McCain Would Offer More Of The Same

The Nation: Ballots Cast For The Senator Are Votes For The Bush Administration

(The Nation)  This column was written by Frank J. Gaffney Jr..

---

Are Americans unusually stupid or is it something our President put in the water? As millions surrender their homes and sacrifice other standards of our nation's economic and political reputation to the caprice of the Bush-Cheney imperium, a majority of voters tell pollsters that they might vote for a candidate who promises more of the same.

Assuming that likely voters are not now thinking of yet another Republican President simply because John McCain is the only white guy left standing - an excuse as pathetic in its logic as the decision four years ago to return two Texas oil hustlers to the White House because they were not Massachusetts liberals - must mean that tens of millions of Americans have taken leave of their senses.

If not the white-guy syndrome, why would even a shocking minority of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama supporters say they prefer McCain to the other Democrat? How otherwise to explain the nation's widespread bipartisan rejection of the Bush presidency and yet a willingness to let McCain continue in that vein?

To be sure, as a senator, McCain has exhibited flashes of independence on behalf of taxpayers, as in his support of campaign-finance reform in which he partnered with Democrat Russ Feingold. McCain's investigations of the military-industrial complex's shameless exploitation of terrorism fears set a high standard, as in exposing the air-tanker scandal that dispatched a Boeing exec and a former Pentagon employee to prison. But his political ambition is showing. Although he previously harshly criticized the enormous waste in the Iraq occupation, today, as a presidential candidate, he opens the door to a hundred years of taxpayer dollars tossed down the drain in Iraq. The man who was tortured now hugs a leader who authorized the same.

By so unabashedly embracing the most glaringly failed U.S. President ever, McCain has surrendered the right to be considered an independent candidate, judged on his own merits and personal history. A vote for McCain is a vote for that rancid recipe mixing religious bigotry, imperial arrogance and corporate greed that he had stood against in the run-up to the 2000 presidential election when he challenged George W. Bush, but to which he now has capitulated.

Too harsh? Then consider just how tight the space is between the rocks of our failed Mideast policy and the hard place of our impending financial disaster. The sudden out-of-control spike in the cost of oil - the key short-term market variable, the specter that stokes inflation fear and limits moves to avoid recession - is not a natural disaster or in any realistic way the result of inefficiency in the use of energy. What more than doubled the price of petroleum in the short run was not that too many of us bought Hummers, but rather that the political stability of the region that contains the bulk of that oil was deliberately and recklessly roiled.

In the name of fighting the 9/11 terrorists, the Bush Administration overthrew the one Arab government most adamantly opposed to the Saudi financiers of that son of their system, Osama bin Laden. Instead of confronting the royal leaders of a kingdom that supplied fifteen of the nineteen hijackers, we invaded a nation that supplied not a single one. While Bush overthrew Saddam Hussein, who had no ties to the hijackers, he embraced the leaders of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, the only three nations in the world that had diplomatically recognized and supported the Taliban sponsors of Al Qaeda.

Consider that historical marker at a time when the UAE and Saudi Arabia bankers are buying major positions in distressed US financial and other key corporate institutions. I know, it all sounds too conspiratorial, like imagining that we might wake up from this national nightmare and discover that the CEO of Halliburton, who replaced Dick Cheney when the latter selected himself to be Bush's Vice President, now has his headquarters in Dubai, tucked safely into the obscenely oil-revenue-rich UAE that our troops were sent to Iraq to protect.

There is no national outrage, or even seriously sustained media interest, over the fact that Cheney's old company profited enormously from ripping off U.S. tax dollars going into the Iraq occupation. Nor is there even much curiosity about the shenanigans of Halliburton, which is doing business with Arab oil sheiks at a time when the U.. banks these Middle Eastern oil interests bought into are moving to foreclose on American homeowners.

It's just the sort of egregious betrayal of the trust of the taxpayers that Senator McCain would have gone after, before he sought to don the soiled robes of the Bush presidency.

[irliberal]

There are three choices for president: Hillary, Obama, McCain.

Hillary and Obama''s platforms are nearly identical and both would end the Iraq war.

McCain quote: "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran".

Vote for Hillary. Vote for Obama. If you want an endless Iraq war and a new Iran war (that makes a war on THREE - count them THREE fronts, folks) then, by all means, vote for McCain.

The rest of this is all hype, distraction, and partisanship. Nothing more need be said.

[tonyd_31]

If some how McCain wins (God forbid) then I will have to say, we Americans are getting exactly what we deserve (look at the last tragic 8 years). Vote Democrat, regardless of whether it is Obama or Hillary!

