Musings
By Spencer Lehmann, RHU

What is McCain’s Game?


It has been an interesting, and tiring campaign, to date. We saw the Democratic Party tearing itself to ribbons while Senator Hillary Clinton and gang tore after Senator Barack Obama like a hungry dog after some good, raw meat. All to no avail. Whatever Senator Clinton did not do to embarrass her campaign and leave the “Political Observer” stunned by her actions, Former President Bill Clinton did.

Thankfully, that very uncomfortable 17 month debacle is over, and Senator Barack Obama is now the presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee. Senator John McCain has been the presumptive Republican Presidential Nominee for some time.

Finally, some think, we will see some truly substantive debate, and a myriad of questions will be answered.

Not so, it seems. Senator John McCain’s gang, including the Senator himself, have been in “Attack Dog” “Pit-bull” mode since the battle became a McCain/Obama fight, Senator Clinton no longer being a part of the action.

First, what can we say about Senator John McCain’s declared qualifications for being President?

• He is a War Hero. Really, is he? I think not. Did Senator McCain serve in Vietnam? Yes. Was he a Prisoner of War? Yes. Did he serve honorably? In my opinion, no. I served in the Army during the Vietnam Period. We had drummed into our heads the maxim, “Give only Name, Rank, and Service Number. Period!”
  
  The North Vietnamese have stated for the record that they were easier on John McCain because his father was an Admiral in the US Navy. His time spent as a POW was not as difficult as was the same time spent by unknowns as POWs.
  
  John McCain, by his own admission, broke under torture, and he told the North Vietnamese exactly what they wanted to hear. No War Hero there.
  
  
• Senator John McCain was for many years a Moderate Republican. However, in this year’s race (2008) John McCain has been pandering to the Far Religious Right, soliciting the endorsements of such racists as Pastor John Hagee (“The Catholic Church is a Whore!”), and Pastor Rod Parsley, equally racist in his comments. He condemned Barack Obama for his “Not sought endorsement” by the Reverend Wright, ignoring the fact that McCain himself sought his endorsements from Hagee and Parsley.
  
  Hypocrisy, thou art my God! Just let me win!
  
  
• While there have been a plethora of other gaffs committed by McCain and gang I’ll only mention one more: In his recent tour of the Middle East Barack Obama had planned to visit injured American troops in the hospital. The Pentagon requested that he not do so, as his staff would be with him and it would give the appearance of the Military favoring Obama over McCain.
  
  John McCain knew this of course, as did every other American who reads the paper, watches or listens to the news.
  
  That did not stop McCain and gang for inappropriately and dishonestly accusing Obama of having ignored the hospitalized troops, knowing that he had been asked to not visit them.

C’mon John, that’s really “hitting below the belt”. You think and state that the Constitution established America as a Christian Theocracy, and you would only feel comfortable if a Christian were President. It must be clear to any who know of your hypocrisy and dishonesty that the Constitution says no such thing, strongly establishes the case for Separation of Church and State, and you have given all Americans the very strong impression that you have never read even one page of the Constitution. Shame on you.

You claim to be a War Hero. You were not a War Hero. War Heroes do not “kiss and tell”.

You used to claim that you were a Moderate, and now you are pandering to all those religiously extreme just to get their votes. We could ask for the “Real” John McCain to stand up, as in “To Tell the Truth”, but we know not whom you really be, Senator.

Given your recent lapses of memory, over, and over, and over again, I am not really sure that you know who you are. Is your Long Term Care insurance paid up, Senator McCain? Should you not have any, perhaps I can recommend a good agent to you.



Spencer A. Lehmann, RHU is a Registered Health Underwriter with many years of experience in working with Insurance companies to help develop and market Long Term Care insurance products. He also has many years of experience in working with the Federal Congress and State Legislatures in developing consumer protection oriented rules and regulations.

Simply put, Senator McCain seems to have recognized that a honest contest where he and Obama debate their solutions to the nations problems will lead to a loss.

His answer is to accuse Obama of being unpatriotic and to simply lie in ads that he approves.

It is called a scorched earth campaign, in which you throw crap at the wall and see how much of it sticks. This is not new, since this is the same campaign style Bush used. Bush even used it against McCain.

It is going to get much dirtier before November.

I don't think McCain is a good candidate for Long Term Care Insurance, let alone for the Presidency of the United States. My nightmare is that he will not survive to be President, the current occupant of the Oval Office will either cancel the elections or nullify their results and extend his own term indefinitely, counting on the padded Supreme Court to back him up on it. Then we can settle down to the real plan (already begun): a Bush Dictatorship. And don't say it couldn't happen!

Getting back to McCain and his qualifications, if one concedes that his is really a war hero (which some of us, including me, don't believe for a minute: if he was a war hero, so was George W.!), that is by no means any qualification whatsoever for being president. His record as Senator isn't very impressive, either. He just barely qualifies in the race for decent human being...just barely...occasionally.

