the big “lie” is unveiled for public consumption… let the smearing begin! This tactic works because, in the “real-politik” world of electioneering, it is understood that most people are intellectually lazy, preferring to rely on analysis of what happens rather than paying attention and developing an opinion of their own. You must either recognize (and reject) the influence of these tactics, or you are controlled by them. They are at all parties disposal, and no party is free from the taint of their usage. As a citizen you must make a choice… think independently, and be capable of making judgments contrary to your “feelings” if that’s where the facts and your “reason” lead you… or be manipulated by analysis tailored to pander to your “feelings”, by politicians that hold your powers of “reason” in contempt.
I use the “Mission Accomplished” speech as an example because it is typically cited as the most egregious example of Bush’s attempt to mislead the public as to how easy the task in Iraq would be… I contend a simple impartial reading of the transcript will explode the notion that, even in this “worst case” example, no “day at the beach” was represented… it was a historically consistent “pep talk”, similar to many others in tone and content. Like Robert, I too recall repeated, consistent messages from Bush, Rumsfeld, and others, that we had a long hard road ahead. I suspect that people like David end up not being able to trust their own eyes and ears because they pay more attention to the post-speech analysis than to the speech itself! The only “day at the beach” interpretation I’ve ever heard was from liberal analysts as they parsed the administrations speeches, news conferences, etc…, with these rosy assessments parroted constantly by the liberal media. This was the “setup” by the proverbial “Master Baiters”! Yet another “big lie” created by the Left, with the responsibility creatively “switched” to the Bush administration. And so we return to McCain…
For McCain to align himself with this distortion is disgusting… he’s been around the block, he knows a politically engineered lie when he sees one. He couldn’t possibly have “just now discovered” that Bush has been deceiving the whole country on this point… he’s been on the correct side of that very argument for 5 years! So why the sudden change of heart? For those of you who may be seized with the notion that virtue resides in one party and not the other, consider the following: here is a very serious contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, who in an act of supreme cynicism and laziness, is attempting to benefit by using a lie concocted by the opposition, against a sitting President of his own party in time of war, no doubt BECAUSE THE POLLS ARE STARTING TO MAKE HIM NERVOUS! I’m just sayin’… what a punk! The least he could do is come up with a lie of his own! It doesn’t get much more despicable than that! Republican or Democrat, Right or Left, integrity and consistency matter… McCain has demonstrated a distinct lack of either. To his credit, Robert called him out for going before the public and LYING… like all of Robert’s entries, this one demonstrates a consistent theme of ethical integrity, an ability to think critically, and a capacity to form moral judgments independent of his political affiliation.
And who leaps bravely to the defense of such knavery? Why the inimitable David, of course! In a puny, flaccid version of his own “bait and switch”, he perpetuates the lie while attempting to portray Robert as an intellectual lemming… I suppose I’d be more insulted if it wasn’t so pathetic! This is perhaps the most transparent case of transference I’ve ever seen… look in the mirror, my brother… that’s the man you’ve been trying to describe all along!
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