[ubrew12]

Article: "The man who was tortured now hugs a leader who authorized the same."

McCain isn''t McSame. But he is, sadly, a Republican, in a time when Democratic values on behalf of working people need expression by our government.

Its a tribute to the power of money in advertising to consider how thoroughly Democrats have been tarred as gun-hating, gay-loving, athiests. Of course, some of them are. But the power of right-wing propaganda isn''t in convincing Americans that Dems are these things. Its in convincing Americans that that''s ALL Dems bring to the table, or even that its all of significance Dems bring to the table. The Democratic party is the party that tilts government to favor labor rather than capital. Labor is us, now that the Bush recession has revealed to us how thoroughly the image of us as ''capitalists'' was a sham. Repubs tilt government to favor capital, as often needs to be done. But after 8 years of Bush ''anarchism in government'', we need politicians who actually think government can solve things for ordinary people.

To Repubs, gov''t is the problem. They''ve said so themselves. And right now, THAT''s the problem with Republican governance. In not believing in it, they unintentionally ensured its failure.

[jn122736]

At the beginning of this article I read this line:
(The Nation) This column was written by Frank J. Gaffney Jr.

But after reading the entire article I wasn%u2019t at all surprised to see this ending notice:
By Robert Scheer
Reprinted with permission from The Nation.

Robert Scheer was once a regular contributor to the LA Times and was one of the main reasons the LA Times was (for a long time) my favorite news source, up until they were bought/taken over by organized (read monopolized) corporate news.

Mr. Scheer is no longer associated with The Times and neither am I.

Mr. Scheer is generally harsh and direct in his comments, but he is also generally accurate.

This article is a prime example of that.

Mr. Sheer asked; Are Americans unusually stupid or is it something our President put in the water????

Robert, I%u2019m afraid the problem is far worse than that.

Mega corporations now control the entire government, including the major news sources, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the Supreme Court, and now, thanks to computer technology, they actually control the vote (electronic voting machines).

How else can one explain the arrogance of this administration?

Their control of the major news outlets is the single most contributing factor in preventing the public from coming together or even agreeing on how our freedoms, indeed our country is/are being destroyed.

[element51]

Human behaviour is indeed complex. As I watch the drama of the up-coming election unfold I am amazed at what I see happening. Every day I hear people rail against Bush and his policies and about where he has led the country. But at the same time many seem to be willing to continue with exactly the same policies that have brought the country to the brink. Is it because we, as a people, are more comfortable with keeping what we know is bad rather than take a chance on something new? If you read the posts on these boards you can see, if you really look, the hatred that is being released. Claims and counter claims, accusations and myths, and just plain old down right hatred abound here. People take lies and half truths and spin them into outrageous charges. This stuff then becomes "truth" and the picture becomes even more cloudy. The truth is out there somewhere but getting to it is next to impossible. So, once again, the American people will cast their votes based on wild claims and half truths. Round and round we go and where we are headed no one knows.

[ljb6599]

In general I think many Americans are uninformed.They do not read nor do they keep with daily news events.Many gets snippets of news and gossip from the internet and they believe eveything that is written.Barak Obama was right when he said many blue collar workers are bitter and will vote against their own economic self interests for candidates whom support their strong beliefs about guns ,religion and abortion.May Rebublicans use thes wedge issues to get elected and then they proceed to rip the middle class and the poor with their pro business, no tax economic policies.The Republican party has used this formula for years and until the American citizens wake up they are going to continue to use it.Why change if it continues to be successful.

[element51]

jn122736....Man, where have you been? Your post impresses me so much that I wish we could speak directly. That not being possible for obvious reasons let me say that I believe you are 100% correct. I see it exactly as you describe. There is no doubt that we have lost control to the corporations. And the fact that they control the news sources makes it even worse. When you can control what the masses read and hear you can control them completely. Just look at the way the media selected the candidates for the next election. It''s a wonder that the people who were eliminated lasted as long as they did. If you look at history and at past super powers they have all gone down the exact same road that we are on now. And they all died. Sad but true. Thanks again for your insightful thoughts.

[perceptions5]

"The Nation: Ballots Cast For The Senator Are Votes For The Bush Administration- The Nation".

And if Ameircans still can''t figure out if the most corrupt institution in America really is our mostly liberal MSM wolfpack press, then I bring you this attack "story" as proof.

Looks like the far left-wing liberals at The Nation just can''t help their rich snobs self from producing another smear hit piece on a Republican, John McCain.

It''s really incrediable that in the age of the internet "The Nation" things they can just put out DNC supported talking points.

Do the rich snobs at The Nation think this is Germany 1938?...................NEXT!

All Americans should shun hate baiting politcal news organizations like "The Nation".