His repeated self-contradictions and wishy-washy meanderings all over the map on war, terrorism, the economy, the environment, and you name it, gives me the impression that his brain has already turned to mush--which seems to be a rather common malady among politicians.

I could go on and on, as I'm sure you could as well. What makes me sick to my stomach is realizing that there are millions of Americans who would even consider him for a nano-second as the possible next "Leader of the Free World". Maybe a Bush Dictatorship wouldn't be so bad after all.

quote:

I don't think McCain is a good candidate for Long Term Care Insurance, let alone for the Presidency of the United States. My nightmare is that he will not survive to be President, the current occupant of the Oval Office will either cancel the elections or nullify their results and extend his own term indefinitely, counting on the padded Supreme Court to back him up on it. Then we can settle down to the real plan (already begun): a Bush Dictatorship. And don't say it couldn't happen!

I have warmer feelings for the pile of steaming doggy-do left in the front yard by a stray than for the current occupant of the Oval Office, but I don't think he will cancel the election. I think he is far more likly to manipulate events to force a future President to continue his policies.

McCain, so far, has run a misearable campaign. In a reasonablly fair eleciton he will continue as a US Senator. I am more concerned with the cheating that will happen in close states.

I watch this site daily to keep an eye on the race.

Electoral-vote.com

A very good essay, Spence! I really think that you have a concise way(for once ) of observing this candidate and his(non)qualifications. You have precisely shown how he has and continues to fall short. Bravo!

quote:

Originally posted by Darbe:

quote:

I don't think McCain is a good candidate for Long Term Care Insurance, let alone for the Presidency of the United States. My nightmare is that he will not survive to be President, the current occupant of the Oval Office will either cancel the elections or nullify their results and extend his own term indefinitely, counting on the padded Supreme Court to back him up on it. Then we can settle down to the real plan (already begun): a Bush Dictatorship. And don't say it couldn't happen!

I have warmer feelings for the pile of steaming doggy-do left in the front yard by a stray than for the current occupant of the Oval Office, but I don't think he will cancel the election. I think he is far more likly to manipulate events to force a future President to continue his policies.

McCain, so far, has run a misearable campaign. In a reasonablly fair eleciton he will continue as a US Senator. I am more concerned with the cheating that will happen in close states.

I watch this site daily to keep an eye on the race.

Electoral-vote.com

I think that he will try this strategy first, but hasn't ruled out Joe's, either. Of course, I don't think that President Bush is the one behind all of this...Cheney seems more likely.

Unfortunately, I believe McCain will win this election. The Repubs will stir up the old fear machine, and the general public will buy it, lock, stock and barrell as they did in 2004.

Now I'm not saying I thought John Kerry would have been a great president, but I do believe he and John Edwards would have been a damned sight better than George Bush and Dick Cheney have been.

As for Mr. McCain being a war hero, well since he managed to down five jets, a navy record, and his fifth one just happened to be over Vietnam and was "shot down" after he supposedly returned to take a look at the village he had just bombed (nothing like making yourself a sitting duck - how stupid can you be???). The man graduated the Naval Academy 394th out of 399 and that was only on sufference because of his father and grandfather both being admirals. Had it not been for them, he would have probably washed out on demerits for bad behavior.

And this is the man that may be president?

It makes me sick. Just as sick as I was in 2000 when I watched the election results and realized George W. Bush was going to be appointed president.

I know exactly how you feel, Siannan...

Me too.

In relation to this column, "What is McCain’s Game?" I submit this story on a recent statment by John McCain.

quote:

McCain Lies About Obama and Wounded Troops (Brent Budowsky)
John McCain personally told Larry King that Barack Obama wanted to bring reporters, cameras and campaign aides to a meeting with wounded troops in Germany.

When he said this, John McCain was lying. Let me spell this correctly: L-Y-I-N-G.

Obama never intended to bring reporters, period. That is a lie. Obama never intended to bring cameras. That is a lie. Obama never intended to bring "his campaign staffers" (to use McCain's words). That, too, is a lie. The only person Obama intended to bring was retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Scott Gration, who is an unpaid military adviser.

Credit to Dan Balz in The Washington Post today for laying out the facts. Shame on many in the political, cable, pundit and commentariat classes who have allowed McCain to get away with what are several clear, unmitigated and outright lies (spell that L-I-E-S) about Obama and wounded troops.

My single biggest problem with the Bush administrastion is their propensity to lie about everything. John McCain will lie to get elected. He is just like Bush.

quote:

My single biggest problem with the Bush administration is their propensity to lie about everything. John McCain will lie to get elected. He is just like Bush.

Thank you for an excellent post, Frank.

It targets the heart of the reason for my essay. I had several ideas floating around for the substance of a commentary I wanted to write when I heard a news report and McCain speak to his claim for the reason that Obama didn't visit hospitalized troops.

