What McCain didn’t say
Last night, John McCain sounded all the standard John McCain leitmotifs, from “causes greater than self-interest” to “stand up and fight!” to, of course, his hopes of the leader of a proposition, not a nation—America isn’t “just a place, but an idea.” For the Republicans in the hall, who once loved to hate McCain, the old themes illicited a boisterous response. For the rest of the country, the speech probably rang a bit flat (but then so did Obama’s). Although it certainly had its moments of poignancy, and McCain was able to build to a final crescendo in which he exhorted each and all to “stand up, stand up” above enthusiastic applause.
All fine and good. But while Sarah Palin’s fresh face has inspired many us in the alternative Right to imagine her as a new kind of Republican leader, we know John McCain all too well. And it’s no coincidence that things that most disturb us about a McCain presidency are precisely those things that the senator barely touched on last night, or left out entirely.
Immigration—legal and illegal—received no mention; however, his wispy talk of the Americanism of that “Latina daughter of migrant workers” gave us a good reminder of where Mac stands on mass immigration and amnesty—promises of “border security” being irrelevant to the more important question of numbers and national origin.
With foreign policy, I guess we should be thankful that McCain didn’t go on too long on America’s “solidarity” with Georgia and didn’t bring up “democracy promotion” at all. At the moment, Republicans, and the country as a whole, want to be reassured that we’re not losing in Iraq—and then move on. Still, it’s hard to imagine that if he reaches the White House, McCain wouldn’t seek out some international crisis of some sort or find some new wicked enemy to confront in order to secure his legacy as, in the words of his friend Joe Lieberman, a “wartime president.”
At the very least, McCain’s expressed desire to “establish good relations with Russia” and promise, “we need not fear a return of the Cold War,” were delivered in a manner that, to me, seemed perfunctory, almost glib.
Reflecting the country’s mood, McCain’s speech was all about domestic institutional reform: cutting taxes and spending (what the GOP always talks about) and “making government work again.” If McCain were elected—which is looking increasingly more likely—let us hope and pray that he spends all his time on school choice and “making famous” some ill-starred Congressman who gets caught swindling an Indian tribe or earmarking some gigantic and unnecessary bridge in his home district. This kind of work would be beneficial—and infinitely more desirable than McCain’s deciding to do all those things he didn’t much talk about on Thursday night.
Comments
McCain; America isn’t a people, its a proposition. Its the proposition that the elite can replace the people and cow the people into accepting it and even welcoming it.
So far, its looking like Replacement Proposition 10, People 2.
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John McCain calls Iran the world’s greatest sponsor of terrorism, forgetting the Iran helped the US to overthrow the Taliban in Afghanistan, and offered to help the US to deal with any threat posed by Saddam Hussein, with a view toward avoiding a US invasion (which Iran warned would set off colossal carnage in a civil war).
McCain himself was a sponsor of terrorism in his foolish encouragement of the rush to war in Iraq. What a horse’s arse!
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One of the reasons Palin has been attacked so viciously is because of her perceived alliance with Buchanan and the paleocon movement. Just look at the way Pat Buchanan has been treated by both neocons and liberals alike. No libel or slander is too brazen for neocons to pin on real conservatives. It’s why there are so few of them in prominent places. Although this treatment has certainly taken its toll on Buchanan, he has taken it like a man. It’s one thing to take abuse from your political enemies. But the problem with being a paleocon is you have nothing but enemies in the Establishment. I’m not at all convinced she won’t sell out her views.
When George Bush ran in 2000 he ran on a platform of a “humble” foreign policy where the US only intervened to protect national interests. Then the neocons got ahold of him, and he did an about face on foreign policy. I’m sure they’ll try to co-opt Palin too. They’re almost certain to offer her “free advisers” to help her “come up to speed” on foreign policy--her big weakness, as it was Bush’s. If she refuses to cooperate, the neocons will go after her just as viciously as the Jewish liberals are right now. Like Bush was, she’s essentially a blank slate on foreign policy.
It’s also the case that her position on immigration is unknown. But if she can convince me she’s anti-immigration, I’ll be with you holding my nose to vote for McCain. But I do remain skeptical. I’m afraid we’ll only find out after it’s too late.
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McCain chose Palin as his VP for two reasons:
1. He needs women’s votes.
2. He likes that she is also a “maverick”.
He may also have chosen her as a slap in the face of the Dems who always claim they are the party for equality; meaning, they pay lip service but if it means the difference between winning and losing, that woman ain’t gonna be on the ticket.
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Dick Cheney now accuses Russia of fostering instability in the Middle East! Russia opposed the insane invasion of Iraq. Russia opposes an Israeli (or US) attack on Iran. So does China. Is China “fostering instability” in the Middle East, by opposing an unnecessary war?
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