Really sad indeed

[irliberal]

Do the rich snobs at The Nation think this is Germany 1938?

Posted by perceptions5 at 07:56 PM

A few more like you around and it would be. Sad, indeed.

[cattlekate]

It would be wonderful if, during the debates, the Fourth Estate would ask McCain how his administration would differ from the Bush one.

I know, it will be really hard for Charlie and George S. to not ask the flag lapel and seven-degrees-of-Kevin Bacon questions, but I have hope.

[singingrick]

Of course McBush is going to continue the same old failed policies.

[lkrupp-2009]

Liberals have one massive image problem. They label anyone who disagrees with them stupid or mentally ill. The author of this article does it in spades. There are going to be a whole lot of despondent, depressed liberals come November 5. It sucks when the stupid masses you want to take care of for their own good just won''t listen. What''s a liberal elitist to do?

[pleiku1]

To stay in Iraq for the next 100 yrs, we need to bring back the Draft, increase taxes, and cut benefits.

[messiahx4eve]

Jeez, can people even talk to each other anymore? Get the facts from ALL sources, not from these freaking hack writers of yellow journalizm. Now it changes DAILY: Obama...goes from new blood to fuel against the wrongs of the bush & cheney regime/crime cartel to a po''dumb ***** that supports the muslim communites in taking over America, and Hillary as a savage pre hormonal nag who just gets her panties all in a twist if she says a word about the obvious, then there''s McCain AKA bush/son of the shrubmonkey/chest pounding shebitch of the republican neocons who offers us what??? EIGHT MORE YEARS OF THE SAME *** WE HAVE NOW AND HAVE WANTED TO IMPEACH BUSH AND CHENEY!!! Send a clear message to ALL three branches of Government, people, tell them who works for whom, they work for us, not the other way around.

[messiahx4eve]

An adendum to the previous post: WE OWN OURSELVES, the government does not. They are the smoke and mirrors show that makes themselves look all big bad and scary, they are that little weenie of a zippy the pinhead hiding behind the voice of the great and powerful Oz. BTW, the way that McCain behaves, we might just as well elect Ozzy Osbourn to office because they are both mentally on the same page and the same state of mind, allowing one to fit the other''s life style without even really trying.

[ramos937]

As much as I respect McCain as a war hero, I could never vote for him. A vote for McCain is to have Bush III. The country would not recover from its current problems.

[fibonacci_]

"Are Americans unusually stupid or is it something our President put in the water?" - from this article

Yes, Americans are unusually stupid.

[ranger1948]

Leave it to a bigoted reporter to write this story. If we don''t vote for obama then we are racists. ***. I don'' care that obama is black. I care that he is a racists himself has ties to anti white organizations, embraces a church that is racial against whites and our country, has associations with a known criminal and has a bigoted wife they had to lock away to keep her mouth shut. I want a presindent that will get us out of Iraq, and address the problems we Americans have here at home. We can no longer afford to be the world police. I think foreign aid shoulsd also be eliminated. Only one country from world war II ever repaid it war debt to us. Iraq wasn''t even asked to pay, so they sit there with billions of dollars while we pay for everything. I don''t care what the Iraqui''s do, sink or swim as long as they live their lives and leave us alone. We gain nothing from the war in Iraq, but bush and his cronies sure got rich from it. I don''t want to see McCain in office but i would vote for him before i would ever vote for obama.

[fibonacci_]

Then you will vote for McCain - thanks.

[doctor--o]

People believe what they choose to believe regardless of how that squares with reality.It''s a wiring problem in the human brain.

[xlib]

You''d probably find more pictures of mccain and ole teddy than with Bush. Seems to me, mccain sides more with the dems then his own supposed party. This story is a bunch of cr*p and cbs knows it.
Not too long ago your msm was supporting and even pushing mccain down Repbulicans throats. Now, they begin the tried and true vilifying the guy. He probably won''t win and we''ll get one of the socialists in office. Should make for an interesting 4 years.

[irliberal]

We gain nothing from the war in Iraq, but bush and his cronies sure got rich from it. I don''''t want to see McCain in office but i would vote for him before i would ever vote for obama.

Posted by ranger1948 at 06:25 AM

Then you are a huge fool. It''s ok, theres lots of them around. This kind of backwards thinking is what got us Bush twice in a row and is the REASON we are in Iraq in the first place - some people just don''t vote with their minds at all. They let things like race, *** and religion vote for them. Oh well. Land of the free, and home of a lot of idiots.

[stevesinca]

If liberals want to know why moderates and undecideds keep going to the Right and costing the Dems the election, it''s because of articles like this. This article basically boils down to sayijng, ''if you don''t vote our way, you are stupid''. People reject such concepts.