There wasn't a scintilla of truth in McCain's attack comments about those reasons for Obama not visiting the injured troops. Worse, the Media had made clear for over 24 hours the real reason; the Pentagon had asked Obama to NOT visit the injured troops for the reasons outlined in my commentary, and it would have been impossible for McCain and Gang to not know the real reasons unless they were deaf, dumb, and blind.

McCain's intent was clear; to spread a vicious lie impugning Obama's integrity. It was that night that I wrote this piece. I was furious that a clone of GWB was playing the same game to which we have all been made to endure for the past eight years.

It is beyond time for the American Public to know the truth about Senator John McCain. He is a brazen liar who will say whatever he thinks it will take to be elected President (Dictator) of the United States, and worse, he has no more of a problem "rewriting" the Constitution to suit his own needs, than has George W. Bush.

John McCain epitomizes the definition of a consummate liar. We must do all that we can to prevent this political slime from carrying on where GWB leaves off.

It is time for America to be run by a President with strong levels of integrity and ethics. Senator John McCain is clearly not the person who can meet the qualifications for this very important position. He is far better qualified to be named "Liar of the Century" than President of the United States.

IMHO, Senator John McCain, if elected, would just be a Bush clone.

...just add Alzheimer's and a Cheshire Cat grin...

There is not much that I can still admire about John McCain. But can we condemn a snake for being a snake?

He is, after all is said and done, a politician. All politicians lie.

It makes no difference which party they profess to belong to, they will tell whatever lies are necessary to achieve the goal at hand. There is really no difference in the tactics of the two parties. Though the Democratic party appears to slightly less egregious with their type of "tall tales". The half truths, and the vague promises of "change" are nothing more then veiled lies. There will be no significant change. Anyone with half a brain has to recognize that fact.

The only difference in this election cycle is that I will be voting against an entire party rather then against an individual.
GP

I'd like my fellow Wresters to look at the "They're all liars; nothing will ever change" scenario from a slightly different perspective.

The Founding Fathers were well aware of the limitations of human nature. They had plenty of flaws themselves. The brilliant Hamilton was a hothead; the genius Jefferson was devious; Adams was peevish; Madison standoffish; Franklin a bit too genial for his own good sometimes. They were outstandingly courageous but not foolhardy. They feared tyranny and they feared the foolish whims of the mob. They constructed a system where it's difficult to change things too quickly, lest the political pendulum swing so abruptly that it brings chaos.

The French Revolution which followed on the heels of the American, produced just such egregious excesses that the Federalist Papers warned against. French revolutionaries tried to abolish religion, start a new calendar at the Year One, guillotine the predatory rich, etc. The result? Chaos, tyranny and a generation of bloodshed all over Europe. When it was all over and millions had been butchered, starved and dispossessed, it was still 1815 of the Christian era and monarchs still reigned in most of the affected nations.

The Founding Fathers created a republic, not a democracy, so that elected representatives could provide a buffer between rulers and ruled. The flow of power both ways is indirect. Of necessity, voters cannot be knowledgeable on every issue that affects them, and on which they may feel passionate but be ill-informed. I feel that we have to be honest with ourselves and ask, "Why is there such a huge market for 'lies?' Why do people lap up so much silliness as if it were manna?"

I believe the answer is that people's emotions often outrun their knowledge. Politicians shade the truth to get elected because if they don't cater to voters' wishful thinking, they'll never win. Or as Pogo the comic strip possum put it, "We have met the enemy and they are us."

Yes, both parties do it. Independents do it. Even pundits do it. Democratic calumny against the Bush administration's modest reform proposals for Social Security a few years back were as outrageous as anything Republicans have said about the war, and the amounts of money involved are even larger. Albert Gore's pronouncements that "the science is settled and the debate is over" on global warming are profoundly anti-intellectual. Science doesn't "settle" anything; it is a process of continual inquiry and experimentation. I doubt that America would be better off today with someone that headstrong in the White House.

McCain says a lot of dumb things because he takes candor to a fault. Obama says a lot of soothing but vague things because he takes scripting to a fault. Obama will very likely tack to the center on the Iraq War and build on the gains that have been made, because it is turning out not to be the egregious failure he had always predicted. He's probably going to back off on restrictions of trade and punitive taxation, too, if he learns more about economics. Will that make him a liar or a realist?

McCain lacks intellectual discipline and Obama lacks humility. Neither one are paragons of consistency. What else is new? Where are all the saints?

No matter who gets elected, he's not going to turn out to be a demigod who can save us all from our miserable human limitations. As Jefferson might have observed, we are "endowed by our creator," with unalienable rights -- and a lot of icky qualities as well.

After the election, the losers are not going to end up in jail or in front of a firing squad. Revenge is even uglier than incompetence; revisit a few history books if you don't believe me.

The next Prez will have to have a large staff; they'll make mistakes, but real talent will emerge. Many failures and successes, too, will come unexpectedly. Before you condemn all politicians to the slush pile, think how difficult leadership really is. We're most of us grievously flawed members of the group Mark Twain described as "the damned human race."

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Tom Gelsthorpe,