With comments like ''how to explain..taken leave of their senses'', this article just portays the common voter as stupid.

[ranger1948]

irliberal
There you go. I already stated i didn''t care that obama was black. I care that he is a racists againsty whites, associates with racists against whire, may have ties with terrorists, has a wife that they had to lock away somewhere to keep her from making racist remarks against whites, and is associated with a known criminal. Also that he used drugs, had *** with a man, and had the nerve to give Hillary the finger in public. These are not the actions of the man i want running this country. I have said before i wouold like to have seen Colin Powell run or any black candidate that is qualified and has the idea of gettig us oout of Iraq and addressing the problems here at home as one nation regardless of race.

[tryhonesty]

The same OLD RepubliCONs from the same OLD Greedy OLD Party. This same OLD group of idiots has not had a new idea in over 100 years. America can not afford McSame, he is just too expensive. Hello, Hello, anybody out there? The redneck ignorant morons who put shrub in office, goose step over the next cliff, will ya..? Ha, ha, morons. This Fall we will kick you folks over to the third world where you all belong. The Greedy OLD Party, is but a party of one.
1/20/09

[ubrew12]

SteveSinCa said: "This article basically boils down to sayijng, ''if you dont vote our way, you are stupid''. People reject such concepts."

Admittedly, he doesn''t give the reasons people should vote democratic in the next election. He points out that McCains embrace of Bush identifies McCain with the most failed administration in our history, an admin for which Halliburton pretty much sums up its style of cronyism. US soldiers die, Cheney gets rich, US voters praise the Lord for ''elder statesman'' McCain.

Heres why I''m voting Dem:

Id rather have tax and spend liberals in office than borrow and spend ''conservatives''. Repubs have had 7 years to make good on their promise to be the ''party of small government''. What did they do?
1. Doubled the national debt, now an obscene $10 trillion.
2. INCREASED federal spending, including a 40% increase in defense spending, a Farm Bill that rewards corporate farmers over small farmers, the largest increase in entitlement spending in 30 years, etc, etc.
3. Encouraged loose lending by the Fed that hooked millions of Americans into vastly expanding their private debtload, making it ''appear'' like they had plenty of money when they were in fact broke (and, not coincidentally, helping Bush get reelected with the fiction that he ''did'' something about the economy).
4. Iraq (how bad must your administration be, if the Iraq War is the SECOND most disasterous thing you''ve done during your tenure - the first being the debt).

[ubrew12]

Our national debt is a war on Americans, prosecuted by necons. What you''re feeling now because of tightening international credit is nothing compared to what you''ll feel when it really hits. Cheney obviously has plans to be out of town (Dubai) when that happens. The current downturn must have been expected by BushCo (financed as they were by debt): but it was supposed to happen during the next administration, which was probably going to be Democratic, thereby tarring Democrats with the specter of ''economic failure''. Too bad for Bush it just started a year early.

Honestly, modern republicans that prefer expanded debt over pay-as-you-go aren''t, to me, actually republicans. They''re more like anarchists who are threatening to destroy this country if they dont get their way. ''Vote our way, America, or we''ll move all our assets, ala Halliburton, offshore and you''ll bleed to death''.

And you think Scheer sounds threatening!!

[ubrew12]

SteveSinCa said: "This article basically boils down to sayijng, ''if you dont vote our way, you are stupid''. "

Maybe its wrong for Scheer to say the US voter is stupid. Consider, however, that in response to the recent economic downturn, both Bush and McCain have offered significant TAX CUTS(i.e. debt expansion) as a band-aid. Thanks to Bush, we already owe $10 trillion in public debt, another $10 trillion in household debt, with baby boomers about to retire, impacting the SocSec network by another $20 trillion.

International finance no longer thinks the U.S. can pay its existing debt, which is why the dollar has fallen: financiers are trying to get out of Dodge. And Bush and McCain are offering MORE DEBT to help deal with this??? Honestly, Scheer may THINK you''re stupid, but for Bush and McCain to do that, they KNOW you''re stupid!! Thats the only way they could get away with doing that and expect the ''grateful'' American voter to respond by voting for them in November.

[johnstossel]

Amen!!!!

[blackspirit3]

TONY PERKINS A MCCAIN SUPPORTER - Tony Perkins is President of the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council Perkins addressed the Louisiana chapter of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), America''''s premier white supremacist organization, the successor to the White Citizens Councils, which battled integration in the South. In 1996 Perkins paid former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard David Duke $82,500 for his mailing list. SHOULD MCCAIN DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM MR PERKINS?